David Ackroyd has narrated 14 audiobooks on Listento.it by 26 authors, with an average listener rating of 4★ across 76 ratings. The most-rated is Dying to Wake Up.
Dying to Wake Up
Summary
A rare glimpse into heaven, hell, and previous lives. Dr. Rajiv Parti's near-death experience brought him on a journey through the afterworld, leading to a spiritual awakening that transformed his career, his lifestyle, and even his fundamental beliefs. Before his near-death experience, Dr. Rajiv Parti was a wealthy man of science with a successful career as the chief of anesthesiology at the Bakersfield Heart Hospital in California. He demanded the same success from his son, whose failures provoked episodes of physical abuse from Dr. Parti. All in all, Dr. Parti was the last man to believe in heaven or hell - that is, until he saw them with his own eyes. When Dr. Parti had his near-death experience on the operating table, he first watched his own operation from the ceiling - even recalling a joke told by his doctors during his surgery. He was greeted by archangels and his deceased father, who led him through the tortures of hell and revealed the toxic cycle of violence that has plagued his family for generations. He even reviewed the struggles of his previous lives, which in many ways reflected those he still faced in the present. Finally he experienced heaven. From the angels he learned lessons of spiritual health that they insisted he bring down to earth. To do so, Dr. Parti knew, he had to change his ways. After his near-death experience, Dr. Parti awoke a new man. He gave away his mansion, quit his career, opened a wellness clinic, and completely turned around his relationships with his family. To this day he still converses with angels and spreads their wisdom to the living. In this remarkable true story of spiritual transformation, Dr. Parti provides rare details of heaven, hell, the afterlife, and angels. In sharing the lessons and eternal truths from the divine that changed him forever, Dr. Parti offers his audience the opportunity to attain peace and live better lives here on earth.
©2016 Rajiv Parti, MD and Paul Perry. (P)2016 Simon & Schuster, Inc.
Swamplandia!
Summary
From the celebrated 29-year-old author of the everywhere-heralded short-story collection St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves (“How I wish these were my own words, instead of the breakneck demon writer Karen Russell’s.... Run for your life. This girl is on fire," said the Los Angeles Times Book Review) comes a blazingly original debut novel that takes us back to the swamps of the Florida Everglades, and introduces us to Ava Bigtree, an unforgettable young heroine. The Bigtree alligator-wrestling dynasty is in decline, and Swamplandia!, their island home and gator-wrestling theme park, formerly number-one in the region, is swiftly being encroached upon by a fearsome and sophisticated competitor called the World of Darkness. Ava’s mother, the park’s indomitable headliner, has just died; her sister, Ossie, has fallen in love with a spooky character known as the Dredgeman, who may or may not be an actual ghost; and her brilliant big brother, Kiwi, who dreams of becoming a scholar, has just defected to the World of Darkness in a last-ditch effort to keep their family business from going under. Ava’s father, affectionately known as Chief Bigtree, is AWOL; and that leaves Ava, a resourceful but terrified thirteen, to manage 98 gators and the vast, inscrutable landscape of her own grief. Against a backdrop of hauntingly fecund plant life animated by ancient lizards and lawless hungers, Karen Russell has written an utterly singular novel about a family’s struggle to stay afloat in a world that is inexorably sinking. An arrestingly beautiful and inventive work from a vibrant new voice in fiction.
©2011 Karen Russell (P)2011 Random House
The Greatest Science Fiction Stories of the 20th Century
Summary
From Ellison to Clarke to Merrill, hear a dozen unabridged science-fiction short stories, considered the best of the best from the 20th century. They are: "Why I Left Harry's All-Night Diner" by Lawrence Watt Evans, "Jeffty Is Five" by Harlan Ellison, "The Nine Billion Names of God" by Arthur C. Clarke, "The Crystal Spheres" by David Brin, "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" by Ursula K. LeGuin, "Huddling Place" by Clifford D. Simak, "That Only a Mother" by Judith Merrill, "Fermi and Frost" by Frederick Pohl, "Tangents" by Greg Bear, "Bears Discover Fire" by Terry Bisson, "Allamagoosa" by Eric Frank Russell, and "Twilight" by John W. Campbell.
©1987 by Lawrence Watt Evans; 1935 by Street & Smith Publications; 1985 by Davis Publications, Inc.; 1953, Renewed 1981 by Arthur C. Clarke; 1948 by Judith Merrill; 1973 by Ursula K. LeGuin; 1986 by Omni Publications International Ltd.; 1990 by Davis Publications Inc., "Allamagoosa", Copyright 1955 by Street & Smith Publications, Inc.; 1977 by Harlan Ellison; 1984 by David Brin; 1944 by Street & Smith Publications, Inc., Renewed 1972 by Clifford D. Simak (P)1998 by NewStar Media, Inc.
