Some people just look destined for great things. And sometimes, life has other ideas.
Ever since The Incident, James DeWitt has stayed on the safe side. He likes to know what happens next.
Danny Allen is not on the safe side. He is more past the point of no return. But it’s funny the way life is sometimes. Just when you think you know how everything is, it surprises you.
And redemption can come in the most unlikely forms….
Warm, witty and wise, Mike Gayle’s new novel is a powerful story of male friendship and what we mean by success, reminding us of the simple courage at the heart of every human life.
Book Information: Listening length: 10 hours and 54 mins. Narrator: Ben Addis, Chris Nayak. Print length: 352 pages. Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton. Publication Date: 19 April 2018
Mike Gayle was born and raised in Birmingham. After graduating from Salford University with a degree in Sociology, he moved to London to pursue a career in journalism and worked as a Features Editor and agony uncle. He has written for a variety of publications including The Sunday Times, the Guardian and Cosmopolitan.
Mike became a full time novelist in 1997 following the publication of his Sunday Times top ten bestseller My Legendary Girlfriend, which was hailed by the Independent as ‘Full of belly laughs and painfully acute observations,’ and by The Times as ‘A funny, frank account of a hopeless romantic’. Since then he has written thirteen novels including Mr Commitment, Turning Thirty and The Man I Think I Know. His books have been translated into more than thirty languages.
You can find him online at mikegayle.co.uk and on Twitter @mikegayle.
My Review:
Mike Gayle is my new “go-to” author for all things Audio as this is now his third book I’ve listened to (and loved) and the good news is I have 15 books from his backlog to catch up plus his latest book The Museum of Ordinary People is already downloaded and ready to listen to.
Mike Gayle has the ability to bring to life the most wonderful characters who creep under your skin and bury themselves in your thoughts so that you can’t get them out of your head and have to listen at every possible opportunity and The Man I Think I Know is no exception.
This story is beautifully narrated by Ben Addis and Chris Nayak who bring the two main characters James De Witt and Danny Allen to life with such feeling and emotion that I was actually visualising them in my head from their opening chapters.
Danny and James are the same age, both went to a prestigious school and both were identified as the most promising students but that is literally all they have in common. When their paths cross years later their lives sadly have not turned out as predicted and both men are at their lowest points.
I’m not going to give anything away in this review except to say this is another heart-warming, heart-breaking, thought-provoking, funny, sad, emotional story about friendship, love, grief and hope.
Read it or listen to it and thank me later.
