Audio books

Listen to adventure, history, and mystery

Listen to adventure, history, and mystery with William L. Sullivan's audio books, narrated by the author. For a free 4-minute sample, click on one of the titles below, and then click the black "Sample" arrow on the Amazon Audible page.

Listening for Coyote

This is the story of Sullivan's 1,361-mile solo backpacking trek across Oregon, from the state's westernmost point at Cape Blanco to the easternmost point at the bottom of Hells Canyon. Chosen by the Oregon Cultural Heritage Commission as one of Oregon's "100 Books," the journal blends adventure with natural history, geology, and stories about the people he meets along the way .

Cabin Fever

Who hasn't dreamed of a summer getaway? When William L. Sullivan and his wife Janell built a log cabin in the wilds of Oregon's Coast Range, they were swept up in 25 summers of back-to-the-earth adventures, felling trees with a crosscut saw and confronting beaver in the refrigerator. Along the way they raised a family and puzzled out a murder mystery that had haunted their roadless homestead for decades.

The Case of Einstein's Violin

This madcap prequel to "The Case of the Reborn Bhagwan" is a murderless mystery suitable for young adults as well as more mature readers. The premise is true: Einstein threw away his formula for quantum gravity because it came to the conclusion that there have to be black holes. What mischief would this formula cause if it now turned up in an attic in Oregon? Ana Smyth dodges spies on a romp through Europe, trying to unravel her family's connection to the physicist.

The Case of D.B. Cooper's Parachute

What happened to D.B. Cooper, the hijarcker who parachuted into the Northwest forests with $200,000, eluding the FBI? In Sullivan's murder mystery, Cooper is in his 70s, living in Portland in plain sight -- but he's got a problem. Someone has figured out who he is, and they're blackmailing him. Detective Neil Ferguson and his autistic daughter Susan unravel a complex plot.

The Case of the Reborn Bhagwan

The Indian guru who brought 3000 people to build a city in Eastern Oregon's desert has been dead for 27 years. But what if his followers now claimed he has been reincarnated as a 26-year-old barista in a Portland coffee shop? In this novel, detective Ferguson and his daughter are called back in to solve a series of murders surrounding the "reborn" Bhagwan.

The Ship in the Hill

The greatest of all Viking burial ships, unearthed in Norway in 1904, dumbfounded archeologists because the bones were female. Who was this Viking queen? This carefully researched historical novel, based on actual sagas and a real excavation, alternates chapters between the archeologists in 1904 and Queen Asa a thousand years earlier -- the woman who set out to stop the Viking raids and unify Norway.

The Ship in the Sand

Harald Bluetooth was not merely a wireless technology. He was in fact the Viking king of Denmark who set about conquering England because the English king had murdered his daughter. This historical novel tells the story of the middle of the Viking Age, with alternating chapters set in World War II, when Danish archeologists were excavating one of Bluetooth's Viking ships during the Nazi occupation of Denmark.


The Ship in the Woods

This historical novel follows two timelines -- the Viking venturing out from Sweden to conquer Russia in the ninth century, and the Swedish archeologists raising the Vasa during the Cold War of the early 1960s. This is the third in the Viking Saga series, narrated by the author.

The Oregon Variations: Stories

Oregon's bestselling author celebrates the state's quirks with this entertaining collection of 20 fictional short stories. Set throughout Oregon's 36 counties, Sullivan's thought-provoking tales range from sentimental to hilarious and occasionally weird. Hang on for the ride as we meet Beaverton roller derby queens, Hells Canyon "Hot Shot" fire crews, cantankerous Newport fishermen, and a Portland bookstore owner who buys the mystic Oregon Vortex on a hunch.

Oregon Greatest Natural Disasters

Giant earthquakes and tsunamis devastate western Oregon every 300 to 600 years. The last one hit in 1700, so we're due anytime. This informative, entertaining book tells the stories of Oregon's past floods, fires, and eruptions - including the Vanport Flood, the eruption of Mt. St. Helens, and the Columbus Day Windstorm. Then it investigates the cycles behind our natural disasters and takes a look at what may happen when the next "Big One" strikes.

Exploring Oregon's History

Sullivan tells the stories behind 56 of Oregon's most interesting historic sites, exploring the state's history from legends of the first people 14,300 years ago to tales of World War II, Come follow Lewis and Clark's trail across Tillamook Head, trace Oregon Trail pioneers over the Cascades, and ride with Chief Joseph on his tragic retreat through Hells Canyon. Relive the stories behind gold mines, fire lookouts, and lighthouses. Come explore Oregon's history!

This audio book is thelistenable version of Sullivan's guidebook, "Hiking Oregon's History" -- without so much hiking.


A Deeper Wild

A rollicking saga of the Oregon frontier, this historical novel tracks the hair-raising adventures and conflicting loves of Joaquin Miller as he galloped to world-wide fame as the "Poet of the Sierras.". Although the book is told in the Wild West "tall tale" style that Joaquin Miller invented, the facts have been carefully researched. Miller really did shoot a sheriff, ride the pony express, fight on both sides of Indian wars, risk treason in the Civil War, mine gold, marry two wives at once -- and then get elected as county judge. The 18-hour retelling of Miller's saga is a must-hear for fans of Oregon pioneer history and Louis L'Amour.