What do you think?
Rate this book
Second Lives
When four patients spontaneously regain consciousness after being declared dead, their loved ones are ecstatic and words like "miracle" and "miraculous" begin to float around the hospital.
But the jubilation is short lived when the patients neither recognize their families nor answer to their names. Each one vehemently claims to be someone else, someone who lived, and died, in the past.
When it's suggested that all four are suffering from fugue states, one of the doctors says that he recognizes a name and verifies he not only knew the girl but was there when she died in 1992.
It soon becomes obvious that the bodies of the four patients are now inhabited by the souls of people long dead.
A frightened little boy killed in 1956 cries out for his mother from the body of an 81 year old Alzheimer's patient, the soul of a spinster killed in a Suffragette rally wakes in the body of a new mother; an orthodox Jew, murdered in 1922, opens the eyes of a gay suicide and a teenage girl wakes to discover she's now in the body of a 45 year old woman.
The hospital psychiatrist, after talking with them, dubs the four "The Travelers" and believes they are proof of the transmigration of souls. They are more than just lost souls, he tells the grieving families, they are completely alone and terrified, displaced into bodies that aren't their own and trapped in a world they can't understand. If they are to survive they'll need help and to this end the doctor asks the families to make a supreme sacrifice and do just that: to help these strangers assimilate into society and their new lives.
To care for a complete stranger who looks like the loved one they just lost is a hard thing to ask of people. The families have the right to say no, they are under no legal or moral obligation to help; but they do.
Spearheaded by the elderly woman whose husband's body now holds the soul of a frightened child, but still with reservations and not a little anger, they finally agree to accept the strangers wearing their loved ones bodies, and will do everything they can to help "The Travelers" make as smooth and gentle a transition into their new lives as possible.
But the jubilation is short lived when the patients neither recognize their families nor answer to their names. Each one vehemently claims to be someone else, someone who lived, and died, in the past.
When it's suggested that all four are suffering from fugue states, one of the doctors says that he recognizes a name and verifies he not only knew the girl but was there when she died in 1992.
It soon becomes obvious that the bodies of the four patients are now inhabited by the souls of people long dead.
A frightened little boy killed in 1956 cries out for his mother from the body of an 81 year old Alzheimer's patient, the soul of a spinster killed in a Suffragette rally wakes in the body of a new mother; an orthodox Jew, murdered in 1922, opens the eyes of a gay suicide and a teenage girl wakes to discover she's now in the body of a 45 year old woman.
The hospital psychiatrist, after talking with them, dubs the four "The Travelers" and believes they are proof of the transmigration of souls. They are more than just lost souls, he tells the grieving families, they are completely alone and terrified, displaced into bodies that aren't their own and trapped in a world they can't understand. If they are to survive they'll need help and to this end the doctor asks the families to make a supreme sacrifice and do just that: to help these strangers assimilate into society and their new lives.
To care for a complete stranger who looks like the loved one they just lost is a hard thing to ask of people. The families have the right to say no, they are under no legal or moral obligation to help; but they do.
Spearheaded by the elderly woman whose husband's body now holds the soul of a frightened child, but still with reservations and not a little anger, they finally agree to accept the strangers wearing their loved ones bodies, and will do everything they can to help "The Travelers" make as smooth and gentle a transition into their new lives as possible.
Audiobook
First published April 11, 2019
53 people are currently reading
261 people want to read
About the author
P.D. Cacek
65 books29 followersOccasionally credited as Patricia D. Cacek.
Patricia Diana Joy Anne Cacek (December 22, 1951, Hollywood, California) is an American author, mostly of horror novels. She graduated with a B.A in Creative Writing from California State University, Long Beach in 1975.
Patricia Diana Joy Anne Cacek (December 22, 1951, Hollywood, California) is an American author, mostly of horror novels. She graduated with a B.A in Creative Writing from California State University, Long Beach in 1975.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 63 reviews
January 28, 2021
**3.5-stars**
My exact expression upon completing Second Lives:
Eight people die.
Four come back, but not as they were before. Or should I say, WHO they were before.
Intriguing premise, right?
It certainly is and I think Cacek did a great job of weaving this highly-detailed, slightly odd tale together.
The writing was solid. You can definitely tell Cacek is an experienced author.
Each chapter was like a short-story unto itself. For those of you who enjoy short story collections, I feel like this book could really work for you.
