After a Near Death Experience (an 'NDE') radically transforms the life of eccentric billionaire Nicholas Sheridan, he becomes obsessed with understanding the experience, recreating the conditions that opened the gate to the unknown.
“With NDE, Sakmyster and Savile trek across a dark line into very strange country. Equal parts smart and chilling, this is a powerful and important novel.” –Jonathan Maberry, New York Times bestselling author of EXTINCTION MACHINE and FIRE & ASH
“A wild and gripping ride through the afterlife, virtual realities, real world horrors and everything in between, NDE is reminded me of The American Gods wrung through The Matrix.” –Stel Pavlou, author of DECIPHER and GENE
Steven Savile (born October 12, 1969, in Newcastle, England) is a British fantasy, horror and thriller writer, and editor living in Sala, Sweden.
Under the Ronan Frost penname (inspired by the hero of his bestselling novel, Silver) he has also written the action thriller White Peak, and as Matt Langley was a finalist for the People's Book Prize.
I had really low expectations got this one, so it's actually an instance of expectations met. Technothriller with supernatural undertones, some original mythology crossed over with video games, stock bland characters made for stock bland action. This book wasn't terrible and Savile is a serviceable writer, it was just...the kindest way to describe it...utterly uninteresting. Sort of like watching a pilot episode of a lesser scifi show. It even had the set up for a series. The main (title) theme was an interesting enough premise, but I really didn't care for where the story went with it. It was a very quick read, only a few hours, but that's about all it had to recommend itself.
I certainly wasn’t expecting the story I got as I listened to NDE. While I have read/listened to NDE focused stories before, none of those took me in the direction tis on did, and to say it held my interest is an understatement. The story is action packed and filled with little snippets that leave you questioning some of the philosophical elements of the NDE subject. I would really like to read/listen to a sequel that tied up loose ends from this story. Meral Mathews narration really added to the audiobook story, through her voices of each character and her pacing throughout the story.
Fast paced and written simply but well, a novel that mixes the Coyote Trickster, with military shenanigans, corporate power plays, virtual reality gaming, and of course near death experiences. I enjoyed the story quite a lot and the pace never let down. There were some clever plot twists in reaching the conclusion of the book. The only complaint I have with (minor spoiler alert) the book is after successfully concluded the story, the author leaves an out for sequel involving the same characters. While I might like the idea of a sequel, I would prefer a new story line and not a re-engagement of the same group of villains.
What can I say except NDE is a super duper cliff hanger. Lucky for me that I keep my nails fairly short and keep on turning the pages although I'm sure my heart stopped more than once - my own near death experience. Sometimes I know exactly how a novel is going to unravel and continually ask myself why the characters don't see the obvious. In these cases I think the time spent reading was enjoyable, but this won't be something I'll save on my Kindle. I enjoy being proven wrong and surprised and kept awake by a good tale written by excellent authors.