Audiobooks narrated by John Curless

To the Far Blue Mountains (Louis L'Amour's Lost Treasures): A Sackett Novel

"In To the Far Blue Mountains, Louis L'Amour weaves the unforgettable tale of a man who, after returning to his homeland, discovers that finding his way back to America may be impossible. As part of the Louis L'Amour's Lost Treasures series, this edition contains exclusive bonus materials! Barnabas Sackett was leaving England to make his fortune in the New World. But as he settled his affairs, he learned that a royal warrant had been sworn out against him and that men were searching for him in every port. At issue were some rare gold coins Sackett had sold to finance his first trip to the Americas-coins believed to be part of a great treasure lost by King John years before. Believing that Sackett possesses the rest of the treasure, Queen Bess will stop at nothing to find him. If he's caught, not only will his dream of a life in America be lost, but he will be brutally tortured and put to death on the gallows. Louis L'Amour's Lost Treasures is a project created to release some of the author's more unconventional manuscripts from the family archives. In Louis L'Amour's Lost Treasures: Volumes 1 and 2, Beau L'Amour takes the reader on a guided tour through many of the finished and unfinished short stories, novels, and treatments that his father was never able to publish during his lifetime. L'Amour's never-before-seen first novel, No Traveller Returns, faithfully completed for this program, is a voyage into danger and violence on the high seas. Additionally, many beloved classics are being rereleased with an exclusive Lost Treasures postscript featuring previously unpublished material, including outlines, plot notes, and alternate drafts. These postscripts tell the story behind the stories that millions of readers have come to know and cherish."

Louis L'Amour (Author), Dan John Miller, Jason Culp, John Curless (Narrator)

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The Middle Kingdoms: A New History of Central Europe

"Brought to you by Penguin. Central Europe is not just a space on a map but also a region of shared experience - of mutual borrowings, impositions and misapprehensions. From the Roman Empire onwards, it has been the target of invasion from the east. In the Middle Ages, Central Europeans cast their eastern foes as 'the dogmen'. They would later become the Turks, Swedes, Russians and Soviets, all of whom pulled the region apart and remade it according to their own vision. Competition among Europe's Middle Kingdoms yielded repeated cultural effervescences. This was the first home of the High Renaissance outside Italy, the cradle of the Reformation, the starting point of the Enlightenment, Romanticism, the symphony and modern nationalism. It was a permanent battleground too for religious and political ideas. Most recent histories of Central Europe confine themselves to the lands in between Germany and Russia, homing in on Poland, Hungary, and what is now the Czech Republic. This new history embraces the whole of Central Europe, including the German lands as well as Ukraine and Switzerland. The story of Europe's Middle Kingdoms is a reminder of Central Europe's precariousness, of its creativity and turbulence, and of the common cultural trends that make these lands so distinctive. ©2023 Martyn Rady (P)2023 Penguin Audio"

Martyn Rady (Author), John Curless (Narrator)

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Serial Killers: The Minds, Methods, and Mayhem of History's Most Notorious Murderers

"Pain, torment, and torture. Cruelty, brutality, and violence. The twisted psyches, murder, and yes, even the ability to charm people. Take a deep dive into the terrifyingly real serial murderers, spree killers, and true faces of evil! They prey on the innocent with a malicious desire to inflict damage and harm. They hunt and stalk misfortunate victims in the dark, in broad daylight, in quiet neighborhoods, and in the local woods. Their blood thirst isn't satisfied after their first kill. Or their second. Or third. Serial Killers: The Minds, Methods, and Mayhem of History's Most Notorious Murderers delves into the global phenomenon of serial and spree murderers. This chilling book looks at the horrifying stories of forty malevolent killers and hundreds of innocent victims, including such notorious homicidal maniacs as John Wayne Gacy, Ted Bundy, and Jeffery Dahmer, but it also looks at lesser-known and overlooked murderers like Herbert Baumeister, America’s I-70 Strangler; Japan’s “Anime Killer,” Tsutomu Miyazaki; Russia’s “Rostov Ripper,” Andrei Chikatilo; the “Giggling Granny,” Nannie Doss; and many more. It journeys to 16th-century Scotland to meet a clan of cannibals whose existence is still debated by historians today, and to the fog-shrouded alleys of Whitechapel, London, where Jack the Ripper earned his grisly namesake. Along the way, we’ll meet the Dating Game Killer, the Milwaukee Cannibal, the Acid Bath Murderer, and other monsters. Serial Killers also asks the questions … • What makes a seemingly ordinary person stalk, torture, and murder their fellow human beings? • Are serial killers born or made? • What is the difference between a serial killer and a spree killer? • What were the identities of Jack the Ripper and the Zodiac Killer? • Was Albert DeSalvo really the Boston Strangler? • Is it possible that you could know a serial killer? Caution is advised before entering the alarming world of twisted psychos and sociopaths!"

