First published 2006
Gabriel Noone spins stories into the night on late-night radio, weaving tales for insomniacs and lonely souls across the airwaves. He calls himself a fabulist, someone who trades in invented truths. His own life feels equally fabricated. His decade-long relationship with his partner fractures before his eyes. His Southern father remains a distant figure he cannot reach. Gabriel prefers crafted narratives to messy reality. Then thirteen-year-old Pete Lomax writes from Wisconsin. The boy has survived terrible abuse but writes with startling wisdom and warmth. Their correspondence becomes the most genuine connection in Gabriel's world. Pete listens with the kind of understanding that Gabriel craves. The virtual father and son find solace in their unlikely bond. But doubt creeps into their relationship like static on a radio signal. Gabriel begins questioning everything about Pete. Is this wise, generous boy real? Gabriel launches a frantic investigation to separate truth from fiction. The search forces him to confront his own habit of avoiding reality.
Genres: fiction, literary-fiction, mystery, contemporary, psychological-thriller
Vibes: emotional, intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: unreliable-narrator, virtual-family
Setting: Wisconsin
Period: 20th-century
Audio CD · HarperAudio
Content warnings: abuse, mental-illness