"Over the End Line" by Alfred C. Martino

"Over the End Line"
by Alfred C. Martino
Read by Todd Licea
Produced by Listen & Live Audio (2009)
Approx 6 hours

I don't usually start out an audiobook review talking about the reader, unless it is a multi-cast performance, but this time around I have to jump to it and get it off my chest. The reader of this audiobook, Todd Licea, Is overwhelmingly awesome at presenting this book. The book is told in first person and the author, Alfred C. Martino, provides some beautiful wordsmithing to create the story which in and of itself creates a theatre of the mind effect, but Todd Licea presents the story with such great quality that basically the listener has no choice but to strap in and enjoy the ride.

Martino creates such clear images of everything that it is as if you already know everything as it is happening. For example, when describing the scenes from the soccer practices or games the reader/listener doesn't need to know the rules, they are explained in such a way you feel as though you already know everything about the game. That teamed with the excellent delivery of Todd Licea makes for a superb story worth hearing.

Johnny Fehey has been friends with Kyle Saint-Claire since they started school, but as they enter their senior year, the distance between their obvious social differences could not be clearer. Kyle earns excellent grades and is the school’s star soccer player. Johnny has no interesting quality to own up to but tries. There also seems to be an economic social factor dividing the two also.

Legend has it that the school's social structure has been drawn out into a ladder diagram with those higher on the ladder being the most popular and those lower, the social outcasts. Johnny spends his weekends at the library, where the legendary diagram is said to be hidden, trying to find the Ladder and figuring out how to change where he stands on the ladder. Fate steps in, Johnny shoots the winning goal in the county championships, he becomes part of the popular crowd. At the victory party, Johnny witnesses the rape of a girl by Kyle and a teammate. Kyle and Johnny’s friendship hangs in balance as they ponder what to do and whether their choice will be the right decision. Little does Johnny know that the life of the closest person he understands is also at stake: his own.

The complicated relationship between Kyle and Johnny is very realistic. It is a perfect example of a story in which the characters are not divided easily in to the popular kids vs. social outcasts. The ending is very unexpected, but the lead up will keep you on the edge.

"The Lottery and Seven Other Stories" by Shirley Jackson

"The Lottery and Seven Other Stories"
by Shirley Jackson
Read by Carol Jordan Stewart
Published by BBC Audiobooks America (2010)
Approx 3.5 hours

Shirley Jackson has been called one of the best short story authors, but when she first released her story, "The Lottery," many people did not appreciate the story and she was ridiculed. Luckily we still have the chance to read these stories and be better off for it. I will admit these short stories go against the grain in both the story content and delivery.

On the delivery, I was always taught that good fiction has a beginning and and end with tension building to a release. Jackson doesn't follow that line and that the end of the stories don't release any tension, instead they leave the reader/listener with even more questions and a big void wondering what happened? Whether wanting to know what happened to the character or the events, you are just left on edge with no promise of easing that tension. When writing reviews I don't like to talk about the end of the story because I want to leave that up to the reader. I still won't break that policy with myself, but I will tell you that really the ending of each of these stories will only leave you wanting to know more and even to the point of frustration. Yes, I was frustrated at the end of some of the stories, but after I got over that tension and frustration I realizid I had just been taken on a journey and while the ending is somewhat pessimistic it was definitely an escape, which is all I ask from good literature.

The stories included in this audiobook are:

"The Lottery"
In a small village of about 300 residents, the locals are in a strange and nervous mood on 27 June. Children gather stones as the adult townsfolk assemble for their annual event, that in the local tradition has been practiced to ensure a good harvest. In the first round of the lottery, the head of each family draws a small slip of paper; One man gets the one slip with a black spot, meaning that his family has been chosen. In the next round, each Hutchinson family member draws a slip, andhis wife gets the marked slip. In keeping with tradition, which has been abandoned in at least some other neighboring communities, she must meet the fate of the lottery.

"Flower Garden"
A woman comes from New York City and purchases a cottage in a small town. When the New York woman asks a young African-American boy to help with her garden the town begins to shun the newcomer.

"Come Dance with Me in Ireland"
Three women are visiting and watching baby at home and indulging in gossip, when the doorbell rings. An elderly man, who looks extremely poor if not homeless, attempts to sell one of the women old shoelaces. Suddenly he nearly faints, and the women all try to help the man. The feed him and help him out and see him on his way, all the while criticizing him. This may not seem to intriguing as a summary but the story has more including the response the man has at the end, pretty interesting.

"Men with Their Big Shoes"
Mrs. Anderson, who works in Mrs. Hart’s home, engineers a conversation where she leads Mrs. Hart to believe that the neighborhood is gossiping about her relationship with her husband, and that to protect herself from further gossip she needs to let Mrs. Anderson live in her home.

"Trial by Combat"
An older woman is stealing things from Emily Johnson and is thus stealing her identity. When Emily realizes that they have parallel lives, she feels enough empathy for the thief that she does not react with any antagonism. I found this to be a very intriguing story especially in the twist at the end.

"Pillar of Salt"
A woman trying to cope with the change of visiting New York City after living her life in rural America. At first the sights and sounds are exhilarating but soon become overwhelming after witnessing a house on fire, a human leg washing up onshore and the death-defying feat of crossing the street in the middle of the day.

"Like Mother Used to Make"
A man is very meticulous with his apartment from the type and color of drapes to the look of the silverware, but his girlfriend seems to be, well in short, a slob. His passiveness is his downfall after he invites her over for dinner and she seems to have invited someone else.

"Colloquy"
A woman goes to the doctor to inquire about her husband’s possible insanity. The doctor’s response is so confusing that she becomes hysterical and might be the crazy one herself, though she thinks she might be the only sane person around. This one was definitely fun to hear.

"The Last Days of Krypton" by Kevin J. Anderson

"The Last Days of Krypton"
by Kevin J. Anderson
Read by William Dufris
Produced by Tantor Media, 2007
Approx 15.5 hours

I have only recently become a fan of DC comics, "Make Mine Marvel" was my slogan, but after tackling audiobook novelizations of DC heroes I've received a more in depth knowledge of what makes up the DC Universe. The only problem is that after almost a century of heroes it's hard to keep continuity. There have been many stories, for example, told of the destruction of Superman's home planet, Krypton. Did the sun go supernova, did something strike the planet,did the planet implode? An answer to each of these questions has appeard as a bit of an explanation throughout the run of Superman comics and if someone were to read all the comics from the beginning they may get a bit confused. There are other questions I've had such as where did Supergirl come from, some versions she's the cousin of Superman other's she's an angel. Well if Krypton was destroyed how did she survive? Remember the Superman movies with Christopher Reeve? How did General Zod and his two assistants come to be trapped in the neutral zone? Then there's Brainiac, what's his story?

