Audiobooks narrated by Patrick Cullen

Kingfish: The Reign of Huey P. Long Audiobook

From the moment he took office as governor in 1928 to the day an assassin's bullet cut him down in 1935, Huey Long wielded all but dictatorial control over the state of Louisiana. A man of shameless ambition and ruthless vindictiveness, Long orchestrated elections, hired and fired thousands at will, and deployed the state militia as his personal police force. And yet, paradoxically, as governor and later as senator, Long did more good for the state's poor and uneducated than any politician before or since. Outrageous demagogue or charismatic visionary? In this powerful biography, Richard D. White, Jr., brings Huey Long to life in all his blazing, controversial glory. White taps invaluable new source material to present a fresh, vivid portrait of both the man and the Depression era that catapulted him to fame. From his boyhood in dirt-poor Winn Parish, Long knew he was destined for power-the problem was how to get it fast enough to satisfy his insatiable appetite. With cunning and crudity unheard of in Louisiana politics, Long crushed his opponents in the 1928 gubernatorial race, then immediately set about tightening his iron grip. The press attacked him viciously, the oil companies howled for his blood after he pushed through a controversial oil processing tax, but Long had the adulation of the people. In 1930, the Kingfish got himself elected senator, and then there was no stopping him. White's account of Long's heyday unfolds with the mesmerizing intensity of a movie. Pegged by President Roosevelt as "one of the two most dangerous men in the country," Long organized a radical movement to redistribute money through his Share Our Wealth Society-and his gospel of pensions for all, a shorter workweek, and free college spread like wildfire. The Louisiana poor already worshiped him for building thousands of miles of roads and funding schools, hospitals, and universities; his outrageous antics on the Senate floor gained him a growing national base. By 1935, despite a barrage of corruption investigations, Huey Long announced that he was running for president. In the end, Long was a tragic hero-a power addict who squandered his genius and came close to destroying the very foundation of democratic rule. Kingfish is a balanced, lucid, and absolutely spellbinding portrait of the life and times of the most incendiary figure in the history of American politics.

Richard D. White (Author), Patrick Cullen (Narrator)

Audiobook

A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers

In 1839, two years after graduating from Harvard, Henry David Thoreau and his older brother, John, took a boat-and-hiking trip from Concord, Massachusetts, to the White Mountains of New Hampshire. After John's sudden death in 1842, Thoreau began to prepare a memorial account of their excursion during his stay at Walden Pond. Modern readers have come to see Thoreau's story of the river journey as an appropriate predecessor to Walden, depicting the early years of his spiritual and artistic growth."Just as the current of the stream bears along the boat with Thoreau and his brother, so the current of ideas in his mind bears along the reader by evoking the joy and nostalgia that Thoreau feels for those lost, golden days. As Thoreau says, human life is very much like a river running always downward to the sea, and in this book we enter for a moment the flow of Thoreau's unique existence."-Masterplots

Henry David Thoreau (Author), John Lescault, Patrick Cullen (Narrator)

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Cape Cod

Compiled from magazine articles published in the 1850s after his death, Cape Cod details several short trips Thoreau made to "the bare and bended arm ofMassachusetts" between 1849 and 1855. "He went to the Cape out of curiosity," explains Paul Theroux, "but in the course of his travel a great thing happened: Thoreau, the woodsman and landlubber, discovered the sea." Encounters with the ocean dominate the book, from the fatal shipwreck of the opening episode to the late reflections on the Pilgrims' Cape Cod landing and reconnaissance. Along the way, Thoreau relates the experiences of fishermen and oystermen, lighthouse keepers and ship captains, and their chronicles of exploration, settlement, and survival on the Cape against the threats of the wild sea and of encroaching modernity.

