• Last Seen Leaving

  • By: Caleb Roehrig
  • Narrated by: Josh Hurley
  • Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins
  • 4.0 out of 5 stars (1,049 ratings)

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Last Seen Leaving  By  cover art

Last Seen Leaving

By: Caleb Roehrig
Narrated by: Josh Hurley
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Publisher's summary

Flynn's girlfriend, January, is missing. The cops are asking question he can't answer, and her friends are telling stories that don't add up. All eyes are on Flynn―as January's boyfriend, he must know something.

But Flynn has a secret of his own. And as he struggles to uncover the truth about January's disappearance, he must also face the truth about himself.

©2016 Caleb Roehrig (P)2016 Audible, Inc.
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: LGBTQ+

Critic reviews

"Narrator Josh Hurley flawlessly depicts the appealing characters in this YA novel, a combination of mystery, romance, and coming-of-age elements. When sophomore Flynn comes home from school to find the police waiting to question him about his girlfriend, January, he's shocked to learn that she's missing. Hurley's Flynn sounds just like a teen telling the listener his story. His sincerity is fully believable as he reveals that his sweetly innocent relationship with January mainly involves trying to help her with her unhappy family life. (All her mother and stepfather care about is winning a political election.) Equally moving is hearing Flynn slowly accept that he's gay. Hurley's narration is spot-on, moving from light and funny to suspenseful and chilling as Flynn learns what happened to January, whom he truly loves." ( AudioFile Magazine)

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What listeners say about Last Seen Leaving

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  • Overall
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Best Book of 2016/Top 10 Contemporary Novels

What made the experience of listening to Last Seen Leaving the most enjoyable?

Josh Hurley is exceptional. I've never listened to anything of his before, but his voice was perfect as a teenager. Honestly, when I think of Flynn, I hear Hurley's voice. It fit perfectly. As far as the audio versus physical, I think that either way, it would've been my favorite of the year, but Hurley did make it so enjoyable.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

Oh yeah. This was one of those books that stressed me out. There are those occasional books that I literally have to put away and read something light. This was definitely one of them, but, in the back of my mind, I was always thinking, "What's going on with Flynn, January, and everyone else?" Absolutely one fantastic ride.

Have you listened to any of Josh Hurley’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I did say this before, but I haven't. I'm glad that I listened to it, however, because Mr. Hurley was amazing. There are narrators that I will search for by name and find out what they've worked on. Often times, I will purchase a book based on the narrator and if I like it. I can definitely see me doing this with John Hurley.

If you could rename Last Seen Leaving, what would you call it?

Wow, this is the hardest question I've ever been asked on these reviews. On the spot, I guess you could call it "Near the Barn," "The Search for Us," or you could just call it "January." I don't like those titles at all, so I would just stick with 'Last seen Leaving' for sure!

Any additional comments?

I don't think this is a spoiler, because it is pretty early on that you find out Flynn is gay. I just want to say that this book has a much more important attribute than an amazing story, great characters, and suspense that keeps you guessing. Many of the gay-themed books now I would consider to be erotica. Because Mr. Roehrig made this a Teen or YA book, he was able to give something to teenagers to read that won't introduce them to mature elements. I just think that 'Last Seen Leaving' is a book that EVERY gay teen should read (and straight teens as well for that matter). There are lessons, struggles and angst, but personal revelation, acceptance, and everything else. It's a book I would put next to some of the best contemporary literature of our day without a moments hesitation. --This book is definitely something that all will enjoy and you will have trouble putting it down.

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32 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A New Hardy Boy...

An excellent story! The story of January and Flynn, with every twist, turn, and prevarication that is uncovered, keeps you riveted to discover what is next. This is a story of Flynn and his self-discovery and his girlfriend and the journey in which each chooses to take to find the peace each need. The little sleuth that is Flynn was an integral part of the journey and though their is murder and mayhem, there is a happily ever after, which I adore. Caleb Roehrig provides an excellent story to get lost and entangled in and Josh Hurley's narration gives life to the characters within the story. A definite must read!!!

