The Mighty Johns: A Novella by David Baldacci and Other Stories by Superstar Authors [Unabridged] [Audio Cassette]

David Baldacci (Author), et al. (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 2002

Including

The Mighty Johns by David Baldacci

The End of Innocence by Anne Perry

The Empire Strikes Back by Brad Meltzer

Each performed by Scott Brick.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The extraordinary novella by thriller king David Baldacci that leads off this exceptional anthology of new fiction centered on crime and football is alone worth the book's cover price. "The Mighty Johns" is one of the more remarkable stories ever written on a sports theme, boasting an array of original plot spins infusing quantum physics (e.g., Heisenberg's uncertainty principle and the possibility of time warp) into this tale of a college football player's investigation into the disappearance of another college pigskin star decades earlier. Every Baldacci fan will want to read "The Mighty Johns," and they'll be joined by legions of others, because veteran editor Penzler has put together a team of authors that's simply all-star. Colin Harrison and Dennis Lehane contribute "Good Seats" and "Gone Down to Corpus," respectively, the former a fluid if hard-bitten tale of vengeance, the latter a powerfully moody tale of alienated youth (varsity players). There's a superb offering from Anne Perry, "The End of Innocence," set in a small English village on the eve of WWI. This story imagines a rugby match (fairly chosen as the English counterpart to American football) as a backdrop to murder, delivering an indelible evocation of a peaceful corner of the world shadowed by war. Legendary PI writer James Crumley tells a mordant tale of a former player, now a loser, who turns to bank robbery, in "Semi-Pro," while another mystery great, Lawrence Block, turns in the nicely black-humored "The Ehrengraf Reverse." Bestselling authors Brad Meltzer (with the clever, MIT-set "The Empire Strikes Back") and Tim Green also take the field, the former pro baller with "Whatever It Takes to Win," with tough-minded PI (former player) action that's perhaps Green's most accomplished writing yet. Mike Lupica, Brendan DuBois, John Westermann, Peter Robinson, Carol O'Connell and Gary Phillips round out the players in the most exciting sports fiction anthology in years.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

David Baldacci lives with his family in Virginia. He and his wife have founded the Wish You Well Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting literacy efforts across America. He invites you to visit him at: www.david-baldacci.com and his foundation at www.wishyouwellfoundation.org .

Otto Penzler is the proprietor of the Mysterious Bookshop in New York City. He is the founder of the Mysterious Press and Otto Penzler Books, and has received an Edgar Award, an Ellery Queen Award, and a Raven Award for his contribution to the mystery field. His recent anthology, The Black Lizard Big Book of Pulps was a New York Times Bestseller.

Scott Brick has performed on film, television and radio. His stage appearances throughout the U.S. include Cyrano, Hamlet, and MacBeth. He's read over 150 audiobooks in four years-for that, AudioFile magazine named Scott "a rising and shining star" and awarded him as one of the magazine's Golden Voices. The Audie- and Earphone Award-winning actor has read several Macmillan Audio audioBooks, including Dune: The Butlerian Jihad and Dune: The Machine Crusade by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson. In addition to his acting work, Scott choreographs fight sequences, and was a combatant in films such as Romeo and Juliet, The Fantasticks and Robin Hood: Men in Tights.

Martin Jarvis is one of Britain's most distinguished and versatile actors. He has narrated and produced audiobooks in the UK and is beginning to apply his narrating talents to audiobooks in the U.S., as well. His appearances in West End theater productions are numerous, including Sir Peter Hall's On Approval, Alan Ayckbourn's Woman in Mind, and Michael Frayn's Exchange, a performance he repeated in Los Angeles. Martin's appearances for BBC Television include classics: Nicholas Nickleby, David Copperfield and The Pallisers; P.D. James's The Black Tower; and episodes of Inspector Morse and Rumpole. Jarvis is also one of Audiofile's Golden Voices.

Brad Meltzer was raised in Brooklyn and Miami. He graduated with honors from the University of Michigan and earned a degree from Columbia Law School in 1996. He has written speeches for President Clinton's national service program, devised marketing strategies for "Games" magazine, and earned credit from Columbia for writing his first book, which became "The Tenth Justice". He lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife, Cori, also an attorney.

Anne Perry is the bestselling author of two acclaimed series set in Victorian England: the Charlotte and Thomas Pitt novels, including Seven Dials and Long Spoon Lane, and the William Monk novels, most recently The Shifting Tide and Dark Assassin. She is also the author of the World War I novels No Graves As Yet, Shoulder the Sky, Angels in the Gloom, At Some Disputed Barricade, and We Shall Not Sleep, as well as the holiday novels A Christmas Journey, A Christmas Visitor, A Christmas Guest, A Christmas Secret, and A Christmas Beginning. Anne Perry lives in Scotland. Visit her website at www.anneperry.net.

--This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: New Millennium Audio; Unabridged edition (July 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590072316
• ISBN-13: 978-1590072318
• Product Dimensions: 6.3 x 4.4 x 2.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,743,981 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #17 in Books > Books on Cassette > Authors, A-Z > ( B ) > Baldacci, David

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars The Mighty Johns, October 10, 2002

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Mighty Johns: 1 Novella & 13 Superstar Short Stories from the Finest in Mystery & Suspense (Hardcover)

I was really expecting something special after reading Publisher's Weekly's review. I thought the story was predictable and rather foolish. One football player sends six opponents off on stretchers because he knows physics? I also got a little tired of hearing how "brilliant" Tor was. Make the point and move on.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars I'm Being Generous, October 7, 2002

By 

"marjonp22" (Union City, New Jersey United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Mighty Johns: 1 Novella & 13 Superstar Short Stories from the Finest in Mystery & Suspense (Hardcover)

A couple of the stories are actually engaging. "A Sunday in January" and "Whatever It Takes to Win" are by far the best of the lot. I would like to have seen the latter flushed out into a full length novel, and I could actually see it being developed into a screenplay. The rest of the stories are barely readable. Baldacci's novella is nowhere near the level of his writing in his full length books.
PLUS, this is by far the WORST EDITING JOB I HAVE EVER SEEN. I am embarrassed for the authors that their work (as much as I didn't particularly enjoy the stories) appeared in this collection. Page 61 alone had four typographical errors, and it got worse from there. It seemed that every story had a different problem, from periods in the middle of sentences, to transposed 'that's and 'what's, to missing words, misspelled words, forgotten periods and appostrophes--it was atrocious. It literally made the book unreadable.
I wanted desparately to enjoy the stories, but the lack of effort put in by the oft-acclaimed Otto Penzler ruined the experience.
Do not buy this book. All it will do is infuriate you to think that the publisher and editor are profitting from such a shoddy product. Save your money. And if you have already purchased this book, spend another 37 cents on a stamp to send New Millenium Press and Otto Penzler a letter of complaint. But don't forget to proofread before you send it!

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Don't waste your time, August 15, 2002

By 

PATRICK (SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Mighty Johns: 1 Novella & 13 Superstar Short Stories from the Finest in Mystery & Suspense (Hardcover)

I couldn't have been more disappointed in this book. I am huge Baldacci, Meltzer, Green fan as well as a football nut, and I thought this would be a great read (similar to Tim Green's football novels). These stories are so bad, and paint football players in the worst light. Some of this is borderline racist in the way that these authors (Lupica, especially) try to write in the first person as "gangsta" football players. The editor needs to learn how to proofread, and also needs to make sure that the author information is accurate. If you are football fan and you love these authors, do not be fooled.