
Expect the Unexpected
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
-
Narrated by:
-
Stephanie Einstein
About this listen
You can listen to this spirited story for free on your device with the Audible Stories Skill. Just say “Alexa, read me an adventure story,” or “Alexa, read me a story” to hear more free genres.
Emily does not like change—she spends each day working as a children’s librarian and every evening watching television with her cat, Miss Marple. She maintains her house exactly the way it was before her father died. But one day, a mysterious theft at the library pushes Emily out of her routine, forcing her to question if she really is better off all alone.
Aggie Blum Thompson worked as a newspaper reporter, covering cops, courts, and trials, with a healthy dose of the mundane mixed in before turning to thrillers. A native New Yorker, she now lives just over the Washington, DC, line in Bethesda, Maryland with her husband, two children, cat, and dog.
©2022 Audible (P)2022 AudiblePeople who viewed this also viewed...
-
The Suitcase
- By: Andy Marino
- Narrated by: Kevin T. Collins
- Length: 5 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A man arrives home from an international flight to find that the airline has delivered his lost luggage. Wonderful, except he never lost his luggage in the first place. The story is told through his increasingly maddening call to customer service as he tries to figure out how, and why, the airline created a perfect replica of his suitcase and possessions.
-
-
Original, Somewhat satiric, very amusing, funny and disturbing
- By Moshe Bouhnik on 04-20-25
By: Andy Marino
-
Comedy Saves the World
- By: Travis Sentell
- Narrated by: Barrett Leddy
- Length: 7 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Meet the writers’ room of the kid’s show Rooty Root Vegetables, which struggles to find humor in carbon emissions and climate change. Then things get punny.
By: Travis Sentell
-
Three Steps, Three Knocks
- By: Whitney Schneider
- Narrated by: Bailey Carr
- Length: 5 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A young woman, staying in her great aunt’s historical home while in town for a funeral, experiences a ghostly encounter one night but soon realizes it might just be a relative wishing her one final farewell.
-
-
The narrator had a pleasant voice
- By Theresa on 03-13-25
-
The Sweet Spot
- By: Lori Rader-Day
- Narrated by: Janina Edwards
- Length: 5 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A weary Chicago shop owner catches yet another kid breaking into her bakeshop. The rumor has gone around her inner-city neighborhood that she's keeping cash in a sugar jar and, however unlikely, local kids keep trying to confirm it. With the latest miscreant, she decides to take matters into her own hands.
-
-
A Nibble to Wet Your Appetite!
- By MonyMommy on 09-19-23
By: Lori Rader-Day
-
A Man Walks into a Coffee Shop
- By: Shaun David Hutchinson
- Narrated by: Kevin T. Collins
- Length: 6 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A young man caught in a time loop has to figure out how to convince his crush—a barista at his favorite coffee ship—to go out with him so he can escape the loop. After a series of mortifying and hilarious attempts, he finally realizes the only approach he hasn’t tried is to simply be himself.
-
-
Hello this was so cute!
- By Book Reader on 10-24-23
-
The Last Post
- By: Andy Ruffell
- Narrated by: Raphael Corkhill
- Length: 6 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A World War I soldier writes a love note to his pregnant wife, puts it in a bottle and drops it in the English Channel. Decades later a fisherman finds it and delivers the message to the daughter the soldier never got to meet. Although this heart-warming tale is fiction, it is based on real-life events.
-
-
So sweet and thoughtful
- By Tia Chanté on 07-18-23
By: Andy Ruffell
-
The Suitcase
- By: Andy Marino
- Narrated by: Kevin T. Collins
- Length: 5 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A man arrives home from an international flight to find that the airline has delivered his lost luggage. Wonderful, except he never lost his luggage in the first place. The story is told through his increasingly maddening call to customer service as he tries to figure out how, and why, the airline created a perfect replica of his suitcase and possessions.
-
-
Original, Somewhat satiric, very amusing, funny and disturbing
- By Moshe Bouhnik on 04-20-25
By: Andy Marino
-
Comedy Saves the World
- By: Travis Sentell
- Narrated by: Barrett Leddy
- Length: 7 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Meet the writers’ room of the kid’s show Rooty Root Vegetables, which struggles to find humor in carbon emissions and climate change. Then things get punny.
