Alan Sklar has narrated 79 audiobooks on Listento.it by 82 authors, with an average listener rating of 4.4★ across 401 ratings. The most-rated is The Mystery Method.
Deadman's Poker
Summary
Tony Valentine is an expert at spotting cheats. He's tossed them out of gambling casinos from Atlantic City to Monaco. But though Tony has never met a scam he couldn't crack, his son and partner, Gerry, has just walked into one with a body count. What started as a conman's deathbed confession turns into a deadly Las Vegas grudge match during the world's biggest poker tournament. While Gerry tangles with the Vegas mob, Tony enlists the aid of an aging grifter to save the tournament, and stop a blind player who's out to heist it.
©2006 James Swain (P)2008 BBC Audiobooks America
Murder in Foggy Bottom
Summary
In Margaret Truman's latest mystery, the scene opens with an obscure death in Washington's Foggy Bottom, home of the State Department, shifts to mass murder in the downing of aircraft, and then moves on to mayhem in the streets of the new Moscow. Leaving an airport near New York, a D.C.-bound commuter plane falls to earth. At almost the same time, another crash occurs. And then... Firmly ruling out coincidence, investigators seek means and motive. The means are soon apparent: small-scale weaponry with large-scale impact. Their country of origin? A place where nearly everything - hardware, information, love - can be found for a price. Max Pauling, a State Department investigator, seasoned, good-looking, and hard to fool, quickly takes off on a trail still as warm as the smoking wreckage. A host of vivid characters people the narrative, including a lovely State Department analyst who finds herself attracted to undercover types; a militia leader in Idaho who leads his people into gunfire; a reporter at odds with his boss but not with a good story; and a secretary of state who loves baseball slightly more than her job. Fast-paced and informative about flying, food, statecraft, and the violent "wetwork" under the dryly elegant exterior of diplomacy, Margaret Truman's Murder in Foggy Bottom is another winner in the Capital Crimes series.
©2002 Margaret Truman (P)2005 Brilliance Audio, Inc.
Deadman's Bluff
Summary
A blind poker player named Skip DeMarco is scamming the world's largest poker tournament in Las Vegas, and cheating expert Tony Valentine and his son, Gerry, have been hired to find out how. DeMarco is tied to some dangerously desperate characters who will go to extremes - even cold-blooded murder - to ensure that the obnoxious DeMarco wins big. While Gerry flies to Atlantic City to suss out DeMarco’s secret, Valentine stays in Vegas and teams up with an aging grifter named Rufus Steele, who has his own score to settle with DeMarco. On opposite sides of a deadly game, father and son work their way through a colorful landscape of con men and hit men.
©2006 James Swain (P)2010 AudioGo
Patriot Pirates
Summary
They were legalized pirates empowered by the Continental Congress to raid and plunder, at their own considerable risk, as much enemy trade as they could successfully haul back to America's shores. They played a decisive role in America's struggle for independence and later turned their seafaring talents to the slave trade, revealing the conflict between enterprise and morality central to American history.In Patriot Pirates, Robert H. Patton, the grandson of the battlefield genius of World War II, explains how privatizing engaged all levels of Revolutionary life, from the dockyards to the assembly halls; how it gave rise to wild speculation in purchased shares in privateer ventures, enabling sailors to make more money in a month than they might earn in a year; and how privatizing created fortunes that survive to this day.As one naval historian wrote, "The great battles of the American Revolution were fought on land, but independence was won at sea."Patton tells how, in addition to its strategic and economic importance, privatizing played a large political role in the Revolution. For example, Benjamin Franklin, from his diplomatic post in Paris, secretly encouraged skippers to sell their captured goods in French ports - a calculated effort on Franklin's part to break the neutrality agreements between France and Britain, bring the two countries to blows, and take the pressure off American fighters.This is a sweeping tale of maritime rebel-entrepreneurs bent on personal profit and national freedom.