Richard Estep (Author), John Curless (Narrator)

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A History of the Church through its Buildings

"A History of the Church through its Buildings takes the reader to meet people who lived through momentous religious changes in the very spaces where the story of the Church took shape. Buildings are about people: the people who conceived, designed, financed, and used them. Their stories become embedded in the very fabric itself, and—as the fabric is modified through time in response to changing use, relationships, and beliefs—the architecture becomes the standing history of passing waves of humanity. This process takes on special significance in churches, where the arrangement of the space places members of the community in relationship with one another for the performance of the church’s rites and ceremonies. Moreover, architectural forms and building materials can be used to establish relationships with other buildings in other places and other times. Coordinated systems of signs, symbols, and images proclaim beliefs and doctrine, and—in a wider sense—carry extended narratives of the people and their faith. Looking at the history of the Church through its buildings allows us to establish a tangible connection to the lives of the people involved in some of the key moments and movements that shaped that history, and perhaps even a degree of intimacy with them. Standing in the same place where worshippers in the past preached and taught, or in a space they built as a memorial, touching the stone they placed, or that marks their final resting place, holding a keepsake they treasured or seeing a relic they venerated—these probably come as close to a shared experience with these people as it is possible to attain. Perhaps for a fleeting moment at such times, their faces may come more clearly into focus …"

Allan Doig (Author), John Curless (Narrator)

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The Science of James Smithson: Discoveries from The Smithsonian Founder

"Accessible exploration of the noteworthy scientific career of James Smithson, who left his fortune to establish the Smithsonian Institution. James Smithson is best known as the founder of the Smithsonian Institution, but few people know his full and fascinating story. He was a widely respected chemist and mineralogist and a member of the Royal Society, but in 1865, his letters, collection of 10,000 minerals, and more than 200 unpublished papers were lost to a fire in the Smithsonian Castle. His scientific legacy was further written off as insignificant in an 1879 essay published through the Smithsonian fifty years after his death--a claim that author Steven Turner demonstrates is far from the truth. By providing scientific and intellectual context to his work, The Science of James Smithson is a comprehensive tribute to Smithson's contributions to his fields, including chemistry, mineralogy, and more. This detailed narrative illuminates Smithson and his quest for knowledge at a time when chemists still debated thing as basic as the nature of fire, and struggled to maintain their networks amid the ever-changing conditions of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars."

Steven Turner (Author), John Curless (Narrator)

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Dark Age

"For a decade Darrow led a revolution against the corrupt color-coded Society. Now, outlawed by the very Republic he founded, he wages a rogue war on Mercury in hopes that he can still salvage the dream of Eo. But as he leaves death and destruction in his wake, is he still the hero who broke the chains? Or will another legend rise to take his place? Lysander au Lune, the heir in exile, has returned to the Core. Determined to bring peace back to mankind at the edge of his sword, he must overcome or unite the treacherous Gold families of the Core and face down Darrow over the skies of war-torn Mercury. But theirs are not the only fates hanging in the balance. On Luna, Mustang, Sovereign of the Republic, campaigns to unite the Republic behind her husband. Beset by political and criminal enemies, can she outwit her opponents in time to save him? Once a Red refugee, young Lyria now stands accused of treason, and her only hope is a desperate escape with unlikely new allies. Abducted by a new threat to the Republic, Pax and Electra, the children of Darrow and Sevro, must trust in Ephraim, a thief, for their salvation-and Ephraim must look to them for his chance at redemption. As alliances shift, break, and re-form-and power is seized, lost, and reclaimed-every player is at risk in a game of conquest that could turn the Rising into a new Dark Age."

Pierce Brown (Author), James Langton, John Curless, Moira Quirk, Rendah Heywood, Tim Gerard Reynolds (Narrator)

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Just Six Numbers: The Deep Forces That Shape the Universe

"How did a single 'genesis event' create billions of galaxies, black holes, stars and planets? How did atoms assemble--here on earth, and perhaps on other worlds--into living beings intricate enough to ponder their origins? What fundamental laws govern our universe? This book describes new discoveries and offers remarkable insights into these fundamental questions. There are deep connections between stars and atoms, between the cosmos and the microworld. Just six numbers, imprinted in the 'big bang,' determine the essential features of our entire physical world. Moreover, cosmic evolution is astonishingly sensitive to the values of these numbers. If any one of them were 'untuned,' there could be no stars and no life. This realization offers a radically new perspective on our universe, our place in it, and the nature of physical laws."

