John Rayburn

SETTLING THE WEST POST CIVIL WAR TOOK GUTS … AND LUCK! In 1866 Matt Draper is full of ambition but without money or family to help him succeed. On the western frontier of an ever-expanding America, toiling as a riverboat gambler seems like the best option to raise enough capital to realize his dream of opening a small-town bank. Though gambling is lucrative for Matt, it is also an unsavory enterprise fraught with danger. Fortuitously, before any...

Veteran broadcaster John Rayburn here combines philosophy, poetry, inspiration, motivation, and touches of humor to provide comfort, cheer, and encouragement. This audiobook is an opportunity to collect your thoughts and set aside a few moments for contemplation in a busy, busy world.

The Book of Dragons (1899) is a collection of children's stories by English writer Edith Nesbit. Comprising eight stories originally published in 1899 in The Strand Magazine, The Book of Dragons is a work that explores the magic and wonder of mythical beasts for children and adults alike. In "The Book of Beasts," a young prince named Lionel is named the next king. After his coronation, he goes to the palace library for the first time, where he discovers...

From the creator of Charlie Chan! Set in England at the outbreak of WWI, The Agony Column is a murder mystery and romance told mostly through the device of an "Agony Column" in the newspaper (what Americans would call the "Personals").

An unusual call from Chinese merchant Ling Tang began an on-going set of circumstances for young Biff Brewster. He was planning a trip to Rangoon in Burma to visit his Uncle Charlie. The uncle had bounced around the world quite a bit. He had flown in a fighter plane during the Korean conflict and had traveled as much as he could about the Orient on his furlough time. After the military stretch he formed a fleet of planes for Explorations Unlimited...

Danger, intrigue, threatening death, plus strange and bewildering locations. All these were part of what youthful Biff Brewster encountered. They were surprising because it was part of what was meant to be a pleasant vacation at the beginning. Biff's father and uncle were both well-traveled and accustomed to unusual situations and they felt it could be a matter of learning and enjoyment for the sixteen-year-old boy. He was big, strong, and very intelligent,...

This story begins with travel time for the entire Brewster family as they plan a trip to Hawaii. It includes Bruce ("Biff"), his Mother, and Dad, with the younger twins, Ted and Monica. It's really exciting for the twins because they have never been outside the continent. One of Dad Tom Brewster's chief reasons for the journey is a planned meeting with Dr. Johann Weber, scientist and staff consultant for Ajax Mining Company. They were expecting to...

The Little Lame Prince by Dinah Maria Mulock Craik The Little Lame Prince is a story for children written by Dinah Maria Mulock Craik and first published in 1875. In the story, the young Prince Dolor, whose legs are paralyzed due to a childhood trauma, is exiled to a tower in a wasteland. As he grows older, a fairy godmother provides a magical traveling cloak so he can see, but not touch, the world. He uses this cloak to go on various adventures,...

Their instincts and intelligence were valuable assets for teenage brothers, Joe and Frank Hardy, as they followed in the footsteps of their well-known father, Fenton Hardy, a former police detective. They had wits and courage that gave them what it took to solve cases in their fictional home of Bayport in the upper east coast area of the US. They never lost their nerve despite being frequently confronted by danger. In this instance there is a robbery...

Just who was Edgar Allan Poe? Of course he was an author, but there were parts of his life that were shrouded in mystery, like many of his stories. The differences between fact and fiction were intermingled and became even more so after his death. Readers around the world had their imaginations stimulated by his tales of mystery and sometimes horror. He was able to arouse emotions by making implausible subjects and events into believable happenings....