©2008 Robert H. Patton (P)2008 Tantor
On Democracy
Summary
The last half of the 20th century was an era of democratic triumph. The main antidemocratic regimes - communist, fascist, Nazi - disappeared, and new democracies emerged vigorously or tenatively throughout the world. In this accessible and authoratative book, one of the most prominent political theorists of our time provides a primer on democracy that clarifies what it is, why it is valuable, how it works, and what challenges it confronts in the future. Robert Dahl begins with an overview of the early history of democracy. He goes on to discuss differences among democracies, criteria for a democratic process, basic institutions necessary for advancing the goals of democracy, and the social and economic conditions that favor the development and maintenance of these institutions. Along the way, he illustrates his points by describing different democratic countries, explaining, for example, why India, which seems to lack most of the conditions for a stable democracy, is nevertheless able to sustain one. Dahl answers such puzzling questions as why market-capitalism can both favor and harm democracy. And he concludes by examining the major problems that democratic countries will face in the 21st century, problems that will arise from complexities in the economic order, from internationalization, from cultural diversity, and from the difficulty of achieving an adequate level of citizen competence. This book is published by Yale University Press.
©1998 Yale University (P)2010 Redwood Audiobooks
The Rebellion of Ronald Reagan
Summary
Drawing on new interviews and previously unavailable documents, James Mann offers a fresh and compelling narrative - a new history assessing what Ronald Reagan did and did not do to help bring America's four-decade conflict with the Soviet Union to a close. As he did so masterfully in Rise of the Vulcans, Mann sheds new light on the hidden aspects of American foreign policy. He reveals previously undisclosed secret messages between Reagan and Moscow; internal White House intrigues; and battles with leading figures such as Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger, who repeatedly questioned Reagan's unfolding diplomacy with Mikhail Gorbachev. He details the background and fierce debate over Reagan's famous Berlin Wall speech and shows how it fit into Reagan's policies. Ultimately, Mann dispels the facile stereotypes of Reagan in favor of a levelheaded, cogent understanding of a determined president and his strategy. This book finally answers the troubling questions about Reagan's actual role in the crumbling of Soviet power. Mann concludes that by recognizing the significance of Gorbachev, Reagan helped bring the Cold War to a close.
©2008 James Mann (P)2009 Tantor
Jesus for the Non-Religious
Summary
Writing from his prison cell in Nazi Germany in 1945, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a young German theologian, sketched a vision of what he called "Religionless Christianity". In this book, John Shelby Spong puts flesh onto the bare bones of Bonhoeffer's radical thought. The result is a strikingly new and different portrait of Jesus of Nazareth, a Jesus for the non-religious. Spong challenges much of the traditional understanding, from the tale of Jesus' miraculous birth to the account of his cosmic ascension into the sky. He questions the historicity of the ideas that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, that he had 12 disciples, or that the miracle stories were ever meant to be descriptions of supernatural events. He also speaks directly to those critics of Christianity who call God a "delusion" and who describe Christianity as having become evil and destructive. Spong invites listeners to examine Jesus in the context of both the Jewish scriptures and the liturgical life of the first-century synagogue. He proposes a new way of understanding the divinity of Christ as the ultimate dimension of a fulfilled humanity. Jesus for the Non-Religious may finally bring the pious and the secular into a meaningful dialogue, opening the door to a living Christianity in the post-Christian world.
©2007 John Shelby Spong (P)2007 HarperCollins Publishers
The Triumph of Evil
Summary
<>p>Assassinations, political upheaval, student riots, and conservative rage. In the thick of the Cold War, it was the perfect recipe for revolution, and it only took a gentle push to send a nation toppling into dictatorship. But what if it happened in the United States? Miles Dorn can make it so. A hired killer with no past and no future, he steps out of retirement and sets his sights on the political leaders holding America back from the brink. When they fall, a tyrant will step forward and Dorn will disappear again. But as the death toll rises, he finds himself growing close to a civilian who makes him question his path. Can he turn back before it's too late for him - and America?
