When Mockingbirds Sing

By: Billy Coffey

Narrated by: Gabe Wicks

Nine-year-old Leah's invisible friend seems harmless enough. . .until she begins to paint the future. Suddenly, the townspeople are divided between those who see her as a prophet and those who fear the danger she represents. Caught in the middle is Leah's agnostic father, who clashes with a powerful town pastor over Leah's prophecies and what to do about them.

Leah is a child from Away, isolated from her peers because of her stutter. After her family moves to Mattingly, she begins painting scenes that are epic in scope, brilliant in detail, and suffused with rich, prophetic imagery. When the event foreshadowed in the first painting dramatically comes true, the town takes notice.

Leah attributes her ability to foretell the future to an invisible friend she calls the Rainbow Man. Some of the townsfolk are enchanted with her. Others fear her. But there is one thing they all agree on—there is no such thing as the Rainbow Man.

The town minister is unraveled by the notion that a mere child with no formal training may be hearing from God more clearly than he does.

While the town bickers over what to do with this strange child, the content of Leah’s paintings grows darker. Still, Leah insists that the Rainbow Man’s heart is pure.

Then a dramatic and tragic turn of events leaves the town reeling and places everyone’s lives in danger. The people of Mattingly face a single choice: will they cling to what they know . . . or embrace the things Leah believes in that cannot be seen?

• Supernatural standalone novel
• Other books by Billy Coffey: Snow Day, Paper Angels, The Devil Walks in Mattingly, and In the Heart of the Dark Wood

A simple haunting story that helps you believe in the maybe

When Mockingbird Sing is a slow story. But it is slow in a good way. It's the kind of slow that makes you thankful for the way cream swirls into coffee or the way fire flies dancing in June catch you off guard, even though your kids have chased them for years.

The narrator of the audiobook is delightful. He makes the story feel like a classic bit of Americana like Where The Red Fern Grows or Old Yeller.

Captivating

Narration was perfect, engaging. The story itself drew me in quickly and kept me tethered to it, listening everybody chance I got as the tale slowly unraveled. Captivating.

One of my favorite books I have listened to.

Well written, wonderful story, great narration. What's not to like.
One I my listen to again and has never happened before.

definitely recommend

narrator was great, easy listening, Christian book worth listening to. I will recommend to a friend.

Kill a mocking bird meets Stephen King

This book reminded me so much of Stephen King's It. Instead of the killer clown we have The Rainbow Man. It's an interesting story but has a rather religious theme just to let you know. Visions by a young girl predict the happenings in a small town in Virginia. Again it reminds me of a Stephen King book Under the Dome. The mayor in both books is named Big Jim. So if you want a Stephen King book with a Christian theme, this is your ticket. There is also tension between the young girl's parents that is never really explained other than the father has a job and has to work to support his family. He keeps getting in trouble just because he has to see his patients as a therapist. This makes the other two characters sound like a duo of crybabies.

The narration is quite excellent going from a young girl with sutter to an old man.