I have loved David Baldacci for years and this has become one of my favorites. This book takes place during World War II in London during the Blitz and brings together an unlikely group of people from different points in life. We have Charlie a 15 year old orphan, Mollie a 16 year old who returns to London and finds that her parents are missing and Ignatius a widowed book distributor who is grieving the loss of his wife. I listened to the audiobook for this novel and would highly recommend. This novel has multiple narrators which adds an additional layer to the storytelling. The imagery of the location, historical aspects and narration led to a fully immersive experience. This book has multiple twist and turns that I did not anticipate and all tied together perfectly. I really enjoyed the found family aspect and really appreciated the ending. I like that Molly and Charlie are friends/family and stayed in each other's lives. Wonderful read and a great break from the genre I have been reading recently.

Thank you Hatchette audio and Grand Central Publishing for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Well researched WWII book that is about people and circumstances. This is a departure from the usual Baldacci writing so if you are expecting one of his series, this isn’t it. Character interactions were good and centered in the reality of the times in which they were living.

Title: Stranger in Time
Author: David Baldacci
Format: 🎧
Narrators: David Baldacci, Stewart Crank, Alexandra Boulton, John Lee, Nicola F. Delgado, Matthew Lloyd Davis, and Joe Pitts
Publisher: Hachette Audio/Grand Central Publishing
Genre: Historical Fiction, WWII, Mystery Thriller
Pub Date: April 15, 2025
My Rating: 3.6 Stars
Pages: 448

This is the story of three strangers who become a “family” due to the war.

In 1944, London is under attack. Bombs and rockets are causing deaths and demolishing buildings. Charlie Matters, a 13-year-old from the East End, has lost his parents and now lives with his grandmother.- he does odd jobs or committing petty theft to earn money.
Charlie meets Molly Wakefield who is fifteen and has been sent to the countryside for safety. When her father's letters stop coming, she decides to return home-finds her parents missing and her former nanny alone.
Charlie meets Ignatius Oliver, a bookshop owner, part-time air warden, and grieving widower. Soon three strangers Charlie, Molly, and Ignatius form a support system family. We follow this ‘family on their emotional experience while enduring the war.


This is David Baldacci novel #28 for me.
Who’s a fan? Yep! That would be me! My favorite characters are John Puller, Will Robie, Amos Decker~ The Memory Man and Atlee Pine and I ended up liking her in the other novels. One of my very favorites was [book: The Calamity of Souls] I always enjoy good courtroom drama.
Certainly don’t associate WWII Historical Fiction with Baldacci but I know he is a good story teller.
He tells us in his ‘Author’s Note” that when he decided to write a WWII story he knew most had already been written and decided to tell the story of three different people who probably would never have met in noon war time but bonded now and experienced the power of love.
The narrators brought his story to life. Typical of a Baldacci audiobook are that s the characters communicate with each. If you listen to audiobooks you know that when there are multiple narrators they usually perform by chapter.
BTW: The “Author’s Note’ was read by Baldacci!

Thank you NetGalley and Hachette Audio/Grand Central Publishing, for this great audiobook
Pub date was April 15, 2025.

An excellent piece of historical fiction. This is (somehow) my first David Baldacci read and it certainly did not disappoint! Well-researched, beautifully written, and emotionally-driven, Strangers in Time—a departure from Baldacci’s usual genre—is a vivid telling of three individuals from very different backgrounds who come together in London 1944 in the midst of World War II.

Charlie and Molly, recently orphaned teenagers, cross paths after losing everything they have. These two young teens could not come from more opposite backgrounds, but form a friendship as they are both reeling from grief. The teens find an unexpected ally and friend in Ignatius Oliver—a recently-widowed owner of a bookshop. The three quickly become a found family as a way to cope with and survive the horrors of the war.

Thank you to David Baldacci, Grand Central Publishing, Hachette Audio, & NetGalley for the ARC! All opinions are my own.

