Okay, so I just finished David Baldacci's 'Strangers in Time' and wow... just wow. I needed a full box of tissues by the end.

First off - this isn't your typical Baldacci thriller. No spies, no conspiracies (well, except war itself). It's historical fiction set during the London Blitz, and it WRECKED me emotionally.

The way he writes about three strangers forming a makeshift family while bombs fall around them? Beautiful. Messy. Painfully human. There's this one scene where they're sharing rations in a bomb shelter that had me sobbing at 2am.

Some reviewers called it 'contrived' but honestly? War forces strange connections. The character development is *chef's kiss* - especially Alice, who starts off as this privileged society girl and transforms into... well, no spoilers.

Only complaint? The audiobook narrator made me cry TOO MUCH. That man deserves an Oscar for making air raid sirens sound poetic.

If you want something different from Baldacci that'll make you feel ALL the feelings? 10/10 would emotionally devastate myself again.