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    Chasing Fireflies: A Novel of Discovery
    Chasing Fireflies: A Novel of Discovery
    Chasing Fireflies: A Novel of Discovery
    Audiobook10 hours

    Chasing Fireflies: A Novel of Discovery

    Written by Charles Martin

    Narrated by Adam Verner

    4.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    "Martin understands the power of story and he uses it to alter the souls and lives of both his characters and his readers . . ." --Patti Callahan Henry

    "Colorful, memorable characters; Southern regional flavor that's drop-dead accurate; and lyrical, intelligent writing make Chasing Fireflies an exceptionally good read." --Aspiring Retail

    When paramedics find a malnourished six-year-old boy near a burning car that holds a dead woman, they wonder who he is--and why he won't speak. From the New York Times bestselling author of The Mountain Between Us and The Water Keeper comes a story of self-discovery, healing, and hope.

    On a stifling summer day, an old Chevy Impala ignored the warning signals and was annihilated by the oncoming train. What no one realized until much later was that the driver had paused just before entering the tracks and kicked a small boy out of the car. A small boy with broken glasses who is clutching a notebook with all his might . . . but who never speaks.

    Chase Walker was one of the lucky ones. He was in foster care as a child but finally ended up with a family who loved and cared for him. Now, as a journalist for the local paper, he's moved on and put the past behind him. But when he's assigned the story of this young boy, painful, haunting questions about his own childhood begin to rise to the surface.

    And as Chase Walker discovers, learning the truth about who you are can be as elusive--and as magical--as chasing fireflies on a summer night.

    Chasing Fireflies is an emotional, powerful story of family, finding your place in the world, and healing.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherThomas Nelson
    Release dateAug 4, 2020
    ISBN9780785250012
    Chasing Fireflies: A Novel of Discovery
    Author

    Charles Martin

    Charles Martin is a New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author. He and his wife, Christy, live in Jacksonville, FL. Learn more at charlesmartinbooks.com; Instagram: @storiedcareer; X: @storiedcareer; Facebook: @Author.Charles.Martin

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    Reviews for Chasing Fireflies

    4.5/5

    242 ratings18 reviews

    What our readers think

    Readers find this title to be a highly recommended book with powerful and touching stories. The author, Charles Martin, is praised for his meaningful and suspenseful storytelling. However, some readers feel that Martin's writing can be overly descriptive and predictable, which detracts from the overall enjoyment of the novel.

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      I highly recommend listening to any of Charles Martin’s books! They are always a story with great meaning!! Keeps me in suspense, yet when it is done, it’s so beautifully weaved together! Remarkable!! His stories always move me deeply! What a brilliant author!

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Great storyline and very suspenseful! Was a good book to listen to while driving
    • 5/5
      Very interesting book & the author tells a great story!
      Makes me want to go visit that part of the country!!
    • 5/5
      Engaging! Enjoyed it from start to finish. Tells a story of complex relationships.
    • 5/5
      Another excellent book by this author.
      About the importance of family especially between a boy and his father.
      Throw in an age old mystery and to get another fantastic book.
    • 3/5
      While Charles Martin is clearly a very gifted wordsmith, he over writes. As a result, his novels end up being self-congratulatory and patronizing to the reader.

      I don’t understand why he does this. His characters are very predictable. That means the reader already knows how each character will respond or behave; we don’t need him to shove it down our throats. Here are two examples from this book.
      1. “…covered in horse smell, dirt, and honesty”.
      2. “…his yellow tshirt, red neck freckled shoulders, and honesty painted across his face…”
      I literally said out loud “We get it! Unc is honest. You’ve made that blatantly obvious.”

      I truly think Martin jots down phrases and descriptors that sound impressive (to some readers, at least) and then figures out how to work them in to the novel. They get tedious because they don’t add anything and are completely gratuitous.

      Finally, any reasonably intelligent reader could drive an 18 wheeler truck through the holes in his plots. It just takes entirely too much suspension of disbelief for me to truly enjoy such sentimental fare.
    • 5/5
      Touched my heart in so many ways. Most powerful book I’ve read in a very long time.
    • 5/5
      What a book it's a must read all I can say is wow
    • 5/5
      Chasing fireflies: a novel of Discovery by Charles Martin
      (Scribd audiobook )

      A very interesting book. As former foster kid (Chase) now reporter is assigned to write a story of about a mysterious boy found mute Holding tight to a sketch pad, he decides to take his own foster father with him.

      Soon the little boy is staying with the chase’s foster family. As Chase tries to learn more about the boy, he also thinks about his own mystery parents and also his lifeling obsession of clearing his foster fathers name.

      Confusing? Not so much if you read this book which i highly recommend. You Will also hear the story of Tommy and her acceptance of her terrible fatal illness. One of these stories Will touch your heart and if you are lucky they all Will.

      Would i buy it? Definitely!!
    • 4/5
      Chasing Fireflies is a heartstring-tug of love and loss and betrayal that’s also a love story to the Georgia Lowlands, but it’s not a construct that will withstand a great deal of scrutiny.