STRANGERS IN TIME departs from David Baldacci’s usual suspense thrillers, highlighting his versatility in writing across different genres.
The story unfolds in wartime London during 1944, with the Nazi bombing campaign, and it is both heartwarming and heartbreaking as you follow Charlie Matters, Molly Wakefield, and Ignatius Oliver, three people who have come together through unexpected circumstances and would not usually have met. The prose is vivid and expressive, bringing to life their emotional journey. The characters are scarred, vulnerable, and strong, making it easy for the readers to empathize with them. The plot is a compelling tale about life, loss, friendship, heartbreak, guilt, grief, courage, hope, war, regret, survival, and love.

The narration was not just good, it was outstanding; it is a MUST-listen audiobook. Stewart Crank, Alexandra Boulton, John Lee, Nicola F. Delgado, Matthew Lloyd Davies, and Joe Pitts provided the perfect voices for each character as they came alive. I highly recommend the audiobook version.

A big thank you to NetGalley and Hachette Audio/Grand Central Publishing for the advanced audio copy. And a heartfelt thank you to you, David Baldacci. Your work has left me in awe, and I can't wait to see how you will top this one!

Baldacci departs his usual genre of suspense novels to write a heartwarming historical fiction novel set in London, 1944. But he keeps his style of twists and turns as we follow three characters that are pulled together because of the war. By focusing on London, we see the war as a daily struggle and the value of found family.

Perhaps because two of the main characters are teenagers, there is a feeling of this book being within the YA genre, but a good book is a good book.

The full cast audio was terrific and added to the story.

Thanks to NetGalley, Hachette Audio/Grand Central Publishing, and David Baldacci for an audio ARC.

Master storyteller David Baldacci (favorite author) returns following A Calamity of Souls with his latest standalone, STRANGERS IN TIME —An extraordinary, powerful story of three unlikely souls who find one another during the war. This is their story. Three people standing together against the world and all it could throw at them.

Three strangers must work together to survive World War II. But can they escape their dark secrets?

About...

Set in London in 1944, three characters from different social classes meet, and their lives will forever be changed.

Ignatius Oliver is a caring widower and owns a bookstore. His wife, Imogen, was a writer involved in secretive things; however, Ignatius does not discuss her. He is still grieving. He is also an air warden and holds some secrets, the revelation of which will change the course of the story. He will be the glue that holds them together as strangers become a family.

Charlie, 14, lives with his Gran after the Blitz on the wrong side of the track. The rations are barely enough to live on. His parents are deceased. They are poor, and she does the best she can. Charlie has dropped out of school, even though his Gran doesn't know. He is forced to do some things to survive, which brings trouble. He has a great heart, is street-smart, loves his Grandmother, and is a survivor. His resilience and love for his family make him a character you can't help but root for.

Molly, 15, is back from the country after Operation Pied Piper. Her dad is missing, and her mother, whom she finds out is in hospital. She has only her housekeeper. She was from a wealthy family and educated, but she soon found herself with nothing, much like Charlie. She is resourceful, resilient, loyal, learns nursing skills, and has a great heart. She and Charlie form a friendship. Molly's journey from a life of privilege to one of struggle and her resilience in the face of adversity will tug at your heartstrings.

Due to their tragedy, the two teens will have no one but one another. They will find a home and comfort with Ignatius Oliver, a man they both come to care about, and that friendship will change the trajectory of their lives. Their friendship, born out of necessity, becomes a source of warmth and comfort amid fear and uncertainty.

My thoughts...

STRANGERS IN TIME is beautifully written, stunning, full of wisdom, and heart. An exploration into the resilience of the human spirit. Together, these three had confronted a collective hardship that at times seemed beyond their capability; however, they found strength, courage, and comfort in one another as friends in the face of the war's deadly grip. Their resilience is truly inspiring.

STRANGERS IN TIME is a classic! A top book of 2025, much like Calamity of Souls, a top book of 2024. I loved both audiobooks.

I am a huge Baldacci fan, and even though I love all his legal, crime, action, suspense, and thriller books and series, it is books like CALAMITY OF SOULS and STRANGERS IN TIME standalones that I adore, showcasing his gift of storytelling and lyrical prose.

