Put on your seat-belt and prepare for highs, lows and plenty of twists and turns. BMW, in conjunction with Random House, brings you BMW Audio Books, a unique series of specially-commissioned short stories showcasing the work of some of the finest contemporary writing talent. Each gripping audio book is yours to download for free. Listen to them on your MP3 player, your laptop or ideally, in the car. So sit back, hit play and enjoy the ride.
BMW does Audiobooks! That’s right, Bavarian Motor Works, the German guys who make cars, have released a batch of excellent podcast short stories (in English). This is a promotion like their BMW Films promotion from a few years back. Solid name authors have been hired to create short stories with a specific model of BMW automobile at the center of the action. I’ve listened to all four of the released stories and I’ve liked each, only one is speculative fiction related, it’s a story in the tradition of The Twilight Zone – well written and well read. The BMW product placement is blatant and oddly pornographic, it makes you feel dirty, but kind of in a good way.
The only Speculative Fiction story runs about an hour and was written exclusively for BMW Audiobooks. It can only be found in audio format, and hasn’t been released as a hard copy anywhere else. This is download only folks. Here’s the complete skinny…
Master Of The Storm
By James Flint; Read by Forbes Masson
1 MP3 File – Approx. 60 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Podcaster: BMW Audiobooks
Podcast: 02/28/2006
“You”? are the central character in James Flint’s Master Of The Storm, a gripping tale of new business success followed by familiar encounters – all too familiar. And just when you think you are out of the storm, you find yourself pulled deeper and deeper into the mystery which seemingly has no exit.”
If you find yourself enthralled by this tale, there are three others, I classify as “crime fiction” – details for which can be found on SFFaudio’s sister site AuralNoir.com. AuralNoir.com, by the way, does for Mystery, Crime and Noir Audio what SFFaudio does for Science Fiction and Fantasy Audio.
Now how to get it, you can download Master Of The Storm directly from the BMW-Audiobooks website (but a free registration is required) or you can just do a search on iTunes using the search term “BMW.”