Discover the Best Sellers Audiobooks in Fiction, Short Stories & Anthologies Most Popular

Please open https://hotaudiobook.com ONLY on your standard browser Safari, Chrome, Microsoft or Firefox to download full audiobooks of your choice for free.

Title: The Adventure of the Naval Treaty

Author: Arthur Conan Doyle

Narrator: David Ian Davies

Format: Unabridged

Length: 1 hr and 4 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-12-12

Publisher: One Voice Recordings

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories & Anthologies

Publisher's Summary:

Holmes must recover a stolen document, prevent a diplomatic crisis between England and Italy, and save the career of a young and rising diplomat. "The Adventure of the Naval Treaty", one of the 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is one of 12 stories in the cycle collected as The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes. It is one of the longest stories in the Sherlock Holmes collections.

Critic Reviews:

"The most incredible one-person audio you have heard. Has to be heard to be believed. David Ian Davies creates theatre in a book." (Charles Prepolec, one of the most respected Sherlockians)

Members Reviews:

Love it

Great story like pretty much all stories!

Five Stars

Love the classics

Please open https://hotaudiobook.com ONLY on your standard browser Safari, Chrome, Microsoft or Firefox to download full audiobooks of your choice for free.

Title: The Adventure of the 'Gloria Scott'

Author: Arthur Conan Doyle

Narrator: David Ian Davies

Format: Unabridged

Length: 38 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-12-12

Publisher: One Voice Recordings

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories & Anthologies

Publisher's Summary:

The fifth story from Doyle's Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (The Strand magazine, 1893) reveals the roots of the detective's foray into criminology and his very first case as a young college student, when the death of his school chum's father unearths a terrible, tragic series of events upon the high seas, of plotting and murder, of betrayal - and the man's long-hidden secrets of another life.

Critic Reviews:

"The most incredible one-person audio you have heard. Has to be heard to be believed. David Ian Davies creates theatre in a book." (Charles Prepolec, one of the most respected Sherlockians)

Members Reviews:

Early Sherlock

Come on it is Sherlock Holmes does it get any better.

Not a Holmes Adventure really...

Meh! It is not like Holmes did anything...

Nice plot

Another nice plot and Holmes again nail it. Holmes, in his university days, spent a month with his friend, Victor Trevor, at his father's estate in Norfolk. While there, Holmes amazed his host, Victor's father, who was a Justice of the Peace and a landowner besides. He had made his fortune in the goldfields in Australia. One of Holmes's deductions was that the elder Mr. Trevor was once connected with someone with the initials J. A. whom he wanted to forget. His host then passed out on the table. Holmes had touched a sore spot, and possibly did not believe the old man's explanation once he had come back to himself that J. A. had been an old lover.

Holmes perceived that he was making his host uncomfortable and decided to take his leave. The evening before he did this, another old man suddenly appeared at the house causing the elder Mr. Trevor to rush for a shot of brandy before greeting him. They had apparently been shipmates some 30 years earlier, and Mr. Trevor said something about finding him some work. Soon afterwards, Holmes and his friend found Mr. Trevor drunk.

Holmes spent the next seven weeks at his chemistry experiments, suddenly receiving a telegram from the younger Trevor begging him to come back to Norfolk. Once he got there, Victor told Holmes that his father was dying as a result of a stroke suffered after he received a letter. They found that he had died while Victor had been meeting Holmes at the station.

After Holmes had left the house seven weeks earlier, it seems that this old man who had come looking for work, and whose name was Hudson, proved to be as unruly an employee as could be imagined. He had demanded to be promoted from gardener to butler and had got what he wanted. He had taken unforgivable liberties which would normally have resulted in an employee's dismissal. He was often drunk. Victor could not stand him and would have beaten Hudson up if he had been younger. The other staff had complained about him. However, Victor's father always let him get away with any infamy. Suddenly, Hudson announced that he was leaving because he had tired of Norfolk, and he was going to Hampshire to see Beddoes, another old shipmate.

Now, Holmes's friend had become thin and careworn by the ordeal. He had thought that the trouble was over when Hudson had left, but then came the letter, from Fordingbridge in Hampshire. It read:

"The supply of game for London is going steadily up.

Please open https://hotaudiobook.com ONLY on your standard browser Safari, Chrome, Microsoft or Firefox to download full audiobooks of your choice for free.

Title: The Way We Were

Subtitle: A Collection of Short Stories

Author: Marie Joseph

Narrator: Carole Boyd

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 29 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-08-11

Publisher: Random House AudioBooks

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories & Anthologies

Publisher's Summary:

This is a collection of Marie Joseph's most outstanding short stories, previously published in magazines in the 1960s and 1970s. There is the young mother who eventually discovers nothing can compare with Christmas at home with her husband and children; a couple who are brought together again with unexpected help from a feline source; and a younger sister's wedding which brings faint misgivings and memories from the past. With compassion, insight and humour these stories explore the themes of love - its hopes, joys, disappointments and reconciliations. All are told through the sepia of nostalgia and tinged with the irony that is Marie Joseph's Hallmarks.