Creative and unique, this story made me really sad. I feel like it is intended to be a story of hope, love, relationships and sacrifice, but honesty, it bummed me out.
Some of the characters end up in fairly hopeless circumstances and are forced to begin again with no choice.
I thought going into this that it was a horror novel, but after reading it, I wouldn't personally classify it as such. It seemed straight speculative fiction to me.
There were a few chilling moments, mostly due to imagining something like this actually happening to you or a loved one.
We get a couple of hints throughout that the events of this story are a phenomenon occurring around the world, but this book focuses on patients in a single hospital.
They are all strangers, but through various doctors have their cases ultimately connected.
The book seemed to be broken up into three distinct parts: learning about each character, the soul shuffle and the aftermath.
I liked the format and thought it was an agreeable way to present the story.
I think if you like eccentric stories that explore the darker side of life, you should give this one a shot.
I definitely am interested in chatting about this with some other bookworms, so if you ever read it, message me!
A big thank you to the publisher, Flame Tree Press, for providing me with a copy to read and review.
I appreciate the opportunity!
My exact expression upon completing Second Lives:
Eight people die.
Four come back, but not as they were before. Or should I say, WHO they were before.
Intriguing premise, right?
It certainly is and I think Cacek did a great job of weaving this highly-detailed, slightly odd tale together.
The writing was solid. You can definitely tell Cacek is an experienced author.
Each chapter was like a short-story unto itself. For those of you who enjoy short story collections, I feel like this book could really work for you.
Creative and unique, this story made me really sad. I feel like it is intended to be a story of hope, love, relationships and sacrifice, but honesty, it bummed me out.
Some of the characters end up in fairly hopeless circumstances and are forced to begin again with no choice.
I thought going into this that it was a horror novel, but after reading it, I wouldn't personally classify it as such. It seemed straight speculative fiction to me.
There were a few chilling moments, mostly due to imagining something like this actually happening to you or a loved one.
We get a couple of hints throughout that the events of this story are a phenomenon occurring around the world, but this book focuses on patients in a single hospital.
They are all strangers, but through various doctors have their cases ultimately connected.
The book seemed to be broken up into three distinct parts: learning about each character, the soul shuffle and the aftermath.
I liked the format and thought it was an agreeable way to present the story.
I think if you like eccentric stories that explore the darker side of life, you should give this one a shot.
I definitely am interested in chatting about this with some other bookworms, so if you ever read it, message me!
A big thank you to the publisher, Flame Tree Press, for providing me with a copy to read and review.
I appreciate the opportunity!
May 4, 2019
Second Lives takes the reader down an emotional and heart-wrenching journey through 8 characters, all of which have dedicated chapters written about them, detailing key events in their lives as well as their eventual deaths, and for some, reincarnation.
Whilst the early portion of the book read like a literary short story collection, introducing 8 characters with seemingly no relation nor connection to one another, the pay-off is in the perseverance, because once the you come out of the dark place of death and into the supernatural elements associated with spiritual displacement, things get very interesting.
By no means for the faint of heart, Second Lives is the epitome of the 'tear-jerker'.
Choc full of interesting and well defined characters who read as real as the people you know, all with their own unique voice and story to tell, once the characters align, the story really takes shape.
My rating: 4/5 stars. Not the book I was expecting but a very entertaining read.
Whilst the early portion of the book read like a literary short story collection, introducing 8 characters with seemingly no relation nor connection to one another, the pay-off is in the perseverance, because once the you come out of the dark place of death and into the supernatural elements associated with spiritual displacement, things get very interesting.
By no means for the faint of heart, Second Lives is the epitome of the 'tear-jerker'.
Choc full of interesting and well defined characters who read as real as the people you know, all with their own unique voice and story to tell, once the characters align, the story really takes shape.
My rating: 4/5 stars. Not the book I was expecting but a very entertaining read.
May 10, 2019
Second Lives has an amazingly creepy cover and an intriguing blurb and when I sat down with it I knew it was going to be an emotionally intense read. The plot is about a group of four people who die, after all, but I wasn’t expecting the heavy blanket of sadness that was dropped over my head to stay there until almost the very last page.
Be warned if you’re feeling blue because this one may need to wait a bit but if you’re feeling too chipper give it a go but make sure you have no distractions and big chunk of time and maybe a notebook . . .
