A Deadman's Books

This week, two Titanic lovers? experts? enthusiasts? get together as Hannah Randolph sits down and talks with us about Walter Lord's nonfictional account, A Night to Remember. A Night to Remember is the definitive retelling of the tragic night that The Titanic slipped beneath the waves. Lord uses passengers and officers first hand accounts to reconstruct the horror of what happened in the North At...

After a tragic accident driving down the backroads of East Tennessee, Knoxville native Pete Kreis looked to pursue his dream of becoming a champion of the Indianapolis 500. Starting his career in the late 1920's, Pete became one of the hottest young drivers in the circuit, even having strong showings at Formula 1's European Grand Prix at Monza. However, a developing reputation of being a hard-luck...

The end has come. 2025's Big Summer Read has met its finale. What a ride it has been. In this final check-in Jason Crockett sits down with us and answers the tough questions. Is Nick Andros a static character? How can we use our characters as examples of overcoming addiction? What does it feel like to reach your true self? We answer these and more in today's episode. Thanks for listening! This epi...

This week, we take a field trip through the beautiful streets of St. Augustine. We will talk about our walk down Marine Street, past the infamous Athalia Ponsell Lindsley house. We will also discuss other parts of the city that were mentioned in Elizabeth Randall's 2015 book about the murder and case of Athalia Ponsell Lindsley. Thank you for listening! Resources from today's episode: A Murder in...

When Jacksonville socialite Athalia Ponsell Lindsey moved into her home on Marine Street in St. Augustine, Florida, she was met with a neighborhood that wanted to push her out. After on-going feuds with some of her neighbors, Lindsley was murdered on her doorstep on January 23, 1974. Her murderer was never convicted. This week we sit down and speak to author Elizabeth Randall who researched this m...

Today, Jason Crockett and James Seibers join us as we discuss the second part of Stephen King's The Stand, "The Dreams". We're asking the tough questions. What separates the good guys from the bad guys? What happens when we are growing as people and we are faced with decisions that could define the new us or reinforce the old? What does it look like when you choose winning over being good? We talk...

Jason Crockett joins us as we discuss the various stops we made along the way in our local community that could be found in Troy D. Smith's novel, Good Rebel Soil. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Jason Crockett joins us as we get a chance to sit down with author Dr. Troy D. Smith to discuss his book, Good Rebel Soil. This book is a fictionalized retelling of the legend of Champ Ferguson. A Confederate guerilla who stormed the areas of the Upper Cumberland in Tennessee. Dr. Smith talks to us about his reasonings for writing the book, his writing process, and his thinking behind h...

To celebrate American ingenuity on the week of July the 4th, Jason Crockett and I sit down and talk about Erik Larson's The Devil in the White City which covers the birth, planning, and execution of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. Behind this ingenuity however is an insidiousness as America's first serial killer, H.H. Holmes, was lurking about the streets of Chicago, seducing and devouring any woma...

Painter Val Welch is sent to Dawes, Wyoming where he is a part of Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal working in the WPA. In this program, Welch is painting a mural in the local post office of Dawes. While in Wyoming, Welch is housed with rancher John Long and his wife Eve. Welch takes his journey to the mountain west expecting to paint. What he doesn't expect is that he will be sent on a mission to...

We check in on this year's Big Summer Read, The Stand by Steven King. We will be looking at what we are listing as part 1 or chapters 1-35. We're asking the tough questions. How much does this book feel like 2020? How much does this book feel like summer of 2025? Who is emerging as our protagonists of the story? Jason Crockett joins us as we answer these and more for our special episode in which w...

The name Jefferson Davis is synonymous with the Civil War, rebellion, and many other things. However, what is the story behind his wife during this rise to power, wartime, and the escape? Charles Frazier gives us a fictionalized retelling based in fact and research on the life and times of the first lady of the Confederacy, Varina Davis. Frazier's novel looks at complexity of race, politics, and w...

