Where to Start with Russell Blake
- Best entry point → BLACK (4 Novel Bundle)
- Start the Drake Ramsey series → Ramsey's Gold
- What fans keep coming back to → King of Swords
- Highest rated by listeners → Emerald Buddha (Drake Ramsey #2)
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BLACK (4 Novel Bundle)
Narrated by R.C. Bray
★ 4.18 ABR Score (2.2K ratings)★ 4.4 Goodreads (86) ★ 4.66 Audible (2.1K)29h 19m listening time • Released 2018R.C. Bray's deadpan delivery makes Artemus Black's noir wisecracks land perfectly—four novels of cynical Hollywood PI mysteries that feel like late-night conversations with a friend who's seen too much and drinks too much.
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Ramsey's Gold
Drake Ramsey • Book 1
Narrated by Ray Porter
★ 4.07 ABR Score (5.8K ratings)★ 3.93 Goodreads (1.2K) ★ 4.28 Audible (4.5K)10h 25m listening time • Released 2016Ray Porter transforms this jungle-treasure hunt into pure momentum—his voice work makes the danger feel immediate and the mystery genuinely unsolvable until the final pages.
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The Goddess Legacy
Drake Ramsey • Book 3
Narrated by Ray Porter
★ 3.98 ABR Score (961 ratings)★ 4.08 Goodreads (295) ★ 4.31 Audible (666)8h 32m listening time • Released 2016Ray Porter's gravel-voiced delivery transforms this treasure hunt into pure kinetic energy—he's got the perfect cadence for Blake's smart-aleck protagonist navigating impossible odds.
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Emerald Buddha
Drake Ramsey • Book 2
Narrated by Ray Porter
★ 3.96 ABR Score (1.7K ratings)★ 3.97 Goodreads (545) ★ 4.24 Audible (1.2K)9h 25m listening time • Released 2016Ray Porter's performance elevates this globe-trotting treasure hunt into something genuinely propulsive—he nails the rhythm of Blake's breakneck pacing and makes you care about these characters enough to follow them into genuine danger.
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King of Swords
Assassin • Book 1
Narrated by Dick Hill
★ 3.85 ABR Score (1.7K ratings)★ 3.96 Goodreads (1.6K) ★ 3.91 Audible (115)10h 42m listening time • Released 2013Dick Hill's gravelly intensity perfectly matches Blake's relentless cartel thriller—ten hours of propulsive, high-stakes assassination plotting that never lets you catch your breath.
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How We Rank Audiobooks
Rankings are driven by listener ratings and review counts from Audible and Goodreads. Books with high ratings across a large number of listeners rank higher — a 4.5 with 50,000 ratings says more than a 4.8 with 200.
Unlike most book lists, we weight audiobook-specific factors: narrator performance, production quality, and how well a story translates to audio. A great book with a poor narration isn't a great audiobook.
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