Audio only
Last Gangster in Austin
Frank Smith, Ronnie Earle, and the End of a Junkyard MafiaBy Jesse SublettNarrated by Mark BramhallLength6h 34m
About this audiobook
Ronnie Earle was a Texas legend. During his three decades as the district attorney responsible for Austin and surrounding Travis County, he prosecuted corrupt corporate executives and state officials, including the notorious US congressman Tom DeLay.
But Ronnie Earle maintained that the biggest case of his career was the one involving Frank Hughey Smith, the ex-convict millionaire, alleged criminal mastermind, and Dixie Mafia figure.
With the help of corrupt local authorities, Smith spent the 1970s building a criminal empire in auto salvage and bail bonds. But there was one problem: a rival in the salvage business threatened his dominance. Smith hired arsonists to destroy the rival; when they botched the job, he sent three gunmen, but the robbery they planned was a bloody fiasco. Investigators were convinced that Smith was guilty, but many were skeptical that the newly elected and inexperienced Earle could get a conviction.
Amid the courtroom drama and underworld plots that the book describes, Willie Nelson makes a cameo. So do the private eyes, hired guns, and madams who kept Austin not only weird but also riddled with vice.
An extraordinary true story, Last Gangster in Austin paints an unusual picture of the Texas capital as a place that was wild, wonderful, and as crooked as the dirt road to paradise.
Audiobook details
Rating★★★★ 4.1 (209)
Includes Goodreads, Amazon, LibraryThing
GenreTrue Crime, History
Length6 hrs 34 mins
Narrated byMark Bramhall
FormatAudiobook
Publish dateJul 16, 2022
LanguageEnglish
By the Fire We CarryRebecca Nagle8h 15m4.5 (5.5K)$26 · $0.00
How to Escape from PrisonPaul Wood10h 29m4.5 (653)$29 · $0.00
Killer TriggersJoe Kenda8h 31m4.4 (6K)$20 · $0.00
BoundlessNick Kostov, Sean McLain9h 17m4.5 (1.1K)$29 · $0.00
Deadly ForceLawrence O'Donnell17h 18m4.5 (342)$40 · $0.00
Walking the BowlChris Lockhart, Daniel Mulilo Chama9h 7m4.4 (1.5K)$29 · $0.00
PapillonHenri Charriere18h 19m4.3 (90.2K)$40 · $0.00
The SuspectKent Alexander, Kevin Salwen14h 12m4.4 (3K)$23 · $0.00
The Cause of DeathCynric Temple-Camp8h 59m4.4 (1.4K)$29 · $0.00
GanglandJared Savage9h 21m4.4 (1.4K)$29 · $0.00
Riding with EvilKen Croke, Dave Wedge9h 42m4.3 (3.4K)$29 · $0.00
The Two FBIsNicole Parker10h 8m4.4 (499)$29 · $0.00
I Catch KillersGary Jubelin15h 32m4.3 (6.6K)$33 · $0.00
The Redemption Of Bobby LoveBobby Love, Cheryl Love9h 13m4.4 (956)$29 · $0.00
The Life We ChoseMatt Birkbeck8h 57m4.4 (1K)$29 · $0.00
The Truth About AaronJonathan Hernandez5h 15m4.3 (2.5K)$24 · $0.00
No Ordinary BirdArtis Henderson6h 23m4.4 (597)$24 · $0.00
I'll Be Gone in the DarkMichelle McNamara10h 7m4.3 (302.5K)$29 · $0.00
Beyond the Body FarmBill Bass, Jon Jefferson6h 17m4.3 (10.2K)$24 · $0.00
The Killer Across the TableJohn E. Douglas, Mark Olshaker11h 7m4.3 (37.5K)$8 · $0.00
A Brief History of IntelligenceMax S. Bennett12h 18m4.6 (6.6K)$29 · $0.00
Black AF HistoryMichael Harriot15h 43m4.7 (14.6K)$33 · $0.00
The Gulag Archipelago Volume 3Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn21h 56m4.7 (8.9K)$46 · $0.00
Pearl of Great PriceJoseph Smith3h 8m4.7 (7.2K)$1.20 · $0.00
The Happiest Man on EarthEddie Jaku3h 48m4.6 (178K)$7 · $0.00
MotherlandJulia Ioffe17h 52m4.7 (2.5K)$40 · $0.00
Where Cowards Go to DieBenjamin Sledge8h 42m4.7 (351)$20 · $0.00
RevolutionariesSanjeev Sanyal11h 23m4.6 (2.6K)$29 · $0.00
Days of Love and Rage: A Story of RevolutionAnand Gopal22h 36m4.7 (584)$34 · $0.00
We Crossed a Bridge and It TrembledWendy Pearlman6h4.6 (5.2K)$24 · $0.00
Unbroken Bonds of BattleJohnny Joey Jones8h 31m4.6 (2.6K)$8 · $0.00
The Daughter of AuschwitzTova Friedman, Malcolm Brabant7h 54m4.6 (16.7K)$26 · $0.00
Lily's PromiseLily Ebert, Dov Forman8h 54m4.6 (16.1K)$29 · $0.00
On Democracies and Death CultsDouglas Murray10h 38m4.6 (6.5K)$29 · $0.00
Across the RiverKent Babb11h 40m4.6 (927)$29 · $0.00
Balcony Over Jerusalem: A Middle East Memoir - Israel, Palestine and BeyondJohn Lyons12h 37m4.6 (1.4K)$33 · $0.00
BeyondStephen Walker15h 39m4.6 (3.2K)$33 · $0.00
Kings and PawnsHoward Bryant10h 9m4.6 (678)$29 · $0.00
No EscapeNury Turkel9h 30m4.6 (809)$28 · $0.00
Jubal Stone: U.S. Marshal: Blood Trail To Hell: A Western Adventure NovelCasey Nash3h 42m4.6 (3.2K)$18 · $0.00
You may also like
Black Water RisingAttica Locke13h 53m3.7 (10.9K)$33 · $0.00
KleptopiaTom Burgis10h 59m4.0 (5.5K)$29 · $0.00
The Boy Who Was Buried This MorningJoseph Hansen6h 10m4.3 (307)$17
Mykonos after MidnightJeffrey Siger7h 49m4.0 (414)$20
The Fly on the WallTony Hillerman7h 24m3.8 (5.5K)$24 · $0.00
Violent CrimesPhillip Margolin6h 56m4.0 (3.6K)$24 · $0.00
The Big LieJames Grippando11h 22m3.9 (3.5K)$29 · $0.00
The Reporter Who Knew Too MuchMark Shaw10h 3m3.8 (6K)$20
Thrill KillBrian Thiem8h 36m4.3 (302)$20
31 Bond StreetEllen Horan10h 25m3.5 (2.3K)$29 · $0.00
The Bone TreeGreg Iles32h 18m4.3 (38.5K)$53 · $0.00
Freeze FrameRobert R. Irvine6h 29m$17
Trails MeetB.M. Bower7h 1m$1 · $0.00
The Silence of PowerBarbara Rowe46m5.0 (8) Only with Ultra
Keep Travelin’, RiderLouis L’Amour1h 17m4.2 (215)$7
Final Evidence Erin Counihan 53m4.9 (27) Only with Ultra
The Taming of Red Butte WesternFrancis Lynde8h 21m4.0 (133)$2 · $0.00
Early The Lagos FliesCynthia Odumade37m4.9 (23) Only with Ultra
Karolina And The Torn CurtainMaryla Szymiczkowa, Antonia Lloyd-Jones11h 12m3.9 (615)$29 · $0.00
The Copper FrameEllery Queen4h 49m3.3 (71)$20