I have produced over 120 audiobooks but these are the books I enjoyed reading the most.
For audiobooks of books that I have written please visit the “Book” page.
Homecoming: Memoirs of a Deployed Marine by Russell Vineyard (Narrated by John Alan Martinson Jr.)
Russell Vineyard joined the United States Marine Corps as an M1A1 Tank crewman. After USMC Boot Camp and Marine Armor School, Vineyard found himself at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Training and Education Facility Twentynine Palms with 1st Tank Battalion. In November of 2004, he learned he’d be joining the Marine Corps’ 1st Tank Battalion, Delta Company as a tank gunner and headed out on the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit. The United States Military would send the tank platoon across the ocean to participate in a global military exercise in Egypt and to fight the War on Terror in Iraq. Homecoming Memoirs of a Deployed Marine is the story of one Marine Corps Tankers trip from California to the war-torn desert of Iraq and back again. Life, after this trip, would never be the same.
NARRATOR’S COMMENTARY: Riding around in a tank seems like it might actually be a fun job, but there are some pretty hilarious and stinky downsides to being a tanker. Russell’s book entertains while also growing more appreciation for what tanker marines have to endure. I added a few sound effects here and there to make the book a little more lively.
To Be a King by Gunner A. Lindbloom (Narrated & Male Characters Performed by John Alan Martinson Jr., Female Characters Performed by Phoenix T. Clark, Production Assistant Alysha McCarty)
Omnio “King” Falcone is the grandson of Don “The Butcher” Falcone, the feared and powerful boss of Detroit’s reclusive Mafia faction, known simply as the “Syndicate.” As the last Falcone, King is the heir-apparent to his grandfather’s throne. Except there is one problem. A big one. He is a “difetto,” not of pure Sicilian blood. As a result, he has been ostracized by much of the Syndicate. Even worse, the Commission, a secret pantheon of Mafia Bosses from all over the country, has named his Machiavellian uncle the new Boss. But King is a brilliant tactician. Even with the odds stacked against him, he rises through the Syndicate ranks. Many of the Family capos have grown to respect and fear him, for he commands a faithful crew of ambitious young wiseguys who have sworn their lives to him.
After years of methodical planning and forming strategic alliances, King is on the brink of finally being accepted by the Commission when a beautiful young Mafia princess arrives into town from Sicily. Smitten, he decides he must have her as his own. Unfortunately, his arch nemesis – his nefarious cousin Anthony – has already laid claim to her. A war for her affection ensues. When the smoke clears, King is left serving a life sentence in a Federal prison, while Anthony is elevated to Syndicate underboss, ranked second only to his father, the Syndicate’s new “Capo di tutti Cappi,” Boss of all Bosses. But Don Falcone is a crafty tactician himself. He has kept a favor on the books for over 50 years, and when he finally calls it in, King emerges from prison a free man. Listen on and see what it takes…To Be a King!
NARRATOR’S COMMENTARY: Voice acting the characters in To Be a King was fun, but I really enjoyed learning about the Italian mafia through Gunner’s storytelling, especially since Gunner was an actual member of an Italian crime family.
Invading Babylon by Lance Wallnau & Bill Johnson (Narrated by John Alan Martinson Jr.)
For too long, Christianity has been defined by a false concept of church. As a result, believers have built walls around their lives, keeping culture at a distance. As Christians have tried to keep culture out of the church, unfortunately, the church has kept itself out of the culture. This was never Jesus’ design for your life! Before the church was established as a place that people “came to”, Jesus instituted it as an army that brought transformation to society, starting with salvation and continuing with seven spheres of influence: church, family, education, government, media, arts, and commerce.
NARRATOR’S COMMENTARY: Once Destiny Image Publishers realized how much money I was making them, they decided they didn’t want to share royalties with me anymore. Greed is a common attribute of Christians (Paul-worshippers). Imagine living in a storage unit with mice, spiders and cockroaches, and making a Christian publishing company, and their rich pastors, even more money, and then being “cut out of the deal,” because their greed demands a bigger piece of the pie. I enjoyed the book because I liked the strategic thinking. Of course, at the end of the day, for most of these rich pastors, they just want to recruit more followers so they can live an even more decadent materialistic lifestyle.
Serve 2 Win: Eight Steps to Making a Living & a Life by Mitch Durfee (Narrated by John Alan Martinson Jr.)