Henry David Thoreau (Author), John Lescault, Patrick Cullen (Narrator)

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Stan Getz: A Life in Jazz

Long before the success of his bossa nova Grammy winner “The Girl from Ipanema,” Stan Getz was a fixture in the pantheon of jazz greats. From his recording of “Early Autumn” with the Woody Herman band in 1949, which catapulted him to stardom at age twenty-two, to the 1961 jazz/classical masterpiece “Focus,” to the 1990 release of “Apasionado,” Getz’s forty-nine-year career is a tale of enduring artistic success in the midst of a troubled life. Getz struggled with heroin addiction until the age of twenty-seven and violent alcoholism until the last decade of his life, which led him into trouble with the law and marred his relationships with family and friends. Yet despite his self-destructive behavior, he was still creating gorgeous music at the time of his death from cancer in 1991. Maggin’s biography captures both the jazz legend and the troubled man with eloquence, honesty, and compassion. “A major contribution to jazz biography.”—Dan Morgenstern, director, Institute of Jazz Studies

Donald L. Maggin (Author), Patrick Cullen (Narrator)

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The Lie

Acclaimed author Michael Weaver weaves a shimmering tapestry of suspense from a single, resonant question: How far are you willing to go to achieve world peace? The agenda is ambitious: eliminating the ethnic cleansing now raging all over Africa. The place is propitious: the town of Wannsee, Germany, where Hitler’s inner circle once planned the extermination of six million Jews. The conference is historic. It is also a lie. Here, linked by their violent family histories, two lovers will defy the fate that has consigned them as mortal enemies. One is Paul Walters, formerly a contract killer for the CIA, now a painter of dark, complex brilliance. The other is Kate Dinneson, a rising star in the world of journalism, whose unfolding personal drama will prove more explosive than any story she will ever write. Together, they will join forces against a conspiracy even more treacherous than the deceptions they must continue to play against each other. “Weaver’s thriller packs a wallop for all 400 of its action-packed pages…The mix of romance, international intrigue, evil villains, and brave heroes will be just right for readers who love sizzle, sex, and style.”—Booklist

Michael Weaver (Author), Patrick Cullen (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Disappearance

On a soft summer night, she vanishes. With her friends sleeping nearby, with her parents' wealth and power guarding her, someone walks into her bedroom and takes fourteen-year-old Emma Lancaster away. That is the first crime. Eight days later, abduction becomes murder. Police hunt for the killer; a year later, they make an arrest. With an outraged town crying out for blood, powerful media tycoon Doug Lancaster vows to see his daughter's accused murderer convicted and put to death. Only one man stands in his way. Once a hard-driving, take-no-prisoners DA, Luke Garrison sent a defendant to the death chamber'only to discover that he was innocent. Now a defense lawyer, Luke is faced with the toughest decision of his life. If he plays it right, it could give him back his life. If he's wrong, he could die. And a killer could walk. 'Plenty of twists and turns in this portrait of corruption and evil in a small town.''Chicago Tribune

J.F. Freedman (Author), Patrick Cullen (Narrator)

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A World Destroyed: Hiroshima and Its Legacies

Continuously in demand since its first, prize-winning edition was published in 1975, this is the classic history of Hiroshima and the origins of the arms race, from the development of the American atomic bomb to the decision to use it against Japan and the beginnings of U.S. atomic diplomacy toward the Soviet Union. In the preface to this edition, the author describes and evaluates the lengthening trail of new evidence that has come to light concerning these often emotionally debated subjects. He also invokes his experience as a historical advisor to the controversial, aborted 1995 Enola Gay exhibit at the National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, which leads him to analyze the impact on American democracy of one of the most insidious legacies of Hiroshima: the political control of historical interpretation. "A dispassionate, richly detailed account that promises to be the definitive book on the formation of atomic-energy policy during World War II."'Time

Martin J. Sherwin (Author), John Lescault, Patrick Cullen (Narrator)

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Flint’s Truth: The Sam Flint Series, Book 2

Golden Spur Award-winning author Richard S. Wheeler continues his popular series featuring frontier journalist Sam Flint with this stirring tale of corruption and cover-up in the American West. An editor is popular only if he can keep a secret, and Sam Flint’s new home of Oro Blanco has more than its share. Flint chooses this small frontier town, the site of the richest gold strike in the New Mexico Territory, to launch his newest weekly newspaper, the Oro Blanco Nugget. As soon as he hits town, however, Flint can tell that something is not right, as the atmosphere in Oro Blanco is thick with signs of corruption and injustice. With all trails leading to the big mining bosses, Flint prepares to do battle for the truth, while defending his newspaper and his life. “A modern master of the historical novel…This is a superb series.”—Rocky Mountain News

