Audiobooks narrated by Richard Poe

From the Moment They Met It Was Murder: Double Indemnity and the Rise of Film Noir

The behind-the-scenes story of the quintessential film noir and cult classic, Billy Wilder's Double Indemnity-its true crime origins and crucial impact on film history-is told for the first time in this riveting narrative published for the film's 80th anniversary. From real crime to serial to novel to movie, the history of Double Indemnity is as complex and exciting as the plot of any to hit the screen during film noir's classic period. Born of a true crime that inspired reporter and would-be crime writer James M. Cain's novella, Hollywood quickly bid on the rights but throughout the 1930s a strict code of censorship made certain that no studio could green-light a murder melodrama based on real events. Then World War II loosened some strictures, and director-writer Billy Wilder-before his prime as director of sparkling comedies-could hire hardboiled novelist Raymond Chandler and revamp the story enough to pass the censors. Overcoming strong resistance, Wilder then lined up a star cast led by the incomparable Barbara Stanwyck in her unforgettable turn as the ultimate femme fetale, alongside Fred MacMurray, cast against type as her partner in crime, and Edward G. Robinson as a bloodhound claims adjuster. With these skilled actors set against a low-key look, Wilder's final film became one of the earliest studio noirs to gain critical and commercial success (nominated for 7 Oscars!), to influence the entire noir movement, and to impact filmmakers and audiences to this day. Authors Alain Silver and James Ursini tell the complete history of Double Indemnity in their latest and most provocative work on film noir: From the Moment They Met It Was Murder.

Alain Silver, James Ursini (Author), Richard Poe, TBD (Narrator)

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Justice for Sale: Graft, Greed, and a Crooked Federal Judge in 1930s Gotham

The never-before-told story of Martin T. Manton, a corrupt federal appeals court judge in New York who was convicted in 1939 and sent to prison. From his misconduct, to his co-conspirators, to the sensational prosecution and trial, this is the exhaustively researched account of a discovery that shocked the nation. Martin T. Manton was a corrupt federal appeals court judge in New York who was convicted in 1939 and sent to prison. At the time, this was a hugely important story: Manton was considered the highest-ranking judge in the United States after the nine Justices of the Supreme Court, and was nearly appointed to that august body in 1922. Yet his story has never been told in book-length form before, and never with the benefit of such exhaustive research. More than just a biography, Justice for Sale examines Manton’s misconduct in the context of the culture of corruption and organized crime that permeated New York City in the first part of the twentieth century. Dozens of others—prominent business executives, leading Wall Street lawyers, accountants, bankers, fixers, con men, another federal judge—participated in Manton’s crimes. The book profiles these unscrupulous and often colorful characters as well. It wasn’t until Manhattan D.A. and future presidential candidate Thomas Dewey’s successful pursuit of Manton, a federal grand jury investigation, and a sensational prosecution and trial in federal court that shocked the nation that Manton and his corrupt schemes were finally brought down.

Gary Stein (Author), Richard Poe (Narrator)

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Why We Fought: Inspiring Stories of Resisting Hitler and Defending Freedom

The struggle to combat the Nazis during World War II encompassed front lines far beyond conventional battlefields. In a panoramic and compelling account, author Jerry Borrowman shares seven largely untold stories of people who undertook extraordinary efforts to defeat the Third Reich at enormous personal risk. Some were soldiers like the Ghost Army, an eclectic group of former artists, actors, and engineers who engaged in top-secret tactical deceptions by staging ingenious decoy armies. Using inflatable tanks, radio transmissions, and sound effects, they were able to trick the Germans throughout the course of the war, often working close to the front lines of the fiercest fighting. Some were ordinary citizens like William Sebold, a German immigrant and US citizen, who could have been a deadly foe, but instead chose the Allied cause. When he was coerced by the Gestapo into becoming a spy in America, he instead approached the FBI and offered to become a double agent. His efforts successfully helped bring down a dangerous German spy network that was dedicated to stealing industrial and wartime secrets and sabotaging America on home soil. These dramatic and inspiring personal stories shed light on some of the darkest days of World War II and one of the most perilous times in human history. As the Nazis swept through Europe, citizens around the world faced an individual and national complex moral question: How do you respond to the tyranny and bloodthirsty madness of the Nazis? These are stories of ordinary men and women who would not surrender or compromise. They resisted and fought with total commitment for freedom and democracy despite the personal cost.

