Tom Burka has narrated 7 audiobooks on Listento.it by 7 authors. The most-rated is Kissed by Literature.
Ping-Pong Diplomacy
Summary
The spring of 1971 heralded the greatest geopolitical realignment in a generation. After 22 years of antagonism, China and the United States suddenly moved toward a détente - achieved not by politicians but by ping-pong players. The Western press delighted in the absurdity of the moment and branded it "Ping-Pong Diplomacy". But for the Chinese, ping-pong was always political, a strategic cog in Mao Zedong's foreign policy. Nicholas Griffin proves that the organized game, from its first breath, was tied to Communism thanks to its founder, Ivor Montagu, son of a wealthy English baron and spy for the Soviet Union. Ping-Pong Diplomacy traces a crucial intersection of sports and society. Griffin tells the strange and tragic story of how the game was manipulated at the highest levels; how the Chinese government helped cover up the death of 36 million peasants by holding the World Table Tennis Championships during the Great Famine; how championship players were driven to their deaths during the Cultural Revolution; and, finally, how the survivors were reconvened in 1971 and ordered to reach out to their American counterparts. Through a cast of eccentric characters, from spies to hippies and ping-pong-obsessed generals to atom-bomb survivors, Griffin explores how a neglected sport was used to help realign the balance of worldwide power.
©2014 Nicholas Griffin (P)2015 Audible, Inc.
Spring's Savior
Summary
Samuel Fox is shocked to find two small girls alone on the trail. After discovering that the wagon train had abandoned them, and their parents had died in their wagon, he takes them home to his childless wife. Together, they decide to adopt and raise the two girls Spring and Autumn, along with Brenden, the boy they took in several years previously. Brenden knew on the day he saved Spring's life - when she was seven years old - that she would, someday, be his. He proved his love for her by waiting until she was old enough to become his bride. Spring, however, has grown up to be a handful. Is Brenden up to the task of keeping her in line? Publisher's note: This historical Western romance contains graphic scenes as well as stern discipline. If such material is offensive to you, please refrain from listening to it.
©2018 ABCD Graphics and Design Inc. (P)2020 ABCD Graphics and Designs Inc.
Live from Medicine Park
Summary
Documentary filmmaker Ray Wheeler is down on his luck. Embroiled in a lawsuit, he is reeling from the consequences of a near-fatal shooting on his last film and has just lost his teaching gig. Broke and beleaguered, he can’t afford to be particular about his next project. So, when a former student invites him to film the comeback of Lena Wells, an iconic rock-and-roll singer who hit it big in the '70s, more than two decades earlier, he reluctantly agrees, even though he doesn’t like her music.
When Ray arrives at Lena’s hometown of Medicine Park, Oklahoma, a defunct resort community, he is determined to approach his topic with the professional detachment that has guided his career. His work ethic is modeled on the prime directive of Star Trek: Never interfere with an alien civilization. But with only five days left before Lena’s comeback concert, Ray quickly runs afoul of his subject, who places him on a one-week probation. The terms: impress her or else...
It doesn’t take long before Ray violates his own ethical standards. Drawn romantically toward Lena, he also fails to prevent himself from interfering with the lives of the people closest to her, including her only son Gram, whose paternity is a mystery even to himself, her daughter-in-law Jettie, and the enigmatic guitar player Cyril Dodge.
When disaster strikes Ray’s set again, this time in Medicine Park, he must face truths he has avoided for too long about love, relationships, and responsibility.
Live from Medicine Park is a bittersweet reflection on the search for identity and purpose amid tragedy. As the novel reaches its climax, Ray sets out on one last adventure to set things right. Redemption may be possible, but only on its own terms.
©2017 Constance Squires (P)2020 Constance Squires
Wild Monsters Dance About: Stories from an Unruly Mind
Summary
Wild Monsters Dance About is a collection of 21 short stories that will take into author M.J. Sewall’s unruly mind. These finely tuned tales jump through genres, concepts and characters, predicaments, adventures, and conundrums. Whether about everyday-science going terribly wrong in "Unintended Science" to animal evolution suddenly speeding up in "It Finally happened" or the prickly family politics of road trips in "Sibling Warfare", these stories will thrill, delight, and discombobulate your imagination. Not all these tales are wild monsters, but some may bite. You have been warned!
©2018 M.J. Sewall (P)2019 M.J. Sewall
The White Streak
Summary
Recently, a number of Western stories have been discovered among Max Brand's unpublished works and the first story in this book, "The White Streak", is one of them. Its protagonist is 21-year-old Jimmy Babcock, a former football star, but now a worker at the local bank run by William Parker in the town of Dresser, which has changed from cattle country to one made up of oil and alfalfa fields. When Parker fires Jimmy, all Jimmy can think is how he will hurt Muriel Aiken, his fiancée, who wants to marry. When his father signs over the old family homestead that is in serious need of repair, Jimmy feels better. But an unexpected invitation from Parker to meet him at the Club convinces him that Parker wants him back. When he learns what Parker really has in mind, Jimmy finds himself recalling the stories he has heard about the notorious robbers the White Streak and Utah Billie, and he has to make a hard decision. In "The Masked Rider" the betrothed of Carlos Torreño, Lucia d'Arquista, is making her way to Casa Torreño in Spanish California in which no expense has been spared in making her journey a lavish one by her soon-to-be father-in-law, Francisco Torreño. But it is on the journey that Francisco decides that Lucia is a sparrowhawk and that she must be watched carefully, especially once she takes an interest in Taki, a Navajo who is working off a debt to Francisco.
©2020 Max Brand (P)2020 Blackstone Western
Unreal Encounters
Summary
Horror, humor, and science fiction collide in this collection of weird tales about possible futures, warped present-day realities, and alternate history. Unreliable narrators run rampant alongside aliens, ghosts, bullies, cannibals, home invaders, heroes, villains, unimaginable creatures, and gifted individuals of all ages. Paranoia, fear, and bizarre situations abound in these reality-bending stories guaranteed to take you places you've never been. 40 Short Stories - Horror / Science Fiction / Humor
©2016 to present Milo James Fowler (P)2019 Milo James Fowler
Kissed by Literature
Summary
Enter worlds of steampunk and terror, where you’ll meet ghosts that will raise the hairs along your arms. Among the tales, you’ll encounter a serial killer stalking a country road and a vacation destination riddled with evil. This collection of short stories explores the different writing styles and genres of Amazon best-selling author Jordan Elizabeth. Full cast of narrators includes: Melissa Schwairy, Zoe Watkins, Jayme Mattler, and Senn Annis.
©2017 Jordan Elizabeth Hallak (P)2019 Jordan Elizabeth Hallak