The Land of Later On

by Anthony Weller

Kip—a New York jazz pianist whose career was cut short by a neurological disease—returns from a failed suicide attempt with a vivid, detailed memory of his journey through the afterlife. Resembling the world as he knows it, but unlimited in space and time, it’s unlike any eternity he has contemplated. Its residents are those who choose not to reincarnate, which would erase all memory of who they once were. Kip has a quest: to find his beloved Lucy, a yoga teacher who shared his apartment for years but died of leukemia before he took his own life. Is she still here? Has she waited for him, or “gone back” to become someone else? In his odyssey across centuries and locales (Istanbul to the Marquesas Islands, India to Oklahoma and New Guinea) to find her, Kip is guided by Walt Whitman—who urges him to write this memoir on his return.

Genres: Fiction, Fantasy, Science Fiction Fantasy, Contemporary, Book Club

210 pages, Paperback

First published December 13, 2011

About the author

Anthony Weller was born in Georgia in 1957. He was the author of four novels--The Garden of the Peacocks, The Polish Lover, The Siege of Salt Cove and The Land of Later On--and a travel memoir of India and Pakistan, Days and Nights on the Grand Trunk Road. He also edited two collections of his father's Pulitzer Prize-winning World War II reporting, First into Nagasaki and Weller's War. For many years he was a highly-regarded jazz and classical guitarist.

Reviews

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

When a book gives me a reason for feeling happy to be who I am or makes me count my blessings, all I can do is praise that book as much as I can. Not to force feed it to everyone, but just to let others know in case they search for what I also sought.

The Land of Later On was just the breath of fresh air I needed. I've always been a fan of stories that explore what happens after we all perish. Sometimes, it is a satisfying story; other times it's just blah and makes you feel like you were dead upon reading that story.

This story is NOTHING like the latter.

When I bought this book, it was, like for most of its readers I'm sure, a special deal on the Kindle. I can't remember what the price was but I'm definitely planning on buying a print copy to keep with me. Anthony Weller's writing completely hooked me and would not let me go!

THOSE WITH A STRONG SENSE OF RELIGION, you will probably not enjoy this book. Just as well, you are probably closed-minded bigots. Wait, that was offensive; you aren't all bigots.

The story deals with what happens to a depressed jazz-musician-widow upon his attempt at suicide. Kip's life is just not worth living and if you read why, you'll have a very tough time devising why he should continue to live it. The phrase goes that "suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem." Be daft enough to tell this to Kip and you'll just insult him. (In fact, I wonder how many people actually still continue to repeat this dribble to those in need of heartfelt compassion. Sickens and saddens me.)

What happens next is Kip joins the afterlife. I won't go into detail what that journey entails (GO READ THE DAMN THING), but it's the well-written adventure that is enjoyable by fans of books and movies alike. One of the supporting characters is a literary giant of the past, and he is quite the sidekick!

Then somehow, Kip returns to life. Spoiler? No, it's the reason for this book, as Kip then begins to write about what the afterlife pertains. Weller's description of the characters and most of all, Kip and his wife, had me teary eyed almost (which is a feat seeing as I read the majority of this in public). The couple is so believable that it's almost like you know them, maybe from having drinks at the bar or living in their complex. You feel for them and you only wish they are happy forever. Reality isn't that kind of course.

Even better - the story isn't LENGTHY! It's a nice breeze as opposed to a huge typhoon, but it's something you enjoy nonetheless. By the time the story was done, I felt fulfilled. Not wanting more and not feeling tired...just right.

I give this book a 5/5 because it was fresh, fair and human. Life is something not to be taken for granted. Want proof? Pick up this story, and you'll be reminded.

[Lisa Reads & Reviews · Rating 3 out of 5]

Since I've written a novel speculating about life and the hereafter, I thought I'd read other takes on the subject. The Land of Later On offers a unique proposal for the afterlife experience, and a cycle of reincarnation that differs from the religious that espouse such types of soul recycling. The writing flowed and was well edited. The characters were fleshy with added spice of music appreciation and nostalgic romance. In essence, this was an interesting and well crafted story.

As plot and pacing goes, the substance was stretched to novel length, making it seem a bit thin in places. It could have used more plots and subplots, additional conflicts, etc to make a novel. At times I felt I was reading a shaggy dog story. Some novels pull off shaggy dogs, but the meandering must be made amazing, which was lacking here. A bit too straight forward and lacking of gold nuggets or pearls. That said, when the goal was reached, the author pulled out a surprise, and for that, I was grateful. 3.5 stars, but I can't say it lifted to a four for me, which was frustrating due to the potential of several characters that were drawn, pointed the way like a road sign, then forgotten. I would have liked to have known them....instead of the neat and tidy ending which seemed to be the author dwelling on a gimmick. Give me a messy, fun ride over dotted eyes any day, and I'd give a 4 or 5 star rating.....

[Nancy S · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a difficult book to categorize. It's the story of Kip, a musician who is suffering from an increasingly debilitating disease, and who returns from a failed suicide attempt with the complete memory of his experience in the afterlife. It is a world similar to ours, but flexible in space and time, and it is contrary to everything we have been taught about, or considered to be, the afterlife. Its residents are those who choose not to reincarnate, which would erase all memory of who they once were. Kip is compelled to find Lucy, the love of his life, who died of leukemia 4 years earlier.

Kip's guide on the journey is Walt Whitman, and he hears of numerous famous writers and artists who have come to the Land of Later On over the years, most of whom chose to "go back". Walt tries to convince Kip that there is a kind of conspiracy to get people to go back, and the propaganda used to so this is in the form of a guidebook issued when you first arrive.

The format of the book is Kip's tale, which he plans to leave behind, and which is meant to enlighten people to the options they will have. When he is done writing the tale, it is Kip's intention to re-do the suicide, successfully this time. It's a little hard to wrap your head around much of the time and location jumping, so the reader really needs to let go of logic and science for a bit in order to fully appreciate the book.

I gave it 5 stars for originality, and also because the author manages to successfully convince us that it just might be true! This book was fun to read, and totally unique.

[M · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting idea but I found it hard to get into this book, it took me a while to finish and I didn't feel any real empathy with Kip.

[Zara · Rating 2 out of 5]

A good start, but it really slowed down, and lost it's way. Quite disappointed with the ending.

[Rosemary · Rating 2 out of 5]

After taking a suicidal overdose four years after his life partner Lucy died, jazz pianist Kip finds himself in an afterlife where people can visit any time and place they want, or opt to be reborn and lose all their memories. Guided by Walt Whitman, Kip sets out to search for Lucy.

This started out really well but went gradually downhill. The biggest problem for me was that it was all talk. Instead of Kip discovering the potential of this afterlife for himself, he just sits down with Walt Whitman in different locations, and Walt tells him about it.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting premise, amusingly written. The Land of Later On is a journey into the afterlife one man takes in search of his beloved wife, with Walt Whitman standing in for Virgil. A light meditation on marriage and mortality.

[Alison Holt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story but left feeling the tale could have been told better. Writing style simple and spare.

Interesting story but left feeling the tale could have been told better. Writing style simple and spare.

Three more word's

[Sara Altshul · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not what I expected

I found this to be very tedious and boring. This land of leader on operated by rules that made no sense and were seemingly inconsistent. I wasn’t that interested in the characters or their plight. I would not particularly recommend thi.

[Dawn Leoni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing spin on our beliefs in faith and afterlife!

Vivid images of travel and music lead you on a journey that questions our expectations for death. This is a must read.

[Mrs M.A.Cooper · Rating 1 out of 5]

One of the worst books I have ever read. A strange concept and a non-plot that goes nowhere. A miserable depressing read.

