Top Website For Audiobooks in Fiction, Historical and Many More

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 Scorpions Bite

Author: Aileen G. Baron

Narrator: Kirsten Potter

Format: Unabridged

Length: 4 hrs and 26 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-12-10

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 2 of 5 out of 5 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

It is 1943 and the world is at war. Archaeologist Lily Sampson has been sent by the Office of Strategic Services to survey Trans-Jordan, along with Gideon Weil, the famous director of the American School of Archeological Research in Jerusalem. In the beautiful, silent, Trans-Jordanian desert, they become stranded in the Wadi Rum and their Bedouin guide is murdered. When Gideon is accused of the crime, Lily must clear him of the accusation.

Lily discovers that two oil pipelines from Iraq run through the desert: one through Trans-Jordan which supplies the Allies and another through Syria which supplies the Nazis. At the same time, Lily learns of a Nazi plot to kidnap and kill the eight-year-old king of Iraq. Now, Lily and Gideon must act to protect the Trans-Jordan pipeline, sabotage the Syrian line, and rescue the king to prevent the Nazi takeover of Iraq.

Critic Reviews:

Those who like their thrillers steeped in exotic climes will find intriguing political and cultural conflict aplenty as Lily becomes the linchpin for a vital Allied operation. (Booklist)

Members Reviews:

Coma inducing narrator

I took a gamble on this book but it did not pay off, the narrators voice was so dreary I kept having to go back and replay sections because I could not maintain my concentration. This has never happened to me before with an audiobook. I became so fed up I didn't even get to the end, I just didn't care anymore.

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 Rare Ruby

Author: Dee Williams

Narrator: Kim Hicks

Format: Unabridged

Length: 11 hrs and 44 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-09-10

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 4 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

It is 1919, and for Ruby Jenkins and her family, life isnt easy. Ever since Rubys father returned from the war, shell-shocked and incapable of working, Ruby and her mother have had to sacrifice all comforts. However, amidst the bleak poverty of the Rotherhithe neighbourhood in which they live, Ruby manages to get a paid job at Stones Laundry. As things start to look up, Ruby starts dreaming of one day having a husband and children of her own. But sudden tragedy strikes.

Members Reviews:

unworthy

Neither the story nor the narrator involved me in this book. Disappointing as I have read other books by this author anf enjoyed them.

A dreary story,,

I found this book very hard going, lots of "woe is me " stuff. The narration was awful in fact it was the high pitched squeaking voice that done it for me...binned it !!

A lovely story of hardship,family dramas & love

A really easy read about real poverty,the struggle & rivalry in getting work & the strength of a loving family & romance.

A rare ruby by dee Williams

Really enjoyed the book , not my usual ,so I took a chance ,it really paid off . Enjoyed from start to finish

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: Starlight

Author: Anne Douglas

Narrator: Lesley Mackie

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-22-10

Publisher: ISIS Audio Books

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

Jess Raeburn lives with her widowed mother and beautiful sister in a small flat in Leith. Though reasonably content in her job in a department store, Jess dreams of a more exciting life. When she is hired to work in the box office at the Princess Street cinema, she is thrilled.

For Jess is star-struck, and the job seems like a dream come true, with handsome projectionist Ben Daniel wonderfully part of the dream. But it is Bens assistant, Rusty MacVail, whom she marries and, as the world moves towards a Second World War, Jess will need all her courage to face what lies ahead. Especially when Ben comes back into her life, and new and disturbing choices beckon.

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: Legacy of the Brave

Author: Deborah J. Kelly

Narrator: Emily Ward

Format: Abridged

Length: 4 hrs and 41 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-16-10

Publisher: Tate Publishing

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

Lieutenant Rand Kellam served his country with honor and bravery, undertaking numerous dangerous missions alongside his crew. During one such mission, his B-24 Liberator was shot down over the German countryside. Alive but stranded deep in hostile territory, he expected to find the worst. What he didn't expect to find was Leyna.

Leyna Künzelher mother sick, her father gone, her brother most likely deadlived a hard life. In addition to caring for her ailing mother, she had to work to make ends meet, farming the family land and working as a seamstress for the wealthy families in town. While returning home from work one day, she came across a strangeand terrifyingsight. Dangling from a parachute, tangled in the limbs of a roadside tree, was a man in the garb of the Allied forces currently at war with Leyna's home country. Though most of her fellow countrymen would attempt to capture and kill this enemy soldier, Leyna, at great personal risk, follows her heart and her faith and makes a decision that will forever alter her destiny.

In a story set against the backdrop of brutal conflict and human atrocity, follow Leyna and Rand on their path to each other, as they fight the odds to leave behind a Legacy of the Brave.

Members Reviews:

Legacy of the Brave is a Winner!

I found The Legacy of the Brave an exciting read from beginning to end. The characters were well developed, the setting was perfectly painted, and the story line lacked nothing in intensity, romance and faith.

Leyna Künzel, the story's main character, finds herself torn between the political fierceness of the Nazi regime and her faith-based principles when she must decide to either abandon or minister to the three allied bombardiers whose plane was shot down over Germany's countryside near her home towards the end of WWII.

In desperate need of medical attention and protection from the constant intrusions of uninvited German soldiers, the three officers find themselves completely reliant upon Leyna's faith, diligence, integrity and bravery to sustain them. This is where the legacy begins, but where will it lead?

This novel will encourage, strengthen and gladden your heart from the first chapter to the last. We need more from Deborah J. Kelly! What's next?

One of the best books I have ever read!

Legacy of the Brave is a captivating, encouraging, and exciting story that I was not able to put down. The historic details combined with the fascinating survival story of the characters were not only heartwarming, but inspirational as well. As the story progressed there were times when I sat on the edge of my seat with curious anticipation as to what would happen next, times when I wanted to laugh, and times when I wanted to cry. I myself enjoy reading history, and I loved the way Deborah Kelly incorporated the historical facts and reality of World War II. The love story that takes place is so simple and sweet, yet inspiring beyond words. I would highly recommend this book and look forward to more publications from Mrs. Kelly!

Fantastic Story

I am retired military and was required to know military history to get promotions. This book even being fiction, is very well research to where the story could of really happen. It is a very fast pace action book with love story mix in. The kind of book that both men and women can enjoy. Once I started the book I had a very time putting it down. Well written and extreamly enjoyable.

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 Game

Author: Franklin Kless

Narrator: Sean Kilgore

Format: Abridged

Length: 4 hrs and 50 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-16-10

Publisher: Tate Publishing

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

On a dreary summer day in 1943, a prominent Vicksburg citizen is being laid to rest, but not before making it known to the mourners that it was he who caused Mississippi to have its first interracial baseball game. Years earlier, his secret vote had forced both sides to the table where, after a cankerous meeting, they finally approved a set of rules governing the Game. And to one side's distress, caused it to be played on the damnedest of Yankee holidays. However, they failed to address one important item. Who was this man? What was his motive and what did they forget?

Calling the Game are two announcers who offer differing opinions: one favoring the Whites, the other believing the Blacks could well triumph. During the broadcast, tensions mount, positions harden, and accusations fly. Striking first, one side surges ahead. However, their opponents refuse to concede, creating a thrilling end to The Game.

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 Secrets of the Chess Machine

Author: Robert Lohr

Narrator: Richard Burnip

Format: Unabridged

Length: 13 hrs and 21 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-21-10

Publisher: Oakhill Publishing Ltd

Ratings: 2.5 of 5 out of 3 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

Vienna 1770: Baron Wolfgang von Kempelen unveils an amazing invention, The Mechanical Turk, an unbeatable chess playing automaton. Hailed as the greatest innovation of the century, the chess machine is really a brilliant illusion, secretly operated from inside by the Italian dwarf Tibor. But when a beautiful and seductive countess dies mysteriously in the presence of the automaton, the machine and its inventor become the target of espionage, persecution, and intrigue. What is the dark secret behind this automaton and what strange powers does it hold?

©2006 Robert Lohr; (P)2007 Oakhill Publishing Ltd

Members Reviews:

Fact or Fiction

The story makes you wander what is fact and fiction. The story is well written and well read.

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: Mountains of the Sea

Author: Gunter O. Swoboda

Narrator: Simon Ainley

Format: Unabridged

Length: 12 hrs and 21 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-07-10

Publisher: Hudson Audio Publishing

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

"Let him go abroad to a distant country; let him go to some place where he is not known. Dont let him go to the devil, where he is known."

So commences this historic saga based on a quote from The Life of Johnson (Boswell), 1773. Master Walter Beaumont is the principal character; he must depart from his life of debauchery and unintentional murder in England and set sail to a distant country. In England he is indeed well known to the devil. As the second-born son of a noble family, he departs on board HMS Resolution with the famous explorer Captain James Cook and the master of the ship, William Bligh - for this is a tale set in the late 1770s and centered on the factual third voyage of Captain Cook to return Omai to Tahiti and attempt to discover the famed Northwest Passage. We follow Beaumonts journey across the ocean to the South Sea Islands. This emotional story explores his trials, tribulations, and triumphs as he moves from being a "whore seeker" to a hero.

