The Death Shot
Thomas Mayne Reid
Lu par LibriVox Volunteers
Long time since this hand hath penned a preface. Now only to say, that this romance, as originally published, was written when the author was suffering severe affliction, both physically and mentally—the result of a gun-wound that brought him as near to death as Darke’s bullet did Clancy.
It may be asked, Why under such strain was the tale written at all? A good reason could be given; but this, private and personal, need not, and should not be intruded on the public. Suffice it to say, that, dissatisfied with the execution of the work, the author has remodelled—almost rewritten it.
It is the same story; but, as he hopes and believes, better told.
Great Malvern, September, 1874. (16 hr 6 min)
Chapitres
| Prologue | 8:28 | Lu par Larry Wilson |
| Two Sorts of Slave-Owners | 8:12 | Lu par Larry Wilson |
| A Flat Refusal | 10:39 | Lu par Deon Gines |
| A Forest Post-Office | 11:27 | Lu par Deon Gines |
| Two Good Girls | 6:43 | Lu par Jeremiah Sutherland |
| A Photograph in the Forest | 11:22 | Lu par Jeremiah Sutherland |
| A Coon-Chase Interrupted | 5:41 | Lu par Jeremiah Sutherland |
| Murder Without Remorse | 10:48 | Lu par Mike Pelton |
| The Coon-Hunter Cautious | 7:00 | Lu par Juliana |
| An Assassin in Retreat | 8:36 | Lu par Deon Gines |
| The Eve of Departure | 12:35 | Lu par Deon Gines |
| Under the Trysting Tree | 10:28 | Lu par Deon Gines |
| The Wrong Man | 8:59 | Lu par Deon Gines |
| The Coon-Hunter at Home | 10:16 | Lu par Deon Gines |
| Why Comes He Not? | 10:56 | Lu par Deon Gines |
| A Moonlight Moving | 9:11 | Lu par Mike Pelton |
| What Has Become of Clancy? | 15:24 | Lu par Mike Pelton |
| A Bullet Extracted | 9:21 | Lu par Mike Pelton |
| 'To the Sheriff' | 12:23 | Lu par Mike Pelton |
| The Belle of 'Natchez' | 15:06 | Lu par Mike Pelton |
| Saved by a Sister | 8:20 | Lu par Mike Pelton |
| Seized by Spectral Arms | 7:02 | Lu par THBosc |
| Up and Down | 7:02 | Lu par THBosc |
| The Sleep of the Assassin | 10:12 | Lu par THBosc |
| The Coon-Hunter Conscience Striken | 7:44 | Lu par THBosc |
| An Unceremonious Search | 10:22 | Lu par John |
| Tell-Tale Tracks | 10:09 | Lu par John |
| Additional Evidence | 7:32 | Lu par John |
| 'To the Jail!' | 13:57 | Lu par John |
| A Scheme of Colonisation | 10:48 | Lu par John |
| News From Natchez | 11:14 | Lu par Jules Hawryluk |
| Spectres in the Street | 13:53 | Lu par Jules Hawryluk |
| The 'Choctaw Chief' | 20:06 | Lu par Jules Hawryluk |
| The Murderer Unmasked | 8:25 | Lu par Eli Beratore |
| 'Will You be One of Us?' | 14:49 | Lu par Jules Hawryluk |
| A Ghost Going its Rounds | 17:06 | Lu par Jules Hawryluk |
| 'She is True--Still True!' | 12:14 | Lu par Jules Hawryluk |
| The Home of the Hunted Slave | 12:30 | Lu par John |
| An Excursion by Canoe | 16:02 | Lu par John |
| Is it a Corpse? | 19:16 | Lu par Jules Hawryluk |
| 'Across the Sabine' | 8:09 | Lu par Bill Boerst |
| A Repentant Sinner | 14:00 | Lu par Bill Boerst |
| The Prairie Caravan | 11:20 | Lu par Keir |
| The Hand of God | 13:09 | Lu par Keir |
| A Cloud on the Cliffs | 9:06 | Lu par Keir |
| A Suspicious Surveillance | 19:06 | Lu par Jules Hawryluk |
| A Suspected Servant | 16:43 | Lu par Jules Hawryluk |
| Opposite Emblems | 13:30 | Lu par Deon Gines |
| A Blank Day | 12:07 | Lu par Deon Gines |
| Waiting the Word | 7:30 | Lu par Deon Gines |
| An Uncanny Skulker | 14:29 | Lu par THBosc |
| Locked In | 12:14 | Lu par THBosc |
| Massacre Without Mercy | 7:24 | Lu par THBosc |
| A Horrid Spectacle | 11:02 | Lu par THBosc |
| Riding Double | 4:37 | Lu par THBosc |
| Tired Travellers | 8:08 | Lu par THBosc |
| Spectral Equestrians | 11:56 | Lu par Jules Hawryluk |
| Planning a Capture | 11:15 | Lu par Jules Hawryluk |
| Across the Ford | 10:45 | Lu par Jules Hawryluk |