[Angie Fehl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kip is a NYC jazz pianist who gets diagnosed with MS (multiple sclerosis). A few years into trying to rebuild his life around his progressively degenerative state, he loses his longtime girlfriend, Lucy, to leukemia. Beside himself with grief, tapped out on any will to go on, Kip decides to end his life before MS does it for him. Arriving on "the other side", he finds himself in The Land Of Later On, what our author here names the afterlife. Neither Kip nor Lucy had any strong religious beliefs about what happens post-death while they were alive, but Kip is now determined to try to track down Lucy and hopefully reunite with her here in this seemingly perfect eternity. But is it so perfect as it seems? Each new resident of the Land Of Later On is provided with a sort of guidebook to their new surroundings (think the manual from Beetlejuice, basically). It seems like a helpful read at first, but Kip's new friend -- the poet Walt Whitman -- urges him to focus on the subtext. Turns out one might be subjected to subliminal messaging even in heaven.

Kip first meets Whitman in what seems like a celestial facsimile of the building Lucy was living in when they first met. Except Lucy is nowhere to be found and Kip doesn't recognize the young guy living in her apartment as the famous poet because here on Earth we have old Whitman so embedded in our image banks. But Lucy was a fan of his work and ended up striking up a bit of a friendship with him not long after she arrived in Land of Later On. But Lucy arrived with a bad case of amnesia, so she set off to try to regain any sense of the familiar. Whitman offers to help Kip track her down and so they set off on a fun journey across the heavens which takes Kip time traveling through numerous exotic locales. Yep, in this heaven you can time travel back to any time period you desire. How cool is that! Their first stop takes them through 1960s Istanbul where Whitman says just for funsies he often sits in on / audits a college course that focuses on his life's work :-P

Kip later finds himself transported back to the land of the living, where Whitman had said, if the opportunity presented itself, Kip should write a true account of what to expect, not the ulterior motive filled manuals going around now. Which is what the novel actually opens with. Kip back on Earth writing what he remembered right before he plans to go back... same way he went the first time. He has to be with Lucy, wherever that is, by whatever means.

I eat up these afterlife type stories! Probably influenced by my love of ghost stories or anything paranormal, really. It's just fun to see how many different heaven scenarios all these different authors can think up. Usually there's one aspect here or there where I think, "nah, I wouldn't enjoy that" but it's all part of the fun in the escapism. I especially enjoyed the world building in this novel. Seriously, if I get there and they actually do have time travel in heaven, good luck convincing me to get reborn! I'll be having too much fun! ;-)

I also loved the voice of Walt Whitman here. I think Weller captured his poetic voice really nicely, yet also gave him a great sense of humor. Some of the novel's humor as a whole might strike some readers as being a bit on the dark side, but a bit of gallows humor is right up my alley, personally. I also think anyone who has experienced chronic illness can probably understand that it kind of comes with the territory... that whole laugh to keep from crying idea.

This novel felt similar in some respects to Richard Matheson's What Dreams May Come, some similar plot elements, somewhat similar in tone. There's not quite as much action here and it doesn't get quite as dark as that novel, this one has a bit more quieter, introspective feel to it but it was done in a way that never bored me. Perfect little read for a rainy day in!


POTENTIAL TRIGGER WARNING: Plot mentions suicides / suicide attempts of one or more characters.

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Imagine arriving in the afterlife and discovering the analogue to a Gideons Bible is a guidebook urging you to leave.

At least in Anthony Weller's The Land of Later On , the power(s) that be in the afterlife apparently believe that life, so to speak, is better reincarnated back on Earth as an entirely different person than spent in eternity. In the book, New York City jazz pianist Kip returns from the afterlife after a suicide attempt prompted by a neurological disease that prevents him from playing music. He writes The Land of Later On not to convince people there is life after death but to urge them to resist the guidebooks's ongoing encouragement to reincarnate once they arrive there.

The eternity Weller envisions is much like life on Earth but, with practice, people can transport themselves to almost any time and place. Still, it isn't quite the same. For example, you won't be able to meet or chat with Shakespeare, Mozart or any number of historical figures because they decided to be reincarnated. Likewise, you can't attend a historic event because they happen only once and cannot be experienced again.

For Kip, though, the ability to go wherever and whenever he wants isn't all that important. Once slightly acclimated, he spends his time searching for his girlfriend Lucy, who died of leukemia a couple years before his suicide attempt. The effort is daunting given that even if he picks the right place, he must also pick the right time. And the search will be inevitably fruitless if Lucy has already returned to life as a new and different person.

Kip is assisted in the search by poet Walt Whitman, who clearly has ulterior motives and is part of an underground cabal trying to convince those in the afterlife not to reincarnate. The search for Lucy takes Kip to several centuries and places, including a truck stop in Oklahoma, a coffee house in Istanbul, the Indian Himalayas and the Marquesas Islands. To a certain extent, The Land of Later On has echoes of author Philip José Farmer's Riverworld series. Ultimately, though, the denouement of Kip's efforts is somewhat anticlimactic.

While Weller deserves stars for his writing, his concept of life after death never quite reaches full fruition. We learn that while no god is present there, that doesn't mean there isn't one (or more) somewhere else. This is especially so as it is clear that someone or something is in control behind the scenes. Who, for example, makes sure each new arrival finds a copy of the guidebook? While perhaps a little esoteric, these issues are rendered rather extraneous by the concentration on Kip and Whitman jumping through time and space looking for Lucy. It also produces some minor inconsistencies. Thus, although Whitman explains why individuals are encouraged to leave and become reincarnated, it is unclear how he gained such knowledge given that he doesn't seem to know the other whys and wherefores behind this afterlife.

Perhaps Weller avoided delving any deeper into the philosophical issues to keep the book from becoming too recondite. His approach also legitimately leaves readers to ponder whether the afterlife is real or just Kip's near-death hallucination. Still, a closer examination and consideration of those concepts would have made for a more ingenious story.

(Originally posted at A Progressive on the Prairie.)

[Mel B. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just an OK view of what it might be to go to the afterlife. The protagonist is a bit whiny, and I thought the writing felt a little amateurish. Plus the author clearly loves jazz (and I don't. Sorry.)

Decent enough idea: You go to the afterlife, and it's what you make of it. But sometimes the one person you love just isn't there.

I shouldn't read reviews of stuff just before I read it or as I'm reading it. I was reading a review of this that said if you want this story, done much better, do A Brief History of the Dead. And that influenced me. I read that one first, and liked it better. So go do that if you want suspense.

Our protagonist here is a musician who was trapped in a debilitated body, his music taken away from him. And four years before, his long-time love died before he did.

He finally decides to kill himself, and spends most of the book searching for Lucy. The big swindle is that people are encouraged to go back to earth in new bodies -- like reincarnation -- rather than crowd up the afterlife.

Yet the afterlife is largely a product of your brain -- you can go to any time, any place, within reason. For some reason, astronauts and dinosaurs are off limits. So it's infinite. Yet there's pressure to go back to earth. Turns out there's a need for people -- their souls, their creative sparks, something -- to go back to earth.

Many go back, some don't. There's a little book -- like the Gideon's Bible of the afterlife -- that's a false guide to what to expect, all done to encourage people to go back.

But our protagonist won't go. He's looking for his lost love, and he doesn't believe she would've gone back to earth only to forget about him, and he doesn't want to go back without her.

Sounds good, but again, the writing was a little grating. Also, our protagonist picks up a mentor, Walt Whitman. I never read Walt Whitman and I don't have a good historical sense of him, but as his guide, he just comes off as some regular guy. Not impressed. I'm guessing the author must like Walt Whitman, too.

In any case, I didn't die (and go to the afterlife or not) from reading this. But A Brief History of the Dead is far better executed with this sort of idea, and very suspenseful. Read that instead, or too.

