The Great Unexpected

By: Dan Mooney

Narrated by: Aidan Kelly

Length: 10 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's summary

A curmudgeon and his eccentric new roommate join together to plan an epic escape in this charming, poignant tale.

Joel lives in a nursing home, and he’s not one bit happy about it. He hates being told when to eat, when to sleep, when to take his pills. He’s fed up with life and begins to plan a way out when his new roommate, a retired soap opera actor named Frank, moves in and turns the nursing-home community upside down.

Though the two men couldn’t be more opposite, a fast friendship is formed when Frank is the only one who listens to and stands up for Joel. When he tells Frank about his burgeoning plan, they embark together on a mission to find the perfect escape and along the way will discover that it’s never too late for new beginnings.

Filled with colorful characters, sparkling humor, and deep emotion, The Great Unexpected is the story of friendship, finding oneself later in life, and experiencing newfound joy in the most unexpected places.

©2018 Dan Mooney (P)2019 Harlequin Enterprises, Limited

realistic

I unexpectedly cried listening to this. My mother in law recently passed away in a nursing facility where you live to wait to die as she put it so this brought out a lot of emotions but it's ok. the story is so realistic, but heartfelt and I hope more people get to either read or listen to this story and know old people have a lot still to share with us. they matter.

Charming story.

I did love this book. Very thoughtful and different. Highly recommended Think it will be a movie.

Beautiful Story

A thoughtful look at aging, depression and friendship with humor and truthful characters. Loved it. And the Irish accents of the reading made it all the more enjoyable.

Simple put, I loved it

Here is an example of the narrator making a huge difference in your enjoyment of a book. Great narration; great book

skillful

It didn't take long before you knew how the story would predictably develop - that suicidal Joel would be "saved" by his new friendship with his new roommate Frank. And yet, the author did a wonderful job of bringing the reader into the story and fleshing out the plot with interesting
and meaningful characters. Very enjoyable.

I loved the two main characters.

Very well written. The story rang true & never got sappy. Perfectly narrated. The ending did not disappoint. I thoroughly enjoyed & highly recommend this title.

Really enjoyed this

I am a RN- my specialty is hospice and I’ve spent 20 years in and out of nursing homes….
The writing is easy to listen to and the narrative very good. I bought this title on sale and so happy I ran out of credits! Lol. I plan to share the title with activity directors in all the homes I go to.

Really enjoyed this

Poignant and funny. Well written and excellent narration. Glad I took a chance on this one.

Very sad & very funny

Aging is not for the faint-hearted as told in this character driven story. The challenges are very real & how they are met by these terrific characters should not be missed. I avoid stories that induce tears as a general rule because reality is tough enough to deal with, however, there is so much joy & laugh out loud funny parts in the lives of Frank & Joel that I am grateful to have shared in their lives here.
This is definitely a novel that I think is best listened to. The narrator adds so much depth to the telling. Just wonderful.

So much better than I expected!

Such a grim premise, such a delightful listen! And Aiden Kelly’s narration was perfect. I’ve never listened to even terrific books twice but this one will definitely get a second and third round.