Roberta Writes – Book review: Ending Forever by Nicholas Conley

What Amazon says

Axel Rivers can’t get his head above water. Throughout his life, he’s worn many hats — orphan, musician, veteran, husband, father—but a year ago, a horrific event he now calls The Bad Day tore down everything he’d built. Grief-stricken, unemployed, and drowning in debt, Axel needs cash, however he can find it.

Enter Kindred Eternal Solutions. Founded by the world’s six wealthiest trillionaires and billionaires, Kindred promises to create eternal life through mastering the science of human resurrection. With the technology still being developed, Kindred seeks paid volunteers to undergo tests that will kill and resurrect their body—again and again—in exchange for a check.

Axel signs up willingly, but when he undergoes the procedure—and comes back, over and over—what will he find on the other side of death?

My review

I reviewed this book in my capacity as a member of Rosie’s Book Review Team. If you would like your book reviewed, you can contact Rosie Amber here: http://rosieamber.wordpress.com/.

I read a review of this book and I was sufficiently interested to pick it up myself. I was not disappointed. This plotline is unique and interesting; a whole new take on corporate exploitation, this time in the temporary state between death and moving on into a permanent afterlife.

Axel Rivers drew a poor set of cards when his parents were killed when he was a youngster. He spent his life going from pillar to post without having a proper family or home until he met his deceased wife, Shoshana, and they had a son, creating their own small family. During his younger years, his friend and fellow orphan, Malik, is the closest relationship Alex has to family, but since the death of his wife and son, Malik’s friendship has not been enough to stop Axel from sinking into a state of chronic depression.

Axel is alone, without a job or money, and with an enormous burden of guilt due to the deaths of his family. He decides to volunteer as a test subject for a programme run by some of the wealthiest individuals in the world. A programme that requires the volunteers to die by artificial means and be resuscitated every day for a week. Axel is fearful of dying, but he wants the money and also has his own agenda so he agrees to participate on the terms stated.

It quickly becomes apparent that all is not as it should be in this twilight zone between dying and moving on to the afterlife and Axel finds himself embroiled in one of the most ambitious planned corporate takeovers ever. With the help of a new friend, Brooklyn and her young daughter, Axel finds new meaning in life and the will to overcome obstacles in his attempted path to resolve this corrupt and power-driven situation.

The story is told in the present with flashbacks to Axel’s earlier life before and after his parents died, as well as the time with his wife and child. I thought this worked well and I found it easy to follow.

A thoroughly enjoyable science fiction novel with a page turning storyline.

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