-
Black Money
- A Lew Archer Novel
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 7 hrs and 15 mins
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy for $18.87
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
The Underground Man
- A Lew Archer Novel
- By: Ross Macdonald
- Narrated by: Tom Parker
- Length: 7 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As a mysterious fire rages through the hills above a privileged town in Southern California, Lew Archer tracks a missing child who may be the pawn in a marital struggle or the victim of a bizarre kidnapping. What he uncovers amid the ashes is murder - and a trail of motives as combustible as gasoline. The Underground Man is a detective novel of merciless suspense and tragic depth, with an unfaltering insight into the moral ambiguities at the heart of California's version of the American dream.
-
-
Ross Macdonald in Top Form
- By Rich S. on 01-15-13
By: Ross Macdonald
-
Meet Me at the Morgue
- By: Ross Macdonald
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 5 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Meet Me at the Morgue is the story of a kidnapping that led to four murders. In his search for the killer, Howard Cross digs deep into the Los Angeles underworld, finding along the way a beautiful, lost adolescent mourning a dead lover, a suitcase hidden under an aging sadist's bed, and a slovenly gentleman with an ice pick in his neck. Ross Macdonald has never written a story quite like this, and neither has anyone else.
-
-
Classic crime noir
- By Arnold on 06-20-12
By: Ross Macdonald
-
The Dark Tunnel
- By: Ross MacDonald
- Narrated by: Tom Parker
- Length: 7 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Doctor Robert Branch was a university professor, not a secret agent. But his best friend was dead and Branch knew that it couldn't have been suicide. He was also certain that the murder had been arranged by a Nazi espionage group operating on campus. The only trouble was, no one would believe him. Branch knew that the Nazis would have him eliminated as soon as it was convenient.
-
-
Read Lew Archer series first
- By Richard on 11-05-14
By: Ross MacDonald
-
Red Harvest
- By: Dashiell Hammett
- Narrated by: Richard Ferrone
- Length: 6 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When the last honest citizen of Poisonville was murdered, the Continental Op stayed on to punish the guilty--even if that meant taking on an entire town. Red Harvest is more than a superb crime novel: it is a classic exploration of corruption and violence in the American grain. From the author of The Maltese Falcon.
-
-
Great story, great narration, terrible reccording
- By yep on 08-21-14
By: Dashiell Hammett
-
The Black Lizard Big Book of Pulps
- The Best Crime Stories from the Pulps During Their Golden Age - The '20s, '30s & '40s (Big Book Series)
- By: Otto Penzler
- Narrated by: Daniel Thomas May, Traci Odom, Eric Jason Martin
- Length: 73 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Containing over 47 stories and two novels, this book is big baby, bigger and more powerful than a freight train - a bullet couldn't pass through it. Here are the best stories and every major writer who ever appeared in celebrated Pulps like Black Mask, Dime Detective, Detective Fiction Weekly, and more. These are the classic tales that created the genre and gave birth to hard-hitting detectives who smoke criminals like packs of cigarettes.
-
-
Such a great collection!!
- By Amazon Customer on 07-13-20
By: Otto Penzler
-
The High Window
- By: Raymond Chandler
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 7 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A wealthy Pasadena widow with a mean streak, a missing daughter-in-law with a past, and a gold coin worth a small fortune - the elements don't quite add up until Marlowe discovers evidence of murder, rape, blackmail, and the worst kind of human exploitation.
-
-
Classic in language, story, and performance!
- By Maureen T. on 06-06-21
By: Raymond Chandler
-
The Underground Man
- A Lew Archer Novel
- By: Ross Macdonald
- Narrated by: Tom Parker
- Length: 7 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As a mysterious fire rages through the hills above a privileged town in Southern California, Lew Archer tracks a missing child who may be the pawn in a marital struggle or the victim of a bizarre kidnapping. What he uncovers amid the ashes is murder - and a trail of motives as combustible as gasoline. The Underground Man is a detective novel of merciless suspense and tragic depth, with an unfaltering insight into the moral ambiguities at the heart of California's version of the American dream.
-
-
Ross Macdonald in Top Form
- By Rich S. on 01-15-13
By: Ross Macdonald
-
Meet Me at the Morgue
- By: Ross Macdonald
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 5 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Meet Me at the Morgue is the story of a kidnapping that led to four murders. In his search for the killer, Howard Cross digs deep into the Los Angeles underworld, finding along the way a beautiful, lost adolescent mourning a dead lover, a suitcase hidden under an aging sadist's bed, and a slovenly gentleman with an ice pick in his neck. Ross Macdonald has never written a story quite like this, and neither has anyone else.