Entertwined with his journey are the lives of his other family members (Lord Beaumont, Lady Beaumont, and his older brother, Jonathan), as well all people on board the ship and on the islands. This is an entertaining historical story from the days of Captain James Cook and Mr. William Bligh, and listeners will appreciate the great amount of research that Gunter Swoboda has undertaken. This book is indeed an education!

Members Reviews:

Good story, some formatting issues

Mountains of the Sea is a very interesting, well written period piece. The fact that it's happening "off to the side" during one of my favorite periods of history makes it all the more fun.

That said, the Kindle edition has several formatting errors - most of which are random paragraph breaks with the title and/or author's name inserted into the text, as if they were accidentally left in during the conversion process from the author's word processor file. It can get somewhat annoying and jarring.

mountains of the sea

Mountains of the Sea is a very interesting and well written book. The style was a little hard for me to get used to, but after awhile it flowed better than the beginning. I emjoyed it.

excellent yarn

I never wanted to put this story down. A great south sea tale with vibrant characters and well described locations.

Dual Cultural Perspective

Mountains of the Sea, by Gunter O. Swoboda

Gunter O. Swoboda's `Mountains of the Sea' begins in 1776 England, with Walter Beaumont wasting his privileged social position in a dissipated life of drinking, opium abuse, and whoring, making no use of his artistic talent. When the story ends, Walter is an accepted member of a Hawai'ian community on Oahu, a responsible and loving husband and father, honored for his skills as an artist, warrior, and surfer. How his life is transformed is the meat of Swoboda's lively and emotional tale.

The author stumbles slightly at the outset by describing June 14, 1776 as a "midsummer night" instead of late spring, but moves swiftly to paint the background of Walter's life and the motives for his being sent to sea with the famous English explorer Captain James Cook. It is interesting to encounter a young Lieutenant William Bligh among Cook's officers, untainted by the later infamy that is now associated with him.

Once Walter arrives with Cook and his crew in the Pacific, Swoboda is in his element.

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: Waiting for the Day

Author: Leslie Thomas

Narrator: Michael Tudor Barnes

Format: Unabridged

Length: 13 hrs and 15 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-18-10

Publisher: Random House AudioBooks

Ratings: 2 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

It is mid-winter, 1943. Britain is gripped by intense cold and in the darkest days of the war. There is no escape from the conflict - it has snaked into every part of everyone's lives.

RAF officer Paget is heading home for Christmas on a train slowly dragging itself west, laden with the tanks and guns that will be taken across the Channel when the invasion begins. Sergeant Harris sits in a freezing hut on Salisbury Plain, wishing he can stop teaching green troops and see some real action. In the requisitioned Grange, Lieutenant Miller doesn't know how to celebrate Christmas so far away from his home in the United States; he wonders how the liberation plans afoot can ever succeed.

Each one is heading inexorably towards the beaches of France, where the great battle will begin and every man's fate be decided.

Members Reviews:

Hillarious, thoughtful run up to DDay in the UK

This is a book about the lives of typical Brits in and out of the service during the last few months waiting for the invasion of Europe.

Hilarious, serious and very sensitive to the real triumphs and tragedies of all classes, races and genders.

Five Stars

Excellent

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 Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet

Author: David Mitchell

Narrator: Tim Pigott-Smith, Paula Wilcox

Format: Abridged

Length: 7 hrs and 3 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-13-10

Publisher: Hodder Headline Limited

Ratings: 2.5 of 5 out of 3 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

The electrifying new novel by 'one of the most brilliantly inventive writers of this, or any country.' (Boyd Tonkin, Independent)

Imagine a nation banishing the outside world for two centuries, crushing all vestiges of Christianity, forbidding its subjects to leave its shores on pain of death, and harbouring a deep mistrust of European ideas. The narrow window onto this nation-fortress is a walled, artificial island attached to the mainland port and manned by a handful of traders. Locked as the land-gate may be, however, it cannot prevent the meeting of minds or hearts.

The nation was Japan, the port was Nagasaki, and the island was Dejima, to where David Mitchell's panoramic novel transports us in the year 1799. For one young Dutch clerk, Jacob de Zoet, a strage adventure of duplicity, love, guilt, faith and murder is about to begin and all the while, unbeknownst to the men confined on Dejima, the axis of global power is turning....