Please open https://hotaudiobook.com ONLY on your standard browser Safari, Chrome, Microsoft or Firefox to download full audiobooks of your choice for free.

Title: The Black Stone

Author: Robert E Howard

Narrator: Felbrigg Napoleon Herriot

Format: Unabridged

Length: 41 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-05-11

Publisher: FNH Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories & Anthologies

Publisher's Summary:

FNH Audio presents an unabridged reading of Robert E. Howard's The Black Stone. This story is one of Howard's stories that can be considered part of the Cthulhu Mythos (H.P. Lovecraft's worlds). A young man reads an ancient tome called "Nameless Cults" and discovers in it references to an artifact called "The Black Stone". Worshipped and abhorred, the stone grabs the man's attention and he delves deeply into its' mysterious history, until he finds that it truely exists and so embarks on a trip to visit the stone, where he discovers the dark and horrifying truth.

Members Reviews:

Short, effective and impactful: Why it is a key part of the defining stories for the HP Lovercraft / Weird Tales genre

It is hard to write a review about a story that is one of the key stories in the HP Lovercraft genre after having read derivative works before. The story does a very good job of setting the atmosphere that people have come to expect from this genre. The main character is interesting and helped to defined the archetypal protagonist in the HP Lovecraft genre.

This is a very short story but quite effective. The writing is compact and powerful. If you are interested in HP Lovecraft, then you should take time to read Robert Howard's short stories in this genre.

Please open https://hotaudiobook.com ONLY on your standard browser Safari, Chrome, Microsoft or Firefox to download full audiobooks of your choice for free.

Title: Men in the Making

Author: Bruce Machart

Narrator: Tom Stechschulte

Format: Unabridged

Length: 5 hrs and 34 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-29-11

Publisher: Recorded Books

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories & Anthologies

Publisher's Summary:

Bruce Machart, the author of The Wake of Forgiveness, pens this critically acclaimed collection of 10 nuanced tales. The characters in Macharts affecting fiction find themselves attempting to measure up to their own beliefs in what it means to be a man, even as they struggle and often fail to be good providers, to protect their wives from violence, and to shield their children from lifes brutality.

Members Reviews:

More brilliance from Machart

Fans expecting a repeat of Machart's beautifully written "In the Wake of Forgiveness" are in for a completely different read. Different does not mean not as good.

Machart has assembled a troubling but well-wrought collection of stories about modern men facing the pathos that is well below the surface for so many of us. Machart succeeds in telling these stories, and telling them true, because he has driven the roads and walked the paths that he writes about. It is clear that Machart has mastered the understanding of the emotions and perspectives of those men who aspire not to greatness, but aspire to make it through the day. For all the seasons of a man's life, Machart has captured the color, the warmth, and the cold that makes those seasons.

I have said before in other venues, and this collection proves, that Machart will be one of this generation's next great novelists!

Good Collection of Short Stories

I learned about this book in Esquire, when the magazine named it one of the best books of 2011. I hadn't read a collection of short stories in a while, so I was excited to pick it up. Overall, this was a good book. I would say the first half of the book is much better than the latter half, when it seems that some stories were incorporated to just fill up space. However, the ones that were good were VERY good (e.g. "Where You Begin" and "The Last One Left in Arkansas"). In fact, 'The Last One Left in Arkansas" is one of the best stories I have ever read.

Machart has very good control of prose and the structure is almost Joycean at times (but not widely complex; there is just a lot of good stuff below the surface). There is a lot of passion and heartbreak in these stories and some of their really hit you. I found his descriptions of Texas a bit too stereotypical at times but most writers fall into that trap.

Machart is a very talented young writer and I look forward to his future works (and plan to read his earlier stuff).

Magnificent, elegant, sorrowful

Reminiscent of Ray Carver and Daniel Woodrell. Evocative settings in Houston and east Texas catch a variety of men, young and not-so-young, dealing with loss (or the recognition of loss) in often unexpected forms and manners. Recommended for readers looking for something visceral and raw in a literary landscape that is often too slick and urbane.

An OK read.

I enjoyed the book, but was somewhat put off by the recurrent theme of dogs dying. Seemed like the message was, "this is all that makes men sad." I found that to be a limited view, and insulting to the men in my life.

But it was well written, if a little one dimensional.

Don't read this if you're already depressed.

I heard the author on NPR reading an excerpt from one of the stories, and what little I heard sounded great. I bought the book right away for my husband, a stay-at-home dad. He immediately dove into the book.

Please open https://hotaudiobook.com ONLY on your standard browser Safari, Chrome, Microsoft or Firefox to download full audiobooks of your choice for free.

Title: Passing Strangers

Author: Marie Joseph

Narrator: Coral Boyd

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs and 37 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-22-11

Publisher: Random House AudioBooks

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories & Anthologies

Publisher's Summary:

Brief romantic encounters that sparkle with humour and poignancy, Passing Strangers and Other Stories.

Meet Maggie and Don, the conventional married couple, whose lives are dramatically interrupted by the arrival of Beth, Maggie's beautiful but impulsive friend....

Anne, the plain and practical secretary who dreams of capturing the heart of dashing Burce Gordon, the firm's accountant....

The young man and woman alone in a crowded airport terminal who find brief solace in each other's company....

Just some of the marvellous characters, young and old, that people this richly observed collection of short stories.

Please open https://hotaudiobook.com ONLY on your standard browser Safari, Chrome, Microsoft or Firefox to download full audiobooks of your choice for free.

Title: A Scandal in Bohemia

Author: Arthur Conan Doyle

Narrator: David Ian Davies

Format: Unabridged

Length: 45 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-14-11

Publisher: One Voice Recordings

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories & Anthologies

Publisher's Summary:

A Scandal In Bohemia: Holmes is hired by the King of Bohemia to recover blackmail evidence, held by the woman whom the king once promised to marry, but abandoned for a woman of noble birth.

Critic Reviews:

"The most incredible one-person audio you have heard. Has to be heard to be believed. David Ian Davies creates theatre in a book." (Charles Prepolec, one of the most respected Sherlockians)

Members Reviews:

Good Morning Irene from Amazon

This story was my introduction to Sherlock Holmes. It was a short story that was published in a newspaper and one of the few times Holmes is outwitted, this time by a woman. What sparked my interest was book discovered in a local bookstore titled Chapel Noir: An Irene Adler Mystery by Carole Nelson Douglas, the fourth book in the series. It's the continuation of Irene Adler after Scandal in Bohemia. I already ordered the first book, Good Morning Irene from Amazon. It will be a summer read. As to Mr. Holmes! I plan to read more and join the only Holmes Society on the West Coast in my neck of the Gold Country.

Fast Read

After watching the series Sherlock from BBC I decided I was going to go back and read the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle books. The Sherlock episode was entitled A Scandal in Belgravia versus Bohemia. They were very faithful to the book despite it being modernized. I read this book in under 2 hours it was that good. I will read his others as I have the time. I would recommend this book for an insight into Sherlock himself.

a good read

I had seen the TV version which was very interesting with a confusing plot.so I wanted the book version to read. And it was not disappointing but I am a Sherlock Holmes nut.

Conan Doyle never disappoints

This brief classic tale has become iconic. It is much quoted in spin off stories written by others. Indeed, Irene Adler is a clever woman!

Three Stars

FUN READING

Please open https://hotaudiobook.com ONLY on your standard browser Safari, Chrome, Microsoft or Firefox to download full audiobooks of your choice for free.

Title: The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone

Author: Arthur Conan Doyle

Narrator: David Ian Davies

Format: Unabridged

Length: 30 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-14-11

Publisher: One Voice Recordings

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories & Anthologies

Publisher's Summary:

The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone - In this entry from The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes, the master detective is on the trail of the stolen crown jewel known as the Mazarin Stone.

Knowing his activity on the case makes him a target for murder, Sherlock Holmes is preparing a ruse to smoke out the suspected thief. To his surprise, however, his quarry - a renowned big game hunter - comes directly to him, and as Watson slips away to get the police, an impromptu game of cat and mouse ensues. This is Holmes at his most creative and debonair. The hunter becomes the hunted, and the exchange between the two, before Doyle uncorks a truly startling endgame, is a pure delight.

Critic Reviews:

"The most incredible one-person audio you have heard. Has to be heard to be believed. David Ian Davies creates theatre in a book." (Charles Prepolec, one of the most respected Sherlockians)

Members Reviews:

Nice mystery

In this story, Dr. Watson arrives at 221B Baker Street where Boy Billy shows him a wax effigy of Holmes placed near a curtained window in the sitting room. The effigy produces a shadow on the curtain that, when viewed from outside, is the unmistakable profile of Sherlock Holmes. Using this visual trick Holmes aims to give a perfect target to a would be murderer with a rifle. Holmes names his murderer as Count Negretto Sylvius, the diamond thief he has been following in disguises. He gives the criminal's address to Watson, then sends the doctor out the back for the police. Surprised by the Count, Holmes offers him and his helper, boxer Sam Merton, freedom if they give up the jewel, or jail if not.

