Strange but True

By: John Searles

Narrated by: Matt Godfrey

Now a major motion picture starring Amy Ryan, Greg Kinnear, and Blythe Danner.

After a mysterious fall from his New York City apartment, Philip Chase has moved back home with his mother, Charlene, a bitter woman who has never fully accepted the death of her younger son, Ronnie, five years earlier. Surrounded by memories of the family he no longer has, and trying to forget the reasons he left New York, Philip is in stasis.

But everything changes late one windy February night when Ronnie's high school girlfriend shows up on their doorstep. A sad young woman who still bears the scars of the accident that took Ronnie's life, Melissa is nine months pregnant. The father, she claims, is Ronnie.

Now Philip and his mother must confront not only Melissa's past but also their own: the secrets each has buried and the lies each has told. But not everyone wants the past exposed...At once a moving story of redemption and a heart-stopping work of suspense, Strange but True "will hold you transfixed" (Salon.com).

©2004 John Searles (P)2020 Tantor

Dysfunction & Regret

Strange But True is probably one of the best and most original stories I read (listened to) recently. The characters, their family dynamics and their dysfunction make them believable and endearing. The story is fast-paced and intriguing. The story line jumps back & forth in time, which I found a bit confusing at one point, but held me to finish the book in a day. I would've liked an epilogue, but that's just me. I didn't want it to end.

Great Audio Book

I very much liked the different voices the narrator used.
A very engaging story and ending.

i really enjoyed this book

this was probably the fastest I've gotten through a book ever! it was very captivating. Matt Godfrey does an amazing job narrating (as he always does.) definitely recommend.

Enjoyed this one.

I really enjoyed this book.
The characters made it feel like it was “real life” as far as the dynamics. It’s a family that has gone through things. And the side parts of after Ronnie’s death and Melissa and the baby.. but how?

Although Charlene was always yelling I think she was my favorite character. It’s like I felt what she was going through.

Strange but slow.

After finishing "No Help for the Haunted" which I enjoyed, I got this Audible book which had great reviews (though not that many). I read NHFTH in book form, which is a quicker way to advance story than an audible book. I started listening to "Strange But True" but 1/2 hour in, I felt it was too drawn out in...something (details, trying to set mood?) such that I thought it would not satisfy. Too bad, I wanted to try another of John Searles books, and if I do, will return to the print versions.