The Death Shot
Thomas Mayne Reid
Read by 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)
Chapters
| Prologue | 8:28 | Read by Larry Wilson |
| Two Sorts of Slave-Owners | 8:12 | Read by Larry Wilson |
| A Flat Refusal | 10:39 | Read by Deon Gines |
| A Forest Post-Office | 11:27 | Read by Deon Gines |
| Two Good Girls | 6:43 | Read by Jeremiah Sutherland |
| A Photograph in the Forest | 11:22 | Read by Jeremiah Sutherland |
| A Coon-Chase Interrupted | 5:41 | Read by Jeremiah Sutherland |
| Murder Without Remorse | 10:48 | Read by Mike Pelton |
| The Coon-Hunter Cautious | 7:00 | Read by Juliana |
| An Assassin in Retreat | 8:36 | Read by Deon Gines |
| The Eve of Departure | 12:35 | Read by Deon Gines |
| Under the Trysting Tree | 10:28 | Read by Deon Gines |
| The Wrong Man | 8:59 | Read by Deon Gines |
| The Coon-Hunter at Home | 10:16 | Read by Deon Gines |
| Why Comes He Not? | 10:56 | Read by Deon Gines |
| A Moonlight Moving | 9:11 | Read by Mike Pelton |
| What Has Become of Clancy? | 15:24 | Read by Mike Pelton |
| A Bullet Extracted | 9:21 | Read by Mike Pelton |
| 'To the Sheriff' | 12:23 | Read by Mike Pelton |
| The Belle of 'Natchez' | 15:06 | Read by Mike Pelton |
| Saved by a Sister | 8:20 | Read by Mike Pelton |
| Seized by Spectral Arms | 7:02 | Read by THBosc |
| Up and Down | 7:02 | Read by THBosc |
| The Sleep of the Assassin | 10:12 | Read by THBosc |
| The Coon-Hunter Conscience Striken | 7:44 | Read by THBosc |
| An Unceremonious Search | 10:22 | Read by John |
| Tell-Tale Tracks | 10:09 | Read by John |
| Additional Evidence | 7:32 | Read by John |
| 'To the Jail!' | 13:57 | Read by John |
| A Scheme of Colonisation | 10:48 | Read by John |
| News From Natchez | 11:14 | Read by Jules Hawryluk |
| Spectres in the Street | 13:53 | Read by Jules Hawryluk |
| The 'Choctaw Chief' | 20:06 | Read by Jules Hawryluk |
| The Murderer Unmasked | 8:25 | Read by Eli Beratore |
| 'Will You be One of Us?' | 14:49 | Read by Jules Hawryluk |
| A Ghost Going its Rounds | 17:06 | Read by Jules Hawryluk |
| 'She is True--Still True!' | 12:14 | Read by Jules Hawryluk |
| The Home of the Hunted Slave | 12:30 | Read by John |
| An Excursion by Canoe | 16:02 | Read by John |
| Is it a Corpse? | 19:16 | Read by Jules Hawryluk |
| 'Across the Sabine' | 8:09 | Read by Bill Boerst |
| A Repentant Sinner | 14:00 | Read by Bill Boerst |
| The Prairie Caravan | 11:20 | Read by Keir |
| The Hand of God | 13:09 | Read by Keir |
| A Cloud on the Cliffs | 9:06 | Read by Keir |
| A Suspicious Surveillance | 19:06 | Read by Jules Hawryluk |
| A Suspected Servant | 16:43 | Read by Jules Hawryluk |
| Opposite Emblems | 13:30 | Read by Deon Gines |
| A Blank Day | 12:07 | Read by Deon Gines |
| Waiting the Word | 7:30 | Read by Deon Gines |
| An Uncanny Skulker | 14:29 | Read by THBosc |
| Locked In | 12:14 | Read by THBosc |
| Massacre Without Mercy | 7:24 | Read by THBosc |
| A Horrid Spectacle | 11:02 | Read by THBosc |
| Riding Double | 4:37 | Read by THBosc |
| Tired Travellers | 8:08 | Read by THBosc |
| Spectral Equestrians | 11:56 | Read by Jules Hawryluk |
| Planning a Capture | 11:15 | Read by Jules Hawryluk |
| Across the Ford | 10:45 | Read by Jules Hawryluk |
| A Foiled Ambuscade | 9:09 | Read by Deon Gines |
| 'The Live-Oak' | 11:30 | Read by Deon Gines |
| A Ruffian Triumphant | 12:42 | Read by Jules Hawryluk |
| 'Help! Help!' | 18:38 | Read by Jules Hawryluk |
| An Oath to be Kept | 11:36 | Read by Jules Hawryluk |
| A Wild Farewell | 11:57 | Read by Jules Hawryluk |
| For the Rendezvous | 10:40 | Read by Jules Hawryluk |
| A Scouting Party | 8:10 | Read by Jules Hawryluk |
| A Straying Traveller | 13:38 | Read by Tom Penn |
| 'Brasfort' | 10:35 | Read by Tom Penn |
| Shadows Behind | 10:01 | Read by Tom Penn |
| Surrounded and Disarmed | 11:24 | Read by Jules Hawryluk |
| A Pathless Plain | 8:45 | Read by Jules Hawryluk |
| The Prairie Stocks | 17:33 | Read by Jules Hawryluk |
| Helpless and Hopeless | 7:15 | Read by Jules Hawryluk |
| Coyote Creek | 14:25 | Read by Jules Hawryluk |
| A Transformation | 11:51 | Read by Jules Hawryluk |
| Mestizo and Mulatto | 6:40 | Read by Tom Penn |
| A Strayed Traveller | 6:32 | Read by Tom Penn |
| Hours of Agony | 6:18 | Read by Tom Penn |
| An Unexpected Visitor | 10:23 | Read by Tom Penn |
| A Resurrectionist | 10:51 | Read by Tom Penn |
| The Voice of Vengeance | 6:59 | Read by Tom Penn |
| A Man Nearly Mad | 9:12 | Read by Tom Penn |
| At Length the 'Dead Shot' | 9:25 | Read by Tom Penn |
| The Scout's Report | 8:48 | Read by Tom Penn |
| A Change of Programme | 7:44 | Read by Tom Penn |
| Alone With the Dead | 8:33 | Read by Tom Penn |
| Hostile Cohorts | 16:00 | Read by Tom Penn |
Reviews
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.