This book starts out telling the backstories of eight characters and five different timelines chapter by chapter. I’ve seen some people say they read like short stories and they do but they do eventually connect but it takes a while before that happens. There is a lot to absorb in the first half or so of the book. I took notes to keep everybody straight because I knew my faulty brain would never be able to keep up and I did find myself referring back to my notes to remind myself who was who. After the first half (or so) it was easy going and I no longer needed them but without them I would’ve been tripped up a time or ten.
The characterization here is incredible and the author really excels at breathing life into all of her people. I found it an easy read for that reason but it left me feeling blue the entire week of reading. It’s incredibly sad and lacks any sort of break from all of the gloom. Each situation is pretty terrible and heartrending for everyone involved.
This one is hard to review and even more difficult to rate. I’m going to settle on a three. It’s not a book I’d ever willingly read again because I found it incredibly depressing but it’s well written and fans of fantasy and reincarnation-type novels might feel differently.
*Thank you Flame Tree Press for the advanced readers copy!
Be warned if you’re feeling blue because this one may need to wait a bit but if you’re feeling too chipper give it a go but make sure you have no distractions and big chunk of time and maybe a notebook . . .
This book starts out telling the backstories of eight characters and five different timelines chapter by chapter. I’ve seen some people say they read like short stories and they do but they do eventually connect but it takes a while before that happens. There is a lot to absorb in the first half or so of the book. I took notes to keep everybody straight because I knew my faulty brain would never be able to keep up and I did find myself referring back to my notes to remind myself who was who. After the first half (or so) it was easy going and I no longer needed them but without them I would’ve been tripped up a time or ten.
The characterization here is incredible and the author really excels at breathing life into all of her people. I found it an easy read for that reason but it left me feeling blue the entire week of reading. It’s incredibly sad and lacks any sort of break from all of the gloom. Each situation is pretty terrible and heartrending for everyone involved.
This one is hard to review and even more difficult to rate. I’m going to settle on a three. It’s not a book I’d ever willingly read again because I found it incredibly depressing but it’s well written and fans of fantasy and reincarnation-type novels might feel differently.
*Thank you Flame Tree Press for the advanced readers copy!
September 1, 2022
Thought this would be more horror fueled than it actually was but very interesting premise that the story did justice. Think there is a book two and I'm curious to pick it up rather soon
April 1, 2019
What would reincarnation really look like in practice? Put aside the idea of waking up and being in the body of a zebra, a parrot, or an amoeba? If there really was reincarnation, it would have to be a thing of people whose lives got cut short reappearing in other bodies. But whose bodies? Maybe the bodies of other people whose lives got cut short. One day they are in the hospital and they flatline and a few hours later their hearts start beating again and they are someone else. Possessed by someone else for no logical reason. Second Lives explores this concept, first tracing several lives that had prematurely ended and then finding host bodies to be entered. But what happens when one soul leaves a body and another enters? It looks like the same person but it is not. It is someone else there. And how do the survivors deal with it? What happens when your wife expires during childbirth but someone else takes her place? Some other person from another time? An interesting series of case studies, although the ideas didn't really seem to lead anywhere. Perhaps following one story instead of four would have been more fascinating and perhaps explaining the who's and why's of why one soul survived to breathe another day and others didn't would have been helpful.
September 14, 2020
This was an emotional gut punch that I wasn't expecting or prepared for. I don't think I've ever had a book hit me this hard. This is more than just a tale of the paranormal. It's an exploration of grief and loss and hope that will make you spend a lot of time contemplating what happens when we die. Excellent!
January 27, 2019
Not too long ago there was a trend…stories about the dead coming back to life and we’re not talking zombies. Actual persons returning from the dead to have another go at life. Jason Mott’s Returned might have been the first book with the premise, I read it, it disappointed. But nevertheless got adapted into a tv show. And then there was something of a proliferation of similar themed tv shows from around the world. I’ve watched and abandoned two. None were quite right in their approach to the subject, it seems. Until this book. Second Lives actually (mostly) gets it right. Certainly closer to my idea of how such stories should be done. It’s purely character driven and it does great job on the characters. It doesn’t get dragged down with explanations of the inexplicable, but provides enough to suspend (or sufficiently adjust disbelief) and it engages completely. In fact, at first there is a dizzying amount of characters are timelines thrown at the reader, but they are all distinct enough to manage and when the plot strings start tying together it congeals into something infinitely more satisfying than a word like congeals inherently implies. It becomes a complexly compelling narrative of impossible situations, presented with as much realism as such a scenario can support. A story of ordinary families rearranged, lives forever altered in unfathomable ways, but also a story of miracles accepted (eventually) with the appropriate welcome (albeit reluctantly) and kindness. Flame Tree is a new publisher and previous samplings have led me to expect speculative fiction along the more traditional lines, but this book was much more of work of contemporary fiction with first rate character writing and the only possible critique would be that in the end it turned (quite abruptly, like seriously barely enough time passes even for the most resilient of spirits) into something like a heartwarming Christmas story. Well, at least the Christmas wasn’t that long ago, this was practically a thematic read. Very good one too, great story, maybe with too neat of a wrapped up with ribbons and bow on top ending, but still. Very good. And I'm the first person to review this. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.
April 11, 2019
Award-winning writer P.D. Cacek delivers a full-length novel based on reincarnation that is very much character, rather than plot, driven with an interesting and memorable cast. It explores issues of life and death and the effects of each on families and the wider community. Having just lost someone close to me I could relate to the emotive scenes and felt they were beautiful and sensitively done. It's a well written, compulsive and thought-provoking read which blurs the line between myth and reality making us question philosophical principles of why we are here.
Second Lives is a surprisingly superb novel which manages to be rather difficult to classify. The best definition is a cross between speculative fiction, literary fiction and horror with some interesting supernatural elements thrown in for good measure. The writing and flow work perfectly to keep you grasping at straws and wondering what would likely come next. It's a unique story and one that you'll enjoy provided you can let go and suspend your disbelief. I look forward to picking up more of her work.
Many thanks to Flame Tree Press for an ARC.
Second Lives is a surprisingly superb novel which manages to be rather difficult to classify. The best definition is a cross between speculative fiction, literary fiction and horror with some interesting supernatural elements thrown in for good measure. The writing and flow work perfectly to keep you grasping at straws and wondering what would likely come next. It's a unique story and one that you'll enjoy provided you can let go and suspend your disbelief. I look forward to picking up more of her work.
Many thanks to Flame Tree Press for an ARC.
May 10, 2022
This book has been somewhat polarizing in the bookloving communities I follow, and I think I think part of the reason why is that this seemed to have been marketed as more of a horror read (and to a lot of mainly horror loving book reviewers), and it’s absolutely not horror at all. It’s more of a sci-fi/fantasy medical drama with a really intricate plot that intertwines the stories of several different people. It’s got a lot of tragedy, and *SPOILER ALERT* no real happy ending.
Another reason I think people struggled a bit was that there is a bit of a build up before the story gets to its main point. The book starts off introducing each different storyline in separate chapters, and it takes a majority of the book before the different characters’ stories start to connect. Despite following 8 (ish – maybe more?) different people to start with, I didn’t have trouble keeping anyone straight, and I really enjoyed the little mini-stories. Each character has such a different background – from their religions to genders to locations, each one is as fully fleshed out as the last.
I didn’t mind the build up, because I honestly enjoyed the journey. Some stories are sadder and more believable than others – Nora’s character & story, in particular, was really heartbreaking. I will say that I didn’t fully connect with everyone the way I did with Nora, but I still enjoyed reading about them. This has a lot to do with Cacek’s writing – it’s beautiful, and with this being my first book read by her, I’m really interested in reading more that she writes!
Overall, I’d recommend this is if you aren’t bothered by large casts & sad stuff – if you’re like me and love both of those things, you’ll probably really dig this, so check it out! And if you read it, let me know what you think – I’d love to hear your thoughts!
Another reason I think people struggled a bit was that there is a bit of a build up before the story gets to its main point. The book starts off introducing each different storyline in separate chapters, and it takes a majority of the book before the different characters’ stories start to connect. Despite following 8 (ish – maybe more?) different people to start with, I didn’t have trouble keeping anyone straight, and I really enjoyed the little mini-stories. Each character has such a different background – from their religions to genders to locations, each one is as fully fleshed out as the last.