-
-
Classic crime noir
- By Arnold on 06-20-12
By: Ross Macdonald
-
The Dark Tunnel
- By: Ross MacDonald
- Narrated by: Tom Parker
- Length: 7 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Doctor Robert Branch was a university professor, not a secret agent. But his best friend was dead and Branch knew that it couldn't have been suicide. He was also certain that the murder had been arranged by a Nazi espionage group operating on campus. The only trouble was, no one would believe him. Branch knew that the Nazis would have him eliminated as soon as it was convenient.
-
-
Read Lew Archer series first
- By Richard on 11-05-14
By: Ross MacDonald
-
Red Harvest
- By: Dashiell Hammett
- Narrated by: Richard Ferrone
- Length: 6 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When the last honest citizen of Poisonville was murdered, the Continental Op stayed on to punish the guilty--even if that meant taking on an entire town. Red Harvest is more than a superb crime novel: it is a classic exploration of corruption and violence in the American grain. From the author of The Maltese Falcon.
-
-
Great story, great narration, terrible reccording
- By yep on 08-21-14
By: Dashiell Hammett
-
The Black Lizard Big Book of Pulps
- The Best Crime Stories from the Pulps During Their Golden Age - The '20s, '30s & '40s (Big Book Series)
- By: Otto Penzler
- Narrated by: Daniel Thomas May, Traci Odom, Eric Jason Martin
- Length: 73 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Containing over 47 stories and two novels, this book is big baby, bigger and more powerful than a freight train - a bullet couldn't pass through it. Here are the best stories and every major writer who ever appeared in celebrated Pulps like Black Mask, Dime Detective, Detective Fiction Weekly, and more. These are the classic tales that created the genre and gave birth to hard-hitting detectives who smoke criminals like packs of cigarettes.
-
-
Such a great collection!!
- By Amazon Customer on 07-13-20
By: Otto Penzler
-
The High Window
- By: Raymond Chandler
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 7 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A wealthy Pasadena widow with a mean streak, a missing daughter-in-law with a past, and a gold coin worth a small fortune - the elements don't quite add up until Marlowe discovers evidence of murder, rape, blackmail, and the worst kind of human exploitation.
-
-
Classic in language, story, and performance!
- By Maureen T. on 06-06-21
By: Raymond Chandler
-
The Godfather
- By: Mario Puzo, Francis Ford Coppola - introduction, Anthony Puzo - note, and others
- Narrated by: Joe Mantegna, Anthony Puzo, Angelo Di Loreto
- Length: 18 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With its brilliant and brutal portrayal of the Corleone family, The Godfather burned its way into our national consciousness. This unforgettable saga of crime and corruption, passion and loyalty continues to stand the test of time, as the definitive novel of the Mafia underworld. A #1 New York Times bestseller in 1969, Mario Puzo's epic was turned into the incomparable film of the same name, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture. It is the original classic that has been often imitated, but never matched.
-
-
"Mafia, Character History, and Gross Adult Content"
- By Heather on 02-28-20
By: Mario Puzo, and others
-
Naked in Death
- In Death, Book 1
- By: J. D. Robb
- Narrated by: Susan Ericksen
- Length: 10 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Eve Dallas is a New York police lieutenant hunting for a ruthless killer. In over ten years on the force, she’s seen it all - and knows her survival depends on her instincts. And she’s going against every warning telling her not to get involved with Roarke, an Irish billionaire - and a suspect in Eve’s murder investigation.
-
-
"Bag of Chips" series
- By Wendy on 11-26-13
By: J. D. Robb
-
IQ
- By: Joe Ide
- Narrated by: Sullivan Jones
- Length: 9 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A resident of one of LA's toughest neighborhoods uses his blistering intellect to solve the crimes the LAPD ignores. East Long Beach. The LAPD is barely keeping up with the neighborhood's high crime rate. Murders go unsolved, lost children unrecovered. But someone from the neighborhood has taken it upon himself to help solve the cases the police can't or won't touch. They call him IQ. He's a loner and a high school dropout, his unassuming nature disguising a relentless determination and a fierce intelligence.
