Showing results by narrator "JIm Killavey" in All Categories

Fresh out of the hospital and low on funds, a young doctor decides to take a long sea voyage to restore his health. He signs on as a steward on board a millionaire's yacht. Then, one hot and humid summer night, the voyage starts to become a nightmare.

When a volcano suddenly seems to erupt and threaten a mountain town of North Carolina, Inspector Strock is sent to determine the danger. When an automobile race in Wisconsin is interrupted by the unexpected appearance of a vehicle traveling at many times the top speed of the entrants, Strock is again consulted. And when an odd-shaped boat is sighted moving at impossible speeds off the New England coast, Stock and his boss begin to wonder if the incidents are related.

In its oppressive atmosphere of fog, mist, and mud, nothing conjures up the dreary days of November and its "implacable" weather like the celebrated opening of Bleak House. The plot concerns a long-running legal dispute (Jarndyce and Jarndyce) that has far-reaching consequences for all involved. Dickens' assault on the flaws of the British judiciary system is based in part on his own experiences as a law clerk.

The Beautiful Lady, is a short novel from Booth Tarkington's early career. The story was originally published in two parts, December of 1904 and January of 1905, in Harper's Magazine, and then as Tarkington's fifth book in May of 1905. Mrs. Landry is The Beautiful Lady, a woman with a soul as beautiful as she it. Who will win her heart? Ansolini, an Italian from Naples now living in Paris? Rufus Poor, a young man who needs to be kept out of trouble or another mysterious man? This breezy read, is a fine introduction to one of Booth Tarkington's early works.

Dr. Curtis himself gives the best summary of this book when he says, "This book is your personal 'do it yourself' construction kit. You are to use it to build for yourself a richer, fuller life. This is the greatest construction job which you will ever have the opportunity to undertake - building your own life. Your life is what you make it: For most of us, the task of life construction involves considerable reconstruction.

The Altar of the Dead was first published in the collection Terminations in 1895. It is a fable of life and death significance which explores what happens when a man tries to keep the remembrance of his dead friends, to save them from being forgotten entirely in the rush of everyday events.

Robert Louis Stevenson's "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" is of the best "macabre" tales ever written. It is presented here in its entirety along with eight other incredible tales.

A Christmas Carol is undoubtedly the most famous supernatural story in English. However, it was not the only supernatural story of the season that Charles Dickens wrote. In Victorian England, Christmas was the time to explore the supernatural in stories, and Charles Dickens was one of the best at it. Included in this volume are a full-cast dramatization of A Christmas Carol, plus three more of Dickens' best stories of the season.

A collection of "bedtime stories" filled with whimsy and life lessons. This charming collection includes stories about talking animals, flowers, fairies, why things are the way they are ("pour qua" stories), and morality tales. Gentle stories for bedtime or anytime listening.

When the name Abraham Lincoln is mentioned , we usually think of the highlights of his career.We think of Lincoln the politician, the statesman, the orator and the man who did away with slavery.What is not as well known, however, is that Lincoln did produce one piece of fiction, The Trailor Murder Mystery. When Lincoln was practicing law, it was common for lawyers to write summaries of their cases and present them as fiction.

Included are a dozen classic sweet stories about Santa Claus and Christmas to delight young and old alike. You might just learn something about "The Jolly Old Elf" that you didn't know before.

The Warlord of Mars is the third science fiction novel in Burroughs' famous Barsoom series. The princess Dejah Thoris, John Carter's beloved wife, has been captured by a nemesis bent not only on Carter's destruction, but that of Mars, as well. It is up to Carter to unite the warring races of Mars in a race to avoid doomsday.

Ralph Waldo Emerson was an American philosopher, lecturer, essayist, and poet, who is best remembered for leading the Transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. He was a a champion of individualism and wrote dozens of essays. Most criics consider "Self-Reliance" his best. It has the most thorough statement of one of Emerson's repeating themes, the need for each individual to avoid conformity and false consistency.

Very similar in style to Walden, and in fact written while he stayed at Walden Pond, this account chronicles Throeau's 1830 boat trip. In it, he weaves together travel writing, essays on religion, history, and lyrical poetry, as well as his own unique philosophy.

This collecton features some of Twain's best known stories as well as some lesser-known gems, such as "A Mysterious Visit", "The Facts Concerning the Recent Carnival of Crime in Connecticut", and "The Loves Of Alonzo Fitz-Clarence and Rosannah Ethelton".

John Carter, an American Civil War veteran, goes prospecting in Arizona and, when set upon by Indians, is mysteriously transported to Mars, called "Barsoom" by its inhabitants. Carter finds that he has demigod-like strength on this planet, due to its lesser gravity. He is soon captured by "Tharks", the planet's warlike, four-armed, green inhabitants, and his incredible adventures begin.

In this story, a young man from the far future is bored, so he escapes in a time portal to find a more exciting life in the past. His goal is to take some weapons from the future and join up with "The Mafia" in New York City. One of the groups of people he meets is a street gang called "The Boomer Dukes." He asks them to "take me to your Mafia." Very interesting results follow

New England author H. P. Lovecraft was one of the key founders of modern horror. He has had a major influence on many prominent authors, including Stephen King. "The Dunwich Horror" is one of his most famous stories. It is a perfect example of one of Lovecraft's major inspirations and inventions - cosmic horror.

Oscar Wilde was one of the most versatile writers who ever lived. He wrote classic plays, including The Importance of Being Ernest; one wildly popular and influential novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray; and a number of inventive and moving stories in The Happy Prince and Other Tales.

Stories included in this volume are: "The Nightingale and the Rose", "The Devoted Friend", "The Happy Prince", "The Remarkable Rocket", and "The Selfish Giant".

Brand Whitlock was an American attorney, author, elected official and diplomat in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He wrote this excellent little life of Lincoln but recognized that his book could serve only as an introduction to the great man's life when he wrote, "To compress between the covers of a little book like this the whole story of AbrahamLincoln, to present within such limitations a life so epical, a character so original and yet so universal, is obviously impossible."