I didn’t mind the build up, because I honestly enjoyed the journey. Some stories are sadder and more believable than others – Nora’s character & story, in particular, was really heartbreaking. I will say that I didn’t fully connect with everyone the way I did with Nora, but I still enjoyed reading about them. This has a lot to do with Cacek’s writing – it’s beautiful, and with this being my first book read by her, I’m really interested in reading more that she writes!
Overall, I’d recommend this is if you aren’t bothered by large casts & sad stuff – if you’re like me and love both of those things, you’ll probably really dig this, so check it out! And if you read it, let me know what you think – I’d love to hear your thoughts!
Read
April 15, 2019I'm not sure if it was because of the author or because of the cover, but I was expecting horror here. So, if you were thinking along the same lines, this is supernatural, but not horror.
It's a mix of so incredibly sad and so incredibly hopeful.
Cacek has a clear gift for characterization and, I warn you, each and every main character has a heartbreaking story line. Tears were shed.
But the story lines were so very compelling and I had so much hope for all of them!
I loved this. It was completely unexpected and completely wonderful.
*ARC Provided via Net Galley
It's a mix of so incredibly sad and so incredibly hopeful.
Cacek has a clear gift for characterization and, I warn you, each and every main character has a heartbreaking story line. Tears were shed.
But the story lines were so very compelling and I had so much hope for all of them!
I loved this. It was completely unexpected and completely wonderful.
*ARC Provided via Net Galley
April 5, 2019
I'm DNFing this at 30%. My most sincere apologies to the author and to Flametree who kindly approved me for this book on Netgalley, but ultimately I just can't connect with the story.
The writing is great, the author is very talented, but as of 30%, I just haven't connected and I'm struggling to want to go further. The synopsis was very intriguing and the cover artwork is top notch, but this is just a case of wrong reader for the story!
The writing is great, the author is very talented, but as of 30%, I just haven't connected and I'm struggling to want to go further. The synopsis was very intriguing and the cover artwork is top notch, but this is just a case of wrong reader for the story!
May 20, 2019
2.5 stars
Originally posted on: The Quirky Book Nerd
*I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review*
I had very mixed feelings about Second Lives. I also feel like it is going to be a little on the tricky side to explain as there is a lot of jumping around between various storylines. It is not particularly challenging to follow when reading it by any means. But having such a variety of perspectives has made it hard for me to pin down all of my thoughts about the novel as a whole. This was incredibly different from what I had expected going in. It is a very character driven novel and focuses less on the sort of sci-fi aspects—the explanations for why these unbelievably strange events are occurring. And though I do like when the development of the characters takes the lead, it felt like there was a lot missing from the plot.
In this novel, we follow eight different people’s stories, which technically pares down to four after the first part of the book. To set up the story, we get a brief view of every main character’s background and how they get into the situations they end up in. Four of these characters have died at some point in the past and the other four, in the present, have fallen into comas or are in some way very near death. However, something extraordinary happens when each of these patients suddenly wakes up after they have been declared dead. But what seems like a miracle soon becomes a nightmare for their loved ones when it is determined that the souls of others who have passed away many years before have taken up residence in these four peoples’ bodies.
Of course, this is a very fictional story, so it does seem a bit silly to comment too much on the plausibility of what occurs. To some extent though, having some amount of believability is crucial in order to allow readers to connect with and become immersed in the narrative. For me personally, there is a huge absence of this here. It is not the idea of other’s souls inhabiting the bodies of the recently deceased—that is a completely common and very interesting theme in science fiction. My issue is with both the lack of focus on how these events occur, as well as the way the characters’ loved ones handle their unique situations.
The portrayal of the main characters is, for the most part, the strongest aspect of this novel. Nora was, by far, my favorite of the bunch. I connected with her immediately and her storyline felt the most realistic. Her actions throughout the narrative—particularly the difficult decisions she has to make—were the most understandable. She is the most fleshed out of all the characters and Cacek puts a lot of detail and time into forming her and her life. The main themes dealt with in Nora’s part are actually ones that I tend to avoid due to personal experiences that make it too painful to read about. However, this is one of the very few exceptions I have come across in my life and, though it was still incredibly emotional, I really did like how things were handled.
On the opposite side of this, the other three perspectives are less detailed and go in directions that are pretty unbelievable. I never felt like I could picture these people as clearly—it is hard to get a handle on their personalities and relationships with others. Because of this, I could not connect with any of them particularly well. The choices they make in the end are odd and, honestly, a few are a bit uncomfortable. One huge plus though is that Cacek does a wonderful job of making each person very distinct. Having so many separate perspectives can oftentimes lead to a lack of definition between the various voices and behaviors of the individual characters. She avoids this pitfall very well.