-
-
IQ way better than OK
- By green ice cream garden on 12-21-16
By: Joe Ide
-
The King of Torts
- A Novel
- By: John Grisham
- Narrated by: Michael Beck
- Length: 11 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The office of the public defender is not known as a training ground for bright young litigators. Clay Carter has been there too long and, like most of his colleagues, dreams of a better job in a real firm. When he reluctantly takes the case of a young man charged with a random street killing, he assumes it is just another of the many senseless murders that hit DC every week. As he digs into the background of his client, Clay stumbles on a conspiracy too horrible to believe.
-
-
Couldn't Disagree More.....
- By Deena on 03-03-03
By: John Grisham
-
A Merciful Death
- Mercy Kilpatrick, Book 1
- By: Kendra Elliot
- Narrated by: Teri Schnaubelt
- Length: 10 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
FBI special agent Mercy Kilpatrick has been waiting her whole life for disaster to strike. A prepper since childhood, Mercy grew up living off the land — and off the grid — in rural Eagle’s Nest, Oregon. Until a shocking tragedy tore her family apart and forced her to leave home. Now a predator known as the cave man is targeting the survivalists in her hometown, murdering them in their homes, stealing huge numbers of weapons, and creating federal suspicion of a possible domestic terrorism event.
-
-
I look forward to more in this series
- By Maine Knitter on 01-22-19
By: Kendra Elliot
-
The Price of Time
- By: Tim Tigner
- Narrated by: Paul Michael
- Length: 10 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There’s a secret in Silicon Valley. A discovery. An invention. One so startling and surprisingly sinister that it needs to be kept - at any price. Tim Tigner takes a step back from his best-selling Kyle Achilles series to introduce Zachary Chase and Skylar Fawkes in a fresh stand-alone novel that’s bound to keep you glued and guessing. With secret meetings, sudden disappearances and strange murders, secret agents, skillful assassins, and sexy locations, The Price of Time is packed with fast-paced action and first-class intellectual intrigue.
-
-
Very entertaining
- By Madeleine Homan on 09-22-19
By: Tim Tigner
-
The Last Sister
- Columbia River, Book 1
- By: Kendra Elliot
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell, Mikael Naramore
- Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Twenty years ago Emily Mills's father was murdered, and she found his body hanging in the backyard. Her younger sister, Madison, claims she was asleep in her room. Her older sister, Tara, claims she was out with friends. The tragedy drove their mother to suicide and Tara to leave town forever. The killer was caught. The case closed. Ever since, Emily and Madison have tried to forget what happened that night - until an eerily similar murder brings it all back.
-
-
It was ok
- By Kelly C. on 01-15-20
By: Kendra Elliot
-
A Willing Murder
- By: Jude Deveraux
- Narrated by: Susan Bennett
- Length: 10 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When two skeletons are accidentally uncovered in the quiet town, an unlikely trio is suddenly thrust together by a common goal: to solve a mystery everyone else seems eager to keep under wraps. United by a sense of justice and the desire to right old wrongs, Sara, Kate, and Jack will have to dig into Lachlan's murky past to unravel the small town's dark secrets and work to bring the awful truth to light.
-
-
Beyond wonderful
- By GSKM in sc on 01-29-19
By: Jude Deveraux
-
The Maltese Falcon
- By: Dashiell Hammett
- Narrated by: William Dufris
- Length: 7 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hard-boiled detective Sam Spade is hired to locate a client's sister by tailing the sister's companion. Spade's partner Miles Archer takes on the assignment, and quickly both Archer and the man he was shadowing are murdered. As Spade pursues the mystery of his partner's death, he is drawn into a circle of colorful characters, and they are all after a legendary statuette of a falcon that had long ago been made for King Charles of Spain. Encrusted with jewels, it is worth a fortune.
-
-
A little overacted
- By Gym on 09-19-08
By: Dashiell Hammett
-
The Hollow
- By: Christopher Zaleski
- Narrated by: Anna Grace Conover
- Length: 7 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Teen prodigy Carol has always known she was different from the other kids, but when her talents turn supernatural; her life takes a disastrous turn. Despite her over achievements, Carol struggles with a neurosis she calls "The Hollow". Though she believes the hollow is her private cross to bear, there is a sneaking suspicion that she is being watched, studied from the shadows.