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32 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Author knows some big new words, wants you to know

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

This was a pretty good story, with some novel and interesting turns. The protagonist is a fairly likable fellow, who finds himself in a perfect storm (he would say maelstrom) of life's available disasters, and makes a concentrated, consistent effort to keep his head. That said, I cannot decide if I think Caleb Roehrig wrote this story while actually IN a creative writing class, or if he just kept Roget's Thesaurus at hand while writing, but his desire to share some cool newly learned 3-4 syllable words with readers is evident. And after a while, it really gets in the way.
His favorite word, without doubt, is 'PERFUNCTORY.' Followed closely by 'cacophony' I wish I had a dollar... And then there are all the similes; of these he is deeply enamored. When he let drop '..a murder of crows' I laughed out loud.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

The additional plot device of Flinn/Flynn's secret made the plot tighter and yes, more interesting. The trite and tired clash of the generations, teenagers fronting with adults (Flinn/Flynn: " I never call anyone 'sir'') is just that, trite and tired. Some of the adult characters- police, parents, others- are really trying to relate to the teen characters, but the teens, and presumably, the author, sees them as if not stupid, at least clueless cutouts who have to be tolerated, and whose presence and attention must be escaped asap.

What three words best describe Josh Hurley’s performance?

Roehrig's determinedly multisyllabic vocabulary trips him several times; he insisted on reading 'pedantic' as PENdantic, each of the half-dozen times he faced it down. That aside, he did a commendable job. His females were maybe just a little wispy, and most of the males sounded beefy and dumb, but overall he was pretty good. And especially with Flinn (Flynn?) I really liked him, regardless of the obvious creative writing student business.

Was Last Seen Leaving worth the listening time?

6 hours was a reasonable amount of time to spend with this character; could have done it in 4. If had run any longer than 6, we would most certainly have heard Flinn/Flynn say 'recalcitrant' and 'ubiquitous' I was listening out for both of these perennial English major favorites.

Any additional comments?

I have to say that I never developed any real relationship, much less affection for, January. Since the story is predicated upon reactions to and feelings felt about her, that cannot be a good thing. This author has great promise; need to apply himself and not rely on big words and dramatic revelations to pull his stories through.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

A novel for teenagers…

The overall story was OK and then narrator was good. But I'm tired of listening to books that the teenage characters have vocabularies that even adults don't use.
It would be nice to know that the main character is the one that is telling the story ahead of time.
I would not recommend this book.

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6 people found this helpful

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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

A "must NOT read"

I tried to listen to this but it was terrible. No where did it say teen novel which it clearly is. It was difficult to even listen to the narrator. His changing between a male and female character was painful. I can't finish this.

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5 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great suspense story!

I really enjoyed this book! I could not put it down! The end was so intense I had to take a breather! Wow!

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Might be Okay for Teen Reading

Last Seen Leaving is about a girl, January, who is missing. Her boyfriend is questioned heavily about her disappearance however, the fact of the matter is.. he has a secret of his own that makes him least suspicious.

The boyfriend who is fifteen decides to play detective to try and find January and the twists and turns are over-simplified and downright cheesy. I found myself rolling my eyes and bored through the repetitive language and simplicity of the wording.

I will say though, that this is a teen book and intended to market to a certain audience, and it may be effective with the audience it's intended for. I wouldn't recommend it to any adult though as it's almost tedious reading.

-Wendi

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great story-no loose threads!

This book flowed really well-no boring parts. I listened while shopping and working; it was hard to shut off.
The story was believable.
Narration excellent.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

A good mystery and solid performance

This is a solid mystery with a few problems. On the positive side, this book is a well written, age-appropriate, story that captures the coming out process and reaction accurately. The resolution is just awful and illogical. All I could think about what about the fingerprints. However there is so much good in this book that I give it a positive review. This writer needs to work harder on getting resolution without cheating so much at the end.

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overload

it felt like the author sat down with a thesaurus, a dictionary, and a handbook of literary device examples when he wrote this. The first person narration just highlighted this verbose writing even more.

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