As far as the actual text itself, Cacek’s writing is very good. She is clearly a talented and imaginative writer. I think the biggest issue is that she just took on way too many topics in too short a novel. Under these circumstances, it is impossible to fully address and expand on the most important areas. A lot of problems might have been solved if she had stretched the narrative out a little more. Also, the science fiction aspect of it could have transformed into something clearer and very captivating instead of feeling like a loose end. Despite the issues I had with it though, this was still an interesting read overall, and I would recommend giving it a try.
Originally posted on: The Quirky Book Nerd
*I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review*
I had very mixed feelings about Second Lives. I also feel like it is going to be a little on the tricky side to explain as there is a lot of jumping around between various storylines. It is not particularly challenging to follow when reading it by any means. But having such a variety of perspectives has made it hard for me to pin down all of my thoughts about the novel as a whole. This was incredibly different from what I had expected going in. It is a very character driven novel and focuses less on the sort of sci-fi aspects—the explanations for why these unbelievably strange events are occurring. And though I do like when the development of the characters takes the lead, it felt like there was a lot missing from the plot.
In this novel, we follow eight different people’s stories, which technically pares down to four after the first part of the book. To set up the story, we get a brief view of every main character’s background and how they get into the situations they end up in. Four of these characters have died at some point in the past and the other four, in the present, have fallen into comas or are in some way very near death. However, something extraordinary happens when each of these patients suddenly wakes up after they have been declared dead. But what seems like a miracle soon becomes a nightmare for their loved ones when it is determined that the souls of others who have passed away many years before have taken up residence in these four peoples’ bodies.
Of course, this is a very fictional story, so it does seem a bit silly to comment too much on the plausibility of what occurs. To some extent though, having some amount of believability is crucial in order to allow readers to connect with and become immersed in the narrative. For me personally, there is a huge absence of this here. It is not the idea of other’s souls inhabiting the bodies of the recently deceased—that is a completely common and very interesting theme in science fiction. My issue is with both the lack of focus on how these events occur, as well as the way the characters’ loved ones handle their unique situations.
The portrayal of the main characters is, for the most part, the strongest aspect of this novel. Nora was, by far, my favorite of the bunch. I connected with her immediately and her storyline felt the most realistic. Her actions throughout the narrative—particularly the difficult decisions she has to make—were the most understandable. She is the most fleshed out of all the characters and Cacek puts a lot of detail and time into forming her and her life. The main themes dealt with in Nora’s part are actually ones that I tend to avoid due to personal experiences that make it too painful to read about. However, this is one of the very few exceptions I have come across in my life and, though it was still incredibly emotional, I really did like how things were handled.
On the opposite side of this, the other three perspectives are less detailed and go in directions that are pretty unbelievable. I never felt like I could picture these people as clearly—it is hard to get a handle on their personalities and relationships with others. Because of this, I could not connect with any of them particularly well. The choices they make in the end are odd and, honestly, a few are a bit uncomfortable. One huge plus though is that Cacek does a wonderful job of making each person very distinct. Having so many separate perspectives can oftentimes lead to a lack of definition between the various voices and behaviors of the individual characters. She avoids this pitfall very well.
As far as the actual text itself, Cacek’s writing is very good. She is clearly a talented and imaginative writer. I think the biggest issue is that she just took on way too many topics in too short a novel. Under these circumstances, it is impossible to fully address and expand on the most important areas. A lot of problems might have been solved if she had stretched the narrative out a little more. Also, the science fiction aspect of it could have transformed into something clearer and very captivating instead of feeling like a loose end. Despite the issues I had with it though, this was still an interesting read overall, and I would recommend giving it a try.
dnf
April 3, 2019Second Lives has a really interesting synopsis, so I knew I wanted to check it out when I heard about it. I read about 80 pages, and nothing happened to catch my interest. There are 8 characters with different chapters, and some are in different timelines, and it didn't feel like a cohesive story. Maybe it all links together later on, but I didn't care about any of the characters enough to keep going.
