Finding Gobi

July 31, 2017
In the midst of running an ultramarathon in the middle of the Gobi Desert, Leonard encountered a scrappy stray dog who trailed him for the remainder of his 155-mile run. Their fondness for each other led Leonard to spend months trying to find the money and the means to bring the dog, whom he named Gobi, home to England. Actor Bubb’s conversational and jovial tone gives the audiobook an authentic feel, as if Leonard he were sitting in a bar telling own story. He channels emotions high—as when Gobi shows up when least expected—and the low—chipping away at the bureaucratic wall keeping man and dog apart. Bubb achieves the highest goal of a narrator: his emotional and consistent delivery of the prose makes it hard to determine where Leonard ends and Bubb begins. A Thomas Nelson paperback.

April 24, 2017
Leonard, a marathon runner, narrates the heartwarming story of Gobi, a stray dog he found on a race across the eponymous desert: how they formed their bond, her subsequent disappearance, and the global effort to reunite her with her owner. The race, a 155-mile ultramarathon, brings Leonard to Urumqi, China, where he battles high altitudes, excessive heat, and a sandstorm to come in second place. This feat is even more remarkable given that he repeatedly doubles back to help the charming stray that has become his shadow. After Gobi’s story goes viral, she disappears in suspicious circumstances from her caretaker’s home in China. What follows is a suspenseful mission to find Gobi conducted by Leonard and a loyal team of dog lovers. They are forced to contend with Chinese government operatives and shady potential dognappers looking for a payout, among others, to find and rescue the “little ball of sandy-brown fluff.” Leonard also recounts (somewhat extraneously) his difficult childhood in order to explain his struggle with building close bonds and to demonstrate the significance of his relationship with Gobi. Leonard and Gobi’s story represents the power of people working together and the profound depth of feeling possible between a man and his dog.