Boston Blackie: Stories Around the Opium Lamp


Read by Winston Tharp

(4.6 stars; 27 reviews)

Boston Blackie had his birth in the imagination of a self confessed “opium eater.” Jack Boyle was a San Francisco newspaper man who became dependent upon the drug to make his deadlines, lost his job, and turned to crime to support his habit. He served several prison terms and while incarcerated in Colorado began writing a series of short stories for the American Magazine based on his experiences. Boston Blackie was a much darker character in these early stories than he became in later incarnations in book, film, radio and television, which dropped his opium dependence. This collection presents the first four Boston Blackie stories to be published, prefaced by an autobiographical piece by Boyle, who wrote them all under the pseudonym “No. 6606,” his prisoner number. - Summary by Winston Tharp (2 hr 40 min)

Chapters

A Modern Opium Eater 37:06 Read by Winston Tharp
The Price of Principle 27:08 Read by Winston Tharp
The Story about Dad Morgan 29:45 Read by Winston Tharp
Death Cell Visions 33:22 Read by Winston Tharp
A Thief’s Daughter 33:26 Read by Winston Tharp

Reviews

INSIGHT INTO JUNKIES


(5 stars)

The stories are interesting, giving as they do a look into a sub-culture which most of us know nothing about. It is the introduction that is gripping. It should be required reading every semester in all junior and senior high schools.

Classic crime drama.


(4 stars)

Classic crime drama from that era, but very different then the radio dramas by the same name, much darker and "gritter". I really enjoy the reader, he does an excellent job bringing the characters to life.

More good Boston Blackie stories...


(5 stars)

More very good Boston Blackie stories read by the great reader, Winston Tharp. These portray Blackie in a rather different light, though, as an opium addict!


(5 stars)

A look into the past at some truths that hold true today.

Very well done. Intro is excellent.


(5 stars)