When Elephants Weep
Summary
This engaging and authoritative portrait of animals' emotional lives is as groundbreaking as Darwin's Origin of Species in the facts and insights it presents about the animal kingdom. You'll meet an Indian elephant known for his facial expressions, a shy gorilla who is proficient in sign language and loves to play house with dolls, and an African grey parrot who, when left at the veterinarian's, cried, "Come here! I love you. I'm sorry. I want to go back." Animal lovers know that their dogs, cats, and birds have complex emotional lives, and now scientists have begun to chip away at this traditional scientific taboo.
©1995 Jeffrey Masson and Susan McCarthy (P)1995 Dove Audio, Inc.
First Light
Summary
Peter is thrilled to leave New York City to accompany his parents on an expedition to Greenland to study global warming. There he has visions of things that should be too far away for him to see. Generations ago, the people of Theas community were hunted for possessing unusual abilities, so they fled beneath the ice. Thea needs help that only Peter can give. Their meeting reveals secrets of both their pasts, and changes the future for them both forever.
©2008 Rebecca Stead (P)2010 Listening Library
Morning, Noon, and Night
Summary
Harry Stanford, one of the world's wealthiest man, dies mysteriously while cruising his yacht along the rugged coast of Corsica. Immediately following Stanford's funeral in Boston, a lovely young woman identifies herself as the tycoon's daughter and heir to a share of his estate. When the well-respected Stanford family looks into the identity of the unexpected heiress, they uncover a world of blackmail, drugs, and murder that leads them through the Italian Riviera, the fashion salons of Paris and New York, and the social register of Florida's Hobe Sound. Actor David Ackroyd narrates Sidney Sheldon's masterful series of events that lead to an explosive and surprise ending.
©1995 by Sheldon Literary Trust (P)1995 by Dove Audio, Inc.
Hoodwinked
Summary
John Perkins has seen the signs of today's economic meltdown before. The subprime mortgage fiascos, the banking industry collapse, the rising tide of unemployment, the shuttering of small businesses across the landscape are all too familiar symptoms of a far greater disease. In his former life as an economic hit man, he was on the front lines both as an observer and a perpetrator of events, once confined only to the third world, that have now sent the United States - and in fact the entire planet - spiraling toward disaster. Here, Perkins pulls back the curtain on the real cause of the current global financial meltdown. He shows how we've been hoodwinked by the CEOs who run the corporatocracy - those few corporations that control the vast amounts of capital, land, and resources around the globe - and the politicians they manipulate. These corporate fat cats, Perkins explains, have sold us all on what he calls predatory capitalism, a misguided form of geopolitics and capitalism that encourages a widespread exploitation of the many to benefit a small number of the already very wealthy. Their arrogance, gluttony, and mismanagement have brought us to this perilous edge. The solution is not a "return to normal". But there is a way out. As Perkins makes clear, we can create a healthy economy that will encourage businesses to act responsibly, not only in the interests of their shareholders and corporate partners (and the lobbyists they have in their pockets), but in the interests of their employees, their customers, the environment, and society at large. We can create a society that fosters a just, sustainable, and safe world for us and our children. Each one of us makes these choices every day, in ways that are clearly spelled out in this book. "We hold the power", he says, "if only we recognize it." Hoodwinked is a powerful polemic that shows not only how we arrived at this precarious point in our history but also what we must do to stop the gl...
©2009 John Perkins (P)2009 Random House
The Boy Who Dared
Summary
When 16-year-old Helmuth Hubner listens to the BBC news on an illegal short-wave radio, he quickly discovers Germany is lying to the people. But when he tries to expose the truth with leaflets, he's tried for treason. Sentenced to death and waiting in a jail cell, Helmuth's story emerges in a series of flashbacks that show his growth from a naive child caught up in the patriotism of the times, to a sensitive and mature young man who thinks for himself.
©2008 Susan Campbell Bartoletti (P)2009 Listening Library
Deadlines and Datelines
Summary
With his distinctive blend of frontline determination and a journalist's knack for a good story, CBS anchorman Dan Rather looks at the awesome struggles and everyday accomplishments he's witnessed at home and around the globe. Ranging from the Iraq conflict to poverty in China, from tragedies like the Oklahoma City bombing to triumphs in courage, Deadlines and Datelines offers a unique chance to share the insights of one of America's premier newsmen. Though not without its lighter moments, Rather's essays offer a wide range of thought-provoking observations and show yet again the skill and intelligence that have made him an important part of our world for more than four decades.