Kevin J. Anderson has tried to sum up all these problems and write a history of Kal-el's (Superman's) home planet, Krypton in the days just before the little baby that would become Superman was blasted off toward Earth. Kevin is not a stranger to taking an established piece of work and adding to it, he has teamed up with Brian Herbert, son of Frank Herbert, to add stories to the "Dune" universe of novels. Having read and appreciated the work he has done in that realm I knew this would be a good book. The interesting aspect of this novel is that it is really not a superhero story but rather a piece of science-fiction with some superhero potential added to push the story along. This story not only explores the destruction of Krypton but also reveals the politics of this planet that just wanted to stay alone in the universe.

The reader, William Dufris, did an adequate job of reading the book, but there were times when some of the characters seemed parodies in the vocal changes. It's like Dufris wanted to turn this into a superhero story from with similar vocalizations to the '60s "Batman" tv series. There was no campiness to the writing but some of the dialogue was read that way. But it was not enough to keep me from enjoying the fun sci-fi story from Kevin J. Anderson.

The novel explores how Jor-el (Superman's father) discovers the planet and its sun is dying, and through the xenophobic politics of the elders is constantly sent packing when he is trying to save the planet. Soon alien forces invade some friendly some not so friendly and change the way the council works but it is too late and soon Commissioner Zod takes over and is determined to rule Krypton. In doing so, Zod, sacrifices many lives needlessly and puts the planet at risk, it is up to Jor-el and Zor-el (Jor-el's brother) to save Krypton. Are their efforts to late?

This story is full of adventure, excitement, passion and glory and is a perfect read for comic book and science fiction lovers alike.

"Cargo of Coffins" by L. Ron Hubbard

"Cargo of Coffins"
by L. Ron Hubbard
Multi-cast performance
Produced by Galaxy Audio, 2009
approx 2 hours

My audiobook excursion into the Stories from the Golden Age continues with more pulp fiction from the master story-teller L. Ron Hubbard. This time around I gave another Sea Adventure a listen.

While Hubbard knew how to write in the twists and turns in a story to keep a reader on the edge and eager for more, the folks at Galaxy Audio know how to take these exciting stories and produce them into audio dramas that not only keep the story true to the original form but also seem to push the listener even closer to the edge. With superb voice acting, dynamic sound effects and original music, these audio books could easily be promoted as audio dramas and find a place on the radio waves. In fact with the fun character actors and excellent narration these audio books have the feel of the old radio dramas of the mid-20th century.

This time around the Sea Adventure takes us across the ocean. "Cargo of Coffins" was originally published in the November, 1937 issue of "Argosy." Lars Marlin is out to seek revenge on Paco Corvino, he vows Paco will die at his hands, but a fluke of a moment finds Lars as Captain of an ocean going yacht where Paco is working as chief steward. The wealthy family on-board all wish they could meet someone of royalty. Paco fakes an illness and eventually his death. He has expressly forbidden anyone to open certain envelopes in his cabin unless he dies. With what seems like his death the crew opens the envelopes to find Paco is actually royalty, at least that's what he wants them to believe. After a day Paco "comes back to life" and is immediately treated according to his new-found position.

Lars knows this is a scam but under threat, by Paco, does not wish to expose his background, having escaped from a penal colony island. Paco orders the ship to dock at the same penal colony where he loads aboard the yacht some coffins, under the guise of returning the dead men to their home soil. It turns out Paco has alternate plans for the yacht and passengers and Lars is set to prevent that from happening before the ship can pull into Casablanca.

In an exciting story that will keep the listener wanting more, Galaxy Audio will place you on an ocean going yacht with action that seems so real you will be ducking bullets and hoping not to get seasick.

"A Raisin in the Sun" by Lorraine Hansberry

"A Raisin in the Sun"
by Lorraine Hansberry
Live Cast recording
Produced by L.A. Theatre Works
Approx. 2.5 hours

Wanting to revisit my theatre days, I set myself to listen to a few plays turned into audio books. I read several plays while earning a degree in theatre from Southern Illinois University and I know that plays are meant to be performed but now residing in an area where live theatre just doesn't happen on a regular basis, I decided to go back and listen to some audio performances as part of my constant audio book stream. I first tried some Shakespeare, I actually love Shakespeare, but the audio performance wasn't clicking with me at the time. So, after a while I find this treasure L.A. Theatre Works' Production of "A Raisin in the Sun." I remember reading this play in my Theatre History class and seeing a couple performances with some great actors and knowing I have enjoyed the play in the past, I gave this one a shot.

I was in for a couple of treats when putting this cd into my player. First that one of the performers, Rutina Wesley is one of my favorite actors from the TV series "True Blood" (she plays Sookie's friend Tara). And second that the recording is superb. Every subtlety of the voices is captured and it seems as though the actors have been doing audio only acting for a while because events that may be seen in the performance and not necessarily heard were clearly communicated. The recording was superb and the acting was excellent in this audio version. Even the sound effects were captured perfectly, things such as shutting of doors, flushing of toilets and clinking of glasses were heard when needed. This makes for the perfect audio book experience that I have come to expect. I know I will be searching for more productions from L.A. Theatre Works.

The story covers a struggling African-American family in Chicago, the Youngers. The Youngers represent the 4th, 5th and 6th generation of their family brought to America via slavery. The family is struggling to make a go at living out the American dream. Mama Lena Younger's husband has passed and the family is expecting a $10 thousand check from the insurance company. Mama Lena has plans to move into a better home, however, her children have other plans. Son, Walter Lee wants to buy a liquor store and daughter, Beneatha wants to go to medical school.

On the day the check arrives, Lena goes out and comes back that evening having used the money as a down-payment on a house in a white neighborhood. Eventually she entrusts Walter with the remaining amount. She tells Walter to put $3 thousand into the bank for Beneatha's school and use the rest as he sees fit.

This story is full of ups and downs as the family is told they are not wanted in the white neighborhood, Beneatha gets a marriage proposal, and Walter invests all the remaining money (including Beneatha's share) and loses it. How the family handles the good and the bad creates a play that is a true testament to hope, not only to African-Americans, but to anyone. Virtues and vices are explored and true hope is found.

A classic play produced with excellent quality create this great audio masterpiece.

"The Dresden Files: Welcome to the Jungle" Graphic Novel by Jim Butcher

"The Dresden Files: Welcome to the Jungle"
Graphic Novel
by Jim Butcher
Illustrated by Ardian Syaf
Published by Del Rey (2008)

Jim Butcher confesses in the preface to this collected edition, that when he writes a Harry Dresden story he pictures the action in comic book form and I found it interesting that as I read each new novel my mind immediately interprets into a comic book /animation format. Jim says it's because he collected Marvel comics for a large part of his life, maybe that's my reason also. I find it amazing that he and I shared the same passion, if only I had turned that passion into great writing like he did.

Anyway, these stories were originally published in comic book form in four issues. This edition collects those comics into one graphic novel and includes a section with extra artwork representing the covers and character development sketches. Reading this story in comic book form allows the reader to enjoy the action with some great artwork.

This story is a prequel to the Dresden files taking place just before the first book , "Storm Front." A side note here "Storm Front" has since been adapted to graphic novel form.

