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One Last Time: A Novel
Grief counselor and skeptic Claire Devane finds her life turned upside down when the recently deceased begin to return from the hereafter to visit the living one last time. Secrets are revealed. Love and longing… betrayal, murder, guilt… the visitations bring them all out of the shadows and into the light. It's a strange new world, one that threatens to swallow her whole.
291 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 16, 2014
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133 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 28, 2014
An immensely enjoyable read! The plot, the characters, the suspense, the mystery- were amazing! I highly recommend this book! Thanks, Jan Strnad, for this awesome book!
July 12, 2014
When one of her clients tells her that his dead wife visited him, Claire Devane, a grief counselor, attributes it to a hallucination. Soon she discovers, though, that her client was not the only one to have a dead loved one visit him – the phenomenon is one that suddenly happening worldwide, including most of her other clients. Claire, a realist who believes much more in science than spirituality, is nonplussed and tries to attribute the visitations, as they’re being called in the media, to mass hysteria. That is, until Claire herself is visited by the deceased mother of one of her clients, who warns Claire that her client is not all that she seems. Claire’s worldview—as well as her life—is turned upside down as she is drawn unwilling into a new reality where the dead are allowed one final, brief visit to someone they knew while living.
This is one of the best books I’ve read this year—once I started it, I didn’t want to put down One Last Time. The characters were vivid and believable. And the exploration of the core concept – the dead visiting the living one last time – was fascinating. While all of the action was seen through the eyes of Claire, a woman with her own problems and fragilities, the book contained numerous vignettes of people visited by the dead that were just as interesting as the main story. What if you could visit one person after you died, who would it be? Would it be your spouse? One of your children? Your mother, father, brother, or sister? A best friend? An influential teacher? The person who murdered you? Your dog? And what of the people you couldn’t visit—what would that be like for the “snubbed”? Overall, this was a very thoughtful, compelling read. I highly recommend it.
This is one of the best books I’ve read this year—once I started it, I didn’t want to put down One Last Time. The characters were vivid and believable. And the exploration of the core concept – the dead visiting the living one last time – was fascinating. While all of the action was seen through the eyes of Claire, a woman with her own problems and fragilities, the book contained numerous vignettes of people visited by the dead that were just as interesting as the main story. What if you could visit one person after you died, who would it be? Would it be your spouse? One of your children? Your mother, father, brother, or sister? A best friend? An influential teacher? The person who murdered you? Your dog? And what of the people you couldn’t visit—what would that be like for the “snubbed”? Overall, this was a very thoughtful, compelling read. I highly recommend it.
August 7, 2014
The recently deceased begin to return for one last visit. They can choose one person to visit. Only that person can see them. They stay for no more than five minutes.
Mr. Strnad sets up a provocative world. We experience this through Claire Devane, a therapist who has chosen grief counseling because it's less messy, a woman skeptical of many things including her own platitudes that the departed are in a better place. When the dead begin returning for one last time, her practice, world view and existence change drastically. This story could have stayed in this valley, but where Mr. Strnad takes us and his characters, into greater and greater questions and complexities is what makes this novel worth the adventure. And in all, the novel led to a satisfying conclusion like a life well lived.
I was left wondering: who have I lost that I wish I could see again? would I come back? Who would I want to see? Or would I be one of the 15% who chose not to return?
Mr. Strnad sets up a provocative world. We experience this through Claire Devane, a therapist who has chosen grief counseling because it's less messy, a woman skeptical of many things including her own platitudes that the departed are in a better place. When the dead begin returning for one last time, her practice, world view and existence change drastically. This story could have stayed in this valley, but where Mr. Strnad takes us and his characters, into greater and greater questions and complexities is what makes this novel worth the adventure. And in all, the novel led to a satisfying conclusion like a life well lived.
I was left wondering: who have I lost that I wish I could see again? would I come back? Who would I want to see? Or would I be one of the 15% who chose not to return?
September 14, 2014
I have to admit right off that I have been a fan of Jan's since his days writing comic books for Richard Corben. I have read the novels of a few comic book writers and most of them have been pretty bad, but Jan is the exception to that rule. Last year I read his Risen: A Supernatural Thriller and loved it. What I liked about that book is the same thing I like about One Last Time: I have no idea as I am reading it exactly where Jan is taking me.
I really don't want to say too much about the plot of this book, it is better that you rad it yourself, but suffice to say that the title refers to the recently dead coming back to visit one person for one list time. The visits are for five minutes only, they are only seen by the person being visited and...no, I don't want to say a single thing more except, you should read this book.
I really don't want to say too much about the plot of this book, it is better that you rad it yourself, but suffice to say that the title refers to the recently dead coming back to visit one person for one list time. The visits are for five minutes only, they are only seen by the person being visited and...no, I don't want to say a single thing more except, you should read this book.
December 24, 2014
One last visit.
This book is a story about ordinary life with lots of loss tossed in and a twist in that the dead come back for a short last visit. Apparently they can choose who to visit under strict rules.
The main character, Claire Devane, makes money on the visitors, or more accurately on those living who do not get visited, while struggling to come to terms with what the visitors mean in the cosmic order.
The book flows well and is easy to read but I kept waiting for the point which never quite came for me. This would rate a 3.5 if that was a choice.
This book is a story about ordinary life with lots of loss tossed in and a twist in that the dead come back for a short last visit. Apparently they can choose who to visit under strict rules.
The main character, Claire Devane, makes money on the visitors, or more accurately on those living who do not get visited, while struggling to come to terms with what the visitors mean in the cosmic order.
The book flows well and is easy to read but I kept waiting for the point which never quite came for me. This would rate a 3.5 if that was a choice.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews