Charlie's Kid

An Inspiring Tale of Survival At a Deepest Level Against Excruciatingly Insurmountable Odds.

By: Sean Oljer

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

Length: 17 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

Charlie's Kid is riveting, horrifying, mesmerizing, and unforgettable. It haunts, and it inspires. It is a story you cannot escape whose imagery stays with you. This is a story of monstrous child abuse, years spent alone on the mean streets of Chicago, a hardscrabble adult life—and, ultimately, redemption. Charlie's Kid is a tale of survival at a deepest level against excruciatingly insurmountable odds. From sea to sea and even to fighting war in Iraq; this book will keep your attention to the end. And, though full of horror and despair, Charlies’ Kid is an inspiring tale about redemption, kindness and nobility. This biography of a life lived under the radar is addictive and difficult to set aside. Honest and unvarnished, Charlie’s Kid is a story in the best sense of the word, pulsing with lessons born from difficult experiences, written for his son, and told out of love, not for glory. From soul crushing to smile-inducing, Sean X. Oljer’s fictionalized memoir Charlie’s Kid is extreme and unforgettable. If you are looking for a gritty read with meat, this is an understated gem by an unknown author. -enjoy ***Scroll down to the bottom of this page to read editorial review excerpts.***

My thoughts on Virtual Voice narration

I have mixed feelings on this one. It is narrated by virtual voice and I wanted to check it out for myself after all the uproar about books being narrated by AI. There is definitely a lack of tone and inflection that you get with a real narrator but it actually seemed to suite this storyline quite well. There were multiple times when the AI would say things incorrectly and that did drive me bonkers. The main character had a .22 handgun and it was pronounced, point two two, instead of twenty two. The cursing was also weird. The story itself, hmm idk, sometimes I felt like I was listening to a story narrated by VV and written on chatGPT and other times I was captivated. The book was mediocre, not the best book I've ever read but not the worst either. Overall, I'm glad I listened and gave VV a try but I'll stick with human narrators.

Just WOW!

I only listened to this on Audible bc it was free, I'm not going to pay for a virtual voice narration. But I tell you what, this story is simply amazing and one of the best memoirs I have ever listened to in my life! If the author ever decides to get a real person to narrate I will buy it in a heartbeat. The AI narration isn't robotic at all and actually pretty good but this story deserves someone like RC Bray to narrate.