Rich in character and place, a big-hearted page-turner that will remain with you long after the story ends. You will fall in love with the characters, who are shrouded in a bit of mystery and intrigue as the story unfolds amid their tragedies. A moving tale of love, betrayal, and survival. An ideal choice for book clubs and further discussions,

Audiobook...

I had the privilege of reading and listening to the book and audio, and let me say, you MUST listen to the audiobook, which is STELLAR! The performance, narrated by a full cast including David Baldacci (loved the author's note), Stewart Crank, Alexandra Boulton, John Lee, Nicola F. Delgado, Matthew Lloyd Davies, and Joe Pitts, is utterly captivating! They draw you in immediately and capture you with perfect voices for each character as they come alive. Award-winning, emotional, suspenseful, and compelling. I highly recommend the audiobook.

Special thanks to Grand Central Publishing, Hachette Audio, and NetGalley for a gifted ARC and ALC for my honest opinion. I also purchased the hardcover for my home library. A classic for any bookshelf.

Blog review posted @
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@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
Pub Date: April 15, 2025
My Rating: 5 Stars +
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Thank you to @netgalley and @hachetteaudio for a free copy of this audiobook in exchange for my honest opinion. Also, thank you to @grandcentralpub for sending me an advanced copy of the book.

A Masterful Audiobook Experience!

David Baldacci's Strangers in Time is a triumph, and the audiobook edition elevates the story to an entirely new level. The immersive experience of listening to this book is simply breathtaking.

The story itself is a beautifully woven tapestry of historical fiction, set in London during the tumultuous final year of World War II. Baldacci's meticulous research and vivid descriptions transport you to a city under siege, where three disparate souls find solace and strength in an unlikely alliance. The characters of Charlie, Molly, and Ignatius are richly drawn, and their individual journeys of loss, resilience, and the enduring power of human connection resonate deeply.

What makes this audiobook truly exceptional is the outstanding full-cast narration. Each narrator embodies their character with remarkable skill, bringing their voices, emotions, and nuances to life. The different voices make the dialogues come alive and make it easy to keep track of the characters. The production quality is top-notch, with seamless transitions and a truly immersive soundscape.

Strangers in Time is more than just a war story; it's a testament to the enduring power of a found family, the importance of human connection in the darkest of times, and the resilience of the human spirit. The audiobook format enhances every aspect of this powerful narrative, making it an unforgettable listening experience. I was captivated from the first moment to the last.

Highly recommended!

@desmoineslibrary and AViD hosted @davidbaldacciauthor and I was lucky enough to attend with my mother-in-law @sharonjones7653 . Baldacci shared a bunch of humorous stories and his thoughts on the importance of libraries in our society. Such a wonderful experience.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

#books #bookishlife #booklover #readingisfun #iowabookstagrammers #iowabookstagram #netgalley #hachetteaudio #grandcentralpub #strangersintime #davidbaldacci #dmpl #desmoineslibrary #avid2025

Baldacci has given us a wonderfully heartwarming and heartbreaking novel. The book is rich with well thought out story lines; well defined characters; and a large blend of history with fiction. Historically accurate, but made more poignant with the focus on the humanity and people that lived the experiences of the Blitz, this is definitely worth reading.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hachette Audio who provided me with a copy of this book. I am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

I have never read or listened to a David Baldacci book, but he is very popular at my library, so this offering looked like a good one to start with.
I’m really glad that I listened to it! The story is intriguing and is about 3 main characters in WWII London near the end of the war. Charlie, who is poor and Molly, who comes from affluent parents, are teens who have been forced to grow up too soon due to the devastation of their lives during the war. They become involved with a bookseller, Ignatius and their three lives become intertwined due to their circumstances.
It paints a picture of how severely the war has damaged London and how deeply the citizens lives have been changed and also ruined.

The audiobook has several narrators which I love because it makes the characters more real to me. The story was suspenseful and realistic and had a good ending.