-
-
Thrilling exciting Paranormal
- By Cyn on 01-24-18
-
City of the Lost
- A Rockton Novel (Casey Duncan Novels, Book 1)
- By: Kelley Armstrong
- Narrated by: Thérèse Plummer
- Length: 13 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Casey Duncan is a homicide detective with a secret: When she was in college, she killed a man. She was never caught, but he was the grandson of a mobster, and she knows that someday this crime will catch up to her. Casey's best friend, Diana, is on the run from a violent, abusive ex-husband. When Diana's husband finds her, and Casey herself is attacked shortly after, Casey knows it's time for the two of them to disappear again. Diana has heard of a town made for people like her, a town that takes in people on the run who want to shed their old lives.
-
-
I wouldn't want to live here!
- By shelley on 03-11-18
By: Kelley Armstrong
-
Athena's Choice
- By: Adam Boostrom
- Narrated by: Alex Ford
- Length: 7 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What if a viral pandemic put women in charge of the planet? Athena Vosh lives just like any other teenager from the year 2099. She watches reality shows with her friends, eats well, and occasionally wonders to herself: What would life be like if men were still alive? It has been almost 50 years since an experimental virus accidentally killed all the men on earth. However, a controversial project is currently underway to bring men back. There's just one catch. The project has been sabotaged.
-
-
Fresh! Invigorating! Bold!
- By Midnightcowgirl on 10-20-19
By: Adam Boostrom
Publisher's Summary
Black Money is Ross Macdonald at his finest, baring the skull beneath the suntanned skin of Southern California's high society.
Critic Reviews
"A beautiful job...rich in plot and character....The denouement is both surprising and shocking and the whole is up to Mr. Macdonald's extraordinarily high standards." ( New York Times Book Review)
More from the same
What listeners say about Black Money
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
- Peter
- 03-30-11
Good book, great reader
Ross Macdonald is a personal favourite of mine and I am happy his novels are available as audiobooks. Black Money is not one of the greatest Lew Archer novels but it is interesting enough, especially when you are interested in private-eye tales of the Golden Era. Grover Gardner is a perfect reader for this genre, hearing his voice, Lew Archer comes to live right before your eyes. And since these books are full of dialogue, Gardner masters all characters and accents, social classes and etnic accents. I was very pleased with this book and only hope Audible gives access to more of the Ross Macdonald/Lew Archer novels; There are sixteen but only eight are available for members from Europe. A shame!
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Cranky Reader
- 12-06-21
Interesting character and relationship study
Content warnings for overt racism, ableism, fat shaming, & oddly intermittent sexism & anti-immigration. Multiple gun shot injuries & deaths, suicide, abuse, alcoholism, assorted vice - it is a noir crime novel.
I almost didn’t get through the first chapter. I’m kind of glad I read it though. The original sin of this novel that prevents me from rating it higher is this: a pasty white failson hires a PI to check out his ex-fiancé’s new beau. Not because he’s treating her roughly, which is is. Not because he’s planning on taking her out of the country - although that impacts the pacing. Failson hires a PI because the new beau is a dark skinned (foreign) man acting like has has a right to be rich, while surrounded by formerly wealthy folks pretending they’re still rich, which is not a reason to hire a PI. Couple that with the sexism of assuming the ex-fiancé, who entered college at 16, was somehow too dumb to make her own choices at 24, so the jealous guy who failed out of the only college he could get into and was too lazy to look past his neighbor for a date thinks it’s his right to make her listen to “reason”. And the PI & the first few interviewees all agreed that an uppity dark skinned man was worthy of a case. And for the reason of educating a woman who couldn’t possibly know better. For this, minus 2 stars.
What’s odd is that a number of women of varying ages and status are treated with respect, deference & assumed competence, while others are assumed to be flighty dingbats. There’s a bit too much judgement of women who are in it for the paycheck - whether that paycheck is money or marriage, but hey, 1965 had fewer choices for women, especially those without money, and that shows up all over this book. The fascinating part is that an author who thinks racism is a great motive, & women are conniving, manages to describe multiple relationships with some nuance and complexity.
It’s kind of worth reading for the descriptions of the wide variety of marriages and partnerships - transactional to true love, desperate, despairing, fun, frivolous, antagonistic. Not a single relationship is like another. Some of the people might seem simple but they’re given complexity and a lot of that is as their part in a couple.
I found Black Money (grr) a lot more interesting and vastly less annoying than The Maltese Falcon. The PI here is a better human for one. “I’m not a do gooder, I just try to do less badder.” He wields an authority (such as calling in an off duty employee before promise of payment) that seems a little over the top, but in general takes people as they are, where they’re at, and tries not to push them in a bad direction. He and other characters put a lot of store in mental health conditions in an ableist way, giving some folks more leeway than others, but the PI is the most kind and forgiving of people’s faults. Drunk musings are “irrigated memories” and eating ones emotions are a reason to kindly suggest therapy, not mockery.
There were non-racist reasons for the case to exist. I wish the author (1965) had thought to use them. To be fair, the PI never thought Ginny was incapable, only the guy who hired him did, and “make sure my neighbor isn’t going off with a mobster” might be a reasonable case for someone with disposable income. Also, the case starts as that, “look into this guy” and somehow bodies pile up afterward, which makes the plot & case take on a life of their own.
The case itself is full of tentacles and dead people. I guessed at some of the players involvements, but for wrong reasons. I’m always sad when a lot of people die, which they do here, but the story had solid pacing and escalation and new things uncovered which kept me invested.
Of one can tolerate a motive that shouldn’t be persuasive, the rest of the book is better. It also shows that US politics hasn’t improved society’s take on much race or at all on immigration from 1965 to 2021, which is both tragic and illustrative.
Steam: None. No on page sex. Some thoughts of kissing or more, but no details. Inevitable results of relationships discussed, and there are offers made, with varying levels of sincerity, but the book doesn’t go into bedroom details.
Narration: The narrator is a favorite of mine, which is why I picked the book. He does ok here but it’s not as nuanced or lively as he can do. Solid B+. Sound quality even.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- John
- 05-31-22
I’m Working at Not Being a Do-Badder
This exchange, at the end of chapter 29, sums up why I enjoy Ross Macdonald and Lew Archer. He speaks first in this exchange with a woman who has managed to make a lot of bad life decisions. (Fear not, there are no spoilers.)
“…right now, I have another client and two other murders to work on.”
“There’s no money in that, is there?”
“Money isn’t the only thing in life.”
“That’s what I used to think until this. What are you, a do-gooder or something?”
“I wouldn’t say so. I’m working at not being a do-badder.”
She gave me a puzzled look. “I don’t get you, Archer. What’s your angle?”
“I like people and I try to be of some service.”
“And that adds up to a life?”
“It makes life possible anyway. Try it some time.”
After the claustrophobic cynicism of Dashiell Hammett and the ever-more hopeless vision of Raymond Chandler, Ross Macdonald offers everything we love about the hardboiled school without a morally hardboiled outlook – and without sliding the other way, into a completely unbelievable Knight-in-Shining-Armor-ism. As always, Grover Gardner plays Archer (and every other character) to perfection.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- chuknzig
- 11-09-21
Worth it for Grover Gardner
I got this book only because I am a fan of Grover Gardner.
As always, Mr. Gardner turned in an excellent performance.
The story, however, I didn’t enjoy as much.
I felt the plot was forced and the author tried to make it hard-boiled for the sake of being hard-boiled and the characters were stereotypical of hard-boiled detective story fodder.
The book really didn’t give you anyone to like, much less get attached to and give a darn about.
Mr. Gardner saved this with his performance and that is about the nicest thing I can say.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Carla
- 01-13-22
Can't Believe I Finishet It
This was one of those stories like watching a TV program and you step away to fix dinner, then come back, then go take a nap, then come back, without pausing the program. You don't miss much, yet something drives you to get to the end. Once you get there you wonder why you wasted your time.
-
Overall
-
Story
- Brom
- 12-11-21
Loved it
Excellent author. Excellent narration. Recommend listening / reading. Good mystery /noir storyline. Recommend purchase. Enjoy
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Andy668
- 08-01-21
Fun story, solid read.
The narrator does a great job separating characters with class and subtlety. Great noir feel across the board.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Torie Ford
- 07-22-21
Noir Excellence
Quite simply an excellent book by an excellent author read by the perfect performer.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Q Garcia
- 05-16-21
Love and Money
Another great Archer story with fallen women, sleazy men, and lots of money. Dreams, or fantasies, of money and the good life drive all the parties in this story. One murder leads to many others in the pursuit of love with a dollar sign attached.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 05-30-19
Superb.
One of the best novels ever written in any country and in any century. I've read the novel a couple of times before and this is the first time I listen to the audiobook. Excellent performance.