Richard S. Wheeler (Author), Patrick Cullen (Narrator)

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Flint's Gift

It’s 1877, and all over the West, frontier towns have sprung up, drawing those in search of new beginnings after the Civil War. The young community of Payday is a paradise of rolling meadows and balmy skies, with a quiet population of ranchers and merchants. Into this Eden comes young editor Sam Flint, whose fledgling newspaper, the Payday Pioneer, earns him friends within the town and trumpets Payday’s glories throughout the West. Sure enough, the Payday Pioneer lures settlers to the town. But to Sam’s dismay, they are settlers of the wrong kind. Soon Flint finds himself in the middle of an all-out war for control of the town. Perfect Payday is in danger. But Sam Flint will put his life on the line for what he believes in. “Patrick Cullen has a comfortable yarn-spinner’s voice and moves the story along effortlessly.”—AudioFile

Richard S. Wheeler (Author), Patrick Cullen (Narrator)

Audiobook

Man With a Squirrel

In this sequel to Harmony in Flesh and Black, the debut of Kilmer’s mystery series set in the Boston art world, we’re reacquainted with the passionate non-collector Fred Taylor. Fred, prowling the antique and jumble shops of Boston’s Charles Street, enters a favorite old haunt—Oona’s—run by a woman unafraid to deal in art with a questionable past. Oona offers Fred a painting, the image of a common gray squirrel on a chain, which he discovers has been cut from a larger canvas. Believing it was painted by an important eighteenth-century American master, he snaps up the fragment and then sets out to find the rest of the work of art. Murder, mayhem, and vandalism soon join the violence already associated with the painting. “Patrick Cullen does an excellent reading of this surprisingly nonstuffy story…this most entertaining mystery keeps the listener’s attention from start to finish.”—Library Journal

Nicholas Kilmer (Author), Patrick Cullen (Narrator)

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Six Great Scientists: Copernicus, Galileo, Newton, Darwin, Marie Curie, Einstein

Copernicus, Galileo, Newton, Darwin, Curie, Einstein: all of these geniuses had one thing in common. They had not only the imagination to conceive great ideas but also the integrity and determination to pursue and defend their science whatever the obstacles. In spite of resistance and sometimes persecution by societies reluctant to let go of old views, these scientists persevered in their research and fought for the truths they discovered. While giving birth to the modern scientific outlook, the fact of evolution, the theory of relativity, or the secrets of atomic energy, they also struggled for the preservation of intellectual freedom and against the dangers inherent in the misuse of science. Their stories will renew our confidence in the human spirit by reminding us of what men and women are capable of when they have the ability and courage to achieve great things. 'Patrick Cullen's narrating experience creates an excellent audio presentation of six 'easy to swallow' biographical capsules'.The vocabulary and concepts presented will leave general readers with a feeling of appreciation for science's highest accomplishments.''AudioFile

J. G. Crowther, J.G. Crowther (Author), John Lescault, Patrick Cullen (Narrator)

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Differentiate or Die: Survival in Our Era of Killer Competition

In today's ultra-competitive world, the average supermarket has 40,000 brand items on its shelves. Car shoppers can visit the showrooms of over twenty auto makers. Differentiating products today is more challenging than at any time in history, yet it remains a key to a company's survival. In Differentiate or Die, best-selling author Jack Trout takes marketers to task for taking the easy route of high-tech razzle-dazzle and sleight of hand instead of marketing their product's uniquely valuable qualities. He examines successful differentiation initiatives'from giants like Wal-Mart to tiny Trinity College'to determine why some succeed and some fail. The author outlines the many ways to achieve differentiation, while also warning of how difficult it is to achieve differentiation by being creative, cheap, customer oriented, or quality driven, things that your competitor can do as well. "Differentiate or Die differentiates itself on the groaning marketing bookshelf with its lucid prose, its clear vision of the future marketplace'and its sensible solutions for surviving the frenzied competition we're sure to find there."'Dan Rather, CBS News

Jack Trout, Steve Rivkin (Author), John Lescault, Patrick Cullen (Narrator)

Audiobook

Audiobooks Narrated by Patrick Cullen