Strangers in Time is a unique WWII novel about finding friendship in unexpected places. The story focuses on three vastly different characters from widely different upbringings. The first is Charlie, a poor 13 year old orphan who lives with his hard working grandmother. Despite skipping school and stealing to help put food in his belly, he possesses a decent ethical code to not steal from others who are also in need. For example, after stealing money from a bookshop, when the owner tracks him down, Charlie later returns the money after observing the shabby nature of the shopkeeper’s clothes.

The second is Molly, a 15-year old girl from London who has lived the last 5 years in the country after her wealthy parents send her to live there during the Blitz. When she returns, she finds neither parent at home and all the servants gone from her home except her old nanny.

The third is Ignatius, a highly educated widowed bookkeeper, who runs a beleaguered shop in honor of his dead wife. The three form an unlikely friendship that survives during a time when chaos and uncertainty rule their everyday lives.

I listened to the audiobook, which was expertly narrated by a cast of actors. While listening, I could easily imagine the characters and settings and feel the grief and sorrow emanating from them. I also appreciated the survival instinct and resilience of the two youngest characters. I highly recommend this audiobook!

This doesn’t feel like the normal WWII novel. The story doesn’t focus so much on the war and the battle but brings a deeply human element to the affect on the citizens of London and what they must do to survive..

Charlie, Molly and Ignacius meet in London while enduring circumstances of the war that no one could have imagined possible. We learn about the history of how each has gotten to where they are and how they find each other, purely through chance, when they wouldn’t have during normal times. This is a story of loss, love, survival and found family.

The audiobook, and cast of narrators, bring David Baldacci’s characters to life. With the British accents, you feel an authentic connection to the story.

Thank you to Hatchett Audio and NetGalley for access to the advance listener copy. All opinions are my own.

I was so excited for this book because I loved Baldacci's "A Calamity of Souls." My hopes were a little too high. There was a mystery involved, but not much suspense. Some of the plot was unbelievable as well. Things came way too easy for Charlie and this kept me from being too invested in him and how it all turned out.

This was a fantastic WWII historical fiction following the lives of three Londoners during the war. Charlie Matters is a young boy just trying to survive. Molly Wakefield is back in the city after being away and finds her parents gone. Ignatius Oliver is a widower who runs a bookstore. By chance their paths cross and we embark on a story of friendship, community, survival, and love. One thing I appreciated about this story was that the characters are your everyday citizens. So many stories focus on an individual or event that is part of the resistance, an active participant in the war, or something that drastically turns the tides throughout the years. This was more about what it is like to live through a war and try to go on with everyday life. It pulls at a range of emotions and was well crafted.

This is a full cast audio and it was nothing short of amazing. The casting was perfect with each narrator bringing such life and individuality to the characters.

In the book Strangers in Time, author David Baldacci writes about 14-year-old Charlie Matters who always seems to be up to no good. It’s World War 2 in England and Charlie is not old enough to join up and fight the Germans. But Charlie’s getting into trouble leads him to steal from a book shop owned by Ignatius Oliver. But is Ignatius only a book shop owner? Fifteen-year-old Molly Wakefield comes from the right side of town but connects with Charlie and they work to help each other. But things are not what they seem and everyone seems to be lying to each other. Who is telling the truth? This was a good historical fiction that kept you wondering what was happening. I would recommend this book. The audio-book narration was very good. I received a copy of this audio-book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was an excellent audiobook! Molly, Charlie , and Ignatious navigate the turmoil of WWII. Initially , coming from very different backgrounds , their worlds collide during wartime. This reminded me of “All the Light You Cannot See.”

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

David Baldacci makes another departure from his mystery/thriller genre, this time diving into WWII historical fiction bringing together three unlikely characters. Charlie is a rebellious yet honorable teenager trying to supplement his Gran's income. Molly is a very mature teenager returning to her home after being sent away for her safety several years before. Ignatius Oliver is a local book store owner and an air warden. They are all mourning the loss of loved ones and their lives cross each other's paths and end up creating a beautiful friendship. Against all odds, Charlie, Molly and Oliver become a family unit that relies on each other for support and survival. This was a nice change of pace from other historical WWII novels I have read as this is from the perspective of teenagers and a widower. The description of the bombing raids felt very realistic and gave me new insight into how it must feel to live in fear of them and the inconsistent timing that disrupts life in an instant. The beginning of the book felt a bit long to me, so if you feel this way too just stick with it. The characters and story line are worth it!