By: Travis Sentell
-
Three Steps, Three Knocks
- By: Whitney Schneider
- Narrated by: Bailey Carr
- Length: 5 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A young woman, staying in her great aunt’s historical home while in town for a funeral, experiences a ghostly encounter one night but soon realizes it might just be a relative wishing her one final farewell.
-
-
The narrator had a pleasant voice
- By Theresa on 03-13-25
-
The Sweet Spot
- By: Lori Rader-Day
- Narrated by: Janina Edwards
- Length: 5 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A weary Chicago shop owner catches yet another kid breaking into her bakeshop. The rumor has gone around her inner-city neighborhood that she's keeping cash in a sugar jar and, however unlikely, local kids keep trying to confirm it. With the latest miscreant, she decides to take matters into her own hands.
-
-
A Nibble to Wet Your Appetite!
- By MonyMommy on 09-19-23
By: Lori Rader-Day
-
A Man Walks into a Coffee Shop
- By: Shaun David Hutchinson
- Narrated by: Kevin T. Collins
- Length: 6 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A young man caught in a time loop has to figure out how to convince his crush—a barista at his favorite coffee ship—to go out with him so he can escape the loop. After a series of mortifying and hilarious attempts, he finally realizes the only approach he hasn’t tried is to simply be himself.
-
-
Hello this was so cute!
- By Book Reader on 10-24-23
-
The Last Post
- By: Andy Ruffell
- Narrated by: Raphael Corkhill
- Length: 6 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A World War I soldier writes a love note to his pregnant wife, puts it in a bottle and drops it in the English Channel. Decades later a fisherman finds it and delivers the message to the daughter the soldier never got to meet. Although this heart-warming tale is fiction, it is based on real-life events.
-
-
So sweet and thoughtful
- By Tia Chanté on 07-18-23
By: Andy Ruffell
-
Emeralds
- By: Aggie Blum Thompson
- Narrated by: Stephanie Einstein
- Length: 5 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Polly lets her elderly neighbor Edith wander in and out of her yard, unlike other people on the block who shoo Edith along. Over the winter, Edith’s children move her into assisted living, and when spring comes, Polly’s yard explodes in a profusion of flowers—the surprise fruits of Edith’s labors.
-
-
Lovely short story
- By RueRue on 07-26-24
-
A Perfect Coffee
- By: Travis Sentell
- Narrated by: Oliver Wyman
- Length: 7 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this short, funny, sci-fi tale, every human being on Earth suddenly receives a specific superpower. Everyone, that is, except Dale. But instead of moping around, Dale fools a world of superheroes into believing he was blessed with the power of making a perfect cappuccino. His business takes off beyond his wildest dreams—at least, until he meets Brenda, his personal supervillain, the only person on the planet with a perfect superpalate.
-
-
Coffee and Superpowers
- By D. Allen on 02-25-25
By: Travis Sentell
-
All the Dirty Secrets
- By: Aggie Blum Thompson
- Narrated by: Hillary Huber, Josephine Huang
- Length: 11 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One warm summer night twenty-five years ago, Liza Gold and her friends celebrated their high school graduation with a party on the beach. It should have been the best night of their lives, only one of them never came back out of the ocean. The tragedy haunted Liza Gold for years. Now, she's a recently divorced working mom struggling to connect with her standoffish teenager daughter Zoe when history repeats itself. Another young woman has drowned at Beach Week, and this time the victim is Zoe’s secret best friend.
-
-
Meh...
- By K on 08-01-23
-
The Journey Begins
- By: Kelly Duran
- Narrated by: Stephanie Einstein
- Length: 6 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Against the advice of her children, a 70-year-old widow hits the road for a cross country adventure in an aging RV with only her purse-size dog for company. Two hours in, she gets a flat tire and must decide if she will turn back or keep going.
-
-
I wish this was a whole book!!
- By DeLeon on 12-09-24
By: Kelly Duran
-
Pearl on Her Toes
- By: Lydia San Andres
- Narrated by: Nicola Barber
- Length: 5 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this short tale for fans of Cinderella and Bridgerton, Pearl’s ball gown may carry the whiff of mothballs, but her dance card for the duke’s ball is full…until she loses a shoe. In her enthusiasm, Pearl’s foot slides out of her too-big damask slipper in the middle of a dance and gets kicked around the ballroom to the amusement of the sophisticated guests. What is a spirited but clumsy heroine to do? Can her composure and good humor save her social dignity?
-
-
Under 5 min
- By Elisabeth T. on 01-28-24
By: Lydia San Andres
-
I Don't Forgive You
- By: Aggie Blum Thompson
- Narrated by: Lauren Fortgang
- Length: 10 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An accomplished photographer and the devoted mom of an adorable little boy, Allie Ross has just moved to an upscale DC suburb, the kind of place where parenting feels like a competitive sport. Allie’s desperate to make a good first impression. Then she’s framed for murder. It all starts at a neighborhood party when a local dad corners Allie and calls her by an old, forgotten nickname from her dark past. The next day, he is found dead.
-
-
Sigh….
- By Kelly on 07-05-21
-
The Lady of the Lake
- By: Georgina Kamsika
- Narrated by: Bailey Carr
- Length: 6 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Lady of the Lake (job description: hand out mystical swords to youngsters with potential) has her first dissatisfied customer. This humorous fantasy tale will appeal to anyone who has ever landed a glamorous job, only to find out that the gig has grueling requirements (in this case, confinement in a swamp and the company of wise-cracking toads.)
-
-
Fun Story
- By Rob on 12-21-22
By: Georgina Kamsika
-
Three Full Moons
- By: Rebecca Sky
- Narrated by: Kevin T. Collins
- Length: 7 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Spending summer vacation at his grandparents’ boring seaside town was not at the top of Bennet’s vacation list. Like a modern-day Little Red Riding Hood, he discovers that his grandparents have a certain terrifying, lupine quality at the full moon.
-
-
light-hearted and upbeat! while, surprisingly thrilling.
- By Anonymous User on 01-09-25
By: Rebecca Sky
-
America's Most Haunted Courthouse
- By: Annie Hartnett
- Narrated by: Stephanie Einstein
- Length: 6 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this quirky ghost story, a woman endures jury duty by observing the many characters in the room, including a TV crew filming a paranormal presence in the courthouse, a service-dog-in-training, and a man with a "ghost box," a radio to try to communicate with the beyond. As humorous chaos ensues, our protagonist unexpectedly needs to confront the truth about the secret crush she’s been harboring.
-
-
More pleas! (Pun intended)
- By JJ Martin on 02-05-23
By: Annie Hartnett
-
Darcy Takes Over
- By: May Cobb
- Narrated by: Stephanie Einstein
- Length: 6 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An exhausted mother decides to take part in a pilot program where a robot takes care of her children after school—cooking, cleaning, and helping with homework. The only problem? The robot just might be too good at her job.
-
-
Not interesting.
- By E. K. on 04-23-24
By: May Cobb
-
The Sea Lion
- By: Annie Hartnett
- Narrated by: Oliver Wyman
- Length: 6 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A crotchety nightwatchman in a whaling museum contemplates Neptune the stuffed sea lion, originally owned by P.T. Barnum. In his admiration for the kingly animal, he studies ventriloquism to give Neptune a voice. When a field trip comes through the museum, he has an unexpectedly meaningful exchange with a precocious, like-minded child...and Neptune.
-
-
Super Cute
- By Slippery Vowels on 10-30-24
By: Annie Hartnett
-
The Ants of Bimbleby Hill
- By: Premee Mohamed
- Narrated by: Raphael Corkhill
- Length: 7 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Fairies steal a careless young man's diamond ring before he can propose; he must trick them into returning it before the engagement dinner that night. This short fantasy tale will appeal to fans of Neil Gaiman's Stardust and P.G. Wodehouse.
-
-
Good
- By Anonymous User on 04-18-25
By: Premee Mohamed
What listeners say about Expect the Unexpected
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Slippery Vowels
- 03-13-25
This was nice and short and sweet
I enjoyed this short story. It was to the point, and all the messages were fully conveyed.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 01-09-25
good prose, stupid plot
writing style was good but story was illogical; and far too short for the point the author was trying to make (no doubt due to years of being forced to truncate ideas to the essentials)
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 06-01-24
Intriguing Title
True to the title. This work of art was both mysterious and lively. I would love to hear more books with greater depth along the lines of this work.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kindle Customer
- 04-21-24
How short it was.
I was able to visualize the story. The main character let life lead her to new places. She felt a joy she hadn't in a long time.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Melissa Grady
- 09-02-22
Delightful!
What an unexpected story about being open to the unexpected! The author captures you right away and leaves you with warm and fuzzy feelings! Enjoy!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!