He invites them to discuss the deal while he plays violin in the next room. When the Count decides to double-cross Holmes and takes the stone from his secret pocket to show Sam in window light, the detective springs from the chair in place of his replica and grabs the Â100K jewel. His bedroom has a gramophone and secret passage to behind the curtain.

After the police take away the villains, Lord Cantlemere sweeps in. Unlike the Prime Minister and Home Secretary, he did not want Holmes. When tricked into insisting on arrest for whoever is found possessing the diamond, he finds the jewel in his pocket, and apologizes. Finally, Holmes can eat.

This adventure is notable for being the one of only two Arthur Conan Doyle Holmes stories, aside from a couple of humorous vignettes, to be written in third person. The other is "His Last Bow". "The Mazarin Stone" was written this way because it was adapted from a stage play, "The Crown Diamond", in which Watson hardly appeared. Its adaptation from the theater also explains why the action in this story is confined to one room.

In the original play, the villain was Holmes's enemy Colonel Sebastian Moran of "The Adventure of the Empty House" infamy, not Count Negretto Sylvius.

I recommend this book to all readers who appreciate a well written mystery story.

One Star

It's 12 minutes

Please open https://hotaudiobook.com ONLY on your standard browser Safari, Chrome, Microsoft or Firefox to download full audiobooks of your choice for free.

Title: The Adventure of the Creeping Man

Author: Arthur Conan Doyle

Narrator: David Ian Davies

Format: Unabridged

Length: 41 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-01-11

Publisher: One Voice Recordings

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories & Anthologies

Publisher's Summary:

The Adventure of the Creeping Man: The strange behavior of a family dog towards its master brings Holmes into a case involving the increasingly odd and disturbing behavior of the man himself, a respected professor.

Critic Reviews:

"The most incredible one-person audio you have heard. Has to be heard to be believed. David Ian Davies creates theatre in a book." (Charles Prepolec, one of the most respected Sherlockians)

Please open https://hotaudiobook.com ONLY on your standard browser Safari, Chrome, Microsoft or Firefox to download full audiobooks of your choice for free.

Title: Departures

Subtitle: Seven Stories from Heathrow

Author: Tony Parsons

Narrator: uncredited

Format: Unabridged

Length: 2 hrs and 33 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-01-11

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories & Anthologies

Publisher's Summary:

Bestselling author Tony Parsons has been appointed Heathrows writer-in-residence. The result is Departures seven stories of high drama, offbeat humour and raw emotion Here is Heathrow as it has never been seen before a secret city populated by the 75 million travellers who pass through every year, a place where journeys and dreams end and begin.

From the brilliant twenty-something kids who control the skies up in Air Traffic Control to the softly-spoken man who cares for the dogs, lions and smuggled rattlesnakes at Heathrows Animal Reception Centre, from the immigration officers who have heard it all before to the firemen who hone their skills by setting the green plane on fire, from the armed police who watch for terrorist attacks to the pilots who have touched the face of god Heathrow teems with life.

In Departures, his first collection of short stories, Tony Parsons takes us deep inside the secret city.

Members Reviews:

a close sight on people's insight

Tony Parsons can write about usual things and situations in a plain but deep way, as you go on reading you forget you're reading and you feel as if you were just living the characters' life it's easy to be in their shoes.

Hour Long Length Collection, Pretty Much Like an Episode of Airport, But Less Entertaining

Tony Parson's Departures, will take you about an hour or so to get through. It's the same length and size as the books in the UK Quick Reads series. These stories are all set in the different areas behind the scenes at Heathrow Airport, except the check in area where the most interesting stuff could have probably happened with an eccentric customer or two. The only eccentric customers we experience at the passport control counter but even they are fairly mild. The head of the animal reception centre of Heathrow story reminded me a lot of the British documentary show Airport which was also set at Heathrow, but I didn't find as interesting, basically it's just a guy showing an actress he's never heard of all the animals after breaking the news her dog died in flight.

Other parts also reminded me of that program and other similar shows like Airline. We visit the air traffic control tower which pretty much just points out through a conversation between the controllers and a window cleaner everything that was wrong with Pushing Tin, namely the old age of the controllers in what in reality is a young mans game. Another story has a trainee being grilled on not knowing what type of birds are everywhere. There's a few okay moments but none of these fictional characters are that interesting, the real life people in the documentary fly on the wall shows have a lot more interesting stuff to say. Not sure what the Mexican hat has to do with the seven stories, when you consider Heathrow Airport is in England, I probably would have gone with a plane on the cover or something.

Heart warming stories

Visiting the book fair last month, I've found this small book. I like Tony Parsons a lot, and I was wondering how I didn't know about this book. I've found out that he spent seven days at Heathrow as official airport writer just to write these seven heart-warming stories of life.

Departures is a book made of seven stories.