      Chasing Fireflies centers around Chase Walker, the adult foster child of Willee and Lorna McFarland. Now a reporter who remains close to “Unc Willee”, Walker’s personal history of abandonment pulls him into the story of an unidentified abandoned child slowly beginning to emerge from years of trauma and abuse. And if that’s not enough to push the Angst-o-Meter into Hallmark territory, there’s a parallel plot involving a deadly feud between Willee and his brother Jack. Martin deals out the feud background sparingly – generally a better option than dumping 30 years of exposition onto one page, but at times the technique crosses over into coyness, which may put off some readers, rather than encouraging them to keep reading.

      There’s plenty here to keep the pages turning. Who is the mute boy, shoved from a car moments before its cataclysmic encounter with a train? And can Chase and the Child Protective Services attorney assigned to the case ferret out the clues the boy leaves in his remarkable drawings as they attempt to identify him?

      What about Jack’s daughter Tommye, who has suddenly decided to walk away from some bad life choices but chooses refuge with Unc Willee rather than with her father? (Again, readers with an I.Q. higher than their body temperature will have this one figured out way in advance, along with recognition of what’s behind Tommye’s reappearance.)

      And if this isn’t enough, what about the bone-deep blood feud between Willee and Jack, which now threatens to take away what Willee holds dearest via a vague lawsuit which is never really explained.

      Some of these answers become obvious to even the most casual reader as the narrative goes along; some of them just lie there in the narrative as the people supposedly looking for them pointedly ignore their flashing-neon existence. And yet this is all relatively minor stuff (along with a boatload of oddly hyphenated words apparently left over from some earlier, uncorrected typescript), and most readers will let it slide because, gee whiz, these characters are so doggone likeable (except for brother Jack, who has ascended into moustache-twirling territory long before the details of his sins are spelled out on the page).

      The book’s biggest failure, however, and the one that knocks it irretrievably from a four-star rating down to a three, comes after a truly shattering climax. When All Is Revealed, the reader is still sitting there trying to make sense of the motivations behind the Deep Dark Secrets of the McFarland Brothers. It’s impossible to get into specifics here without major spoilers. Suffice to say that we don’t ever fully understand why The Bad Brother did what he did, or why The Good Brother didn’t do what he finally did 30 years later and, ultimately, what the point of Good Brother’s action was.

      So, despite a resolution meant to be hopeful and healing, the whole novel makes about as much sense as a Mason jar full of fireflies, slowly going dark.
    • 5/5
      Yes - Five stars! This is a new favorite author of mine. I read When Crickets Cry by Martin a few years ago, and find myself thinking about it every now and then. That is the mark of a favorite, in my opinion. A book you think of, dwell on, and eventually want to read again.

      When you read the summary, how can you go wrong with a description like that? The characters are interesting, flawed, sympathetic. The story is compelling, intriguing, satisfying. But mostly, I love the writing. It's clear, clever, descriptive. Martin doesn't waste words and doesn't scrimp on them, either. He is everything I want in an author and I am very glad he has numerous books for me to enjoy.

      Highly recommended!
    • 5/5
      I had never heard of Charles Martin until "Chasing Fireflies" was chosen for our book club. I loved it. It's like having fiction and self-help all in one book. My favorite Unc quotes are "Never corner something you know is meaner than you." and "You can put your boots in the oven, but that doesn't make them biscuits."
    • 5/5
      "One of the most compelling books I have ever read and my favorite author! You will enjoy if from Atlanta (can appreicate)...a guys book but girls will love it as well! Father/son love...well written...you will be reading when when the sun comes up...have some tissue handy...heart-felt story making you fall in love with Unc, Chase, and all the characters...not wanting it to end and wanting more! A Must Read! "
    • 4/5
      This was my first Charles Martin read. I felt like there were a few loose ends that weren't tied up and I didn't care for the Tommye/Chase relationship. Still, looking at the big picture, it was a beautiful story about fathers, sons, adoption and family relationships.
    • 3/5
      The first half of the book was full of slow, drawn out narrative that tempted me to quit reading. Thankfully I stuck it out and was rewarded in the second half with a strikingly personal account of one family's struggles. Though slow, and a bit wordy, I would recommend Chasing Fireflies.
    • 4/5
      I read this book while on vacation in the mountains. I only had a few books with me so I was 'forced' to finish it. I've read a lot of Christian fiction, and this one was decidedly different. There wasn't any proselytizing at all. I enjoyed the story, but the end came together just a little too conveniently .
    • 5/5
      Charles Martin introduces us to an old man with a huge heart, and a shady past full of unanswered questions, a young man looking for his past, a young woman lost because of her past, and a young boy with an unknown past and an uncertain future. In a setting rich with summertime memories, splashed with the light of fireflies on warm dark nights in Georgia, he lays out a story that rings true and lands straight in your heart.

      Adding this to my favorites—it’s why I read—a book of healing, and hope that humans however damaged can find redemption and their way home. I’m happy that my friend told me about Charles Martin, I can’t wait to read more by this author.
    • 4/5
      This novel intertwines several stories, that of a six year old abandoned boy, that of the journalist named Chase who takes an interest in his story, and that of Chase's adopted family--who have a whole mess of secrets that Chase is bound and determined to uncover. As Chase finds the answers to his questions he also grapples with issues like justice and forgiveness and how he feels about fathers.
      This book has many memorable characters, especially "Uncle Willie" and it the way the stories intertwine is quite masterful. Pick this one up for a good story with many deeper truths contained within.