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The Dead Fathers Club

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The Dead Fathers Club

By: Matt Haig
Narrated by: Mark Meadows
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About this listen

From the number one Sunday Times best-selling author.

Philip Noble is an eleven-year-old in crisis. His pub landlord father has died in a road accident, and his mother is succumbing to the greasy charms of her dead husband's brother, Uncle Alan. The remaining certainties of Philip's life crumble away when his father's ghost appears in the pub and declares Uncle Alan murdered him.

Arming himself with weapons from the school chemistry cupboard, Philip vows to carry out the ghost's relentless demands for revenge. But can the words of a ghost be trusted any more than the lies of the living?

©2007 Matt Haig (P)2018 Canongate Books Ltd Contemporary Fiction Genre Fiction Fiction Thought-Provoking Haunted Short Story

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All stars
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I love the narrator’s interpretation of this unusual book. Well acted and read. Sad and often very funny, Haig’s observations are clever and highlight the views and struggles of a boy on the spectrum living in a working class family. A masterpiece.

Excellent: family struggle and grief described a boy on the spectrum. Wonderfully depicted.

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What a unique way to tell a story of the loss of a child's father. Told from the child's point of view, missing his father, and his mother marrying his father's brother within 3 months. Great story, and very ell narrated.

Just brilliant!

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a great book and the narration lifted it even higher, really enjoyed it from start to finish

narration was a joy

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This book is a must read/listen.

Great story. Very, very well read.

Get it. You won’t regret it.

Everything about this book is excellent.

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At first I thought, no, probably a kids story, but the more I listened, the more I liked it; then it was over all too quickly.
Mr Haig has this annoying habit of just getting it right. It will suit a younger audience, and it will suit a more mature audience. It's entertaining, has twists, good characters, good plot and, well, good everything.
Ultimately, a story well told always works, irrespective of age.

It lasted two days.

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I did not enjoy this story at all. I kept hoping it would get better, but alas it did not

I usually love Matt Haig but this one is a dud

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Hated the narration i mean it didn’t slightly mess up a great kids or adults story. It murdered it in cold blood. It was only by the skin of my teeth I got through it with many breaks and I’m not even through it it’s so hard to listen because the story was so good but narration is at a point I may need to duck out even though I’m into the plot it’s simply too painful all read like an innocent breathless child , but not naturally so. Exaggeratedly so and by an adult done badly ..and he makes the ghost dad talk extra slowly and like a zombie in a monotone . The mother exaggerated air head with no brain voice. and it’s a shame . It’s not needed. Just read the plot like the people are real not exaggerated and fake.

Great story murdered by bad narration

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I honestly don't know what to say about this other than it's unlike anything I've listened to before. I was hooked but I'm not sure what it was that hooked me. The story is quintessentially a wacky ghost story... quirky, strange, odd, not scary but occasionally, dark, funny and sad. Yet on more than one occasion I asked myself who/ what age is the author's intended audience! It certainly leave you thinking.
The story is told through the voice of the main character, Philip, an eleven year old boy. The dialogue covers the months after his father's untimely death and Philip's own struggle, confusion and mental breakdown as he tries to come to terms with it and the changes to his life as he and his mother move forward.

Reviews I've read about the written vesion mention the text being difficult and frustrating to read due to a deliberate lack of punctuation by the author. I believe, in this case, the essence and understanding of the story is enhanced by the excellent narration which brought the characters to life ( and death) and helped it flow. Disappointingly the sudden ending is abrupt and leaves a lot unanswered questions.

The Dead Fathers Club

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Very dark read, but quite challenging on a rational/empirical evidence perspective. interesting read all round.

Dark

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The narrator did a grand job but I did feel like the book was aimed at a teenager. I do think this would make a good play though.

Feels like a teenage read

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