Martin Rees (Author), John Curless (Narrator)

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The Last Three Minutes: Conjectures about the Ultimate Fate of the Universe

"Ragnarok. Armageddon. Doomsday. Since the dawn of time, man has wondered how the world would end. In The Last Three Minutes, Paul Davies reveals the latest theories. It might end in a whimper, slowly scattering into the infinite void. Then again, it might be yanked back by its own gravity and end in a catastrophic 'Big Crunch.' There are other, more frightening possibilities. We may be seconds away from doom at this very moment. Written in clear language that makes the cutting-edge science of quarks, neutrinos, wormholes, and metaverses accessible to the layman, The Last Three Minutes treats readers to a wide range of conjectures about the ultimate fate of the universe. Along the way, it takes the occasional divergent path to discuss some slightly less cataclysmic topics such as galactic colonization, what would happen if the Earth were struck by the comet Swift-Tuttle (a distinct possibility), the effects of falling in a black hole, and how to create a 'baby universe.' Wonderfully morbid to the core, this is one of the most original science books to come along in years."

Paul Davies (Author), John Curless (Narrator)

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The Origin of Humankind

"'The name Leakey is synonymous with the study of human origins,' wrote The New York Times. The renowned family of paleontologists-Louis Leakey, Mary Leakey, and their son Richard Leakey-has vastly expanded our understanding of human evolution. The Origin of Humankind is Richard Leakey's personal view of the development of Homo Sapiens. At the heart of his new picture of evolution is the introduction of a heretical notion: once the first apes walked upright, the evolution of modern humans became possible and perhaps inevitable. From this one evolutionary step comes all the other evolutionary refinements and distinctions that set the human race apart from the apes. In fascinating sections on how and why modern humans developed a social organization, culture, and personal behavior, Leakey has much of interest to say about the development of art, language, and human consciousness."

Richard Leakey (Author), John Curless (Narrator)

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The Origin of the Universe

"There is no more profound, enduring or fascinating question in all of science than that of how time, space, and matter began. Now John Barrow, who has been at the cutting edge of research in this area and has written extensively about it, guides us on a journey to the beginning of time, into a world of temperatures and densities so high that we cannot recreate them in a laboratory. With new insights, Barrow draws us into the latest speculative theories about the nature of time and the 'inflationary universe,' explains 'wormholes,' showing how they bear upon the fact of our own existence, and considers whether there was a 'singularity' at the inception of the universe. Here is a treatment so up-to-date and intellectually rich, deaing with ideas and speculation at the farthest frontier of science, that neither novice nor expert will want to miss what Barrow has to say. The Origin of the Universe is 'In the Beginning' for beginners-the latest information from a first-rate scientist and science writer."

John D. Barrow (Author), John Curless (Narrator)

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The Dark Clouds Shining

"In the fourth and final installment of David Downing's spy series, Jack McColl is sent to Soviet Russia, where the civil war is coming to an end. The Bolsheviks have won but the country is in ruins. With the hopes engendered by the revolution hanging by a thread, plots and betrayals abound. London, 1921: Ex-Secret Service spy Jack McColl is in prison serving time for assaulting a cop. McColl has been embittered by the Great War; he feels betrayed by the country that had sent so many young men to die needlessly. He can't stomach spying for the British Empire anymore. He's also heartbroken. The love of his life, radical journalist Caitlin Hanley, parted ways with him three years earlier so she could offer her services to the Communist revolution in Moscow. Then his former Secret Service boss offers McColl the chance to escape his jail sentence if he takes a dangerous and unofficial assignment in Russia, where McColl is already a wanted man. He would be spying on other spies, sniffing out the truth about MI5 meddling in a high-profile assassination plot. The target is someone McColl cares about and respects. The MI5 agent involved is someone he loathes. With the knowledge that he may be walking into a death trap, McColl sets out for Moscow, the scene of his last heartbreak. Little does he know that his mission will throw him back into Caitlin's life-or that her husband will be one of the men he is trying to hunt down."

David Downing (Author), John Curless (Narrator)

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Iron Gold

"Honor and betrayal fuel a caste-shattering revolution in the action-packed new novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Red Rising Trilogy. Ten years after the events of Morning Star, Darrow and the Rising are battling the remaining Gold loyalist forces and are closer than ever to abolishing the color-coded caste system of Society for good. But new foes will emerge from the shadows to threaten the imperfect victory Darrow and his friends have earned. Pierce Brown expands the size and scope of his impressive Red Rising universe with new characters, enemies, and conflicts among the stars."

Pierce Brown (Author), Aedin Moloney, John Curless, Julian Elfer, Tim Gerard Reynolds (Narrator)

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Audiobooks Narrated by John Curless

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