After a security guard at the Lincoln Park Zoo is found dead at the zoo, the police immediately think that a gorilla named Moe is to blame. Special Investigations Lt. Karrin Murphy, doesn't think it fits that the gorilla escaped, killed the guard and locked himself back in the cage. So she calls in the only guy capable of handling the world of the weird, Chicago's own wizard, Harry Dresden. Harry has to find what actually happened and present it to Murphy so the officials can somewhat swallow the story. Harry is soon attacked by several jungle cats, a black dog and a hag. With some help from Bob the skull, Harry finds out what is killing but now he has to figure out how to stop them or more than just the zoo will be in trouble.

With excellent Jim Butcher storytelling and beautiful artwork "Welcome to the Jungle" is a great introduction to the Dresden files series.

"Sabotage in the Sky" by L. Ron Hubbard

"Sabotage in the Sky"
by L. Ron Hubbard
Multi-cast performance
produced by Galaxy Audio
2009
Approx 2 hours

It's time once again to go on an air adventure with the master of story-telling, L. Ron Hubbard. As always make sure you're strapped in because this one will keep you on th edge of your seat. (Or as the the old monster truck rally commercials used to say, "You'll pay for the whole seat but you'll only need the edge, edge, edge.")

Hubbard wrote many stories for the pulps in the mid 20th century and every one was meant to captivate the reader in only a few pages. His writing achieved this but Galaxy Audio's production of these stories into audiobooks pushes this audience captivation further. Each of these books released by Galaxy Press and Galaxy Audio are produced with excellent character acting, realistic sound effects and original music to fit the genre to transition between chapters.

This time around I listened to "Sabotage in the Sky." This story was originally published in "Five Novels Monthly" August, 1940 and tells the story of test pilot Bill Trevillian. None of the fighter planes test pilot Bill Trevillian flies are hotter than the BCA 41 pursuit ship, so he takes it up. But someone has deliberately rigged it for failure and destruction—and for Trevillian's death.
France and Great Britain are looking for the best fighters to use in the war against the Nazis and they must choose between different American plane designs to outfly the newest and deadliest Nazi fighters, the competing companies send their two best test pilots . . . Kip and Bill. Kip turns out to be an old friend of Bill's but not one he remembers at first. Kip is a dame, and according to Bill, "Dames can't fly." But Kip is out to set him straight.

Kip and Bill grew up together, Bill was always the best pilot, and Kip looked up to him. But when Bill ridicules her on her crash landing she sets out to get back at him. But what is worse is that the Nazis have sent a saboteur to Bill's crew in order to keep the Europeans from gaining the air advantage.

Soon Kip and Bill suspect the other of sabotage, problem that not only threatens their already electric relationship but their very lives. The contract is to be decided in a mock air battle, but soon turns deadly when the Nazis sneak a saboteur onto each plane and plan to highjack the planes for their own use. What soon turns out to be a sea and air battle the two pilots' skills are put to the test.

"The Code of the Zombie Pirate" by Scott Kenemore

"The Code of the Zombie Pirate"
by Scott Kenemore
Published by Skyhorse Publishing (2010)
248 pages

Okay to be honest, I've never really been a fan of pirates, however, give me a good zombie apocalypse and I can't refuse, but having read a couple of other books by Scott Kenemore, I saw no harm in reading this, in fact I knew I was going to have some fun. That's exactly what I got some fun and some zombies and you will to if you pick up this fun handbook on how to sail the seas pillaging with a crew of zombies.

Scott Kenemore taught us how to get ahead in the business world in "Z.E.O," how to win a war with "The Art of Zombie Warfare" and has a novel about what it's like to be a zombie during a zombie apocalypse called, "Zombie, Ohio." So Scott knows what he's talking about when it comes to zombies.

Scott gives you the secrets to selecting, customizing and managing a crew of zombie pirates, including such important decisions like how to find the right vessel, where treasure chests are buried, how to create your pirate zombie flag and when to fly it. Taking the various assortment of zombies; fast, slow, voodoo created, brain eating and others, he plunks them down in the Caribbean during the 1700s hey day of piracy. You would think that placing the zombies in that era would hinder some of the arrangements and motivations but that just makes it more fun.

So whether you are a fan of pirates or a fan of zombies or both Scott Kenemore will tell you how to combine the two and be successful at your plunders and be able to retire to your own desert isle when all is said and done.

This book is full of some supernatural undead fun so check it out.

"A Touch of Dead" Short stories from the Southern Vampire Mysteries by Charlaine Harris

"A Touch of Dead"
Short stories from the Southern Vampire Mysteries
by Charlaine Harris
read by Johanna Parker
Produced by Recorded Books (2009)
Approx 3 hours

"A Touch of Dead" is a collection of short stories from Charlaine Harris's series "The Southern Vampire Mysteries." For those of you that are fans of the HBO series, "True Blood" this is the series that started it all. This title was released on October 6, 2009. and only contains the short stories Harris has published in which Sookie Stackhouse is present. Harris has written other stories in the Sookie Stackhouse world that don't include Sookie and are worth checking out.

The first story is "Fairy Dust" from the book "Powers of Detection" (October 2004). It introduces Sookie's fairy cousins Claudine, Claude, and the deceased third triplet Claudette. Claude and Claudine are recurring characters in later books of the series. "In Fairy Dust," Sookie is working at Merlottes when Claudine the fairy comes in and asks Sookie to read the minds of some human guests of her brother Claude. When Sookie arrives at Claude and Claudine's home in Monroe, she finds three people tied up in the house. Everyone involved (except Claudine) is associated with Hooligans, an exotic dancing establishment. Claude, who dances, tells Sookie that they believe that one of the people murdered their triplet Claudette while she was working at the club earlier that night. Claude explains that Claudette came to her siblings in spirit form to tell them of her death. Using her telepathy, Sookie interviews each suspect to discover the guilty party. If only Sherlock Holmes had Sookie's talent (or "disability" as Sookie calls it).

"One Word Answer" from the book "Bite" (2005), introduces the topic of Hadley's death, which kicks off the events in the sixth Vampire Mysteries book, "Definitely Dead." The mysterious Mr. Cataliades shows up in a limousine at Sookie's home bringing the news of her cousin Hadley's death. The rebellious Hadley had not been in touch with the family in years, so they did not know she had become a vampire several years ago. Nor did they know that she was the lover of the vampire Queen of Louisiana, Sophie-Anne Leclerq. It seems that Waldo, a former lackey of the Queen, was jealous of Hadley's position, so he lured her to a cemetery and killed her. Mr. Cataliades informs Sookie that Waldo has been caught, and that his punishment is in Sookie's hands - she must decide. Her answer surprises him, and Sookie notices that it also surprises the hidden occupant of the limousine: the Queen. In this one there were some continuity problems that were incongruent with how the story played out in the series, but this is definitely a story worth hearing or reading, especially since it's another one involving the dimwitted vampire, Bubba, who is a famous King of rock and roll turned vampire.