| A Foiled Ambuscade | 9:09 | Lu par Deon Gines |
| 'The Live-Oak' | 11:30 | Lu par Deon Gines |
| A Ruffian Triumphant | 12:42 | Lu par Jules Hawryluk |
| 'Help! Help!' | 18:38 | Lu par Jules Hawryluk |
| An Oath to be Kept | 11:36 | Lu par Jules Hawryluk |
| A Wild Farewell | 11:57 | Lu par Jules Hawryluk |
| For the Rendezvous | 10:40 | Lu par Jules Hawryluk |
| A Scouting Party | 8:10 | Lu par Jules Hawryluk |
| A Straying Traveller | 13:38 | Lu par Tom Penn |
| 'Brasfort' | 10:35 | Lu par Tom Penn |
| Shadows Behind | 10:01 | Lu par Tom Penn |
| Surrounded and Disarmed | 11:24 | Lu par Jules Hawryluk |
| A Pathless Plain | 8:45 | Lu par Jules Hawryluk |
| The Prairie Stocks | 17:33 | Lu par Jules Hawryluk |
| Helpless and Hopeless | 7:15 | Lu par Jules Hawryluk |
| Coyote Creek | 14:25 | Lu par Jules Hawryluk |
| A Transformation | 11:51 | Lu par Jules Hawryluk |
| Mestizo and Mulatto | 6:40 | Lu par Tom Penn |
| A Strayed Traveller | 6:32 | Lu par Tom Penn |
| Hours of Agony | 6:18 | Lu par Tom Penn |
| An Unexpected Visitor | 10:23 | Lu par Tom Penn |
| A Resurrectionist | 10:51 | Lu par Tom Penn |
| The Voice of Vengeance | 6:59 | Lu par Tom Penn |
| A Man Nearly Mad | 9:12 | Lu par Tom Penn |
| At Length the 'Dead Shot' | 9:25 | Lu par Tom Penn |
| The Scout's Report | 8:48 | Lu par Tom Penn |
| A Change of Programme | 7:44 | Lu par Tom Penn |
| Alone With the Dead | 8:33 | Lu par Tom Penn |
| Hostile Cohorts | 16:00 | Lu par Tom Penn |
Critiques
Storyline was good, author's style is bad
TwinkieToes
Set in the South much before Texas became a state. Two men love the same woman. One, honorable but poor; the other, rich but wicked. The woman makes the right choice and lets him know in a letter, but the evil suitor intercepts the letter and shoots her beloved, telling him that the woman actually loves him. The murderer flees, but still wants the woman.... The main plot line was good, but the author tried to use as many big words and as much description as he could. The book would have been better with a lot of this cut out - the book could have been 1/3 shorter without all that fluff. The characters were somewhat believable, except for what came out of their mouths. What frontier backwoodsman talks about "surrendering to Morpheus" when talking about going to sleep, or says, "Don't have any dubiousness about us" when telling someone not to worry? Some of the vocabulary of the slaves was also unbelievable and grandiose. The readers were for the most part good. Kudos especially to deongines, Mike Pelton, THBosc, John, and Tom Penn for their readings. Chapters 57 and 64 have major technical issues: the sounds are cut off, some words being cut off, subtle sounds like H and TH being altogether lost. Did the reader use way too much noise removal, or perhaps a noise cancelling microphone in a loud setting? It was hard to understand and very distracting.
GREAT ADVENTURE STORY.
tripet
WOWEEEEE. WHAT A LONG BOOK, WHERE DO THESE WRITERS GET THESE IDEAS. LOVED IT. STILL WISH A MALE CHARACTER BOOK WAS READ BY A MALE, WHY CANNOT ONE READER READ A WHOLE BOOK. ONE NEVER KNOWS WHEN A VOICE WILL CHANGE. ARE THESE READERS TESTED, NOT THAT THERE WAS A PROBLEM WITH THIS ONE I MIGHT SAY, I REALLY DID NOT WANT TO LEAVE THIS ONE AND GOT CRANKY WHEN THE PHONE RANG, ONCE I TURNED IT OFF INSTEAD OF DOWN AND IT TOOK ME AGES TO FIND IT AGAIN.
Sarah
Some of the narrators were horrible to listen to. —The story is mostly action: hunting, gun fights, climbing trees, chases on horseback, stabbing with bloody knives, kidnapping...
Vern
good story. the jules hawerlyk recordings are unbearably monotonous. almost made me quit the book but the story is worth it.
A LibriVox Listener
Great story. Terrible reading . Nearly unbearable in some cases. Reader from Mississauga Ontario especially.