Members Reviews:

A great tale, bogged down by stilted and annoying dialog

Frustrating. 4.5 stars for historical and cultural background. 4 stars for the plot. But: the dialog was at times unreadable. Probably I'm missing something but some of the dialog and devices were like from a student essay. "Character says something" [italics] "Oh what a stupid thing I just said" When they were not stating the obvious, characters were rambling on [and then censuring themselves for rambling] Overall, a great story, but a difficult novel

Talk about fate

It's a thoroughly absorbing book to its bone dry brevity, that is, if you'd whittle out the many superfluous archaic phrases. Jacob de Zoet set out as a young man with definite plans to be a clerk to a Dutch trading company based in Japan. The story was set in late 1700, the time that Japan willfully isolated itself from foreign influences. However, the Dutch got a foothold in the lucrative trade by conceding to the Edo's idea of isolation: a man made island off Nagasaki for the Dutch to stay in, store their commodities, conduct trading, without setting foot on the mainland.

Jacob's plans have all gone a wry and he spent 20 years on the man made island. He arrived as a serious, morally upright young man, he was made to leave the island no longer young but still serious and upright.

The ending unfortunately has a cinematic formula that left me both annoyed and satisfied.

I got bored with it about the time Jacob sent the dictionary ...

First part of book was somewhat difficult to follow as I have little residual knowledge about Nagasaki in 1799. Style of writing changed and the story became

easier to read. I got bored with it about the time Jacob sent the dictionary as a gift. Finally gave up as the plot just wasn't realistic, even for 1799.

Interesting book

I read this book because it looked interesting and I don't know much about Japan in the period of history. Good plot and some surprises. Long but enjoyable read

Come on an exquisite journey

I felt like I had embarked on this wild adventure right along with each character. Described in visual detail and with such clear feeling-tone, David Mitchell brings a tender and thought-provoking tale that educates and moves and keeps you waiting for the next moment you can get back to this book.

I will certainly be reading more by Mitchell!

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: Heart of Stone

Author: Jane Jackson

Narrator: Patricia Gallimore

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-12-10

Publisher: ISIS Audio Books

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

In 1840s Cornwall, 25-year-old Sarah Govier supports herself and her illegitimate son, Jory, on the income from Talvan, the granite quarry she inherited from her father. But businessman Kinser Landry has good reason for wanting Talvan and will stop at nothing to get it.

Her problems mounting, Sarah turns in desperation to her neighbour, James Crago, a gunpowder manufacturer. After 20 years in India, Crago has returned home, his face horrifically scarred. Local reaction to his appearance has turned him into a recluse. Rejected by society, emotionally bruised and deeply wary, neither Sarah nor James is prepared for the powerful attraction that erupts between them. Can they overcome the past? Can they find the courage to love again?

Members Reviews:

3 1/2 stars

Hmmmm.. there were a lot of things I liked about this book. I thought the premise and cast of characters good and the setting unusual. The daughter of a granite mine owner (an unwed mother) inherits the mine when her father dies but is having a hard time keeping it afloat due to a greedy guts who wants to take it from her and therefore bribes her customers away so her business fails...

Enter tall dark and uh, NOT handsome (as in brutally scarred) hero who comes back from military service in India a solitary man with wounded heart as well as flesh. They meet, he has cash, loves her little boy, everyone falls in love etc. It was almost TOO EASY.

I can't exactly put my finger on it but this book didn't move me as much as some of Jane Jackson's others. Perhaps it was because I just finished "The Iron Road" which is hard to beat and it was just too fresh in my mind. I thought "Heart Of Stone" good but lacking in plot twists and excitement. There were a few places which lent themselves to some dramatic happenings but they were over with too quickly, glossed over or not taken full advantage of, which was a shame. In fact, the crescendo was only a few pages long making the reader want to slam on the brakes to slow it down.

The romance was a bit more kissy kissy than her other books but still clean. I would rate it between PG and PG 13 (for some thematic elements like unwed motherhood, someone encouraged to take a mistress, and a "lurking around the corner" prostitute. (who we really don't hear from but she's in the corner so to speak). There are no sex scenes but as the main character is an unwed mother, obviously mention is made of how that came to be. Nothing graphic but perhaps not suitable for real young audiences. Language was very mild. Barely worth mentioning. No violence.

I enjoyed this book and can recommend it, BUT ..If you have only a few bucks to spend and had to CHOOSE, buy "Eye Of The Wind" and "The Iron Road". If the world is your oyster then I say buy them all, I havent read one yet that I didn't like, but a few are my particular favorites.