When logger Grainier returns from work in the Pacific Northwest to his cabin in Idaho, he finds that a wildfire has swept through and not only taken the forest with it, but also his home and family. Denis Johnson's Train Dreams gives us brief glimpses into the hermit life that Grainier leads after that as he seeks answers to his wife's death and what could have been with his daughter. We bring thi...

Luce has been caretaker of an estate in the woods of Appalachian North Carolina. After her sister is murdered, she takes in her niece and nephew who witnessed the murder. However, the children won't speak. Unbeknownst to her, their father is the murderer and is under the assumption that the money is dead wife had is hidden with their children. In Frazier's Nightwoods, we sit back and witness the s...

Get ready for 2025's Big Summer Read. We sit down and discuss the upcoming read-together of Stephen King's The Stand. Read along with us! We will be doing check-ins every 300 pages, and we are looking to end with a culminating episode. Read with us, and let us know. We'd love to hear your thoughts as well. Thanks for listening! A Deadman's Books theme song: Surfing! by automaticbananas Hosted on A...

When Will Cooper is sold into indentured servitude, he embarks on a journey that even he himself cannot imagine. Cooper gambles for the love of his life, restores a fallen trading post, pursues that love of his life, obtains land for the Cherokee, and ventures to Oklahoma, again for the love of his life. We're asking the tough questions. Why do we love books about settling in Appalachia? Is it pos...

This week at the movies, we are watching Anthony Minghella's film adaptation of Charles Frazier's novel, Cold Mountain starring Jude Law, Nicole Kidman, and Rene Zellweger. Jason Crockett sits down with us as we review what we liked, didn't like, or noticed inb the film adaptation. We examine things from the actor's take on accents to can you notice that this was filmed in Romania? What does it fe...

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When a band of former Civil War soldiers attempt to rob a train in southern Kentucky, all that could go wrong does go wrong. After making a pact that whoever talks about the robbery will be killed by the group, Harvey King is murdered. Witcher's book follows the historical account of the arrest, trial, and hanging of Captain William King and Abraham Owens. In a special edition of A Deadman's Books...

This week at the movies, we go back and review Gabe Polsky's artistic adaptation of John William's classic novel, Butcher's Crossing, starring Nicolas Cage in our own commentary throughout the movie. Watch along with us as we pause at the 1:08 mark on the film and count you in. It's a long one, but we hope that you'll enjoy the movie with us. Thanks for listening! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/pr...

Will Andrews drops out of Harvard to pursue an idyllic adventure of the American west and its countryside. He head's to Butcher's Crossing, Kansas hoping to link up to one of J.D. McDonald's hunting parties for a perusal through the country. Instead he accompanies a rough hunter named Miller in search of this El Doradoesque hunting land high in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. The rag tag team of...

When a stranger drifts up to the Starrett family farm in Wyoming, the family shows hospitality and welcomes him in. Little do they know that this mysterious Shane will upend their community and help send a simmering conflict in their valley to the boiling point. We're asking the tough questions. How much does an author's description of character play into actually characterizing them? Can an autho...

It's medieval France and the plague is abounding. However, that's not all that's black that has covered the land. A dark presence has wrapped itself around the country and turned it into a true battle of good v. evil. Fallen knight Tomas takes under his wing an orphan girl by the name of Delphine as they embark on a quest to save the world and their faith that is full of gods and monsters. We're a...

When Nic returns to her small home town in North Carolina to help her brother sell her family home, she's met face-to-face with her past. Coming back home revives her strained relationship with her brother, her feelings for her ex-boyfriend Tyler, and the memories of her best friend Corrine who mysteriously disappeared without a trace. Nic wrestles with these memories while helping to deal with he...

A mysterious killer is on the loose and bringing fear amongst Seattle's white elite and their Native American population because of the calling cards that they are leaving behind that references native culture. Aubrey Simmons and Jason Crockett join us this week as we tackle some deep topics. Can you separate someone's art from their person when they have been cancelled? What's the difference betw...