"Dracula Night" is from "Many Bloody Returns" (September 2007) and is just a fun story from the southern vampire mysteries series and occurs some time after Sookie's tryst with Eric sans memories. Eric's vampire bar, Fangtasia, throws a party each year for the vampire observance of Dracula Night, in honor of the infamous Count Dracula. According to legend, the Count will choose one lucky party from all over the world to grace with his presence. The book characters are amused by Eric's childlike hope that the Count will appear at his party, just like Linus of the Peanuts comic hopes in vain to greet the Great Pumpkin. This was a funny story due to the references to the Great Pumpkin.

"Lucky" is from the book "Unusual Suspects" (December 2008) and spotlights one of the many supernatural yet not vampire characters from Sookie's hometown of Bon Temps, Louisiana. Insurance agent Greg Aubert asks Sookie (and her witch friend Amelia) to investigate a break-in at his office. He is concerned that someone will discover that he uses magic spells to protect his property and his clients. Amelia and Sookie discover that the break-in was just Greg's daughter and her secretive boyfriend, who is actually a newly-turned vampire. However, Sookie learns that two other agents in town have had break-ins, and all are getting excessive amounts of claims which may drive them out of business. It seems that Greg's spells have been using up all the luck in town.

"Gift Wrap" is from "Wolfsbane and Mistletoe" (October 2008) and finds Sookie alone for Christmas. Her brother and closest friends each have their own plans, and she perversely chose not to ask other friends for an invitation. She recalls that she heard a noise in the woods the night before, so she trudges out to investigate. She finds Preston, a naked, muddy and bloody man, who is nevertheless very attractive. To save him from further injury, she brings Preston back to her house and shields him from the Weres who come looking for him. When he starts kissing her, he tells her to pretend she found him gift-wrapped under the tree, and she succumbs to his charm. On Christmas Day, she is relieved to find a note saying he is gone. Her great-grandfather Niall Brigant turns up on her doorstep, surprising her with his company. In the woods behind the house, Preston and a Were chat about Niall hiring them to give Sookie a pleasant Christmas Eve, tailoring the scenario to her personality, and using a bit of fairy magic to attract her. This to me was a dull story in that there was no real mystery to solve, just a fling with a werewolf/fairy or whatever.

If you're a fan of "True Blood" or of the Sookie Stackhouse books, this may not be a "must-read" but it is a fun one to pick up while waiting for that next book from Charlaine Harris.

"Man-Killers of the Air" by L. Ron Hubbard

"Man-Killers of the Air"
by L. Ron Hubbard
Multi-cast performance
Produced by Galaxy Audio (2009)
Approx 2 hours

I've said it before and I'll say it again, these audio performances of the works of L. Ron Hubbard's pulp fiction era are magical. The stories are great adventures and fun by themselves but when Galaxy Audio does their magic in producing them into audio books they spare no talent in creating what sounds like an old time radio drama. Being a radio professional, I have a strong sentiment toward audio drama and these guys really know how to create the entire atmosphere of adventure as written by L. Ron Hubbard. They use superb voice actors who not only move the story along but through some nice vocal athletics create characters that are fun and intriguing. The Special effects are superb, these guys even duplicated the sound of an experimental aircraft from the 1930s. The music definitely keeps you in the mood between chapters.

This time around it's another air adventure called, "Man-Killers of the Air," originally published in the June, 1935 issue of "Five Novels Monthly." This story introduces the daredevil air racer, Smoke Burnham and his pet Cheetah, Patty. Patty usually rides co-pilot with Smoke and in combination with the name "Smoke Burnham" creates what could have easily been turned into a regular series in the funny papers.

Smoke has won his chance to be entered in an international air race, he really needs to win this one because of a bet he's made with a newspaper mogul who has been trying to sabotage him. If he wins the mogul will rebuild Smoke's hanger, but if he loses he has to give over plans to a new aircraft which the newspaper man will then turn over to the military to help prevent the rumored attack from the Japanese. This will make the mogul look good, and sell papers.

The race will carry Smoke across the Brazilian Jungle and the Andes and will be his most dangerous flight ever. Not only does he have to fight the stressful flight but someone is trying to sabotage his planes. On top of this, there's a dame involved. Smoke is in love but the woman resents his love of flying. So on top of beating the odds and winning the race he must win over the gal.

Great adventure to keep you on the edge of your seat for this one...so check it out.

"Side Jobs" by Jim Butcher

"Side Jobs"
by Jim Butcher
read by James Marsters
Produced by Penguin Audio
approx. 13 hours

While still rushing with adrenaline from the huge cliff-hanger at the end of the last Dresden book, "Changes, " I'm looking everywhere I can for my Harry Dresden fix. If you haven't read any of Jim Butcher's series, "The Dresden Files," you are seriously lacking in your fun, exciting detective story romp through the supernatural reading.

Harry Dresden is a wizard and a private detective protecting the city of Chicago. His adventures have taken him through the land of the Faeries, off fighting werewolves and vampires and even Gruffs (you'll have to read about that one). His support staff consists of some college students who spend their evenings as werewolves protecting their neighborhood, Karrin Murphy at first a lieutenant for Chicago P.D. Special Investigations, but later demoted to Sargeant, Thomas his half-brother and White Court vampire, Bob a spirit of a wizard locked within a skull (the wizarding world version of a computer), Mouse a giant Temple Dog, Mister an oversized cat, and on occasion, Gentleman John Marcone Chicago's biggest mob boss.

With that team you'd think Harry would be able to take on anything, well in general he can, but for the most part it's his luck that doesn't hold out.

"Side Jobs" is an anthology book set in Jim Butcher's The Dresden Files series. Most of the stories were published in other anthologies but finally here they are in one book, in chronological order of appearance in the time stream of the Dresden Files books. I had read many of these before because seeing a Jim Butcher story in an anthology, I had to read them at the time of release. There are a couple of stories that were only available on the website and a new one that takes place just after the previous book in the series. This collection contains the following short stories:

"Restoration of Faith," takes place before "Storm Front and originally published on Jim-Butcher.com. This story tells a little of a backstory on Dresden as he was working to get his private investigator's license. Harry rescues a little girl from a troll under a bridge.

"Vignette" takes place between Death Masks and Blood Rites and was originally published on Jim-Butcher.com. This one is a very short fun story about Bob and Harry trying to write the perfect yellow pages ad.

"Something Borrowed" was originally published in "My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding," and takes place between "Dead Beat" and "Proven Guilty," is about Billy and Georgia's (werewolves that help Harry from time to time) wedding day. Harry saves Georgia from a faerie and in doing so wrecks their wedding day, but they do live happily ever after.

"It's My Birthday Too" was originally published in "Many Bloody Returns" and takes place between "White Night" and "Small Favor" and depicts a day when Harry is trying to give his vampire half-brother, Thomas, a birthday gift but ends up saving Thomas and some "larpers" from a Black Court Vampire.

