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The First Phone Call from Heaven
- A Novel
- Narrated by: Mitch Albom
- Length: 7 hrs and 40 mins
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The First Phone Call from Heaven
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The Five People You Meet in Heaven: Booktrack Edition
- Written by: Mitch Albom
- Narrated by: Mitch Albom
- Length: 4 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 24
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 21
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Story5 out of 5 stars 21
Eddie is a wounded war veteran, an old man who has lived, in his mind, an uninspired life. His job is fixing rides at a seaside amusement park. On his 83rd birthday, a tragic accident kills him as he tries to save a little girl from a falling cart. He awakes in the afterlife, where he learns that heaven is not a destination; it's a place where your life is explained to you by five people, some of whom you knew, others who may have been strangers. One by one, Eddie's five people revisit their connections to him on earth, illuminating the mysteries of his "meaningless" life.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Wonderful story
- By Andrey S. on 2023-06-12
Written by: Mitch Albom
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The Stranger in the Lifeboat
- A Novel
- Written by: Mitch Albom
- Narrated by: Mitch Albom
- Length: 4 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 118
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 95
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 94
Adrift in a raft after a deadly ship explosion, 10 people struggle for survival at sea. Three days pass. Short on water, food, and hope, they spot a man floating in the waves. They pull him in. “Thank the Lord we found you,” a passenger says. “I am the Lord,” the man whispers. So begins Mitch Albom’s most beguiling and inspiring novel yet.
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5 out of 5 stars
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wow! couldn't wait to see what happened in the end
- By Livia Grujich on 2021-11-09
Written by: Mitch Albom
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For One More Day
- Written by: Mitch Albom
- Narrated by: Mitch Albom
- Length: 3 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 42
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 39
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 39
As a child, Charley "Chick" Benetto was told by his father, "You can be a mama's boy or a daddy's boy, but you can't be both." So he chooses his father, only to see the man disappear when Charley is on the verge of adolescence. Decades later, Charley is a broken man. His life has been crumbled by alcohol and regret. He loses his job. He leaves his family. He hits bottom after discovering his only daughter has shut him out of her wedding. And he decides to take his own life.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Has Albom’s Essential Quality
- By Zach Varley on 2022-10-31
Written by: Mitch Albom
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The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto
- A Novel
- Written by: Mitch Albom
- Narrated by: Mitch Albom, Paul Stanley, George Guidall
- Length: 9 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 50
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 46
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 45
Mitch Albom creates his most unforgettable fictional character - Frankie Presto, the greatest guitarist ever to walk the Earth - in this magical novel about the bands we join in life and the power of talent to change our lives. It's an epic story of the greatest guitar player ever to live and the six lives he changed with his magical blue strings.
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5 out of 5 stars
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You will not be disappointed
- By Lorrie Morse on 2022-03-01
Written by: Mitch Albom
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The Five People You Meet in Heaven
- Written by: Mitch Albom
- Narrated by: Mitch Albom
- Length: 4 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 169
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 139
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 138
Eddie is a grizzled war veteran who feels trapped in a meaningless life of fixing rides at a seaside amusement park. His days are a dull routine of work, loneliness, and regret.
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3 out of 5 stars
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It Is A Story Tellers Story
- By BL on 2020-05-21
Written by: Mitch Albom
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Have a Little Faith
- Written by: Mitch Albom
- Narrated by: Mitch Albom
- Length: 4 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 19
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 16
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 16
What if our beliefs were not what divided us, but what pulled us together? In Have a Little Faith, Mitch Albom offers a beautifully written story of a remarkable eight-year journey between two worlds - two men, two faiths, two communities - that will inspire readers everywhere.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Soul refreshing
- By Peter Anderson on 2023-04-30
Written by: Mitch Albom
-
The Five People You Meet in Heaven: Booktrack Edition
- Written by: Mitch Albom
- Narrated by: Mitch Albom
- Length: 4 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 24
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 21
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 21
Eddie is a wounded war veteran, an old man who has lived, in his mind, an uninspired life. His job is fixing rides at a seaside amusement park. On his 83rd birthday, a tragic accident kills him as he tries to save a little girl from a falling cart. He awakes in the afterlife, where he learns that heaven is not a destination; it's a place where your life is explained to you by five people, some of whom you knew, others who may have been strangers. One by one, Eddie's five people revisit their connections to him on earth, illuminating the mysteries of his "meaningless" life.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Wonderful story
- By Andrey S. on 2023-06-12
Written by: Mitch Albom
-
The Stranger in the Lifeboat
- A Novel
- Written by: Mitch Albom
- Narrated by: Mitch Albom
- Length: 4 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 118
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 95
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 94
Adrift in a raft after a deadly ship explosion, 10 people struggle for survival at sea. Three days pass. Short on water, food, and hope, they spot a man floating in the waves. They pull him in. “Thank the Lord we found you,” a passenger says. “I am the Lord,” the man whispers. So begins Mitch Albom’s most beguiling and inspiring novel yet.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
wow! couldn't wait to see what happened in the end
- By Livia Grujich on 2021-11-09
Written by: Mitch Albom
-
For One More Day
- Written by: Mitch Albom
- Narrated by: Mitch Albom
- Length: 3 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 42
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 39
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 39
As a child, Charley "Chick" Benetto was told by his father, "You can be a mama's boy or a daddy's boy, but you can't be both." So he chooses his father, only to see the man disappear when Charley is on the verge of adolescence. Decades later, Charley is a broken man. His life has been crumbled by alcohol and regret. He loses his job. He leaves his family. He hits bottom after discovering his only daughter has shut him out of her wedding. And he decides to take his own life.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Has Albom’s Essential Quality
- By Zach Varley on 2022-10-31
Written by: Mitch Albom
-
The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto
- A Novel
- Written by: Mitch Albom
- Narrated by: Mitch Albom, Paul Stanley, George Guidall
- Length: 9 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 50
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 46
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 45
Mitch Albom creates his most unforgettable fictional character - Frankie Presto, the greatest guitarist ever to walk the Earth - in this magical novel about the bands we join in life and the power of talent to change our lives. It's an epic story of the greatest guitar player ever to live and the six lives he changed with his magical blue strings.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
You will not be disappointed
- By Lorrie Morse on 2022-03-01
Written by: Mitch Albom
-
The Five People You Meet in Heaven
- Written by: Mitch Albom
- Narrated by: Mitch Albom
- Length: 4 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 169
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 139
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 138
Eddie is a grizzled war veteran who feels trapped in a meaningless life of fixing rides at a seaside amusement park. His days are a dull routine of work, loneliness, and regret.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
It Is A Story Tellers Story
- By BL on 2020-05-21
Written by: Mitch Albom
-
Have a Little Faith
- Written by: Mitch Albom
- Narrated by: Mitch Albom
- Length: 4 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 19
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 16
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 16
What if our beliefs were not what divided us, but what pulled us together? In Have a Little Faith, Mitch Albom offers a beautifully written story of a remarkable eight-year journey between two worlds - two men, two faiths, two communities - that will inspire readers everywhere.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Soul refreshing
- By Peter Anderson on 2023-04-30
Written by: Mitch Albom
Publisher's Summary
The First Phone Call from Heaven tells the story of a small town on Lake Michigan that gets worldwide attention when its citizens start receiving phone calls from the afterlife. Is it the greatest miracle ever or a massive hoax? Sully Harding, a grief-stricken single father, is determined to find out. An allegory about the power of belief - and a page-turner that will touch your soul - Albom's masterful storytelling has never been so moving and unexpected.
Readers of The Five People You Meet in Heaven will recognize the warmth and emotion so redolent of Albom's writing, and those who haven't yet enjoyed the power of his storytelling will thrill at the discovery of one of the best-loved writers of our time.
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Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- tooonce72
- 2013-11-20
Heaven Calling...............
A clean mystery about good God fearing people, Mitch Albom’s latest book was interesting and thought provoking. I am not one to guess the outcome of books and I did not in this one either. The author kept the story moving, tamed the cast of characters and allowed the reader to insert themselves in such an interesting situation. This book added to quite the discussion at our house. My favorite parts though were the little Alexander Graham Bell snippets intertwined within the story. What a basket of juicy little historical facts!!
Mitch Albom does not have a believable voice for fiction. He comes across as a motivational speaker not a fictional story teller. Mix that with a Heaven topic and the first few chapters I had keep convincing myself over and over that I did actually have a fictional book and not something that was soon going to turn into a sermon. It doesn't. It actually turns intoa good mystery.
I got to mention the sound effects. This book uses them A LOT. The first few chapters the sound effects verge on annoying. Then they stop or you can see a ringing phone or doorbell coming. Towards the end of the book I was listening in the middle of the night when someone knocked on the door (in the book) and jumped a foot off the bed. Totally scared me to death.
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76 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Margaret
- 2013-11-15
Suspense... sort of.