Jerry Borrowman (Author), Richard Poe (Narrator)

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Yesterday's Murder

From the author of the John J. Malone Mysteries: An estranged relative becomes heir to a Chesapeake Bay fortune-and his family's ghostly history. If it hadn't been for his great-uncle Philip, David Telefair would've grown up unwanted, forlorn, and poverty stricken in a New England parsonage. But for twenty years, David's generous benefactor paid for his education, yearly summer camps, living expenses as he grew older, and any amenities he ever needed. Odd that David had never spoken to him in his entire life. Odder still that after all this time, the aging Philip has now extended an invitation for David to meet him at his isolated estate on Telefair Island in the Chesapeake. From the moment David arrives, something feels ... off. First was the local minister's daughter's queer way of describing David's visit: inevitable; then the unaccountable loathing in the eyes of a Telefair servant; and finally a perilously pale female cousin who welcomes David with a warning: "You ought never to have come." This is less a family reunion than an ingeniously designed trap of murder, madness, and nasty family secrets. This stand-alone novel by Craig Rice, the first mystery writer ever to appear on the cover of Time magazine, is "an incredible tale ... where ghosts still pull the strings of human lives, where revenge and hate outlast a generation and punishment is insidiously prolonged ... a haunting sense of impending gloom" (Kirkus Reviews).

Craig Rice (Author), Richard Poe (Narrator)

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A Burning in My Bones: The Authorized Biography of Eugene H. Peterson, Translator of The Message

This essential authorized biography of Eugene Peterson offers unique insights into the experiences and spiritual convictions of the iconic American pastor and beloved translator of The Message. "In the time of a generation-wide breakdown in trust with leaders in every sphere of society, Eugene's quiet life of deep integrity and gospel purpose is a bright light against a dark backdrop."-John Mark Comer, author of The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry "This hunger for something radical-something so true that it burned in his bones-was a constant in Eugene's life. His longing for God ignited a ferocity in his soul." Encounter the multifaceted life of one of the most influential and creative pastors of the past half century with unforgettable stories of Eugene's lifelong devotion to his craft and love of language, the influences and experiences that shaped his unquenchable faith, the inspiration for his decision to translate The Message, and his success and struggles as a pastor, husband, and father. Author Winn Collier was given exclusive access to Eugene and his materials for the production of this landmark work. Drawing from his friendship and expansive view of Peterson's life, Collier offers an intimate, beautiful, and earthy look into a remarkable life. For Eugene, the gifts of life were inexhaustible: the glint of fading light over the lake, a kiss from Jan, a good joke, a bowl of butter pecan ice cream. As you enter into his story, you'll find yourself doing the same-noticing how the most ordinary things shimmer with a new and unexpected beauty.

Winn Collier (Author), Richard Poe (Narrator)

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Vantage Point

Two bodies have been found in the master bedroom of a mansion in Dundurn's old-money neighbourhood under the mountain. Howard Terry and his son Matthew have both been shot twice in the chest. Under Matthew's body is a doll with blood red cotton wadding spilling out of its head. Nearby, a female mannequin in a nightshirt lies on its back with two bullet holes in the chest. On the other side of town, a body is discovered below the Devil's Punch Bowl waterfall. Leaning against an enormous rock is a man in a cotton nightshirt wearing a papier mache donkey's head. Two rounds in the chest. Something about the way the bodies have been arranged triggers a memory in MacNeice of an image he saw years before . . .

Scott Thornley (Author), Richard Poe (Narrator)

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Operation Jacknap: A True Story of Kidnapping, Extortion, Ransom, and Rescue

The incredible true story of one of America's largest ransom cases-and the massive FBI and police manhunt to bring the radical captors to justice. The New York Times described what happened to New York businessman Jack Teich as a "front page horror." Two hundred FBI agents and Nassau County police officers combined forces to form a dragnet, hunt for his kidnappers, and rescue him. Teich lay handcuffed and chained to the walls of a closet in the Bronx with a medical bandage wrapped around his head to cover his eyes. His captors demanded that his wife, Janet, drop a bag with $750,000 (the equivalent of four million dollars in today's currency) in a locker at Penn Station, making the Jack Teich ransom one of the highest in U.S. history at the time. FBI and Nassau County police detectives spent over a year before finally uncovering the meticulously planned kidnapping ploy hatched by radical mastermind Richard Warren Williams. The FBI internally dubbed the Jack Teich kidnapping operation "Jacknap." The real-life crime drama that followed proved stranger than fiction, involving a tense across-the-country manhunt, a trailer in California stuffed with tens of thousands of ransom dollars hidden inside, a contentious jury trial that dominated NYC headlines for months; a guilty verdict that was overturned twenty-one years later on a controversial technicality; a retrial stymied by a mysterious fire that incinerated court records; and a civil verdict ruling that the kidnapper pay Jack Teich back the ransom money, plus interest. Operation Jacknap tells the incredible true crime story that continues even now. Indeed, as of this writing, no one knows where the majority of the ransom money is located. Inside, Teich also details his offer of a reward to anyone helping track down the still missing money and kidnappers.

