Mountain Man by Robert E Howard Narrated by John McLain

           June is Audiobook Month

This June, the audiobook community is giving back! Spoken Freely, a group of 30+

professional narrators, has teamed with the Going Public Project to celebrate June is
Audiobook Month (JIAM) 2013 by offering a serialized audio story collection: Going
Public...in Shorts. Each narrator has recorded a short piece from the public domain,
including the work of Chekhov, Twain, Chopin, Poe, Lovecraft, Fitzgerald, Joyce, Wilde
and many others, even Lincoln's pivotal Second Inaugural Address. All proceeds will go
to the Reach Out and Read literacy advocacy organization.

Throughout June, 1-2 stories will be released online each day via the Going Public blog
as well as on various author and book blogs, with each participating narrator hosted by a
different blog. As a "Thank you!" to listeners, stories will be available to listen to online
for free for one week following their release. The full schedule of story release dates and
narrator appearances is available at Going Public.

Spoken Freely presents Going Public in Shorts

In collaboration with Blackstone Audio, stories will also be available for download
purchase starting on their day of release, with the full compilation available beginning
June 30th. All sales proceeds go directly to Reach Out and Read, an innovative literacy
advocacy organization serving more than 4 million children and their families across the
nation, with an emphasis on serving those in low-income communities.

Going Public...in Shorts is made possible by the efforts of the Spoken Freely narrators
and many others who donated their time and energy to bring it to fruition. Engineering
and mastering provided by Jeffrey Kafer and SpringBrook Audio. Graphic design
provided by f power design. Published by Blackstone Audio. Project coordination and
executive production provided by Xe Sands.

Mountain Man, by Robert Ervin Howard

Narrator John McLain

Mountain Man, by Robert Ervin Howard

John McLain, is a professional voice actor who has performed over 60 audiobook titles from thrillers to
non-fiction, westerns to mysteries, and more. Highlights include Before The Night, The Dark
Lady, The Test, The Judge, The Vow and Home Run. John was nominated for an Audie Award in
2012 for his performance in the historical fiction novel, The Resurrection of Nat Turner, Part 1:
The Witnesses. John has also appeared on the musical theatre stage in Dallas and Phoenix.

John has a wonderful way of reading that makes the characters burst with life. McLain, has a smooth mellow voice, deep and masculine, and rather sexy sounding. There's just something about the tenor of John's voice that makes you think he could sell anything to anyone, and easily talk you into whatever he wanted. Nice trait to have, I guess for him. A spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down, when McLain speaks.

I'd like to have heard a bit more punch with the female characters McLain gets the gist of the emotion or
what they are saying extremely well, lots of good emotion comes through but there is not enough change
in the voice to differentiate female or which female is speaking. I give him credit for trying, but he just does
not sound comfortable taking on a female voice. All mans, man, for you I guess. It does mean I have to pay closer attention to maintain the thread of the story. Overall, McLain, is a skilled and talented reader.

Please listen to this excerpt and enjoy a bit of McLain, once you've heard it you will want more.



Author Robert Ervin Howard, brought the world, Conan the Barbarian, which everyone knows by now was made into a movie. Howard, wrote many short stories and was popular in the Pulp books industry. Robert Howard still has an impressive fan base today. Inexpensive pulp books always had imaginative covers with great artwork and stories that always were appealing to the masses. Men and boys loved the adventure and the Mountain Man, was a favorite.

Mountain Man was first in the series of Howard's, outdoorsman type serial stories. Breckenridge Elkins, is sent to Perdition the nearest town to pick up a letter for his father "Pap" he calls him. A series of unusual, or maybe not so unusual in the era it takes place, events happen to Breckenridge, all of them funny and you just have to feel for this guy that just wants to pick up a letter. So off to perdition he goes on Alexander, his Pap's mule.

When he stops on the way to bathe in a stream, his clothes are stolen, he's left naked. What a predicament to be in. Lucky for him he had the sense to hang his gun belt over a long reaching tree limb. As a robber snuck up on him and hit him on the head with a club and was shimmying down the branch trying to grab his gun belt. Breckenridge grabbed his gun and shot at the robber, but missed as he was running off, with his clothes.

Naked with just Alexander and his gun, he heads to towards town but stays off the main road. After awhile he hears someone coming and see's it has to be a citified man, because no one but city folk, would dress as this man is dressed. He positions himself on the road ahead of him and when the poor guy reaches him, he robs him of his clothes. Being a decent guy, Breckenridge lets the man take the mule and says they can swap back clothes once in town where he can find something else to wear. When the mule turns around to see who's on his back, he's scared witless and takes off like a shot, with the stranger hanging on for dear life.

To further his amusing problems, he runs into a posse of men out looking for a crook and see Breckenridge, and immediately set upon him, shouting, 'there he is' but, Breckenridge thinks that the man he robbed reported him and a posse was sent out to find him. He soon sorts out that problem and they ride him back to town. As it turns out, he is mistaken again, as he finds out when they reach town, they give him boxing shorts and put him in a ring to fight. They've mistaken him for a prize fighter that didn't arrive on the coach the previous day and they were not out looking for a crook but for the prize fighter.

I found his amazement and awe at his first sight of a city, very interesting. This is an excellent and funny story that I highly recommend and John McLain does an outstanding narration for it. Please click the audio link to give a listen to his wonderful voice and purchase a copy for yourself. Proceeds are going to Reach Out and Read literacy advocacy organization. 

Visit The Oddiophile and listen to a live interview with Xe Sands and her posts for Xe Sands reading, The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and Jump over to Emily's Reading Room for her interview with Kyle Munley, and listen to an audio clip for An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce.
Tomorrow Dion Graham will be reviewed for Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address, at The Literate Housewife.