©1999 Dan Rather (P)1999 NewStar Media Inc.
Black Duck
Summary
When Ruben and Jed find a dead body on the Rhode Island shore, they are certain it has something to do with smuggling liquor. It's the 1920s, Prohibition and bootlegging is in full swing, and almost everyone in the shore community is involved. Suddenly, the boys find themselves involved as well: didn't the dead man have something on him, and didn't they take it? It isn't long before Ruben is actually on the legendary Black Duck itself, caught in a war between two of the most ferocious prohibition gangs. Filled with resounding mystery and suspense by Newbery Honor winner Janet Taylor Lisle, Black Duck is original and enthralling historical fiction.
©2006 Janet Taylor Lisle (P)2007 Random House Inc. Listening Library, an imprint of the Random House Audio Publishing Group
The Anatomy of Deception
Summary
This mesmerizing forensic thriller thrusts the listener into the operating rooms, drawing rooms, and back alleys of 1889 Philadelphia as a young doctor grapples with the principles of scientific process to track a daring killer.In the morgue of a Philadelphia hospital, a group of physicians open a coffin and uncover the corpse of a beautiful young woman. What they see takes their breath away. Within days, one of them strongly suspects that he knows the woman's identity - and the horrifying events that led to her death. But in this richly atmospheric novel, an ingenious blend of history, suspense, and early forensic science, the most compelling chapter is yet to come, as young Ephraim Carroll is plunged into a maze of murder, secrets and unimaginable crimes.Dr. Ephraim Carroll came to Philadelphia to study with a leading professor, the brilliant William Osler, believing that he would gain the power to save countless lives. As America hurtles toward a new century, medicine is changing rapidly, in part due to the legalization of autopsy - a crime only a few years before. But Carroll and his mentor are at odds over what they glimpsed that morning in the hospital's Dead House. And when a second mysterious death is determined to have been a ruthless murder, Carroll can feel the darkness gathering around him, and he ignites an investigation of his own.Soon he is moving between the realm of elite medicine, Philadelphia high society, and a teeming badlands of criminality and sexual depravity along the city's fetid waterfront. With a wealthy, seductive woman clouding his vision, the controversial artist Thomas Eakins sowing scandal, and the secrets of the nation's powerful surgeons unraveling around him, Carroll is forced to confront an agonizing moral choice: between exposing a killer, undoing a wrong, and, quite possibly, protecting the future of medicine itself.
©2008 Lawrence Goldstone (P)2008 Random House, Inc.
Die Hard with a Vengeance
Summary
A mad bomber is terrorizing the city. But New York has a weapon of its own - Detective John McClane. Originally published as tie-in novelization to the 1995 major motion picture.
©1995 Twentieth Century Fox (P)1995, 2017 Twentieth Century Fox
The Vanishing Men
Summary
This superb collection of nine detective stories focuses on the police procedural genre where crime investigation takes on a sense of reality. Written by masters of the genre, these classic stories include: "Death Makes a Comeback" by James O'Keefe, "Squealer" by John D. MacDonald, "Jode's Last Hunt" by Brian Garfield, "The Man in the Red Flannel Suit" by Jan Grape, "The Vanishing Men" by Edward D. Hoch, "A Contest Fit for a Queen" by Susan Dunlap, "Chee's Witch" by Tony Hillerman, "Ghost Station" by Carolyn Wheat, and "J" by Ed McBain. Edited by Martin Greenberg. Full cast of narrators includes William Sanderson and Shauna Zurbrugg.
©1999 Martin Greenberg (P)1999, 2017 Audio Literature / Phoenix Books
Legacy
Summary
In this sweeping novel inspired by the Iran-contra affair, master storyteller James A. Michener conjures the triumphs and tragedies of one family and their dynamic role in the history of the United States and its founding document. Over a tense weekend of reflection, Major Norman Starr of the National Security Council prepares to appear before a congressional committee to publicly account for his covert actions. Hoping to learn something from his proud, troubled heritage, Starr looks for guidance in the lives of his ancestors: all-Americans who weren't always right. From a framer of the Constitution to a slave owner, from a Supreme Court justice to a courageous suffragist, each recalls an important legacy that Starr must somehow reconcile with his own perilous dilemma.
©2016 James A. Michener (P)2016 Random House Audio