July 29, 2021
We're given a brief look at Henry, Sara, Jamie and Helen before they die, also the death scenes of Timmy, Elisabeth, Aryeh and Crissy. The first four people die on the same day in the same hospital then miraculously revive. Or rather the bodies revive. The people inside the bodies, the second four, died twenty, fifty a hundred years ago. Other than the fact that they woke up in the same hospital the stories are independent.
Nothing Earth shattering, we're not investigating why these recoveries happened, that part is accepted as a fluke occurrence. We don't get much of a displaced in time aspect either. Mostly this is how the families handle the death of a loved one and a stranger inhabiting that body.
This was a fast read, fun, interesting characters, 4.9 stars. The Timmy death scene in chapter two was abrupt. Then I realized what was happening. The four story lines were quite different from each other, e.g. two travelers going into bodies older than their original, two going into younger bodies. All four were really good.
Nothing Earth shattering, we're not investigating why these recoveries happened, that part is accepted as a fluke occurrence. We don't get much of a displaced in time aspect either. Mostly this is how the families handle the death of a loved one and a stranger inhabiting that body.
This was a fast read, fun, interesting characters, 4.9 stars. The Timmy death scene in chapter two was abrupt. Then I realized what was happening. The four story lines were quite different from each other, e.g. two travelers going into bodies older than their original, two going into younger bodies. All four were really good.
March 7, 2019
A very emotional roller coaster of a book! I went in expecting this to be a horror or supernatural book and I'm glad I didn't read any other reviews or the description because it blew me away. It is so much more. Emotional. Funny. Sad. Poignant. I found myself smiling as I finished it, knowing I'd just read something important.
March 7, 2020
A thought-provoking, engaging, and ultimately heartfelt exploration of existence, identity, second chances, and the way we waste our lives.
When is being brought back to life a curse? The families of four patients soon find out, as they struggle to comprehend why their recently-deceased loved ones suddenly sprang back to life after being declared clinically dead. They discover it’s the least of their worries as the four claim to be different persons, people who have died a long time ago in a hasty and abrupt manner. The doctors eschew supernatural explanations (fugue states) but it does not blot out the fact that these four are extremely knowledgeable of their past lives. As their new “families” struggle to deal with this occurrence, the four wonder if being given a second life is a boon or a curse.
Let us first acknowledge that this is not a horror novel. It has horrific moments for sure but this is closer in spirit to the speculative fiction of John R. Little ( The Gray Zone, The Memory Tree ) I am saying this since your first encounter with Cacek might have been the horror book The Wind Caller.
Having said that, I also will declare that this is a thought-provoking, engaging, and ultimately heartfelt exploration of existence, identity, second chances, and the way we waste our lives. The dialogue is spot-on and realistic (nobody talks in long paragraphs in real life), the characters feel real, and the whole occurrence is handled realistically, making it somewhat plausible in our agnostic/atheistic world. It also tackles real-life ethical concerns such as DNRs which I found interesting and rife with horrific possibilities. (“What if a patient with a DNR order springs back to life? Do you let the person die or save him against his will?”)
For its mythological base, we have a brief discussion of the concept of the Transmigration of Souls, in which the soul who has not yet completed its mission on Earth must dwell inside another body until its undertaking on Earth is finished. I wish there were more discussions on this, as well as scenes that delved into this further. (What would be their reaction to, let’s say, an exorcism?) This is the only fault that I can give this novel.
Overall, worth your time. Once the set-up is finished, you will not stop reading. This is engaging speculative fiction.
When is being brought back to life a curse? The families of four patients soon find out, as they struggle to comprehend why their recently-deceased loved ones suddenly sprang back to life after being declared clinically dead. They discover it’s the least of their worries as the four claim to be different persons, people who have died a long time ago in a hasty and abrupt manner. The doctors eschew supernatural explanations (fugue states) but it does not blot out the fact that these four are extremely knowledgeable of their past lives. As their new “families” struggle to deal with this occurrence, the four wonder if being given a second life is a boon or a curse.
Let us first acknowledge that this is not a horror novel. It has horrific moments for sure but this is closer in spirit to the speculative fiction of John R. Little ( The Gray Zone, The Memory Tree ) I am saying this since your first encounter with Cacek might have been the horror book The Wind Caller.