Jack Teich (Author), Richard Poe (Narrator)

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A Russian Journal

Brought to you by Penguin. Just after the iron curtain fell on Eastern Europe John Steinbeck and acclaimed war photographer, Robert Capa ventured into the Soviet Union to report for the New York Herald Tribune. This rare opportunity took the famous travellers not only to Moscow and Stalingrad - now Volgograd - but through the countryside of the Ukraine and the Caucasus. A RUSSIAN JOURNAL is the distillation of their journey and remains a remarkable memoir and unique historical document. Steinbeck and Capa recorded the grim realities of factory workers, government clerks, and peasants, as they emerged from the rubble of World War II. This is an intimate glimpse of two artists at the height of their powers, answering their need to document human struggle. © John Steinbeck 1948 (P) Penguin Audio 2020

John Steinbeck (Author), Richard Poe (Narrator)

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Burning Bright: A Play in Story Form

Brought to you by Penguin. 'A man can't scrap his bloodline, can't snip the thread of immortality.' Such is the strength of Joe Saul's desperate longing for a child, that he feels as if a dark curse is upon him after three unfruitful years of marriage. Yet unbeknown to him, he is sterile. His beautiful, young, devoted wife loves him so much that she secretly conceives the child of another man. But when Joe discovers her deception, his anguish is greater than ever before... A powerful, tragic and deeply moving tale. © John Steinbeck 1950 (P) Penguin Audio 2020

John Steinbeck (Author), Richard Poe (Narrator)

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The Wayward Bus

Brought to you by Penguin. The Wayward Bus travels through the backroads of the lush California countryside, transporting the lost and the lonely to new destinations. Juan Chicoy is at the wheel, a man of the land, hot-blooded and uninhibited. His passengers include Ernest, a travelling salesman out for fun, seventeen-year-old Kit, also known as Pimples, and Camille the stripper who dances at stag nights and takes the star-struck young Norma under her wing. This powerful and unsentimental novel becomes a story of crisis and passion, love and longing, as the travellers reveal their secrets and journey away from their pasts and towards, possibly, the promise of the future. The Wayward Bus, with its profound insight into human desires and failings, remains one of Steinbeck's most powerful novels. © John Steinbeck 1947 (P) Penguin Audio 2020

John Steinbeck (Author), Richard Poe (Narrator)

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The Best Science Fiction of the Year, Volume 3

As Earth dies, an architect is commissioned to remote build a monument on Mars from the remains of a failed colony; a man who has transferred his consciousness into a humanoid robot discovers he's missing thirty percent of his memories, and tries to discover why; bored with life in the underground colony of an alien world, a few risk life inside one of the "whales" floating in the planet's atmosphere; an apprentice librarian searching through centuries of SETI messages from alien civilizations makes an ominous discovery; a ship in crisis pulls a veteran multibot out from storage with an unusual assignment: pest control; the dead are given a second shot at life, in exchange for a five-year term in a zombie military program. For decades, science fiction has compelled us to imagine futures both inspiring and cautionary. Whether it's a warning message from a survey ship, a harrowing journey to a new world, or the adventures of well-meaning AI, science fiction inspires the imagination and delivers a lens through which we can view ourselves and the world around us. With The Best Science Fiction of the Year: Volume Three, award-winning editor Neil Clarke provides a year-in-review and twenty-seven of the best stories published by both new and established authors in 2017.

Neil Clarke (Author), Ali Ahn, Ava Lucas, Catherine Ho, Dan Woren, Greg Tremblay, Janet Metzger, John Keating, Karen Chilton, Lewis Arlt, Michael Braun, Mimi Chang, Neil Shah, Richard Poe, Sneha Mathan, Vikas Adam (Narrator)

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Raw Bone

MacNeice finds himself in the line of fire when two seemingly random acts of violence lead him deep into the seedy underbelly of Dundurn. On a cold morning in early spring, the body of a young woman is found trapped in the ice of Dundurn Bay. The next day at dawn, a homeless man discovers an unconscious school teacher in a public park. Gagged and bound with duct tape, the man is rigged to an elaborate bomb that's been set to blow if anyone attempts to free him. Detective Superintendent MacNeice and his team are called in to investigate the two seemingly unrelated crimes and quickly find themselves venturing into the dive bars and rooming houses of Dundurn, where Irish immigrants rub elbows with mercenaries and the city's criminal underclass ...

Scott Thornley (Author), Richard Poe (Narrator)

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Audiobooks Narrated by Richard Poe