"Heorot" was originally published in "My Big Fat Supernatural Honeymoon" takes place between "White Night" and "Small Favor" and is the story of Harry rescuing a missing bride with the help of Miss Gard, a Valkyrie and agent of Gentleman Johnny Marcone. This one mixes in some Norse Mythology into the Dresden world.

"Day Off " was originally published in "Blood Lite" and takes place between "Small Favor" and "Turn Coat". This is a very funny story in which Jim Butcher explores the bad luck Dresden faces when trying to take a day off. Harry's apprentice is blowing up lab, the werewolves have fleas and a wannabe wizard is bombing the house. "It's my day off!"

"Backup: A Story of the Dresden Files" (Mike Mignola illustrations from the first edition not included) novelette from Harry's brother, Thomas’ POV, originally published by Subterranean Press, takes place between "Small Favor" and "Turn Coat." Harry is being used by an ancient evil, and Thomas must put a stop to it without him noticing. This story explores more of the "Oblivion Wars" which have only been mentioned in earlier books.

"The Warrior" was originally published in "Mean Streets" and takes place between "Small Favor" and "Turn Coat" reveals what happens to the Carpenter family after the events of "Small Favor." Michael Carpenter was a Knight of the cross, weilding the sword Amoracchius to battle for God. At the end of "Small Favor" Michael was battered to the point where he lost function of one of his eyes and some limbs. Michael will still battle when his family is threatened but will the take up the sword again?

"Last Call" was originally published in "Strange Brew" takes place between "Small Favor" and "Turn Coat" and tells when Harry takes on the darkest of dark powers–the ones who dare to mess with this favorite beer. Someone is lacing Mac's Home brew with a psycho-control drug, and Harry must stop them.

"Love Hurts" was originally published in "Songs of Love and Death: Tales of Star-Crossed Love" and takes place between "Turn Coat" and "Changes." Harry and Murphy investigate a series of love spells with deadly consequences. This also shows another side to the Harry / Murphy relationship.

And finally a new novelette exclusive to the anthology: "Aftermath" which takes place 45 minutes after "Changes" and is told from Karrin Murphy's point of view. She must help find a kidnapped werewolf. All through this story Murphy is using what she has learned from Harry while at the same time mourning his "possible" death.

If you haven't read any Dresden novels you may want to pick this one up, as it is a great introduction to the fun to be had. While I'm recommending, if you are into audiobooks, I highly recommend this in audiobook form. As are all the Dresden Files audiobooks, it is read by James Marsters (you know, Spike from the Buffy the Vampire Hunter Series). Marsters voice captures the wit and wisdom of Harry Dresden, and being that all the novels are told in first person you feel as though Harry is talking directly to you. If the Sci-Fi channel would have cast Marsters as the lead in the short lived Dresden Files series, I think they series would have done much better....just sayin'.

"Brass Keys to Murder" by L. Ron Hubbard

"Brass Keys to Murder"
by L. Ron Hubbard
Multi-cast performance
produced 2009 by Galaxy Audio
approx 2 hours.

This time around we dive into the mystery genre from the old pulp fiction writings of L. Ron Hubbard. Once again I just have to say that these audio books are just pure joy to hear. The acting, sound effects and music make for a perfect performance which will help the listener escape reality and enjoy some good story telling. Hubbard was a master of descriptive realistic stories and now that Galaxy Press and Galaxy Audio are re-releasing his short stories from his pulp-fiction era, you can enjoy these gems.

The story this time is "Brass Keys to Murder," which was originally published in the April, 1935 issue of "Five Novels Monthly" and tells of a navy lieutenant, accused of murder, who risks his life to find the real killer and discovers the motive: the brass keys.

Lt. Stephen Craig is standing watch aboard a Naval vessel when a woman comes to tell him of his father's death. She also warns him that the police are coming to arrest him for the murder of his father. Lt. Craig knows he didn't do it but the police want to close the case and Craig and his father have a history of not quite getting along. When the police arrive, Craig basically informs them that he's been on the ship all day and that the local police have no jurisdiction onboard an Navy ship. This stalls but once he steps off the ship the police will be waiting.

Craig sneaks out to find some answers which leads to some shady characters and a set of 3 brass keys, which unlock not only 3 chests of treasure but possibly the answer as to who killed Lt. Craig's father.

This is a thrilling tale of mystery with dealings in darkened alleyways and, foggy nights on a dock and twists and turns that will spin your head but will give you that big "A-Ha" moment at the end when the murderer is found and the treasure is opened.

My advice, listen to these books from Galaxy Audio, although you can read the Galaxy Press paperback versions (made to fully reproduce the pulp fiction mags of yester-year), these audio productions are just some fun stuff with great character acting and narration that makes you feel as if you are listening to a radio drama from the same time period.

"Final Crisis" by Greg Cox

"Final Crisis"
by Greg Cox
Multi-cast performance
Produced 2010, by GraphicAudio
Approx. 8 Hours

"Final Crisis" was a crossover storyline that appeared in DC comics published throughout 2008, primarily the seven-issue miniseries of the same name was written by Grant Morrison. This was the last of the multiverse type series from DC and sort of closed up some gaps left in the previous titles; "Crisis on Infinite Earths", "Infinite Crisis", "52", and "Countdown." However I think this created more questions than answers and served no other purpose but to confuse the reader. While having some great confrontations and interesting twists on science and gods the story just didn't do it for me. I was so glad I listened to the audio book format of this title.

As usual GraphicAudio delivers this audiobook with a punch, and I'm talking one of those full-graphic-with-exploding-colors-as-only-seen-in-comic-books punches. When GraphicAudio promises a "Movie in your Mind" they aren't exaggerating. First off the voice actors are superb and voice each character with precision accuracy, Superman sounds like Superman, Batman sounds like Batman and so on. There is no denying the excellence in the talent pool here. The sound effects will blast you out of your seat. With planets exploding or crumbling, a black hole sucking in the multiverse and even Green Lantern's ring fizzling out, the sound effects are perfect. And the music, well pretty much all I can say here is "WOW!" The music moves the story, mood and action perfectly. All in all these GraphicAudio productions are perfect. For me it was the only saving grace in this title.

The gist of this story is that one of the new gods, Orion, is murdered and another new god, Darkseid, sees this as his chance to take over Earth. Also one of Earth's multiverse monitors is stripped of his powers for letting Earth 51 be destroyed. While some of my favorite heroes play major parts in this, The Flashes (yes 3 generations of The Flash) open a time portal allowing things to begin and end, and The Green Lantern Corps try to stop Darkseid, I think the story relied too heavily on Superman.

There was one saving grace for the story and that was the creation of a young Japanese group of superheroes. Mixing superheroes with Japanese pop-culture, the characters are: Most Excellent Superbat, Big Atomic Lantern Boy, Shy Crazy Lolita Canary, Shiny Happy Aquazon and Well-Spoken Sonic Lightning Flash. I first had some good laughs with their names but sheesh the way they interacted was fun. At one point all the characters had revealed their powers, except one, and when asked what his was Most Excellent Superbat responded, "Mine is the best of all, I can buy anything."