I listened to the audiobook, which has a full cast of characters. Each character speaks their own lines no matter whose point of view we are hearing from. I loved this! This is a wonderful production of the book and it felt like I was listening to a series or movie instead of an audiobook. If you are interested in this book I highly recommend the audiobook version!

Thank you NetGalley and Hachette Audio for the ALC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Stangers in Time is another great story from David Baldacci, a favorite author. Three individuals from different walks of life meet during wartime and "stand together against all the world could hurl at them." This is a captivating and brutally realistic look at the people who lived in London during the German bombings, and Baldacci puts the reader right there with them. One can almost hear the scream of the bombs and smell the smoke. I liked this novel about a "family" forged together in desperate times of sorrow, fear, and loss. I was given a complimentary copy of the book from Grand Central Publishing through NetGalley and was not required to write a positive review. The opinions are my own.

I've enjoyed David Baldacci's thrillers in the past and I do enjoy a good piece of WWII fiction, so it's no real surprise that I couldn't resist adding Strangers In Time to my shelves. I really liked the sound of the premise with its focus on ordinary people living in London during the war and the concept of found family. And I have to say that while it was a bit overlong for me, as a whole it still turned out to be an engaging, emotional and often heartbreaking read.

Strangers In Time uses a multiple POV structure, switching between our three main characters Charlie, Molly and Ignatius. This structure works really well, as it helps show how different and yet again alike the war experience was for the London citizens. The POVs overlap once they meet, which helps the story feel more cohesive and I especially enjoyed watching the connection between the three characters evolve and grow over time. The concept of found family is without doubt one of the main elements in this story, and it's one of the reasons this story works so well.

As for the audiobook: it was my first time listening to an audiobook with a full cast of narrators, and I have to say that it truly enhanced the listening experience for me. Having a different narrator for all the key characters really made the dialogues come alive, and it also made it easier to keep the characters apart. I do have to say that some of the narrators spoke rather slowly (especially the older characters), which could get a bit annoying after a while and I had to increase the speed to remedy this. I did love the fact that they used British narrators as it just wouldn't have been right for the characters to have American accents. It made the story feel that much more authentic.

The story is set in 1944 London, in a city that is damaged and suffering after so many years of bombing. The descriptions helped adding the right atmosphere and were quite vivid; especially in the moments of the bombings. Strangers In Time is not a light read and the characters sure don't have it easy, but this also comes as no real surprise considering the setting and timeframe. Make sure you are prepared for lots of emotional moments and tragedy along the way!

What I do have to say is that this story had a bit too much of a YA feel to it. I get that two out of three main characters are teenagers, but the tone often felt a bit young for an adult novel... It might have had to do with the fact that there was too much explaining and telling and too little showing. Some of the secrets were also quite easy to guess, and the fact that Molly and Charlie weren't able to in a timely matter was a bit frustrating. There were also parts that became a bit repetitive, which ment that the story wasn't always able to grab my attention completely at times. This probably also had to do with the fact that the story was simply overlong, and could have done with some tightening up.

That said, I can't deny that I still enjoyed my time with Strangers In Time, and the found family element has been really well done. If you don't mind emotional and heartbreaking historical fiction that takes you on a roundabout way through the story, this might just be the book for you. The full cast audio is definitely a bonus if you decide to listen to it!

First of all, I highly recommend the audiobook version. The actors bring the story to life. This is a WWII novel with a captivating storyline told by multidimensional characters. We meet fourteen-year-old Charlie, who ditches school to steal trinkets so he can bring food to his devoted grandmother. Meanwhile, he is introduced to Molly, who is from a well-to-do family. She recently returned from the countryside, where her parents had sent her during the Blitz. Oliver, a bookstore owner, takes an interest in the teens and gives them sage advice when needed. This story is heartwarming and a treat to read.