I have to confess so that you know when you're evaluating this review and deciding how much weight to give it, I'm a fan of Mitch Albom's earlier work. His writing, that is. I had my doubts when I saw that he was narrating The First Phone Call from Heaven. But those doubts quickly evaporated. He's a great reader and enhanced the listen. So, kudos there.
The other question that came quickly into my mind is what happens when a sympathetic writer (Albom) portrays an unsympathetic character (Sully) behaving unsympathetically? The answer, it turned out, was subtle, but unmistakable suspense. I fell for Sully and was really intrigued to find out where the phone calls were coming from. Heaven or hoax? The telling was skillful enough that several times I wasn't sure which answer I was hoping would turn out to be true and found myself changing sides.
Since I'm writing this review to encourage you to listen to the book (well worth the credit, though a departure from Mitch Albom's earlier books, in content though the Albom pathos lingers...) I won't spoil the ending. I can say that it kept me engaged right through the end and, in the end, I was satisfied. I won't be surprised if I revisit this book in my library again.
Recommend.
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64 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- David Shear
- 2013-11-15
Every Character is Great
I loved every character in this book. The lead character, Sully, is super well developed, you get a great sense of him as you learn about his history. The other characters in this story are what really make it great. Amy the young reporter, all the characters in the funeral home, the son, all the people getting phone calls, and I especially loved the librarian. Albom writes about people really well. I wish I could meet some of these people, I would for sure want to be friends with Amy and the librarian.
In this book, Albom adds a fun, mysterious, story that brings all these super flawed characters together in a very believable and sweet way and makes you really care what happens to them. The story flowed really well, and there were some "whoa, I didn't see that coming" moments that made it a fun ride.
I was pleasantly surprised by the narration. If you are a "narrator-geek" like I am, he reminds me a little of the narrator Fisher Stevens. Albom does a nice job and it adds a personal touch to have him reading his own story.
Why not five stars? While the characters were perfect, the story didn't drive forward as well as it could have. Some of the wrap-ups in the end seemed a tiny bit contrived to me. If I could give it 4 1/2 stars I would. It's a light, fun, great read (listen) that makes you feel good about, well, everything.
I recommend.
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43 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Elaine
- 2013-11-13
Just what I needed!
I have so tired of violence and sappy romances. This book filled a need for something different. Most of all this book is the story of something I really needed right now - faith and hope.
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18 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Stacy
- 2014-02-05
A little disappointed
Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?
I have read two of Albom's other titles and thoroughly enjoyed them both. This book was disappointing. I didn't finish it to be completely honest. I kept waiting for something to happen or some great tidbit of wisdom or even something especially heartwarming, it never came, so I gave up.
How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?
The people calling from Heaven should have something a little more insightful to say. Angels should call too, at least, if not God.
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17 people found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Dana in Franklin
- 2015-02-23
Zzzzzzzzz
This is a bore and the writing lacks any depth. Don't bother. This is one I should ask Audible to give me another credit!
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14 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Trish
- 2014-07-13
Be Careful What You Wish For!!
This is another great read/listen from Mitch Albom!
The premise is certainly intriguing, but the consequences from this type of phenomenon can be unwelcome. And then the story takes a twist ...
I highly recommend all of this author's work, and look forward to more great books in the future--
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14 people found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- APnWI
- 2014-05-09
A very long listen
What disappointed you about The First Phone Call from Heaven?
The book started out well but failed to sustain my interest. When residents started receiving phone calls, I was intrigued, but half way through the book, I lost interest. Every chapter seemed to be the same, without a plot or character development. I finished the book by listening to it at 2X speed just to get through it.
What was most disappointing about Mitch Albom’s story?
It was slow. I would not recommend it.
What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?
Disappointment.
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14 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- MICHELLE
- 2013-12-01
Mixed feelings-Depends who's calling?
What did you love best about The First Phone Call from Heaven?
I had mixed feelings about this one. I wasn't sure if it was going to encourage me or throw me in a state of despair. We've all lost someone right?I found the story heartwarming at times, and then conversely puzzling at others. It wasn't the storyline I found puzzling..it was my feelings.Its cleverly done Mitch Albom takes the reader through that journey . In the end I felt.... peace.
Who was your favorite character and why?
The pilot..his journey
Have you listened to any of Mitch Albom’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
Yes,Very well
Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
Not an extreme reaction, but it was thought provoking
Any additional comments?
I gave the book to someone who lost her husband of 54 years , almost a year ago...
It seemed to help.
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14 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Jimmy
- 2015-09-22
Just allil off
The book never grabbed me like the other books this author has wrote. oh and the sound effects in the book in annoying
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10 people found this helpful