Escaping Dreamland

A Novel

By: Charlie Lovett

Narrated by: Mike Lenz

Length: 12 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's summary

Robert Parrish’s childhood obsession with series books like the Hardy Boys and Tom Swift inspired him to become an author. Just as his debut novel becomes a best seller, his relationship with his girlfriend, Rebecca, begins to fall apart. Robert realizes he must confront his secret demons by fulfilling a youthful promise to solve a mystery surrounding his favorite series - the Tremendous Trio.

Guided by 12 tattered books and an unidentified but tantalizing fragment of a story, Robert journeys into the history of the books that changed his life, hoping they can help him once again. His odyssey takes him to 1906 Manhattan, a time of steamboats, boot blacks, and Fifth Avenue mansions, but every discovery he makes only leads to more questions.

Robert’s quest intertwines with the stories of three young people trying to define their places in the world at the dawn of a new and exciting century. Magda, Gene, and Tom not only write the children’s books that Robert will one day love, together they explore the vibrant city on their doorstep, from the Polo Grounds to Coney Island’s Dreamland, drawing the listeners into the Gilded Age as their own friendships deepen.

The connections between the authors, their creations, and Robert’s redemptive journey make for a beautifully crafted novel that is an ode to the children’s series books of our past, to New York City, and above all, to the power of love and friendship.

©2020 Charlie Lovett (P)2020 Blackstone Publishing

A wonderful book!

I am in awe of how cleverly structured this novel is. It twists and turns through the lives of four characters who we come to care for deeply. Impeccably researched and a treat for those of us who developed a love of reading from series like Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys. This novel is a delight.

Wonderful escape!

I loved getting whisked away to New York City old and new in this book. The story is compelling and engaging - I was excited every time I had a free minute to press play. The narrator’s smooth voice told the story perfectly. Such a nice escape in these crazy times!

I’m a fan of Charlie Lovett

This is a solid 4⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ novel with great character development and interesting journey into the Gilded age of NYC...it has dual timelines all revolving around self discovery and aspiring writers which I found fascinating...since I have always been a fan of Nancy Drew and always got a new one at Christmastime...it was especially meaningful for me!

Detailed and lengthy

I am generally a fan of Charlie Lovett’s novels and I love historical fiction. What I loved about this book is that it’s full of historical references and I often found myself down a rabbit hole researching some of the people and events mentioned in this book. What I didn’t enjoy is how detailed aspects of the story can be at times and how many story lines are woven together, and then as you finally reach the end it’s a very quick and brief wrap up.
While this is not my favorite Lovett title, it was still a decent listen and I learned some bits of history I was unfamiliar with along the way.

If you loved children’s serial stories

The premise of of the story brought back memories of how much I loved Nancy Drew books as a child. Unfortunately, the story itself wasn’t very good, with a sappy romance and some rather petulant characters. Good narration.

Great idea, disappointing result

Since Hardy Boys and other chapter books are some of my fondest memories from childhood and since anything set in old New York appeals to me I went into this with high hopes.
Although I found the stories interesting the characters struck me as idiots and their dumb behavior took me out of the narrative. Rather than getting involved I found myself making fun of them as I listened.
All that being said I did listen to the whole thing because I wanted to know the answer to the main mystery.

Reads like Juvenile Fiction

Everything about this book said I would love it. Serials! 1906! Mystery! And yet, I can not believe I spent money on this amateurish, stilted piece by of dreck. The narrator is wooden, and it’s possibly because he had to read this book.