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Frank L. PackardThe Adventures of Jimmie Dale (April 19, 2008)

Librivox recording of The Adventures of Jimmie Dale by Frank L. Packard.

Read by Maire Rhode, Lars Rolander, Roger Melin, Julia Albath, Wyatt, webround, & Jacob Cherry.

Frank Lucius Packard (February 2, 1877 – February 17, 1942) was a Canadian novelist born in Montreal, Quebec. He worked as a civil engineer on the Canadian Pacific Railway. He later wrote a series of mystery novels, the most famous of which featured a character called Jimmie Dale. Jimmie Dale is a wealthy playboy by day, with a Harvard education and membership to New York City’s ultra-exclusive private club St. James. But at night he puts on a costume and becomes The Grey Seal, who enters businesses or homes and cracks safes, always leaving a diamond shaped, grey paper "seal" behind to mark his conquest, but never taking anything. He was just doing it for "the sheer deviltry of it" at first, but when a woman catches him, she blackmails him to war on certain crime organizations. Jimmie Dale/The Grey Seal is often credited with greatly influencing and popularizing later pulp and comic book heroes. The foppish playboy-by-day-crimefighter-by-night routine had a precursor in The Scarlet Pimpernel, but it was Jimmie Dale that brought the idea into a contemporary setting and added the idea of a costume and mask for his secret identity, serving as a possible influence for characters like Zorro and The Shadow. He also established the concept of a hero's secret hideout or lair, The Sanctuary, a precersor of the Batcave or the Fortress of Solitude. (Summary by Wikipedia and Maire Rhode)

For more free audiobooks, or to become a volunteer reader, please visit librivox.org.


This audio is part of the collection: LibriVox

Artist/Composer: Frank L. Packard
Date: 2008-04-19
Source: Librivox recording of a public-domain text
Keywords: librivox; audiobooks; mystery; crimefighter; The Grey Seal

Creative Commons license: Public Domain

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Reviewer: mikezane - - November 6, 2008
Subject: Wow! Great Story!
Each chapter is a story unto itself, linked together with the mystery of who the woman behind the exploits of the Gray Seal is. Edge of your seat stories that come to a conclusion with the revealing of the woman and how she knows so much.

One reader is extremely difficult to follow, monotone and heavy accent, but most are fine. Dosh (sp?) is by far the best, he does a great job with voices. Some background noises in a few chapters, use your graphic equalizer to silence them.

Reviewer: trail_runnr - - October 19, 2008
Subject: Fabulous Story!
The Adventures of Jimmie Dale by Frank Packard is a wonderful story. I found myself mesmerized in the action of the words often not wanting to stop listening. The Adventures of Jimmie Dale was a very gripping story. It is obvious to see how The Grey Seal have had a great influence on the popularity and creation of Super Heroes.

The story itself is definitely five stars. A majority of the readers are five stars, but there were a couple readers that I had difficulty understanding, but the story is so engrossing that I continued on.

If you like detectives, mysteries or are a fan of super heroes this is a must listen to!