Serve 2 Win, the first in a series of business guidebooks by entrepreneur coach and serial business owner, Mitch Durfee, offers an unusual approach to launching a small business. The single most successful basis for any entrepreneurial endeavor is that of being of service. Not only does a service-to-others approach attract customers and clients, it rewards business practitioners with an unshakeable sense of purpose, undergirded by the inherent happiness of using their expertise to assist others in need of help. With service as the foundational principle, Durfee outlines the eight steps, (which are also tools), that helped him launch three successful small businesses, and coach over 500 clients to launch their enterprises.
8 Moments of Power in Coaching by Mark Colgate (Narrated by John Alan Martinson Jr.)
Do you hope to be coached or be a great coach? Or wish that your organization could execute its coaching mandate? Mark Colgate’s 8 Moments of Power is the missing piece for those hoping to orchestrate a coaching change. In this engaging book, Colgate takes us on a journey with humorous stories, case studies, and pragmatic frameworks, while examining how organizations can create a coaching system that designs for, and delivers, continuous feedback that simultaneously increases employee and customer engagement. With a robust coaching system in place, everyone – regardless of the level or position – will see and enjoy the benefits of ongoing, high-quality feedback and learn to master the science of coaching.
Break Point: 9 Life Lessons from the Tennis Court by David F. Berens (Narrated & Male Characters Performed by John Alan Martinson Jr., Female Characters Performed by Phoenix T. Clark)
In the tradition of Andy Andrews and Naploeon Hill, Author and USPTA Certified Elite Tennis Professional David F. Berens takes us inside an exciting tennis match with veteran pro, Whitfield Franklin Andrews, and the young phenom, Heinrick McStultz. During this epic battle, he finds lessons that translate not only to better tennis, but a better life. If you are struggling, and on the edge of your own Break Point, this book lays out nine principles that will help get you back on track and headed to a new beginning!
The Juggling Author: How to Write Four Books a Year While Balancing Family, Friends, and a Full-Time Job by J. Heskett (Narrated by John Alan Martinson Jr.)
Are you an author struggling to find time to write? You’ve worked eight grueling hours at the day job, walked the dog, done the dishes, and put the little ones to bed. How do you still complete your writer to-do list after all of that? It might seem like there’s never enough time, but you can find a way to create. You can publish regularly while balancing all those other tasks in your life. I can show you how. Jim Heskett publishes hundreds of thousands of words of fiction every year while maintaining a day job, family, and friends. Want to know my secret?
20K a Day: How to Launch More Books and Make More Money by Writing Faster, Better, and Smarter by Jonathan Green (Narrated by John Alan Martinson Jr.)
Do you want to write faster, and not just spend your life stuck behind a computer? Do you want to write 20,000 words – every day? Are you struggling to find the time to finish that great novel? Are you always late with your publisher or stuck choosing between writing and your family? Writers, authors, and screenwriters – you need to read 20K a day – as soon as possible! In this book, you’ll learn how to use the power of ritual to unlock “the zone” every single time you sit down to write…forever. You cannot underestimate the power of speed. Learn how to isolate the distractions that slow down your writing and remove them from your life immediately. You will discover the fast writer living within you right now just waiting to burst forth into the universe. As a 20K Writer, you will finish projects sooner, get paid faster, and have more free time to spend doing the things you love than ever before. Packed with wisdom you can put to use right away, you’ll learn how to become the writer you always knew you were.
NARRATOR’S COMMENTARY: Jonathan Green is an inspiring entrepreneur and his writing advice is top-notch no-bullshit from a guy who is actually making it happen, rather than pretending for the sake of views on social media. Jonathan takes readers on the personal journey of what it takes to be a top producing writer.
The Book of the Dead: True Stories of Spirit Encounters by Oscar Mendoza (Narrated & Performed by John Alan Martinson Jr.)
Even in small towns, restless spirits and malevolent forces walk the streets. Oscar Mendoza knows this from personal experience. Mendoza can’t remember a time when he couldn’t see the spirits all around him. He does remember, however, when he first became unsettled by the experience. The year was 1980, and he was only four years old. He had been warned by his parents to never go down a certain alley in their town, but Mendoza decided to ignore their warning. When he walked down the street, he saw a crooked man slithering out from under an abandoned house. Mendoza escaped from the haunting’s malevolent grasp but came away from the experience respecting the intense power of spirits.
NARRATOR’S COMMENTARY: Speaking to the dead is a violation of one of God’s commandments (Deuteronomy 18:10-12). I wouldn’t encourage anyone to conjure spirits or speak to ghosts, and that isn’t what Oscar Mendoza was aiming to do. These are Oscar’s bone-chilling encounters with the supernatural. I added sound effects throughout the production to make it more creepy.
For audiobooks of books that I have written please visit the “Book” page.