General
Whispering Smith
Free options are listed first. Book Search Party does not host audio.
Free sources are not affiliate links.
Listen for free
- LibriVoxListen at LibriVox (opens in a new tab)
Free public-domain recording.
Download MP3 ZIP (opens in a new tab)Read the text (opens in a new tab) - Internet ArchiveListen at Internet Archive (opens in a new tab)
Free public-domain recording.
About this audiobook
Whispering Smith, like most of Frank Spearman's western novels (and some non-fiction as well) are set in the world of railroads, in the late 1800's. The main character, Gordon Smith, is a railroad detective; he first appears in this novel, then later in others. This novel was popular enough to be made into film eight times (four being silent) and into a TV series. In this novel, Smith finds that the culprit of the railroad mishaps he is investigating is a close friend, Murray Sinclair. That plot may seem overworked, but Spearman makes it nuanced enough for it to be quite interesting; two interwoven romances are included. The strongest feature of Spearman's novels is probably his beautiful descriptions of the American western landscapes. His character descriptions and plots also hold up well against the other writers of westerns of the early 1900's. (Summary by Bob Rollins)
Summary source: LibriVox / Wikipedia.
Public-domain status depends on your jurisdiction. Check the source page before downloading or redistributing.