Throughout the story I was confused as to what caused what and with The Flashes and Superman doing a little time traveling that just made it even more hard to follow. But thanks to GraphicAudio, I had a great time listening.

"Six-Gun Caballero" by L. Ron Hubbard

"Six-Gun Caballero"
by L. Ron Hubbard
Multi-Cast Performance
Produced 2009, by Galaxy Audio
Approx. 2 hours

"Six-Gun Caballero," originally published March, 1938 in "Western Story Magazine," tells the tale of Michael Patrick Obañon, who may have an Irish name, but has the soul of a Spanish gentleman, loses his hundred-thousand-acre spread and has to fight his renegade foes with cunning and firepower. Michael, or Don Michael as he is called by those who know him, is the son of an Irish immigrant and a Mexican woman and was sent off to school in Mexico city, is nothing but a pure gentleman the whole time and that politeness is what wins this little war.

New Mexico has just become part of the United States and claim jumpers are aplenty as they move into the new territory under U.S. law taking what once belonged to the Mexicans and claiming it as their own. A band of renegades led by three men, one of which is a gambler, one is the financier and the other a sort of ruffian bodyguard type. The fun part of this group is the gambler who speaks in card playing/gambling terms for everything. It's amazing how many card terms Hubbard came out with for this man's dialogue.

The three have met their match with Michael Patrick Obañon, proud owner of a 100,000-acre spread willed to him by his father, when they make a false claim on the ranch. Faced with having to save his property and his people, Obañon takes a courageous stand against the renegades, with the help of the villagers and vaqueros and even from the local cavalry, who think the "bad guys" are the "good guys" but it turns out the "good guys" are the "bad guys." Yeah, this story is full of the good ol' Hubbard twists and turns that keep you guessing what will happen next, but the listener/reader is always clear who the good guy is, after all, he is a pure gentleman.

Obañon realizes it will take far more than mere weapons to win the day. With all guns seemingly drawn against him, Michael must come up with a devious strategy of his own to outwit the imposters and regain his birthright. With excitement all they way through 2 possible hangings and a surprise ending that even seems to surprise Don Michael, this little piece of historical fiction is a fun telling of how the west was won and how America came to be.

As always Galaxy Audio utilizes excellent vocal actors, perfect sound effects and original music to give that old time radio feel or what I have come to call an Audio Pulp. Since the stories Galaxy Audio and Galaxy Press were originally all published in the old pulp fiction magazines of the early to mid-20th century.

"Missing in Death" (short story in The Lost Anthology book) "In Death"series book 29.5 by J.D. Robb

"Missing in Death" (short story in The Lost Anthology book)
"In Death"series book 29.5
by J.D. Robb
produced 2009 by brilliance audio
read by Susan Ericksen
approx 3.5 hours

I just can't help myself, I keep coming back to this sci-fi detective series by J.D. Robb, I know what it is, it is the characters. J.D. Robb/Nora Roberts from book one has created some solid characters to fill these books. They are solid, three dimensional, and intriguing. Robb has created characters the reader can care about and want to hear/read more about their adventures. Lt. Eve Dallas is a tough homicide detective in New York City in the mid 21st Century. She led a rough childhood thanks to the some dark workings of Homeland Security. Eve's Husband, Roarke, also had a rough childhood, living off the streets in Dublin, Ireland, but is now a multi-billionaire (or multi-gazillionaire, depending on who you ask) who loves to dabble in computers and technology. And a cast of many more that make the family of these books.

Another aspect of these books is that they are set in the distant future, not too far to keep the stories on Earth, but far enough, that with the cool gadgets and some space travel to bring in the sci-fi fan. In fact if a television series were ever made of this book series, I would place my bets on the Sci-Fi (SyFy) channel getting the rights.

This story is a nice short story set in Lt. Eve Dallas's world that provides a very interesting mystery with one of those sci-fi gadgets turning out to be the focus of the investigation.

Lt. Dallas and her assistant Detective Delia Peabody are called in to one of the Staten Island Ferries (named "Hilary Rodham Clinton," how's that for futuristic?) because a woman is missing but what really brings the Homicide detectives to the ferry is that where the woman was last seen is a large amount of blood splatter, enough so that if it is from one source that person did not live. The mystery is how did the killer remove the body from the ferry packed full of 3,000 plus tourists?

When the missing tourist shows up, not only does the question of who does all that blood belong to, come up, but also a new threat. That new threat is some sort of mind control/hypnosis device. Dallas and her team set out to solve the mystery and catch a criminal that could be a threat to National Security.

The reader, Susan Ericksen, is the reader for the entire series and does a excellent job voicing these books. She is able to apply different voices to each character that not only separates who is talking but even adds deeper to the characters created by J.D. Robb, in fact at times you may think you are listening to a multi-cast performance.

This series is definitely worth checking out, and this short story would be a great intro into the series, even though it occurs late in the series.

"Zombie, Ohio" by Scott Kenemore

"Zombie, Ohio"
by Scott Kenemore
Published 2011 by Skyhorse
304 pages

Every zombie Apocalypse movie or book talks about how people work to either escape from or destroy the zombies, but very few take you into the mind of a zombie. Yeah I know zombies are supposed to be mindless but what if they could think. Scott Kenemore takes that what if and explores the mind of a zombie in his latest book "Zombie, Ohio." Scott can pretty much be called an expert in Zombie-ology especially after looking at the books he's written. He's pretty much explored all you can do with zombies with titles such as; "The Zen of Zombie: Better Living Through the Undead" (2007), "Z.E.O", (2009),"The Art of Zombie Warfare" (2010),and "The Code of the Zombie Pirate" (2010). This time around he explores a Zombie Apocalypse through the mind of one certain Zombie.

Peter Mellor regains consciousness after having an automobile accident. He's having trouble remembering who he is but after checking his driver's license he finds out he's Peter Mellor and lives near Kenton College in Ohio. He finds his hat and begins to walk away from the accident to find his home. When he arrives at his house he finds stacks and stacks of books and empty bottles of scotch. He turns on the television and the only thing on TV is coverage of the Zombie Apocalypse hitting america. Zombies attacking and eating people, the government setting up safe zones and speculation as to how this occurred. Not remembering there was a zombie apocalypse just adds to his misery of not knowing anything.

Soon his friend (only friend he finds out), Sam, finds Peter in the house and is surprised to see Peter. Peter explains the accident and the memory loss. Sam in turn explains who Peter was. As it turns out he wasn't a great guy. A womanizer, a drunk and a philosphy professor at the college. Not too bright of a future, but Peter finds out also from Sam that his life recently turned around afer he met a woman that captivated him, in fact that was where he was headed before the accident, the woman's home which is one of those green homes where it is off the grid, possibly a great place to survive the zombie apocalypse. Sam offers to take Peter out to the house but after he stops and sees the doctor at the college.

Kenton College professors have stuck around defending the college from the zombies and seem to be doing a good job. Peter and Sam arrive at one of the watch points where the doctor is assisting in keeping watch over the cemetery killing zombies as they rise from the grave. Just as the doc is about examine Peter and check for a concussion, a zombie comes out of a grave and the shooting commences. Peter is splattered with zombie gore and goes in to wash himself off. In the restroom Peter removes his cap and sees his brain exposed on the top of his head. To Peter's horror he realizes he is a zombie and wonders what happens next. Being a philosophy professor he begins at first to contemplate his being. Sam comes in and Peter quickly puts the cap back on and hides his zombieness.

Sam takes Peter to his girlfriend, Vanessa's hide out and here Peter has to decide whether or not to expose his zombieness or to keep hiding. When Vanessa's neice goes missing Peter goes out to find the girl and discovers a biker that is trying to abduct the young girl, Peter attacks with all his zombie powers and eats the dead biker's brains...and oooh they taste sooo good! Peter jumps on a 4-wheeler and heads off to contemplate his future as a zombie. When he returns he finds the home destroyed and a few dead bikers in the yard, with Vanessa dead he has no reason to "live" and embraces his zombiness and begins to walk and eat brains.

Along this walk he attracts other zombies and forms a zombie army of sorts, making sure not to eat women or children (I guess even a zombie can have scruples), they soon become 400 strong and a force to be reckoned with. The army learns of his non-zombieness because of helicopters photographing him flipping them the bird and carrying and shooting guns. This makes him a target of interest to the military. Peter also accidentally discovers his death was not accidental and wants to find who killed him.

Written in first person, from Peter the Zombie's aspect, this book gives the reader a "film noir" feel while solving the mystery and experiencing exploits. Enjoy the gore, the killing and of course the brain eating while at the same time enjoying a mystery-love story adventure. This book is full of fun, from the funny to the whole end of the world via zombies. I hope Scott Kenemore will write more novels because his talent in telling a story is superb. While this book may not be on Oprah's list (unless she becomes undead sometime soon) it should be on any zombie lover's list.

"Golden Hell" By L. Ron Hubbard

"Golden Hell"
By L. Ron Hubbard
Multicast Performance
Produced 2010 by Galaxy Audio
Approx 2 Hours.

Normally when I sit down to write a review on one of these outstanding audio book productions by Galaxy Audio I harp on the fact that they are superb audio productions that go beyond the measure of your typical audio book. These audio pulps, as I like to call them, since they bring the pulp fiction feel to audio books, contain some of the best vocal acting, great sound effects and the most perfectly written original music. This time around I thought I'd speak more about the author, L. Ron Hubbard. Galaxy Audio and Galaxy Press are re-releasing Hubbard's stories from the Golden age of Stories, when writers of all genres submitted short stories to the pulp magazines for massive distribution. These re-releases cover a variety of genres that demonstrate how prolific a writer Hubbard was.

L. Ron Hubbard's legendary writing career spanned more than half a century when he wrote more than 250 published novels, novelettes, short stories and screenplays in every major genre. During the mid-20th Century Hubbard wrote the bulk of these stories for the pulp magazines. Hubbard was a master of narrative prose, his life experiences and travels in all corners of the globe were wide and diverse and show up in all his stories to give each story that feeling of realism. He was also an explorer, ethnologist, mariner and pilot, filmmaker and photographer, philosopher and educator, composer and musician. Basically being a jack-of-all-trades, Hubbard used his life experiences to create some excellent stories. Hubbard passed away in 1986, but his literary legacy lives on indelibly in works that continue to reverberate down through generations and millions of readers, making him one of the most widely read and highly acclaimed writers of our time, especially now that Galaxy Audio & Galaxy Press have been re-issuing these great stories.

Let's now talk about this audio book which features two stories from the "Tales of the Orient" genre of Hubbard's works.

The first story is the title story, "Golden Hell" originally published in "Thrilling Adventures" in September, 1936 and tells the tale of an American mining engineer, Captain Humbert Reynolds,who has gold fever. Reynolds has decided that the Gobi Desert is hiding a large amount of gold and travels to the far east in search of his riches. He contacts one of the local princes to purchase his way through, and seeing the chance to fill his coffers also the prince sends one of his own to assist Reynolds on his trek. Reynolds is captured by bandits and thrown to an enclave of Machiavellian monks nestled deep inside a cavernous mountain, Reynolds finds a scene that resembles the horrors of Dante's hell. And though he does find his much-desired gold, Reynolds also discovers that the price he has to pay for it just may lead to his doom. Told in first person, this story has that great "film noir" feel.

"Pearl Pirate" originally published in "Thrilling Adventures" May, 1934 is a great action story that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very last word. This is a nautical tale of deceit and treachery, set in the pre-World War II Coral Sea, in which a schooner skipper makes a deal to bring back about half a million dollars worth of black pearls from a pirate. Upon completion of his task he will receive $10,000 cash and will be forgiven the loan on his ship. He meets up with the pirate and a great battle ensues, but just when you think it's over, good ole L. Ron Hubbard throws in a few more twists that will keep you guessing.

Two more great stories from L. Ron Hubbard. There are many more to come and I plan on listening to them all.

"Wondrous Strange" by Lesley Livingston

"Wondrous Strange"
by Lesley Livingston
read by author
Produced by Harper Audio
Approx 7 Hours

Kelly Winslow, an aspiring actress in New York City, has just had her big break, when the actress portraying Titania in Shakespeare's "Midsummer Night's Dream" has been injured and Kelly goes from being the understudy to the lead actress. But not all is as good as it seems. Kelly soon learns the world of Fairy and Fae is real, and worse yet, the Winter King, Oberon is not only real but is her real father. This at first may sound good to suddenly find you are a Fairy Princess, but the Fairy-folk are really not a friendly bunch. Someone in the Fairy world has decided they don't want Kelly to realize her birthright.

The troubles all begin when Kelly is rehearsing her lines in Central Park and Sonny Flannery, a Janus Guard for King Oberon (unbeknownst to Kelly) notices something different about Kelly. Spying on her from the bushes he sees she is having a bad day (seems she forgot her lines during rehearsal and the director was a bit cruel). Sonny can't shake the feeling that she is different from most humans so curious he presents her with a rose. Kelly asks why and Sonny says you look like you needed something nice. When they part Kelly begins walking home through Central Park and hears the sound of someone screaming from a pond. It turns out not to be someone but a something, a horse. With Sonny long gone, Kelly realizes no one is around to help so she dives in to save the drowning horse. Kelly risks her life to save the horse that seems to be tangled in the vegetation of the bottom of the pond.

The next day Sonny discovers the area where someone was dragged on shore the mud in the grass and some mysterious black beads and copper colored horse's hairs. Sonny knows the hairs for what they are, Kelpie hairs. Kelpies are fairy creatures that lure people into the water and eat them. When Sonny finds Kelly's script nearby he fears the worst. Sonny shows Oberon the beads which Oberon immediately knows them as part of a spell that is set to begin the Great Hunt in which all the evils of the fairy world will be unleashed into the mortal world killing all in sight until the quarry is found. This time the target is Oberon's daughter.

Sonny must save Kelly from the fairyworld by letting her know who she is. At the same time he must find out who is trying to unleash the Hunt. He suspects Queen Maab, but with a very interesting twist in the tale, the author, Lesley Livingston, creates a bit of a mystery into this fairy tale set in modern day New York City. Very entertaining bit of young adult fiction that will keep you enthralled until the end. This book is part one of a three book series but is easily a standalone novel.

I have to note that at first I was a bit leery at the idea of the author reading her own work as the audiobook. While the authors may have a great feel for what is in the book, the performance as a reader can sometimes lack. Not so with Lesley Livingstone, she does a superb job of performing the many different voices and expressing all necessary emotion. This audiobook is an excellent choice from that aspect alone.

"Yukon Madness" by L. Ron Hubbard

"Yukon Madness"
by L. Ron Hubbard
Multicast performance
produced 2010 by Galaxy Audio
Approx 2 hours

I keep diving into my collection of L. Ron Hubbard stories that have been re-released by Galaxy Press and Galaxy Audio. Back in the days of old (okay, the mid-20th century), writers could make money for about a nickel a word by publishing short stories in the pulps. The pulps were magazines that printed short stories that were printed on cheaper paper to keep the price down to about 5 or 10 cents per issue. The cheaper paper was pulpy and lumpy and the stories from that time are referred to as pulp fiction. Hubbard wrote many stories from this time period, often referred to as the Golden Age of Stories. Galaxy Press and Galaxy Audio are keeping the pulp fiction feel by re-printing these stories in short books that closely resemble the old pulps using the original artwork and keeping the books at 120 pages or so and feature from one to three stories. The cool part is that with the audio books they are creating an audio pulp. The audio books all come out to be about 2 hours and feature a fully produced (with sound effects) and multi-cast performance that sound like the old radio dramas from around the same time period.

"Yukon Madness," originally published in"Mystery Adventures" Aug 1935, tells of the hunt for Itauk the Madman who has spread death to the Yukon, throwing the bodies of his victims to his sled team of twelve wolves. Tracking him down are Canadian Mountie Tommy McKenna and his partner Simmons. But when the pair separate to hunt for food, Itauk attacks Simmons and lets his wolves make an unmentionable feast that Tommy later discovers on his return to camp.
Enraged, Tommy follows the maniac's trail to a village and en route he meets an enchanting Eskimo woman named Kaja. Of course, the route's a trap set by Itauk, and the only one who can save Tommy is Kaja, who is engaged to be wed to the ruthless killer, and who plans to serve the Mountie as the next meal for his personal wolf pack. Though wounded, Mounty Tom McKenna uses a ruse to vanquish the rampaging Itauk the Madman, and then leaves him to the wolves. This makes for a fun short story that is over before you know it and just enough time to get your adrenaline up.

"The Cossack" was originally published in the May-June, 1935 issue of "Unknown" This one is a sad tale of love lost and betrayal of a leader. Colonel Komroff has caught the eye of the Duchess in revolutionary Russia. The only problem is; Komroff has a woman waiting for him back home. The Duchess could give him everything including advancements in his career. When she offers him an advancement in rank all she asks in return is a kiss. Komroff spurns her advances and she ships him off to a far off post. For months he waits for a letter from his girl back home but not a single one arrives, when finally he receives notice she was poisoned. When he confronts the Duchess and he still rejects her she has him killed before a firing squad. Luckily Komroff has friends and is snuck out of town. Jump ahead some time and the Duchess is driven out into hiding as the country seeks to destroy communism. She sees Komroff fighting in the enemy's army and in a final confrontation worthy of a great opera the tragedy unfolds.

The Small Boss of Nunaloha "South Sea Stories" Feb 1940
A man short in stature but large in courage, is in charge of a small trading post on the south seas island of Nunahola. When a pirate attempts to take over the man is beaten by the pirate, but continually defies him driving the pirate mad and eventually away from the Island.

So, in this short audio book we travel from The Great White North, to Revolutionary Russia to a South Seas Island, some great adventure with tales that range in emotion as they do locale.

"Kingdom Come" adapted by John Whitman based on a story by Mark Waid and Alex Ross and the novelization by Elliot S. Maggin.

"Kingdom Come"
adapted by John Whitman
based on a story by Mark Waid and Alex Ross and the novelization by Elliot S. Maggin.
Multi-cast performance
Published 1998 byTime Warner AudioBooks
approx. 3 hours

I have only recently become a fan of DC comics. Throughout most of my life I was mostly a Marvel comics fan, especially Spider-Man, because Marvel seemed to me to be more of an Everyman becoming a hero, and DC heroes were rich or from other planets. Sure, I crossed over once in a while for The Flash, and Batman, but that was pretty much it. I'm not sure if it is because I got older or DC comics decided to become more Everyman but I've recently been dipping into the DC pool. A lot of this influence is because of my experience with some great DC comics audiobooks. This storyline I ran across accidentally while looking for more comic/novel based audiobooks. This one was originally done as an audio drama with full sound effects and actors voicing each character. This seemed up my alley so, I gave it a listen and was treated to some fun superhero action.

I mentioned Everyman aspects of comics that I prefer because this book actually looks at the Heroes as gods aspect that I didn't like. It seems that many people of the Earth in this DC comics creation didn't like it either. Before I go into that further, a neat aspect of this story is the combination of the Book of Revelations from the Holy Bible with the possible end of the world that could happen thanks to the battles between super heroes and super villains. Pastor Norman McKay is receiving visions of the end of times, the mysterious hero The Spectre, takes Pastor McKay on a trip through time and space to the various heroes and what has brought about this end of times.

The Earth has a sudden influx of MetaHumans, these are humans that have developed super hero type abilities. When one metahuman, known as Magog, kills the Joker, it seems this would be a good thing, but a hospital full of patients and one Lois Lane, wife of Superman, is collateral damage, does not seem to bother this new breed of metahumans. Superman retires to his Fortress of Solitude and leaves mankind to fend for itself. Jump ahead a few years and the metahumans have gotten rid of all the super villains and now they are bored. So instead of just sitting back and enjoying they peace they begin to battle each other, every time taking out large chunks of various cities. When Magog and a group of metahumans destroy Kansas, Wonder Woman seeks out Superman so they can put a stop to all the metahumans, kind of like the band is getting back together for the Justice League, but, it's not all that easy, it seems Lex Luthor has survived and is getting the villains remaining back together for one final battle.

Can the Justice Leage reform and put aside years of apathy and ill-feelings? This story has some great battles and some great action with an ending only a comic book could put together.

This audio drama packs a pretty good superhero punch with some great voice acting and some excellent sound effects to keep you in the moment. My only beef is with that of the actor portraying Pastor McKay. He is shown all the destruction and despair and on top of that is receiving vision of a Revelations scale, yet he's extremely chipper and happy throughout his dialogue. He just didn't seem believable. Everything else was excellent.