The Sardine Shop

I'll be 100% honest - I don't really know this book's target audience.  It's quirky, and has heavy religious themes.  However, I am still proud of the voice work I did on it.

 Donald’s Sardine Shop—which was active in the old town of Celer, during the time of Joseph Walker and Sheriff Adrien Baker—existed primarily for the sale of good sardines, but it also inhabited a maniac hidden in plain sight. A lifetime among fish, cut off from human contact, had slowly and eerily worked Donald down into madness; to the point where the voices taking hold of his brain began prompting him to do things unspeakably vile. His life as a store owner—and psychopathic crackpot—is hereby recorded in intimate detail; for the purpose of informing future sardine shop customers of the underlying danger lurking behind those shop doors. ‘The Sardine Shop’, the new novella by Rob Ryan—author of ‘Erland’, ‘Clementine’ and ‘The Kallors’—is available now on Amazon.

 This is my sixth audiobook, but Audible shows it as my fifth because for some reason "The House on the Bend" was removed.  I gave this one the full radio-play treatment, with music, backgrounds, and sound effects.  BIG shout-out to the Pixabay free sound community.  

Earth 856: A Kaiju Task Force Story

Kaiju Task Force, Season One, Book 4

By

Benjamin Stetser

Narrated by

John Lee Payton

Vance Hadrian has led his research team through a rift at the bottom of the ocean-a shimmering, unnatural doorway between worlds. On the other side lies Earth 856, a savage mirror of our own. Vance says they're here for answers. But the truth runs darker than his crew suspects. He's haunted-by the day Kaiju emerged, by the destruction they left behind, and by the terrifying potential they revealed. Vance doesn't want answers-he wants to control them. To bend one of these living weapons to his will.

The Dungeon & the Labyrinth Audiobook by Rob Horner

My fifth narration is now live!

I learn something new with each book I finish.  I  mean, apart from the fact that I don't like my own voice that much; I learned that long ago.

This one is my best work to date.  

Ten strangers wake up to find themselves unwitting contestants in a new reality show, The Dungeon. The rules are simple: if they can make it to the end, they will live. The world is watching. Timed kill rooms, traps, wild animals, and a new breed of human monstrosity are all bent on making this game as difficult as possible. Can they come together and work as a team? Or will they fall to the perils within these halls?

Tune in to the inaugural episode of The Dungeon to find out! (Check your local listings for availability.) (All bets must be placed within the first 5 minutes of each episode, except where not allowed by law.)

The Dungeon & the Labyrinth Audiobook by Rob Horner

Review: An Ugly World for Beautiful Boys

An Ugly World for Beautiful Boys by Rob Costello
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

One might think that this sort of book is not my cup of tea ... and one would be right. Not because I'm straight and CIS, but because I've reached an age where I find much more in common with the adults in a book, than with the teenagers. I found Toby just plain annoying, and remarkably unaware considering how often he self-reflects in the narrative. Found myself thinking, "listen to your elders, you little punk!" way too often.

The overall plot is very similar to older stories about young women being seduced into the sleazy culture of the Big City - the author has merely changed the gender of the protagonist.

That being said, I was impressed with Dabb's narration. He differentiates very well between character voices and attitudes (with the possible exception of the sleazy older guys in the nightclub; they seemed to blend together -- perhaps on purpose). I had some minor questions about pacing, and look forward to speaking with Myles about his process and techniques.

Overall, I didn't hate it, I'm just aged out of the target audience.

View all my reviews

Review: A Book About Myself

A Book About Myself by Theodore Dreiser
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

A rather self-indulgent autobiography. I read a couple of chapters for Librivox. I'm currently listening to the whole thing, and without rancor, I find some of the readers difficult to listen to.

Dreiser apparently spent his youth feeling really bad about the plight of blue-collar workers, but avoiding their company all the same. He wanted very badly to make it big in the newspaper business, and was not above lying to get jobs. He despised the state of politics, believing that the country was turning into an oligarchy (spoiler, it did), but he constantly sucks up to the rich. Oh, and let's not forget his never-ending quest to get laid. 

I do give Dreiser credit for predicting the replacement of Democracy for a plutocracy. 

Librivox:
https://librivox.org/a-book-about-mys...

YouTube:
Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILrnW...
Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01GVY...
Part 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYiZp...

View all my reviews

Librivox - The Prince and The Pauper

 This was a lot of fun to narrate.  I got to pull out my native Missouri accent.

Download!

The Prince and the Pauper (Version 4 - Dramatic Reading)

Mark Twain (1835 - 1910)

The Prince and the Pauper tells the story of two young boys who are identical in appearance: Tom Canty, a pauper who lives with his abusive father in Offal Court off Pudding Lane in London, and Prince Edward, son of King Henry VIII. After trading clothes for a lark, misadventure results in trading places - the King must survive a pauper's fate, and Tom becomes the presumed King. The book follows the adventures as the two try to learn the world of the other, and strive to find their way back to their true life. - Summary by Krista Zaleski

Cast:
Prince: llamaart
Tom Canty: Andrea Atwood
Henry VIII: AlgyPug
Tom's Father: Larry Wilson
Lord Hertford: Beeswaxcandle
Lord St. John: Kerry Adams
Miles Hendon: ToddHW
Hugh Hendon: Ethan Hurst
Lord Chancellor, Blind Man, Branded Lawyer, Archbishop and Boy 2: David Purdy
Humphrey Marlow and Prissy: Lily
Hugo and Page: Navin
Tom's Mother: WendyKatzHiller
Nan and Benevolent Stranger: The Countess
Bet and Princess Elizabeth: Victoria Alice Bell
Lady Jane: Dawn Sutton
Lady Edith: Devorah Allen
Father Andrew and First Lord of the Buckhounds: James R. Hedrick
Soldier: Philip
Boy 1: czandra
Crowd 1: Chuck Williamson
Crowd 2 and Goodwife: Marie Christian
Crowd 3: Ted Perkins
Official, Chief Equerry in Waiting, and Blake Andrews: redrun
Physician, Waterman, and Dwarf: Laurie Banza
Servant, First Lord of the Bedchamber, and Prisoner: Cavaet
Admiral: lorda
Female Prisoner and Baptist Woman: tinab37
Ruffler: Miller4815
Yokel: Jaime Kurzweg
Margery and The Fairchild: Mia Catherine
Hermit and Judge: Joe Bergin
Shopkeeper: Elyse
Officer: Inkell
Chronicler: Doug Fajardo
Narrator: John Payton

Genre(s): Action & Adventure Fiction, Historical Fiction

Language: English

 

Audiobook - Things Left Behind

 My newest professional narration is now available.  

 

 Things Left Behind, by James Glass
Narrated by John Lee Payton

When Lieutenant Mark Wheeler of the South Carolina Police Department arrives at a possible murder-suicide, he realizes almost immediately things are amiss. The crime scene is brutal, but upon further investigation, he unveils a sadistic killer at play who will stop at nothing to get away. As the case unfolds, nothing can prepare Wheeler for the gauntlet of turmoil and trouble.

Relentlessly pursuing a psychopath who has flown under the radar for years, Mark fights to keep control—driven to bring this monster to justice. Will the sadistic killer finally be caught or will his instincts which have helped him so far see him through to the end?

Librivox - Twilight Stories

 I participated in this project as well.  Download here:  https://librivox.org/twilight-stories-by-various/

Twilight Stories

Various

A collection of broad-ranging, mostly American stories and poems for children by various authors, including Margaret Sidney, Susan Coolidge, Joaquin Miller, Henry W. Longfellow, and Mrs. Amy Therese Powelson. Each poem or story is followed by an additional short rhyme, drawn from a variety of sources, but not attributed. Topics include history, war, school, everyday life, Fairyland, and more. (Summary by Winnifred Assmann)

Genre(s): General

Language: English

LibriVox - Hearts of Three

Hearts of Three

Jack London (1876 - 1916)

Genre(s): Action & Adventure Fiction, Fantasy Fiction

Language: English

Francis Morgan, a wealthy heir of industrialist and Wall Street maven Richard Henry Morgan, is a jaded young New Yorker. When his father's business partner Thomas Regan suggests that Francis take a holiday in Central America, ostensibly to search for the treasure of the Morgans' legendary ancestor, Francis thinks it's a splendid idea. But he never suspects what adventures await across the border... - Summary by Goodreads

Cast List:

Narrator: Lynette Caulkins
Francis Morgan: john warren hart
Henry Morgan: Benjamin Tucker
Leoncia Solano: Krista Zaleski
Parker and Priest of the Sun: James R. Hedrick
Thomas Regan: John Payton
Señor Álvarez Torres and Yi Poon: Wayne Cooke
Señor Mariano Vercara è Hijos and Bascom: Greg Giordano
Enrico Solano and Lieutenant Parsons: Todd
Alesandro Solano: Ted Perkins
Martinez Solano, Gendarme, Overseer Ramirez: redrun
Alvarado Solano: Andrew Gaunce
Ricardo Solano, Juchitán Haciendado: Inkell
Solano Maid: Eileen Ellen
Solano Servant 1, Trefethen's Sailor, Carib, Haciendado 3, Caroo, and Newspaper Pedlar: David Purdy
Solano Servant 2, Percival, Carib, Old Buccaneer Henry Morgan, Guillermo, Panamanian Judge, Lost Soul, and Canoe Indian: John Kennard
Mayan Lad and José, a Mayan youth: Elijah Fisher
Captain Trefethen: Max Magnus
Carib: Yuqing
Pedro Zurita and Police Lt. Burns: Scott Caulkins
Rafael and Charlie Tippery: Elsie Selwyn
Ignacio and Blind One's Leader: Joe Bergin
Augustino, Capitán Rosaro, and Johnny Pathmore: Bill Mosley
Haciendado 2 and Vicente: Major Toast
Oil Man and Peter McGill: Archives27
Beleaguered Peon and Bear Broker: Beeswaxcandle
The Blind Brigand: Larry Wilson
The Blind One's Daughter: Eliza
Old Maya: Sonia
José Mancheno and Old Wreck: Adrian Stephens
Daughter of the Sun Priest and Concordia: Marie Christian
The Sun Queen: Jenn Broda
Lost Soul: Kristin G
Lost Soul: Christine Bowden
Lost Soul: Michele Eaton
Nicoya: Miss Kay
Rodriguez Fernandez: Scotty Smith
Broken Woman: Dawn Sutton

 

Download all files here:  LibriVox: