800 Leagues on the Amazon

Written by Jules Verne

Narrated by John Bolen

Joam Garral of Iquitos, Peru, concedes to his daughter's wishes to travel to Belem, Brazil, where she can marry Manuel Valdez in the presence of Manuel's invalid mother. The Garrals plan to make the journey to Belem down the Amazon River via a giant raft. Along the way, Joam plans to get his good name restored, as he is still wanted in Brazil for a crime he did not commit. Absolute proof of Joam's innocence lies in the hands of a scoundrel named Torres, who has a cryptogram that will exonerate Garral. However, the price that Torres wants for this information is much too high. Will Joam's love and dedication to his family help him in his struggle to right injustice? And will the strange encoded message be deciphered in time to save him?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Jun 29, 2009
• ISBN: 9781400180936

Jules Verne

Jules Gabriel Verne was born in the seaport of Nantes, France, in 1828 and was destined to follow his father into the legal profession. In Paris to train for the bar, he took more readily to literary life, befriending Alexander Dumas and Victor Hugo, and living by theatre managing and libretto-writing. His first science-based novel, Five Weeks in a Balloon, was issued by the influential publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel in 1862, and made him famous. Verne and Hetzel collaborated to write dozens more such adventures, including 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea in 1869 and Around the World in 80 Days in 1872. In later life Verne entered local politics at Amiens, where had had a home. He also kept a house in Paris, in the street now named Boulevard Jules Verne, and a beloved yacht, the Saint Michel, named after his son. He died in 1905.