[Momo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a new take on an old tale and I found it very inventive and interesting. This story of death could show you the importance of life.

The writing style is educated and beautiful; this is one of the first things that I loved about it. Kip is a musician by trade but I must admit that I was thoroughly impressed by his talents in written expression. Also exquisitely depicted is a deeply ingrained passion for music. I am not a musician and while reading I wondered at how powerful music could be. I found this to be something that musicians would connect with and non-musicians would witness with jealousy. While reading, I found myself hoping to find a talent that I could feel passionately about.

I wouldn’t say that this story was a love story strictly speaking, but that doesn’t mean that the book was without love. I think that the story was about life, and that love is one of the few things that truly matter in the end. I want to love someone the way that Kip loves Lucy just as I want to be loved by someone the way that he loves her. It wasn’t the typical love story where both people are perfection personified and through their flaws they actually seemed to create an area of perfection in my mind. Surrounded by disease and devastation, even death couldn’t destroy them completely.
I gave this book a 4.5 star rating because it was a beautifully written, interesting, and intriguing novel about life and death and everything in between. I’d recommend it to anyone who can read fiction that is contrary to the beliefs of many religions without being offended.

Of course, the story is fiction through and through; I wasn’t truly impressed by Kip’s writing skills but by Wellers, Walt Whitman is not forever revising his greatest works, and the Land of Later On is non-existent… right?

[Anne · Rating 1 out of 5]

I found this book to be quite a disappointment. I was really looking forward to it, the blurb made it sound very interesting – and indeed, the idea behind the plot is very interesting.

The hero of the book, a musician who suffers from a degenerative disease, dies and finds himself in the Land of Later On – a version of the afterlife (heaven? purgatory?) where every place on earth and every time in history is available to be visited as often as you wish. Stepping from one location and time to another is as easy as crossing the street (as long as you are careful and don’t get distracted mid-step…). He decides to find his late wife, who had died not long before, but it seems she might not want to be found. He is helped along on his journey by the poet, Walt Whitman, who begins to explain that the Land of Later On is not quite as idyllic as it seems, and that most people who arrive are soon forced into a decision to re-enter the earthly realm and be reborn into a new body.

The interesting premise presented here is never fully explored. There are spoken hints of a secret society, fronted by Whitman, who try to persuade people to stay – but we never see any evidence of this society in the plot. Peripheral characters are mentioned, but either never actually appear, or are quickly introduced and then forgotten. Suggestions of sub-plots don’t amount to anything. Places are described sketchily, and the internal “logic” of this purgatory-like place never quite adds up. The characters are not very likeable, or not well drawn enough to care about. There is no depth to the writing.

This reads like a first draft of a much more interesting novel. A real shame.

[Pumpkinmama · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would actually give this a 3.5 if I could, but I'll bump it to a 4 because it is worth reading. A story about a man's journey through the afterlife searching for his love who predeceased him.

What I loved: the way the afterlife is presented here - just like our world but you can go anywhere/anytime you want, and the idea that "they" who control it really want you to leave and get reincarnated into another person (losing all memory of your prior self). Kip, the main character is likeable and I *love* how his connection to music (he was a pro piano player) flavors his perspective of both worlds and his descriptions of everything.

What was lacking: I felt like the motivation behind "they"'re desire to have souls reincarnated could have been much better explained/explored. I constantly was wishing for more clarification on the "why" of things in The Land of Later On. Maybe that was the author's intent, as the people who go there feel that way too, but as a reader it left me frustrated and kind of distracted, always trying to sort it out in my head. Also, the ending kind of left me feeling 'meh'. We kind of know the ending at the very beginning, due to the nature of the story, and that's OK, I just feel like it should have been.....more...given that we already knew in general what would happen. Hard to put into words why it fell short, but it did for me.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A former jazz pianist serious declining with MS, Kip, kills himself with too many pills and begins an adventure in the afterlife--the land of Later On. He discovers that "heaven" is a copy of earth, only with easy access to all times and all places. His goal is to find his love, Lucy, who predeceased him by four years, and he is helped along by Walt Whitman--who is also trying to recruit Kip to a cause. It seems "they" are trying to get people to choose reincarnation to keep the numbers down in the afterworld, and their main persuasive tool is a bogus travel guide to the land of Later On.

The best thing in this book is the musical metaphors and observations by Kip. They add a dimension to his character and, for a novice piano player like me, were almost a more interesting mystery than the story.

This book came my way because my mother inhabits the same town as its author. Honestly, when I saw it was published by Amazon, evil killer of independent bookstores and small publishers everywhere, I didn't believe I could like it at all. But, thin as it is, it was an interesting enough take on what happens when we die that I kept going. I didn't work too hard to see if the model was internally consistent (that felt like it would end in a headache), just let the carry story me along, and that was enough.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Later on...you'll be wishing you were still reading.

This novel is short, and therein lies its only real flaw, you'll want it to go on for much longer. The world created in 'The Land of Later On' is painted in detail without waffling or wordy imagery and the characters are compelling and believable without every line on their face being painfully described. But it is the ending that lets it down ever so, as it comes far too abruptly. Every other aspect of this novel is paced beautifully and I wish a little more time had been given to the final quarter of the story. That being said, I adored it! It reminded me of so many other beautiful tales I love. It is 'What Dreams May Come' and 'Somewhere In Time' rolled into one, yet at the same time stands alone as a truly unique tale. The prose is eloquent and often poetic, the characters are real and you care about the protagonist's plight. It references real life literature and their authors in a way that really helps the plot along and mixes music and the arts in order to paint the world you are reading about. After a few months of reading sloppily put together novels with lacklustre plots and childish prose, this tale gave spark again to my desire to read. It loses one star for the somewhat abrupt ending, but otherwise a delight. Poetic, musical and uplifting, I'll be musing about this for a while.

[Mrsgaskell · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a recent Kindle Daily Deal and I was intrigued by the story line. Kip is a forty-eight year old jazz pianist suffering from a neurological condition who committed suicide four years to the day after the death of his partner Lucy from leukemia. Unable to play the piano any longer, he cannot go on. He arrives in the Land of Later On, an afterlife very much like earth, except that one can easily travel to where and when one desires. Kip immediately sets out to search for Lucy but this is not easily accomplished. He is provided with a guide book, but it encourages people to return to earth although they will find a new identity and completely forget their old one. In the course of his search Kip meets the poet, Walt Whitman, who becomes his guide. There is no god in this afterlife, but its exploration does lead to a contemplation of what is important in life. It was an interesting and engaging short read, but I think it set out to be more profound than it actually was.

[Chanel Earl]

This caught my eye at the bookstore last week and I told myself that if I bought it, I had to read it.

I'm glad I did.

I wouldn't say this was one of my favorites, but I enjoyed it. I happen to really enjoy fiction that happens in the afterlife, and this book had a fairly new perspective. I liked the characters, and was thrilled when Walt showed up.

It is a sign of my own background and upbringing, but I took issue with the way the story was so modern and, for lack of a better term, worldly. For me, no story of the afterlife would be complete without looking into the relationship between a person and their ancestors. I was confused about Weller's choice to write about two (or three) people who had no connections to parents, grandparents or even children, and then gave them no curiosity about their ancestry.

I did enjoy the book, I just wish it had been more focused toward me and my interests. Not a fair complaint, but there it is.

[Audrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a surprising read. It was one of those Kindle Daily Deals I happened to buy and finally returned to. The Land of Later On is a refreshingly poignant take on the after life. It does reference some of the major religions, but religion is not the focus of this book. If you had to give it a focus, it would be the idea of reincarnation, but even this is not really talked about. It is just what is mentioned as the other choice people have to make and the one that is most often chosen. The story follows a man who commits suicide to escape the jail of his crippled body. He then begins the search for the love of his life with the help of Walt Whitman through this endless expanse of time, past and future. Will he find her? How does he write this guide to the after life to us when nobody goes back as themselves? A must read quick read.

[Courtney LeBlanc · Rating 3 out of 5]

Admittedly, the first chapter had me a little confused, but once I got onto what was going on I was hooked. The Land of Later On explores the afterlife in a way we've never seen it before. It's not heaven or hell, but it is for eternity and everyone goes there, but everyone has the option of leaving, of being reincarnated into someone new should they find eternity too much (or a bore) for them.

While I'll agree with some the ending left a little to be desired, it ended in an appropriate way and overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the book, it was only the last chapter that was "only okay" - the rest was a great story with believable characters, a plot that makes sense but keeps you guessing enough to keep reading, and a few unexpected plot turns. Overall, a good read that provided an interesting alternative to what happens when we die.

[Amanda Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a pretty intriguing plot - Kip, a 40-something jazz pianist who has been afflicted with multiple sclerosis, decides to kill himself in order to escape the pain of missing his girlfriend, Lucy, who had died four years earlier from leukemia, and also because he can no longer play his beloved piano. He doesn't believe in the afterlife until he literally wakes up there, and then he makes it his mission to find Lucy. With extra characters like Walt Whitman (didn't see HIM coming) helping him on his quest, this was supremely entertaining.

My only gripe is that the ending felt unbelievably hurried. It was almost as if Weller didn't know how to wrap it up, so he just ended the book. I would have enjoyed a little bit more of the story.

[Ladory · Rating 3 out of 5]

I always enjoy other people's ideas about a possible after life. The main character in this story was an atheist and he went to this "land of later on." This idea of the afterlife seemed more like a kind of limbo to me.

This book kept me entertained but there were a number of sentences or passages that I did not understand. At first, I thought it was me, but then I decided that the writer was not very clear in some places. I don't know whether this was done purposefully or what. That's why I only give it 3 stars. I read the entire book on my kindle--it's a quick read. I'm not sorry I did but it won't be among my favorite books.

[Terry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Where do you go after you die? Do you rejoin with your departed loved ones? What if you could hobnob with historical figures? Visit any time in history? The afterlife is a relatively fresh subject for a novel and I was eager to see where the author would go with it. After what I thought was a promising start, the story just sort of flattened out for me. I loved the premise of this book and the main characters are interesting and well-developed but I didn't find the resolution very satisfying.

[John Eich · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mixed feelings on this book...it's a fun and inventive concept for the afterlife, and the story is told with some humor and complex, sympathetic characters. Yet, I felt like I was cooling my heels and getting increasingly frustrated waiting for the two central mysteries to unfold while the character nattered on about his travels. It was almost great, but reading it felt like standing in line for a carnival ride for much of the book.

[Carolyn Zeller · Rating 3 out of 5]

Weller must be an atheist. He writes about dying and going to heaven in a very worldly way which is probably how most people perceive the hereafter. That's too bad. The novel is bogged down by too many details about music technique. There is not much redeeming about the story line except Kip realizes that his mistakes on earth cost him in eternity. Some passages were hard to read with rambling sentences filled with too may clauses and innuendos.

[Nancy]

Some books are like old friends, and you hate to see them end. This book was just the opposite. I was glad to see it end. I read a book by Mark Twain, about his view of the after life, when I was in my twenty's. I found that book very funny. I could not find humor in this book, as others have written here. It might be because of my age, 71, or my belief system. I didn't like the characters in this book. Kip's after life seemed more a hell than a heaven.

[Kickstand447 · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is from my LinkedIn Book List/Review:
"Just started this. Kinda interesting in a "beach read" sort of way.
Finished! It was enjoyable and a different look at "the afterlife" (or at least the first step of it, anyway). Introduced an interesting notion: adhesiveness; the concept that people "click" in an immediate (and lasting) fashion.
Can't recommend this; but it's enjoyable and moves along."