Spirit of America Bookstore
Frank L. Packard
[1877-1942]
 | short profile |  |
Canadian author Frank L. Packard [1877-1942] wrote several railroad novels & stories, the Jimmie Dale series of
mystery novels & stories, and many adventure novels & stories – which were published from 1910 to 1937.
Frank Lucius Packard was born in Montréal, Quebec, Canada on 2 February 1877. He was educated at McGill University in Montréal and at the University of Liege in Belgium. As a young man he worked as a civil engineer for the Canadian Pacific Railway during construction over the Rocky Mountains.
He began writing fiction based on his railroad experiences, then wrote a series of mystery and adventure novels, the most famous of which featured character Jimmie Dale. Packard's novels were successful, and several were made into motion pictures.
Frank Packard died in 1942 at age 65 in Lachine, Quebec.
Frank L. Packard entry at Wikipedia
browse Frank L. Packard books & Kindle catalog at Amazon.com
Frank L. Packard credits [1915-32] at Internet Movie Database
often confused with architect Frank L. Packard [1866-1923] of Columbus, Ohio
Primary Works
online etexts of works by Frank Packard (7 titles) at Project Gutenberg
¨ ¨
Railroad Fiction
"Never Again" short story [Black Mask Magazine]
 | "On The Iron At Big Cloud" [1911]
There is labor strife at the Big Cloud railroad construction camp, and the managers keep quitting; young civil engineer Dick Holman talks his uncle, the railroad's general superintendent, into sending him to Big Cloud to get the situation straightened out, intending to prove his mettle. There are fifteen chapters/-stories: The Blood of Kings ‡; The Builder ‡; The Guardian of The Devil's Slide ‡; If A Man Die; The Little Super; The Man Who Didn't Count; Marley ‡; McQueen's Hobby; Munford; Rafferty's Rule; The Rebate; Shanley's Luck ‡; Speckles; Spitzer ‡; and Where's Haggerty?; (The '‡' character signifies stories reprinted in the 1925 "Running Special" collection below.) Kindle Edition from Amazon Digital Services [2/2011] for 99¢ {sic} TheClassics.US 9¾x7½ pb [9/2013] for $14.63 Kessinger Publng 9x6 pb [9/2010] for $23.00 Kessinger Publng 9x6 hardcover [9/2010] for $33.80 |
 | "Coogan's Last Run" short story [Top-Notch Magazine Feb 1918]
Kessinger Publng 48-page 9¼x7½ pb [6/2004] for $15.15 {sic} read online etext at Black Mask Online fansite {several formats} |
 | "The Wire Devils" [1918 novel]
A criminal gang intercepts telegraph messages so that they know which trains to rob. Kindle Edition from Rising Star Visionary Press [10/2010] for 99¢ {sic} Kindle Edition from Amazon Digital Services [2/2009] for 99¢ {sic} BiblioBazaar 8¾x5¾ pb [4/2009] for $21.59 Nabu Press 9¾x7½ pb [9/2013] for $27.02 BiblioLife 9¼x6 hardcover [4/2009] for $30.92 A.L. Burt hardcover [1918] out of print/used |
 | "The Night Operator" [George H. Doran Co. 1919; A.L. Burt, 1920]
Ten railroad short stories: The Age Limit (Nov 1914); The Apotheosis of Sammy Durgan (circa 1912); The Devil and All His Works (Oct 1913); The Man Who Squealed (Dec 1913 Dec); The Night Operator (circa 1912) featuring newsboy Toddles; On The Night Wire (Dec 1913); The Other Fellow’s Job (Feb 1913); Owsley and The 1601 (Jan 1914) is often reprinted; The Rat River Special (April 1914); and The Wrecking Boss (Dec 1912) which was filmed as "The Crash" [1928] Kindle Edition from Amazon Digital Services [3/2011] for FREE {sic} CreateSpace 9x6 pb [6/2014] for $7.59 Kessinger Publng 10x7 hardcover [9/2010] for $22.28 read free etext at Project Gutenberg |
 | "Running Special" [1925] 'Stories of the Iron Trail by the Creator of Jimmie Dale' • Ten railroad stories, four not previously collected in book form: Corrigan’s Best (Feb 1913) about a one-legged engineer; The Hobo (Feb 1915); It Doesn’t Matter (Sept 1919); and The Man Who Confessed (circa 1920, probably the last railroad story that Packard wrote); the six stories previously published in the 1911 "...Big Cloud" collection are: The Blood of Kings; The Builder; The Guardian of The Devil’s Slide; Marley; Shanley’s Luck; and Spitzer George H. Doran Co. hardcover [1925] out of print/scarce Hodder & Stoughton, U.K. hardcover [1925] out of print/scarce |
more of the same on Spirit of America Bookstore's 'Railroads in Fiction' Pages
Jimmie Dale Mystery Fiction
"The [Jimmie Dale] saga is really one long book, remarkably concise and suspenseful, with the tension of a ticking clock."
— Robert Sampson
"The Adventures of Jimmie Dale" [1917]
after serial publication by Street & Smith in 1914 & 1915
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1218
http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc2.ark:/13960/t07w6762r#view=1up;seq=7
"Jimmie Dale, Alias The Grey Seal" 16-chapter silent serial
[Mutual/Monmouth March-July 1917]
 | A wealthy gentleman safecracker, a mysterious woman, a gang of thieves, stolen diamonds, and double-crosses galore. Chapter Titles: 1. The Grey Seal; 2. The Stolen Rubies; 3. The Counterfeit Five; 4. The Metzer Murder Mystery; 5. A Fight For Honor; 6. Below The Deadline; 7. The Devil's Work; 8. The Underdog; 9. The Alibi; 10. Two Crooks and A Knave; 11. A Rogue's Defeat; 12. The Man Higher Up; 13. Good For Evil; 14. A Sheep Among Wolves; 15. The Tapped Wires; and 16. The Victory • Directed by Harry McRae Webster; scenario by Mildred Considine, based on Frank L. Packard's story "The Professional Adventures of The Grey Seal"; starring E.K. Lincoln {as Jimmie Dale}, Doris Mitchell, Edna Hunter, Paul Panzer, Leslie King, Louis Haine, George Pauncefort, Austin Webb, Jules Ferrar, William H. Turner & Doris Kenyon
VHS/DVD/Blu-ray not available • credits at IMDb |
"The Further Adventures of Jimmie Dale" [1919]
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/9440
"Jimmie Dale and The Phantom Clue" [1922]
http://www.gutenberg.ca/ebooks/packard-phantom/
"Packard's Mammoth Jimmie Dale" omnibus [A.L Burt, 1922]
http://www.amazon.com/Packards-Mammoth-Jimmie-Frank-Packard/dp/B00239KBL4/
"Jimmie Dale and The Blue Envelope Murder" [1930]
http://www.gutenberg.ca/ebooks/packard-blue/
"Jimmie Dale and The Missing Hour" [1935]
 | "Return of The Gray Seal: The Jimmie Dale Adventures" for Kindle [2008]
Kindle Edition from ignacio hills press [3/2008] for 99¢ {sic} "Two pulp action novels in one volume!" • "Revenge and justice are two sides of the same coin" • e-book compilation of the first two (public domain) Jimmie Dale books: "The Adventures of Jimmie Dale" [1917] and "The Further Adventures of Jimmie Dale" [1919] Kindle Edition from ignacio hills press [3/2008] for 99¢ {sic} "Alias The Gray Seal: The Jimmy Dale Omnibus" for Kindle [© 2003] Kindle Edition from PageTurner [2003 edition] for $1.99 |
 | "Dear Philanthropic Crook: Books 1, 2 & 3 of Jimmie Dale's Adventures" [2013] Kindle Edition from Intrigue/Book Revivals Press [5/2013] for $1.49 {sic} the first three (public domain) Jimmie Dale books: "The Adventures of Jimmie Dale" [1917], "The Further Adventures of Jimmie Dale" [1919], and "Jimmie Dale and The Phantom Clue" [1922] |
"More Knaves Than One" [Doubleday 1910]
includes: More Knaves Than One, The King of Fools, Behind The Masks, and The Devil Sits In
"Greater Love Hath No Man" novel [1913] made into silent feature in 1915
http://www.amazon.com/Greater-Love-Hath-No-Man/dp/0548707766
"The Miracle Man" [1914] filmed as short in 1919, as sound feature in 1932
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/15578
"The Belovéd Traitor" [1915] filmed in 1918
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/34034
"The Iron Rider" Western short story [1916] filmed in 1920 and as "Smiles Are Trumps" [1922]
"The Sin That Was His" [1917] filmed in 1920
crook disguises himself as a preacher and hides out in a small town
"From Now On" [1919] filmed in 1920
"The White Moll" [1920] filmed in 1920
Packard's only novel with a female protagonist.
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1741
"Pawned" [1921] filmed in 1922
"Doors of The Night" [1922]
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/35818
"The Four Stragglers" [1923]
http://www.amazon.com/The-Four-Stragglers/dp/B002MH2AV6/
http://www.amazon.com/four-stragglers-Frank-L-Packard/dp/B0008665RI/
http://www.gutenberg.ca/ebooks/packard-fourstragglers/
"The Locked Book" sea tale? [George H. Doran Co. 1924]
"Broken Waters" Paris underground stories [A.L. Burt, 1925]
"The Red Ledger" [George H. Doran Co. 1926]
http://www.amazon.com/Red-Ledger-Frank-Packard/dp/B00113P8ES/
http://www.gutenberg.ca/ebooks/packard-redledger/
"The Devil's Mantle" [George H. Doran Co. 1927]
http://www.amazon.com/devils-mantle-Frank-L-Packard/dp/B00085U3V8/
"Two Stolen Idols" [George H. Doran Co. 1927]
http://www.amazon.com/Two-Stolen-Idols-Frank-Packard/dp/B000GLPKXK/
"The Slave Junk" [1927]
http://www.amazon.com/Slave-Junk-Frank-L-Packard/dp/B003EJ33HQ/
"Shanghai Jim: Four Short Novels of Crime On The High Sea" stories [Doubleday, Doran/Crime Club 1928]
http://www.amazon.com/Shanghai-Jim-Frank-L-Packard/dp/B0006AKBKI/
"The Big Shot: A Crime Club Inside Story of Gang War and Love" [1929]
http://www.amazon.com/Big-Shot-Frank-L-Packard/dp/B00085TRRY/
"Tiger Claws" [1929]
http://www.amazon.com/Tiger-Claws-Frank-L-Packard/dp/B00085U4SA/
"The Gold Skull Murders" [1931]
http://www.amazon.com/Gold-Skull-Murders-Frank-Packard/dp/B000UTBOAG/
http://www.amazon.com/Gold-Skull-Murders-Frank-Packard/dp/B00087BEAA/
"The Hidden Door" [Doubleday, Doran/Crime Club 1933]
http://www.amazon.com/Hidden-Door-Frank-L-Packard/dp/B001UYQQM6/
http://www.amazon.com/hidden-door-Frank-L-Packard/dp/B00085U3KY/
"The Purple Ball" [1933]
"Join young Captain Heath, master of the yacht Nepenthe out of Singapore . . ."
http://www.amazon.com/Purple-Ball-Frank-L-Packard/dp/B00087URUS/
"The Dragon's Jaws" [1937]
http://www.amazon.com/dragons-jaws-million-dollar-ransom-diamonds/dp/B00085U3OU/
 | "Frank L. Packard Anthology" [U.K. undated] The only evidence for the prior existence of this book is this cover graphic; no other record found on Amazon or Amazon U.K. or via basic Google search (2014); please let the book-store proprietor know if you have any info. |
Other Works
don't seem to be any
Movies, Plays, Other Media
Frank L. Packard credits [1915-32] at Internet Movie Database
not one of these movies is available on VHS or DVD or Blu-ray (2014).
"Greater Love Hath No Man" [1915] based on novel /tt0005423/
5-reel melodrama; weak-willed son kills his father then convinces his brother to take the rap; brother is imprisoned for life;
killer confesses on his deathbed; good brother is released and marries the warden's daughter.
"The Beloved Traitor" [1918] based on novel /tt0008878/
"The Miracle Man" short [1919] based on novel /tt0010466/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_Mk4pjydBk
"The White Moll" [1920] based on novel /tt0011862/
"From Now On" [1920] based on novel /tt0011213/ directed by Raoul Walsh
"The Iron Rider" Western feature [1920] based on short story /tt0011338/
"The Sin That Was His" [1920] based on novel /tt0145469/
"Smiles Are Trumps" Western feature [1922] based on short story "The Iron Rider" /tt0013610/
directed by George Marshall
"Pawned" [1922] based on novel /tt0013485/
"The Crash" [First National Pictures 1928] based on 1919 short story "The Wrecking Boss" /tt0018801/
starring Thelma Todd & William Demarest
When the film was released it had very little in common with the original story; Packard’s agent and publisher
sued the movie company but were unsuccessful with that suit.
"The Miracle Man" [1932] based on novel /tt0023228/
Kindle Editions
Nordell Bookstores Group Kindle Hardware & Content Page
with FREE Kindle Apps for PC, Mac, iPhone/iPod, iPad, Android & BlackBerry
 | "The Adventures of Jimmie Dale and Other Works by Frank L. Packard (Unexpurgated Edition)" for Kindle [2010]
Kindle Edition from Halcyon Classics [6/2010] for $1.99 includes eight works: "The Miracle Man" [1914], "The Adventures of Jimmie Dale" [1917], "The Wire Devils" [1918], "Coogan’s Last Run" [1918], "The Night Operator" [1919 stories], "The Further Adventures of Jimmie Dale" [1919], "The White Moll" [1920], and "Never Again" [??] |
 | "Works of Frank Lucius Packard" for Kindle [2013]
Kindle Edition from The Perfect Library [1/2013] for $1.99 includes seven books: "The Miracle Man" [1914], "The Belovéd Traitor" [1915], "The Adventures of Jimmie Dale" [1917], "The Further Adventures of Jimmie Dale" [1919], "The Night Operator" [stories 1919], "The White Moll" [1920], and "Doors of The Night" [1922] |
 | "The Classic Works of Frank L. Packard" for Kindle [2013]
Kindle Edition from Leeaf Books [8/2013] for $5.99 includes four books: "The Miracle Man" [1914], "The Adventures of Jimmie Dale" [1917], "The Further Adventures of Jimmie Dale" [1919], and "The White Moll" [1920] |
Works About Frank L. Packard
don't seem to be any
L i n k s
Frank L. Packard entry at Wikipedia
browse Frank L. Packard books & Kindle catalog at Amazon.com
Frank L. Packard credits [1915-32] at Internet Movie Database
online etexts of works by Frank Packard (7 titles) at Project Gutenberg
here on the Frank L. Packard [1877-1942] Page at Spirit of America Bookstore
top of page • short profile • primary works • other works • works about Frank Packard •
movies, plays, other media • Kindle Editions • links
« «
Visiting this webpage from outside the U.S.A.? It is possible to make purchases from these coded Amazon (USA) links
via other Amazon sites: just follow these instructions.
Online sales in association with 
top of this page • back to Spirit of America Bookstore homepage