Showing results by narrator "Donald Davenport" in All Categories

Hollywood in the 1920s: The motion picture industry is booming, and Irving Thalberg knows it takes more than guts and gumption to create screen magic that will live forever. He’s climbed all the way to head of production at newly merged Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and is determined to transform Leo the Lion into an icon of the most successful studio in town.

With his cape, canes and shovel hat, portly amateur sleuth Dr Gideon Fell cuts an eccentric figure - but his odd appearance belies his sharp intellect and astonishing faculty for deduction. Created by crime novelist John Dickson Carr and supposedly based on fellow author G. K. Chesterton, Dr Fell appeared in 23 novels between 1933 and 1967. This radio collection comprises all eight of the BBC adaptations based on Carr's best-selling books.

Is Idina Moorfield going crazy or has an ancient magic found its source? Her family says she’s not a true Moorfield and will never be good enough for the family business. Sometimes what looks like the worst day ever, is the beginning of our best adventure. Idina takes that first step into a new life and gets the hell away from them to forge her own future. But her calling is the one thing they are the most against. She joins the military just like Uncle Rick. The other family outcast. What is everyone in the Moorfield family so afraid of?

Leaving the Country of Sin is a tale of Rafferty, who was saved as a teenager from delinquency and slapped into a six-year hitch in the army to avoid jail. Early on, his anger and fierce resolve catch the attention of an officer in charge of a small cadre of soldiers who provide unique, subdued solutions to problems too sensitive for more obvious snipers or commandos. Later, Rafferty, having determined to retire on Galveston Island, which he had visited as a child with his uncle, hovers between seeing his past deeds as a patriotic service and just another form of murder.

This charming children's story will delight music lovers of all ages. Little Martin the guitar lives in Mr. Beninato's Music Store in New York City. He wants so much to be adopted and taken home by a fine musician, but the other larger instruments in the shop are always picked before him. Every night after Mr. Beninato goes home, all the instruments play for each other and compete for a place of honor in the shop. The large and loud guitar known as Big D always wins the contest.

The Water and the Wine is set on the Greek island of Hydra in a '60s artistic community. The author lived there as a child. The main focus is on Leonard Cohen and his lover/muse, Marianne Ihlen. Each night, the artists and writers meet and discuss their ideas about life, art, philosophy, and religion. The Silver family (loosely based on the author's own family) arrive on the island and are drawn into a world of creativity and excitement but also infidelity, jealousy, and dysfunctional relationships. Ultimately, the novel asks the question: What is the price of creativity?

Felix Boyd would do anything for his family, even if it means leaving them for a job on another planet.... Working as a silica harvester, he earns just enough money to keep his wife and son afloat. When selection for the colony ships begins, he hopes Melissa and Jake will be among the first to come, and that they’ll all be reunited. But it’s never that easy.

When her mother dies, 19-year-old Dana finds herself alone with her stepfather, a man who despises her. Desperate to find a better life for herself, she corresponds with widower, Caleb, who seeks only a mother for his son. A son who hasn't spoken a word since his mother's death. Dana lost her hearing at a young age and vows to help his son find his voice again. She falls in love with the boy, happy to be a wife to Caleb in name only. But when her feelings for Caleb begin to grow, she tries desperately to stop them. Can Caleb open his heart to Dana before he loses her?

After years of physical and emotional torment, Asia has decided to take her own life. The only problem is that someone else has planned to take their life as well - at the same time, and in the same place. Her final act has been thwarted, and worst of all: Someone now knows her most intimate secret. Written from a dual perspective, The Space Between Fire and Ashes delves into the deepest recesses of the adolescent mind to explore the power of human connection, and the essence of what wills our spirits to endure against all odds.

It’s the summer of 1991 and serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer has been arrested. His monstrous crimes inspire dread around the globe. But not so much for Emory Hughes, a closeted young man in Chicago who sees in the cannibal killer a kindred spirit, someone who fights against the dark side of his own nature, as Emory does. He reaches out to Dahmer in prison via letters.

One woman with a deep desire to serve and help and one brave man who will stop at nothing to save his people fight for what they love. As two Old West cultures collide with differing beliefs of right and wrong, of what constitutes justice and savagery, blood spills on the Great Plains. But the young couple's love may overcome all their differences.

Widow Emma accepts a Wyoming rancher's proposal to escape a precarious situation in Boston. While she must get away quickly, she hopes that she has made the right decision. But Wyoming will turn her life upside down, and her heart will never be the same. Widower rancher Ross still mourns for his late wife. When his children tell him all they want for Christmas is a mother, his heart breaks, for he knows he can never provide that. Ross does not believe he will ever be ready to marry again. As Christmas approaches, Ross' life is turned on end.

Step out for a Saturday night at The Q - the small town gay bar in Appalachia where the locals congregate. Whose secret love is revealed? What long-term relationship comes to a crossroad? What revelations come to light? The DJ mixes a soundtrack to inspire dancing, drinking, singing, and falling in (or out) of love.

Estella is left destitute after her husband’s passing, and accepts a proposal from a man in New Mexico. Excited for a stable home and someone to love her, her world shatters when she learns who the man is who proposed to her. Noah has been hunting the Jeremy gang for months, and unexpectedly crosses paths with Estella.

Milt Grabaur has left his life, home, and teaching career in Ohio to start anew. The Summer Winds trailer park in Palm Springs, butted up against the San Jacinto mountain range, seems the perfect place to forget the pain of nursing his beloved husband through Alzheimer's and seeing him off on his final passage. Billy Blue is a sexy California surfer type who once dreamed of being a singer but now works at Trader Joe's and lives in his own trailer at Summer Winds. He's focused on recovery from the alcoholism that put his dreams on hold.

Tinsmith Jonah has always longed for a wife and family, but his hopes died in war. He knows no woman wants a crippled man. He has taken in two young orphans and is raising them on his own. Anne has lived a hard life since her parents died, being taken in by her aunt and uncle who treat her like an unpaid servant. When she sees the ad from Jonah, she sees light in her life again and is happy to accept his proposal. But the children want nothing to do with Anne.

The Brothers Silver follows Jules and Leon as they try to find their unanchored way through the cultural upheavals of the second half of the 20th century. The younger Leon lives on the drug-addled edges of society. The older brother, Jules, falls into a destructive relationship that parallels his past insecurities and chaos. What lies in store for the Silver brothers? Recovery or turmoil?

Roshi and the Coyote Choir is a delightful children's book that tells the story of a ranch dog, Roshi, and his unlikely friendship with Margarita the Coyote. Through music, the two find a new and exciting friendship.

An apocalyptic preacher arrives in a sleepy Midwestern town hell-bent on installing a violent theocracy. Pastor Barker's dream is to fix America's moral problems through unflinching violence, while building a national movement. Each act of terror and mayhem pulls the fingertips of fanaticism closer around Avarice. To make matters worse, the town has been plagued with cartel violence and mass shootings by Bible-quoting assassins.

Sam, a reclusive underachiever with a long track record of failed marriages and aspirations, must face, in one short spurt of time, the imminent prospects of middle age, professional outplacement, and unwanted responsibilities toward both his father and his son, two men from whom he has made a long and careful effort to distance himself. A Place Apart is at once witty and wry and beautiful, filled with vivid description and sharp dialogue. It hits solidly on dilemmas faced daily by many people in many places by telling a compelling story of one man in one place.