©1971 Paul Kavanagh (P)2011 Dreamscape Media, LLC
The Art of Woo
Summary
Your projects, programs, and career turn on the difference between "no" and "yes". Yet selling ideas, especially the kinds of ideas that make organizations work, is a skill shrouded in mystery. Part emotional intelligence, part politics, part rhetoric, and part psychology, selling ideas is not like tricking someone out of his money. It's about helping others to see things your way: engaging their minds and imaginations. Charles Lindbergh, for example, needed woo to assemble backers for his famous flight. Nelson Mandela also used it to lead a revolution in South Africa. In any context, woo is two parts art and one part science. In The Art of Woo, Professors G. Richard Shell and Mario Moussa offer a self-assessment to determine which persuasion role fits you best and how to make the most of your natural strengths. They also share vivid stories from their experiences advising thousands of leaders and stories about famous people like John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, Andy Grove, and Bono. Whether you're introverted or extroverted, competitive or collaborative, intellectual or practical, The Art of Woo will strengthen your persuasion skill in every aspect of your life.
©2007 G. Richard Shell and Mario Moussa (P)2007 Tantor Media Inc.
40 More Years
Summary
Every four years Americans hold a presidential election. Somebody wins and somebody loses. That's life. But 2008 was an anomaly. The election of President Barack Obama is about something far bigger than four or even eight years in the White House. Since 2004, Americans have been witnessing and participating in the emergence of a Democratic majority that will last not four but forty years. To understand the emergence of a lasting Democratic majority, James Carville first reviews the profound and relentless incompetence of the Bush administration---and the pursuant collapse of the Republican Party. That means looking back at the failure of Republican ideas---including a wholesale rejection of the myth of conservative superiority on the economy---and holding our noses long enough to survey the gallery of truly repellent scoundrels, scandals, and screwups that the Republican Party has been responsible for over the last eight years. After completing the unpleasant but edifying task of autopsying the Republican Party, Carville examines the underpinnings of Democratic victories in 2004, 2006, and 2008---and makes the argument for why Democrats are going to keep winning (two words: young people). In short, the Republicans are going to keep getting spanked again and again for forty more years because we're right and they're wrong, and Americans know it.
©2009 James Carville (P)2009 Tantor
Not Comin' Home to You
Summary
Jimmie John Hall wasn't anything until he was a killer, and Betty Dienhardt wasn't anything until she met Jimmie John Hall. When they get together, sparks fly and bullets follow. The first to go are Betty's parents, but Betty isn't bothered. She only wants to be with her man - the first person to ever make her feel special. They set off on a cross-country spree, killing for gas money and food, killing to swap their car for one the police aren't looking for. As the dragnet draws tighter, they only grow closer, riding a road that leads to death because death has surrounded them all the time.
©1974 Paul Kavenaugh (P)2011 Dreamscape Media
Mystery Writers of America Presents
Summary
From the Civil War-era south, to 1950's New York, to the present day's gritty cities and seemingly innocuous suburbs, the 18 stories in this anthology, edited by the award-winning mystery writer Harlan Coben, chart the complications - always surprising, sometimes deadly - that arise between lovers, dear friends, and even complete strangers coming together for a single, shocking encounter. In Lee Child's "Safe Enough", a blue-collar city boy takes up with a wealthy suburban wife, with dire consequences. In Harlan Coben's "Entrapped", a woman's husband disappears and is replaced by a handsome impostor. In Laura Lippman's "One True Love", a high-end prostitute seeks a radical solution to a public relations problem. Finally, in P. J. Parrish's "One Shot", a man returns to his childhood home to learn the truth about a long-ago tragedy. Other contributors of original stories include Ridley Pearson, R. L. Stine, Jim Fusilli, Jeff Abbott, Charles Todd, and Tom Savage.
©2006 Mystery Writers of America, Inc. (P)2008 Tantor
In the Midst of Death
Summary
Jerry Broadfield thinks he's a good cop. But now he's been charged with extortion - and his former buddies in the NYPD would like to see him laid out on a morgue slab for squealing to a committee on police corruption. Suddenly, he's got a lot of enemies, and when a dead call girl turns up in his apartment, his troubles get even bigger. Broadfield screams "setup," but nobody believes him - except ex-policeman, now unlicensed PI Matthew Scudder. Because Broadfield turned traitor no cop is going to give Scudder any help with this investigation, so Scudder's on his own. But finding a killer among the stoolie cop's sleazebag connections is going to be as difficult as pouring a cold beer in hell - where some of Broadfield's enemies would like to see Scudder if he gets himself in too deep.
©1976 Lawrence Block. All rights reserved. (P)2011 AudioGo
Thomas Jefferson's Creme Brulee
Summary
In 1784, Thomas Jefferson struck a deal with one of his slaves, 19-year-old James Hemings. The founding father was traveling to Paris and wanted to bring James along for a particular purpose - to master the art of French cooking. In exchange for James's cooperation, Jefferson would grant his freedom. Thus began one of the strangest partnerships in United States history. As Hemings apprenticed under master French chefs, Jefferson studied the cultivation of French crops (especially grapes for winemaking) so that they might be replicated in American agriculture. The two men returned home with such marvels as pasta, French fries, Champagne, macaroni and cheese, crème brûlée, and a host of other treats. This narrative history tells the story of their remarkable adventure.
©2012 Thomas J. Craughwell (P)2013 Tantor
Stalin's Secret Agents
Summary
Most Americans have grown accustomed to accept the version of history that the Soviets were our noble allies and took the brunt of the casualties during World War II. But after decades of research by veteran journalist M. Stanton Evans and intelligence expert Herbert Romerstein, the truth has come to light and is now exposed in Stalin's Secret Agents. Evans and Romerstein focus on the role of secret Communist Alger Hiss at the crucial Yalta Conference of 1945, where vast U.S. concessions were made to Russia, and the maneuvers of numerous other Soviet agents to serve the ends of Moscow. Fascinating details about the fall of China, Yugoslavia, and Poland to Communist domination as well as the identities of key conspirators in high places are revealed. The authors recount the steps by which the penetration occurred under FDR, the influence wielded by such advisers as Harry Hopkins and Henry Morgenthau, and the indifference of U.S. officials during this time. Also included are riveting details about the multi-layered cover-up - including rigged grand jury sessions - and the extent of the theft of secrets are sure to surprise and stun listeners everywhere.
©2012 M. Stanton Evans and Herbert Romerstein (P)2012 Tantor
The Sky Is Not Falling
Summary
Amid a rising tide of despair comes a trusted voice of hope and reason. Not since the 1970s have Americans faced such a perfect storm of economic, moral and cultural crises. In the face of that intensifying gale, many Christians have succumbed to a paralyzing blend of dismay and resignation. Enter Charles Colson, one of the faith’s most respected statesmen and formidable defenders. In The Sky Is Not Falling, this New York Times best-selling author delivers much more than a tour of our nation’s cultural landscape. He offers a road map for living confidently in these turbulent times, equipping you to stand firm in God’s love and power in a hostile world.
©2011 Charles Colson (P)2011 Oasis Audio
The House of Mondavi
Summary
Set in California's lush Napa Valley and spanning four generations of a talented and visionary family, The House of Mondavi is a tale of genius, sibling rivalry, and betrayal. From 1906, when Italian immigrant Cesare Mondavi passed through Ellis Island, to the Robert Mondavi Corporation's 21st-century battle over a billion-dollar fortune, award-winning journalist Julia Flynn Siler brings to life both the place and the people in this riveting family drama. The blood feuds are as spectacular as the business triumphs. Cesare's sons, Robert and Peter, literally came to blows in the 1960s during a dispute touched off by the purchase of a mink coat, resulting in Robert's exile from the family - and his subsequent founding of a winery that would set off a revolution in American winemaking. Robert's sons, Michael and Timothy, as passionate in their own ways as their visionary father, waged battles with each other for control of the company before Michael's expansive ambitions ultimately led to a board coup and the sale of the business to an international conglomerate. A meticulously reported narrative based on thousands of hours of interviews, The House of Mondavi is bound to become a classic.
©2007 Julia Flynn Siler (P)2007 Tantor Media Inc.
Rising Tide
Summary
The extraordinary story of how Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant and Joe Namath, his star quarterback at the University of Alabama, led the Crimson Tide to victory and transformed football into a truly national pastime. During the bloodiest years of the civil rights movement, Bear Bryant and Joe Namath - two of the most iconic and controversial figures in American sports - changed the game of college football forever. Brilliantly and urgently drawn, this is the gripping account of how these two very different men - Bryant a legendary coach in the South who was facing a pair of ethics scandals that threatened his career, and Namath a cocky Northerner from a steel mill town in Pennsylvania - led the Crimson Tide to a national championship. To Bryant and Namath, the game was everything. But no one could ignore the changes sweeping the nation between 1961 and 1965 - from the Freedom Rides to the integration of colleges across the South and the assassination of President Kennedy. Against this explosive backdrop, Bryant and Namath changed the meaning of football. Their final contest together, the 1965 Orange Bowl, was the first football game broadcast nationally, in color, during prime time, signaling a new era for the sport and the nation. Award-winning biographer Randy Roberts and sports historian Ed Krzemienski showcase the moment when two thoroughly American traditions - football and Dixie - collided. A compelling story of race and politics, honor and the will to win, Rising Tide captures a singular time in America. More than a history of college football, this is the story of the struggle and triumph of a nation in transition and the legacy of two of the greatest heroes the sport has ever seen.
©2013 Randy Roberts (P)2013 Hachette Audio
67 Shots
Summary
At midday on May 4, 1970, after three days of protests, several thousand students and the Ohio National Guard faced off at opposite ends of the grassy campus commons at Kent State University. At noon, the Guard moved out. Twenty-four minutes later, Guardsmen launched a 13-second, 67-shot barrage that left four students dead and nine wounded, one paralyzed for life. The story doesn't end there, though. A horror of far greater proportions was narrowly averted minutes later when the Guard and students reassembled on the commons. The Kent State shootings were both unavoidable and preventable: unavoidable in that all the discordant forces of a turbulent decade flowed together on May 4, 1970, on one Ohio campus; preventable in that every party to the tragedy made the wrong choices at the wrong time in the wrong place. Using the university's recently available oral-history collection supplemented by extensive new interviewing, Means tells the story of this iconic American moment through the eyes and memories of those who were there, and skillfully situates it in the context of a tumultuous era.
©2016 Howard Means (P)2016 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
To Hell on a Fast Horse
Summary
Billy the Kid - a.k.a. Henry McCarty, Henry Antrim, and William Bonney - was a horse thief, cattle rustler, charismatic rogue, and cold-blooded killer. A superb shot, the Kid gunned down four men single-handedly and five others with the help of cronies. Two of his victims were Lincoln County, New Mexico, deputies, killed during the Kid's brazen daylight escape from the courthouse jail on April 28, 1881. After dispensing with his guards and breaking the chain securing his leg irons, the Kid danced a macabre jig on the jail's porch before riding away on a stolen horse as terrified townspeople - and many sympathizers - watched. For new sheriff Pat Garrett, the chase was on. To Hell on a Fast Horse re-creates the thrilling manhunt for the Wild West's most iconic outlaw. It is also the first dual biography of the Kid and Garrett, two larger-than-life figures who would not have become the stuff of legend without the other. Drawing on voluminous primary sources and a wealth of published scholarship, Mark Lee Gardner digs beneath the myth to take a fresh look at these two men, their relationship, and what they would come to mean to a public enamored of the violent past of the Wild West. Contains mature themes.
©2010, 2020 Mark Lee Gardner (P)2021 Tantor