Category: Action Adventure Audiobooks

David Balfour, a lad of seventeen and newly orphaned, is directed to go and live with his rich uncle, the master of the estate of Shaws in the lowlands of Scotland near Edinburgh. His uncle, Ebenezer, a true miser, doesn’t want him to discover that David is the rightful heir to the estate. After a failed attempt to get rid of him by “accident”, Ebenezer pays the captain of a ship to kidnap the boy, with the plan to sell him into slavery in Carolina.

On the journey the ship collides with a smaller rig and the lone survivor Alan Breck a “rebel” Jacobite climbs on board. David hears of a plan by the crew to overpower Alan and seize the gold he carries, tries to warn him, and then finds himself fighting for his life alongside Alan. Thankfully, Alan is very good with a sword and helping themselves to the ship’s firearms locker the pair fight so valiantly that the captain has no choice but to agree to give them passage back to the mainland. As they near land the ship unfortunately runs aground, and David finds himself a castaway.

The lad soon revives and starts again to find his way home. Along the journey he stops to ask directions from a member of the party out with Colin Roy Campbell, the infamous “Red Fox” who has been oppressing Alan’s people, when the man is shot to death by a sniper, and David is chased as an accomplice. He chances to meet up with Breck while fleeing and two “take to the heather” and barely survive numerous near brushes with redcoats. Traveling across the length of Scotland, they come to the mouth of the River Forth. With no money remaining, they must somehow cross to Queensferry, find Ebenezer’s lawyer, and lay claim to David’s inheritance in order to send Alan safely on to France.

8 Hours and 7 Minutes.

Continue reading Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson

Imagine a strange, tropical place that is almost inaccessible. Time appears to have stood still there. Species of animal and plant life not seen elsewhere on Earth, except in the fossil record, inhabit the place. The lakes heave with the shapes of huge grey bulks moving under the surface. The woods are places where chittering cries move about above your head, as powerful apes move swiftly in the canopy of leaves. Then, a tree splinters nearby, and a dinosaur steps out from his hiding place… and he’s eyeing YOU. Jurassic Park? Not quite. The Lost World was an inspiration for Jurassic Park; in fact, a character in J.P. has the same name as one of the chief characters in The Lost World. It also inspired King Kong. But this is the original! Four adventurers go off to find the place shown in a dead man’s sketch book – they find a war between apes and Natives, prowling dinosaurs, a sparkly treasure hidden in the blue clay – they find The Lost World. To top things off, because of the treachery of a native guide, their means of escape is destroyed! Adventure and suspense await in this thrilling, fictitious tale of a world of prehistoric creatures, natives, and more!

8 Hours and 14 Minutes.

Continue reading Lost World by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

In this, the last of the Three Musketeers novels, Dumas builds on the true story of a mysterious prisoner held incognito in the French penal system, forced to wear a mask when seen by any but his jailer or his valet. If you have skipped the novels between The Three Musketeers and this, a few notes will bring you into the story:

On one side – Aramis, now a bishop and secretly the Captain-General of the Jesuit Order, who believes he has found a path to a higher honor – the papacy. Monsieur Fouquet, the vastly rich minister of finance, Aramis’ ally. Philippe, the identical twin of King Louis XIV, who grew up in ignorance of his pedigree, and whose surrogate parents were murdered on the king’s order and himself sent into the notorious Paris prison, the Bastille, there held in solitary confinement.

On the other side – King Louis XIV, selected as the twin who would be king by his mother, and who intends that his brother will never challenge him. Monsieur Colbert, first minister, who is jealous of Fouquet and plots his downfall.

Unaligned and in danger of collateral damage – d’Artagnan, now captain of the King’s Musketeers and so the king’s chief defender, who suspects plots running beneath the surface and who is trying to unearth them. Athos, now the Comte (Count) de la Fer and one of the most respected noblemen of France. Raoul, Athos’ son and vicomte (viscount), desperately in love with Mademoiselle de la Valliere, who the king has taken as his mistress. Porthos, grown extremely stout and happy as the Baron du Vallon.

Aramis discovers the hidden Philippe and hatches a plot to substitute him for the sitting king, putting Louis in Philippe’s cell in the Bastille. This even succeeds… for a short while. But Aramis has not reckoned with a man whose loyalty to the throne exceeds his own welfare and who disastrously reverses the plot. Now it is time for the plotters to scurry to cover, there to figure some way to recover their lost ambitions.

20 Hours and 43 Minutes.

Continue reading Man in the Iron Mask by Alexandre Dumas

The Mysterious Island tells the adventures of five Americans on an uncharted island in the South Pacific. A story of castaways, similar to Robinson Crusoe and The Swiss Family Robinson, the story begins in the American Civil War, during the siege of Richmond, Virginia, the capital of the Confederate States of America. As famine and death ravage the city, five Northern prisoners of war decide to escape by the unusual means of hijacking a balloon. After flying in stormy weather for several days, the group crash-lands on a cliff-bound, volcanic, unknown (and fictitious) island. With the knowledge of the brilliant engineer Smith, the five are able to sustain themselves on the island, producing fire, pottery, bricks, nitroglycerin, iron, a simple electric telegraph, a home on a stony cliffside called “Granite House”, and even a seaworthy ship, which they name the “Bonaventure” (in honor of Pencroff, the driving force behind its construction). However, there is a mystery on the island in the form of an unseen deus ex machina, responsible for Cyrus’ survival after falling from the balloon, the mysterious rescue of Top from a dugong, the appearance of a box of equipment (guns and ammunition, tools, etc.), and other seemingly inexplicable occurrences. Only later do they find they have a hidden benefactor: Captain Nemo, of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, who resides, alone, secretly on the island. In time, the tiny colony becomes so prosperous that it is able to rescue another castaway from an island a hundred miles away. But all their work will come to naught – their island’s volcano is about to awake! The colonists, forewarned of the eruption by Nemo, find themselves safe but stranded on the last remaining piece of the island above sea level. Will they be rescued, or will all their struggles to survive and accomplishments be for naught?

21 Hours and 41 Minutes

Continue reading Mysterious Island by Jules Verne

Taking place during the American Civil War, The Red Badge of Courage is the story of a young private of the Union Army, Henry Fleming, who flees from the field of battle. Overcome with shame, he longs for a wound, a “red badge of courage,” to counteract his cowardice. When his regiment once again faces the enemy, Henry takes courage and becomes one of the best fighters in his battalion as well as taking up the flag for his regiment as standard-bearer. The novel is known for its distinctive style, which includes realistic battle sequences as well as the repeated use of color imagery, and ironic tone. Separating itself from a traditional war narrative, Crane’s story reflects the inner experience of its protagonist (a soldier fleeing from combat) rather than the external world around him. With enduring ability to hold the reader’s attention The Red Badge of Courage still stands as a landmark of American fiction.

4 Hours and 40 Minutes.

Continue reading Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane

One of the most well-known and best-loved characters in classic literature, the man who robbed from the rich to give to the poor, comes alive in these adventurous tales. This version of Robin Hood includes twenty-four tales of our beloved hero as he recruits his merry men, and the many adventures they have along the way: defying the brutality of the Sheriff of Nottingham, ruthless Prince John, and other authority figures in and around Sherwood Forest. Rarely included by most authors of Robin Hood tales, McSpadden includes Robin’s early life and later years, as well. The reader is given a good idea when the stories are set, and it is explained why Robin lives as an outlaw, which is a rarity in adaptations aimed at children. Lively episodes introduce each of the famous merry men and other colorful characters, including the villainous Sheriff of Nottingham, lovely Maid Marian, and King Richard the Lionhearted.

5 Hours and 56 Minutes

Continue reading Robin Hood by J. Walker McSpadden

Shipwrecked and castaway, Daniel DeFoe’s hard-luck character, Robinson Crusoe, is still the standard for “growing where you’re planted”; not just making do with what happens to you, but prospering in whatever circumstances you face. Captured by pirates, he makes his break in a small boat and undergoes desperate adventures before winning his way back to civilization. However, Crusoe determines to chance his luck a second time when, after sweating his way to prosperity as a planter in Brazil, he undertakes a voyage that isn’t needful… and is marooned on a small island off South America. Crusoe makes the best of the situation: lacking anything but knife, some tobacco, and a pipe he cleverly finds ways to feed, shelter, and clothe himself. His ardent wish is to escape his island – (why is it that the only people who come there are cannibals?!), but, he spends more than two decades in isolation before acquiring a sidekick – the man Friday you’ve probably heard of. And who would guess his way to salvation would depend on leading a last-ditch fight against a shipful of mutineers?

11 Hours and 18 Minutes

Continue reading Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe

The Further Adventures of Robinson Crusoe is the engaging and faith-filled sequel to Robinson Crusoe. We find our hero bored with his prosperity and consumed by an irrepressible desire to return to the island he left many years before. After the death of his wife, Robinson Crusoe, now free to fulfill his longing, sets out with his faithful companion Friday to see his beloved island once again. Thus begins a journey which will last ten years and nine months, in which Crusoe travels over the world, along the way facing dangers and discoveries in Madagascar, China, and Siberia.

9 Hours and 7 Minutes.

Continue reading Robinson Crusoe, The Further Adventures of – by Daniel Defoe

In the year 1792, the French Revolution has reached its bloodiest stage. Aristocrats are being executed left and right by the Republic, when the guillotine begins to be cheated of aristocratic victims time and time-again, due to a series of daring rescues carried out by a mysterious hero known only as “The Scarlet Pimpernel.” Nothing is known about this person, save that he is a master of disguise, has saved dozens of lives, and has never been caught. He is the hero of the aristocrats, the bane of the Republic, and the talk of high society across the channel in England. As the absurd and foppish Sir Percy Blakeney, the leader of English fashion, puts it, “They seek him here, they seek him there, those Frenchies seek him everywhere! Is he in Heaven or is he in Hell, that demmed elusive Pimpernel?” And no one is more interested in uncovering the mystery surrounding this hero than Sir Percy’s wife, the young French actress Marguerite St. Just, to whom the fate of the Scarlet Pimpernel may mean everything.

7 Hours and 40 Minutes

Continue reading Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy

Sir Nigel, is a historical novel set during the early phase of the Hundred Years’ War, spanning the years 1350 to 1356, written by the great Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The tale at its outset, traces the fortunes of the family of Loring of the Manor of Tilford in Surrey, many of whose scions had been prominent in the service of the Norman and Angevin Kings of England, against the backdrop of the Black Death. Now the House of Loring has fallen on hard times, as the greedy Monks of Waverley have bled all of the Loring wealth dry. Even the manor house will have to go to pay their debts. Then a chance encounter with the King of England provides Nigel, the last of the Lorings, with the chance to seek his fortune in the constant wars with France. More importantly for Nigel, it also means that he may be able to do the “three small deeds” that will show he is worthy to ask for the hand of the Lady Mary in marriage. Filled with chivalry, humor, and high romance, Sir Nigel is all that a book about the days of knights, lords, and ladies should be!

12 Hours

Continue reading Sir Nigel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle