The Secret of the Night, with eBook

Gaston Leroux was a French mystery novelist, playwright, and journalist, who was perhaps best known for writing The Phantom of the Opera. Leroux's narratives were fast moving, and he often used complicated plots. In his youth, he wrote stories inspired by Alexandre Dumas and Victor Hugo. His later works showed the influence of Jules Verne and Edgar Allan Poe. Leroux was born on May 6, 1868, in Paris to a wealthy store owner. He attended school in Normandy and obtained his law degree in Paris in 1889. When his father died, Leroux inherited nearly a million francs, and he spent most of his time drinking and gambling. Eventually, finding his money gone, Leroux started to work as a theater critic and reporter for L'Écho de Paris. By 1890, Leroux had become a full-time journalist. Between 1894 and 1906, Leroux traveled to different countries throughout Europe, Africa, and Asia as a correspondent. He wrote for the daily newspaper Le Matlin in addition to L'Écho de Paris and covered the Russian Revolution of 1905. In 1909, Leroux devoted himself entirely to writing, focusing on plays and popular novels of mystery and detection. Leroux established his own film company called Cineromans in 1919. He died in Nice on April 16, 1927.

John Bolen brings his extensive theater, film, and television experience to audiobooks. Recent television appearances include CIA: Masters of Deception on the Discovery Channel and Courage on the Fox Family Channel. His recent film work includes The Land, The Inn Outside the World, Dream Parlor, and the American Film Institute's Women Directors Workshop short This Is Bill. John has performed at many theaters in the Los Angeles area. He portrayed Sir David Metcalfe in Beyond Reasonable Doubt and Jim in Later Life. He was featured as Dr. Montague in The Haunting of Hill House, Grandpa Joe in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Mr. Meeker in Inherit the Wind, Henri and the shore patrolman in South Pacific, and Lord Montague in Romeo and Juliet. He starred as Palmer Forrester in Murder Among Friends and Dr. Gerald Lyman in Bus Stop. John has also performed in The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, Tribunal, A Dickens of a Christmas, Once Upon a Mattress, Fiddler on the Roof, and Finian's Rainbow. He performs in an ongoing school touring production of Billy's Closet. He is also a playwright and a member of the New Voices Playwrights Theatre. John and his wife, Lynne, live in Irvine, California.