Showing results by narrator "Neil Holmes" in All Categories

While people still romanticize the Wild West, many Americans are still all too familiar with the fate of the Donner Party, a group of 87-90 people that met with disaster in the Sierra Nevada mountain range during the winter of 1846-1847. The party knew the journey would take months, but early snowfalls in the mountains left dozens of people trapped in snow drifts that measured several feet, stranding them in a manner that made it virtually impossible for them to go any further for several weeks.

Appalachia has played a complex and often contradictory role in the unfolding of American history. Created by urban journalists in the years following the Civil War, the idea of Appalachia provided a counterpoint to emerging definitions of progress. Early 20th-century critics of modernity saw the region as a remnant of frontier life, a reflection of simpler times that should be preserved and protected.

A work of genuine social history, After the Black Death leads the listener into the villages and cities of European society. The book begins with an overview of family and community structure, social conflict, and religious beliefs. After describing the fundamental traits of both rural and urban society, it considers the elites, armed rebellion, poverty, criminality, sexual behavior, and marriage practices.

When American archaeologists discovered a collection of cuneiform tablets in Iraq in the late 19th century, they were confronted with a language and a people who were at the time only scarcely known to even the most knowledgeable scholars of ancient Mesopotamia: the Sumerians.

It was the summer of 1992 and I was excited to go stay with my grandparents for a few weeks. They lived in a small community called Hell for Certain, located in rural eastern Kentucky. This meant a summer of hiking, hunting, camping, and just being away from the hustle and bustle of life. There was an abundance of wildlife, ranging from venomous snakes to bobcats, mountain lions, and bears. However, that fateful summer, I would find out that there were other creatures that roamed the mountains of my hometown. Could the stories I was told as a kid be real? Has myth became reality?

The Underground Railroad is one of the topics that young schoolchildren are most often taught. Every American is familiar with the idea of fugitive slaves escaping to Canada and the North with the help of determined abolitionists and even former escaped slaves like Harriet Tubman.

Few Presidents are remembered for their homes, but Jefferson's Monticello is the greatest exception to that rule, and it is one of the nations most recognizable landmarks.Nobody spent more time in the thick of the Revolutionary era than Thomas Jefferson, one of the most famous and revered Americans. Jefferson was instrumental in all of the debates before the Revolution, authoring the Declaration of Independence, laying out the ideological groundwork of the notion of states' rights, leading one of the first political parties, and overseeing the expansion of the United States during his presidency.

Mystery Underground is a collection of scary short stories for kids, middle grade listeners, and everyone who likes a good scare. The stories combine the monsters and mystery of Goosebumps with the surprise endings of The Twilight Zone. They are the perfect scary stories to listen to in the dark, around a campfire, or under the covers at night with a flashlight.

Transportation is the unsung hero in America's story. Stagecoaches, waterways, canals, railways, busses, and airplanes revolutionized much more than just the way people got around; they transformed the economic, political, and social aspects of everyday life. In Transportation and the American People, renowned historian H. Roger Grant tells the story of American transportation from its slow, uncomfortable, and often dangerous beginnings to the speed and comfort of travel today.

A hard-luck private detective, just getting by. A mother who refuses to give up on her missing daughter. Can Gavin English find the girl before it's too late? Two teenage girls go missing in the span of one year- both are labeled runaways and forgotten by the system.Forgotten, until Rachel, a determined mother, walks into the office of private investigator, Gavin English. She needs to know for sure what's happened to her daughter, Jennifer. A nice pair of legs and a little cash go a long way, so he's on the case.

How much do you know about that three-pound hunk of tissue in your head - your brain? Its structure and function drive your behavior in profound ways. Scientists are studying the brain and its chemicals to find behavioral patterns, to figure out the sources of good moods and random outbursts, for example. This compilation from Science News for Students turns to brain science to answer all sorts of questions: Can you actually be addicted to your phone? Why is it so hard to sleep away from home?

Within the sheltered walls of Cottoncrest, Augustine and Rebecca Chastaine have met their deaths under the same shroud of mystery that befell the former owner who had committed suicide at the end of the Civil War. Locals whisper about the curse of Cottoncrest Plantation, an otherworldly force that has now taken three lives. But Sheriff Raifer Jackson knows that even a specter needs a mortal accomplice, and after investigating the crime scene, he concludes that the apparent murder-suicide is a double homicide with local peddler Jake Gold as the prime suspect.

Stephen Devereux is convinced that the boogeyman, famous for targeting sleep-deprived souls, is out to get him. After all, it did put his older brother in a wheelchair a few months ago, and now that Stephen's been missing so much sleep, he's the perfect victim. The storm is breaking outside, and Stephen is getting tired. Will he find a way to stay awake, or suffer the wrath of a childhood fable?

Mystery Underground is a collection of scary short stories for kids, middle grade listeners, and everyone who likes a good scare. The stories combine the monsters and mystery of Goosebumps with the surprise endings of The Twilight Zone. This audiobook contains 13 scary short stories set throughout the state of Florida. Listeners will encounter skunk apes, gator-men, vampires, and other mysterious creatures of legend.

Mystery Underground is a collection of scary short stories for kids, middle-grade listeners, and everyone who likes a good scare. The stories combine the monsters and mystery of Goosebumps with the surprise endings of The Twilight Zone. They are the perfect scary stories to listen to in the dark, around the campfire, or under the covers at night with a flashlight. This audiobook contains 13 scary short stories set around the state of California. Listeners will encounter werewolves, sharks, saber-toothed cats, and other mysterious creatures of legend.

Proving a man's innocence should be easier than proving his guilt, right? Things are going well for private detective, Gavin English, now that everyone in town seems to know his name. He's making good money, people are buying his drinks, and he even has a sexy new receptionist. But when the Reno Police Department brings him in on a homicide case, Gavin doesn't see things as cut-n-dry as everyone else.

This collection includes mostly dark and sometimes humorous poetry, flash fiction, and short stories from the mind of Michelle Kilmer, including "Mirielle", a finalist in the Crypticon 2014 Writing Contest.

Mystery Underground is a collection of scary short stories for kids, middle schoolers, and everyone who likes a good scare. The stories combine the monsters and mystery of Goosebumps with the surprise endings of The Twilight Zone. They are the perfect scary stories to listen to on Halloween, in the dark, around the campfire, or under the covers at night with a flashlight. This book contains 13 scary short stories. Listeners will encounter vampires, zombies, mummies, ghosts, and other creatures of the living undead. Listen to a scare... if you dare!

When an awkward preacher hires Gavin English to find out if a woman is being unfaithful to her husband, the private detective has no way of knowing about the man’s sinister past. A little digging leads Gavin to a happy couple with an open marriage, and points him back to his new client — a stalker with unknown motives. Pastor Timothy Ford has skeletons in his closet, and a Voice in his head, reminding him of the hell that awaits if he doesn’t finish his mission. God has laid sinners in his path, and suffering and death are their only chance at Salvation.

This book goes straight to the core of speed reading and gives you all the tools and hacks you need to change your life forever.