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A Time of Your Choosing
An unforgettable journey that lingers.—READER VIEWS
A brilliant exploration of life, death, and post-death consciousness.—RABBIT HOLE REVIEWS
A fantastic speculative novel. Fast-paced and beautifully executed.—READERS’ FAVORITE
A few decades from now, California allows anyone 81 or older to legally end their life, a.k.a. "cross the bridge"—using the words of the religious movement, the Bridgers. Business is brisk for Ketch Immer and his father, purveyors of state-of-the-art crossing services.
When a renowned academic "proves" life after death, the Bridgers sue for change. The movement's figurehead, the veiled Jane Go, argues that adults of any age deserve the right to choose. The world watches on broadcast TV as introverted Ketch gets dragged into a cultural crucible. Well-funded Bridgers, well-armed anti-Bridgers, and the mysterious Jane Go pressure him to take a stand.
While confronting his family's complex history with assisted suicide, Ketch must uncover Jane Go's hidden motivations and answer the ultimate which life is more worth living, here or across the bridge?
Thinking readers will welcome the strength, vivid characters, and compelling dilemmas.—MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW
A brilliant exploration of life, death, and post-death consciousness.—RABBIT HOLE REVIEWS
A fantastic speculative novel. Fast-paced and beautifully executed.—READERS’ FAVORITE
A few decades from now, California allows anyone 81 or older to legally end their life, a.k.a. "cross the bridge"—using the words of the religious movement, the Bridgers. Business is brisk for Ketch Immer and his father, purveyors of state-of-the-art crossing services.
When a renowned academic "proves" life after death, the Bridgers sue for change. The movement's figurehead, the veiled Jane Go, argues that adults of any age deserve the right to choose. The world watches on broadcast TV as introverted Ketch gets dragged into a cultural crucible. Well-funded Bridgers, well-armed anti-Bridgers, and the mysterious Jane Go pressure him to take a stand.
While confronting his family's complex history with assisted suicide, Ketch must uncover Jane Go's hidden motivations and answer the ultimate which life is more worth living, here or across the bridge?
Thinking readers will welcome the strength, vivid characters, and compelling dilemmas.—MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW
311 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 2, 2024
13 people are currently reading
8 people want to read
About the author
Gordon MacKinney
6 books7 followersGordon MacKinney's first novel, Follow Me Down, was published in 2017 and won the Literary Titan Gold Award. His second novel, Tell Anyone You Want That I Was Here, was published in 2022.
Gordon lives and writes in the foothills of Northern Colorado. He was a columnist for The Coloradoan for more than a decade and has written guest columns for the Denver Post. He has co-owned a successful marketing communications agency, Lightsource Creative Communications, Inc., for more than 20 years.
He and his wife, Dr. Kristy Dowers, have five children and one big brown dog — Tulio.
Gordon lives and writes in the foothills of Northern Colorado. He was a columnist for The Coloradoan for more than a decade and has written guest columns for the Denver Post. He has co-owned a successful marketing communications agency, Lightsource Creative Communications, Inc., for more than 20 years.
He and his wife, Dr. Kristy Dowers, have five children and one big brown dog — Tulio.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 13, 2024
“A Time of Your Choosing,” by Gordon MacKinney is speculative fiction that explores life’s most weighty and divisive topics—life, death and what might lie beyond. It’s an eerie look at a world where the boundaries between life and death have been redefined.
Ketch Immer is the reluctant heir to his family’s business and faces a moral and personal dilemma when his father becomes incapacitated. Burdened with this weight, Ketch must decide how best to uphold his family’s business, Immer Funereal Services. The company facilitates assisted transitions to a scientifically verified afterlife using the NEO Module, an advanced neuronal electro-elastic oscillation technology that disrupts nerve impulses, ensuring a painless and immediate process. Creepy, right?! Ketch’s struggle with honoring his father’s legacy while questioning its morality is a relatable predicament—I mean, haven’t we all, at some point, wrestled with the expectations of family? Then again, the family business is in assisted transitions?
Ketch’s journey becomes even more fraught when journalist Samantha Dahl begins probing the company’s practices. Samantha is driven by her unflinching sense of truth and justice and, in conducting a relentless pursuit of answers, holds Ketch accountable, pushing him to question his own convictions. Samantha brings tension and urgency to the story—a stark contrast to Ketch’s hesitations. Figures like Jane Go, a staunch advocate for the NEO Module’s promise, add to the story’s layered exploration of innovation and belief.
Societal tensions erupt between “Bridgers,” people who embrace the afterlife, and skeptics who question its validity. The story unravels complex questions about autonomy, faith, and the price of progress. The divide between Bridgers and skeptics feels unnervingly relevant as a reflection of our own societal divides, where technology, science, and belief clash in polarizing ways. Secondary characters, like Mrs. Jacobi—a Bridger whose quiet, unwavering faith challenges Ketch’s doubts—and Alice, the no-nonsense office manager, deepen the emotional stakes and remind us that these questions affect everyone, not just those in power.
MacKinney’s writing is rich and expressive, blending sharp observation with emotional resonance. He crafts a world that feels futuristic yet unnervingly familiar, as though just one step ahead of our own. The protests outside Immer Funereal Services, the tense atmosphere of the NEO chambers, and the wider societal divisions reflect real-world tensions in ways that are impossible to ignore. While the pacing may feel slow at times for some, this is necessary to give the story room to breathe and allow readers to sit with the story’s biggest questions.
The ultimate question presented in “A Time of Your Choosing” is: Who gets to decide the terms of their existence? The technology in the story, both a marvel of innovation and a source of unease, forces readers to consider how far we are willing to go to confront humanity’s deepest fears. MacKinney challenges us to examine our own beliefs. What I truly appreciate is the story’s ability to balance weighty themes with deeply human stories. It doesn’t offer easy answers, but it doesn’t need to. Instead, it leaves readers wrestling with its questions, long after the final page.
I highly recommend “A Time of Your Choosing” by Gordon MacKinney for readers who appreciate speculative fiction. The story offers an unforgettable journey that lingers, making you question the world MacKinney has built, and the one we live in today.
Ketch Immer is the reluctant heir to his family’s business and faces a moral and personal dilemma when his father becomes incapacitated. Burdened with this weight, Ketch must decide how best to uphold his family’s business, Immer Funereal Services. The company facilitates assisted transitions to a scientifically verified afterlife using the NEO Module, an advanced neuronal electro-elastic oscillation technology that disrupts nerve impulses, ensuring a painless and immediate process. Creepy, right?! Ketch’s struggle with honoring his father’s legacy while questioning its morality is a relatable predicament—I mean, haven’t we all, at some point, wrestled with the expectations of family? Then again, the family business is in assisted transitions?
Ketch’s journey becomes even more fraught when journalist Samantha Dahl begins probing the company’s practices. Samantha is driven by her unflinching sense of truth and justice and, in conducting a relentless pursuit of answers, holds Ketch accountable, pushing him to question his own convictions. Samantha brings tension and urgency to the story—a stark contrast to Ketch’s hesitations. Figures like Jane Go, a staunch advocate for the NEO Module’s promise, add to the story’s layered exploration of innovation and belief.
Societal tensions erupt between “Bridgers,” people who embrace the afterlife, and skeptics who question its validity. The story unravels complex questions about autonomy, faith, and the price of progress. The divide between Bridgers and skeptics feels unnervingly relevant as a reflection of our own societal divides, where technology, science, and belief clash in polarizing ways. Secondary characters, like Mrs. Jacobi—a Bridger whose quiet, unwavering faith challenges Ketch’s doubts—and Alice, the no-nonsense office manager, deepen the emotional stakes and remind us that these questions affect everyone, not just those in power.
MacKinney’s writing is rich and expressive, blending sharp observation with emotional resonance. He crafts a world that feels futuristic yet unnervingly familiar, as though just one step ahead of our own. The protests outside Immer Funereal Services, the tense atmosphere of the NEO chambers, and the wider societal divisions reflect real-world tensions in ways that are impossible to ignore. While the pacing may feel slow at times for some, this is necessary to give the story room to breathe and allow readers to sit with the story’s biggest questions.
The ultimate question presented in “A Time of Your Choosing” is: Who gets to decide the terms of their existence? The technology in the story, both a marvel of innovation and a source of unease, forces readers to consider how far we are willing to go to confront humanity’s deepest fears. MacKinney challenges us to examine our own beliefs. What I truly appreciate is the story’s ability to balance weighty themes with deeply human stories. It doesn’t offer easy answers, but it doesn’t need to. Instead, it leaves readers wrestling with its questions, long after the final page.
I highly recommend “A Time of Your Choosing” by Gordon MacKinney for readers who appreciate speculative fiction. The story offers an unforgettable journey that lingers, making you question the world MacKinney has built, and the one we live in today.
April 10, 2025
MacKinney's "A Time of Your Choosing" envisions a future where technology and law collide with humanity's most profound question – life or death. In this unsettling world, assisted suicide becomes legal for adults, enabled by complete neuro-disruption for a swift and painless end. Amid this controversial reality, a scientist challenges conventional beliefs by suggesting life continues beyond death. While many dismiss him as a fraud, clinging to their beliefs in either eternal nothingness or heavenly transcendence, his assertion raises existential dilemmas. Through complex characters and refined prose, MacKinney expertly delves into the universal contemplation of mortality and the mysteries surrounding it.
December 10, 2024
A Time of your Choosing is a novel of big ideas that explores topics such as euthanasia and assisted suicide, and the possibility of an afterlife. But at its core, the novel is a beautifully woven of tapestry of human emotion. The characters are richly drawn and their conflicts pull the reader into a story that will stay with them for a long time. I highly recommend A Time of your Choosing for anyone who enjoys smart, masterfully crafted novels.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews