The Adventures of Jimmie Dale


Read by LibriVox Volunteers

(4.6 stars; 106 reviews)

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) (19 hr 0 min)

Chapters

P-1 Ch 1-A The Gray Seal 23:22 Read by Maire Rhode
P-1 Ch 1-B The Gray Seal 26:38 Read by Maire Rhode
P-1 Ch 2-A By Proxy 18:34 Read by Maire Rhode
P-1 Ch 2-B By Proxy 19:06 Read by Maire Rhode
P-1 Ch 2-C By Proxy 30:57 Read by Maire Rhode
P-1 Ch 3-A The Mother Lode 20:46 Read by Maire Rhode
P-1 Ch 3-B The Mother Lode 21:48 Read by Maire Rhode
P-1 Ch 3-C The Mother Lode 23:38 Read by Maire Rhode
P-1 Ch 4-A The Counterfeit Five 20:58 Read by Maire Rhode
P-1 Ch 4-B The Counterfeit Five 27:20 Read by Maire Rhode
P-1 Ch 4-C The Counterfeit Five 22:35 Read by Maire Rhode
P-1 Ch 5-A The Affair of the Pushcart Man 27:40 Read by Lars Rolander (1942-2016)
P-1 Ch 5-B The Affair of the Pushcart Man 35:30 Read by Lars Rolander (1942-2016)
P-1 Ch 6-A Devil's Work 26:37 Read by Julia Albath
P-1 Ch 6-B Devil's Work 27:57 Read by Julia Albath
P-1 Ch 6-C Devil's Work 23:20 Read by Julia Albath
P-1 Ch 7-A The Thief 21:36 Read by Lars Rolander (1942-2016)
P-1 Ch 7-B The Thief 27:28 Read by Lars Rolander (1942-2016)
P-1 Ch 7-C The Thief 24:54 Read by Lars Rolander (1942-2016)
P-1 Ch 8-A The Man Higher Up 20:06 Read by Maire Rhode
P-1 Ch 8-B The Man Higher Up 28:13 Read by Maire Rhode
P-1 Ch 8-C The Man Higher Up 19:54 Read by Maire Rhode
P-1 Ch 9-A Two Crooks and a Knave 26:38 Read by webround
P-1 Ch 9-B Two Crooks and a Knave 30:17 Read by webround
P-1 Ch 9-C Two Crooks and a Knave 28:52 Read by webround
P-1 Ch 10-A The Alibi 28:06 Read by webround
P-1 Ch 10-B The Alibi 29:59 Read by webround
P-1 Ch 10-C The Alibi 31:36 Read by webround
P-1 Ch 11-A The Stool-Pigeon 22:53 Read by Roger Melin
P-1 Ch 11-B The Stool-Pigeon 22:39 Read by Roger Melin
P-1 Ch 11-C The Stool-Pigeon 24:20 Read by Roger Melin
P-2 Ch 1 Below the Deadline 20:17 Read by Roger Melin
P-2 Ch 2 Call to Arms 21:43 Read by Roger Melin
P-2 Ch 3 The Crime Club 28:57 Read by Roger Melin
P-2 Ch 4 The Innocent Bystander 19:44 Read by Jacob Cherry
P-2 Ch 5 On Guard 14:07 Read by Wyatt
P-2 Ch 6 The Trap 19:40 Read by Wyatt
P-2 Ch 7 The "Hour" 22:38 Read by Lars Rolander (1942-2016)
P-2 Ch 8 The Tocsin 16:38 Read by Lars Rolander (1942-2016)
P-2 Ch 9 The Tocsin's Story 35:05 Read by Maire Rhode
P-2 Ch 10 Silver Mag 21:22 Read by Maire Rhode
P-2 Ch 11 The Magpie 23:28 Read by Lars Rolander (1942-2016)
P-2 Ch 12 John Johansson--Four-Two-Eight 29:22 Read by Lars Rolander (1942-2016)
P-2 Ch13 The Only Way 19:32 Read by Roger Melin
P-2 Ch 14 Out of the Darkness 18:59 Read by Roger Melin
P-2 Ch15 Retribution 23:48 Read by Lars Rolander (1942-2016)
P-2 Ch16 "Death to the Gray Seal!" 21:08 Read by Lars Rolander (1942-2016)

Reviews

Wow! Great Story!


(5 stars)

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.

Terrific


(5 stars)

This is good story. Some of the narrators are hard to understand, otherwise excellent

Fabulous Story!


(5 stars)

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!


(3 stars)

Nice story that really takes up speed at the end. However, most of the readers are below average, some outright bad. I only kept listening cause I know the second book is read by Anna Simon. Looking forward to that now.

A Bit Repetitive, But Still Good


(4 stars)

The chapters seem to be written as if they were each an episode of a serial, so there is quite a bit of repetition, but the characters and story make it a worthwhile listen.

Wow!


(5 stars)

This is an amazing book! The author is brilliant! There is such intense moments one after another! Even though it is a very long book I enjoyed it all.


(5 stars)

Now sharing this with my husband to hear. I love Packard and wonder why more is not said about him. Great story teller, I'm never bored!


(4 stars)

great story. some of the readers not so much. does he carry a revolver or an automatic? the author keeps changing his mind