Having said that, I also will declare that this is a thought-provoking, engaging, and ultimately heartfelt exploration of existence, identity, second chances, and the way we waste our lives. The dialogue is spot-on and realistic (nobody talks in long paragraphs in real life), the characters feel real, and the whole occurrence is handled realistically, making it somewhat plausible in our agnostic/atheistic world. It also tackles real-life ethical concerns such as DNRs which I found interesting and rife with horrific possibilities. (“What if a patient with a DNR order springs back to life? Do you let the person die or save him against his will?”)
For its mythological base, we have a brief discussion of the concept of the Transmigration of Souls, in which the soul who has not yet completed its mission on Earth must dwell inside another body until its undertaking on Earth is finished. I wish there were more discussions on this, as well as scenes that delved into this further. (What would be their reaction to, let’s say, an exorcism?) This is the only fault that I can give this novel.
Overall, worth your time. Once the set-up is finished, you will not stop reading. This is engaging speculative fiction.
May 10, 2019
"An emotional, character driven book exploring reincarnation and a second chance at life."
Full review can be found here - https://www.scifiandscary.com/second-...
Full review can be found here - https://www.scifiandscary.com/second-...
January 20, 2019
P. D. Cacek rocks! SECOND LIVES is an extraordinarily compelling novel which I classify as horror, science fiction, and literary fiction. The premise seems simple enough on the surface: three patients in one hospital in California die on the same date--August 24. That's not odd. In a large hospital, that fact might be fairly common. A fourth man dies after a swimming pool drowning. However, what is odd, even impossible, is that all four patients revive: suddenly, after being declared clinically dead. All four are at first diagnosed with retrograde amnesia: they have no memory, of course, of dying, nor even of their previous lives. The attending psychiatrist believes this may be a temporary condition, but it's not: apparently all four of those individuals are gone, permanently. The "occupants" of these four formerly dead, now living bodies are others. The psychiatrist, baffled and befuddled, eventually comes to accept their nature, and terms them "travelers." Apparently, there have been some other instances. All four individuals themselves previously died (two deaths due to violent confrontation, two due to accidents), none of them recently, and now find themselves ensconced in "new" physiques. Both the "newly returned" and the surviving families of three of the patients are at a loss as to how to react: their loved ones died, now they're alive, except they're not, this is somebody else.
Author P. D. Cacek approaches this baffling conundrum marvellously, giving really four different scenarios of working out these situations. She totally puts all the characters through their paces, and if we don't always admire some of them, certainly we are given a deep comprehension of their natures. Yes, there's character evolution, too, thankfully.
SECOND LIVES is a wonderfully stunning novel, and a definite candidate to reread.
Author P. D. Cacek approaches this baffling conundrum marvellously, giving really four different scenarios of working out these situations. She totally puts all the characters through their paces, and if we don't always admire some of them, certainly we are given a deep comprehension of their natures. Yes, there's character evolution, too, thankfully.
SECOND LIVES is a wonderfully stunning novel, and a definite candidate to reread.
October 13, 2020
Second Lives is the first book I have read by this author - and I am delighted to see there is a sequel (Second Chances). The story concerns four individuals who die on the same day - August 24 2017. Apart from that fact, they have nothing else in common. But this is only the beginning. Each of them comes back to life - each of their bodies inhabited by someone who has died in tragic circumstances and is as far removed from them in age, circumstance and character as it is possible to get. Each of the rebirths has to come to terms with their new bodies and that is harder than it might first appear. How does a feisty seventeen year old cope with living inside the body of a forty-two year old woman who died from complications during major heart surgery? How does a six year old boy cope inside a man of eighty-one whose body is giving out on him? Then there is the spinster suffragette who died in 1914 and now finds herself inside the body of a young woman who died while heavily pregnant with a little girl who was enabled to be born through the wonders of modern medical science. Is this a horror novel? Yes, but it is one which crosses many genres. The stories of how the families who lost their loved ones on August 14th cope with the new reality, coupled with the stories of those who have been reborn - collectively known as the Travellers - is fascinating, compelling and beautifully crafted by this talented author. I was riveted by this book and found time slipped away unnoticed as I immersed myself in the intriguing unravelling of the various stories. The ending paved the way for the sequel and I look forward to embarking on that journey very soon.
March 20, 2019
This novel is a spellbinding and original exploration of reincarnation in which lives that were cut short return from the dead, not as newborns and not with new lives, but in the bodies of the recently deceased. Imagine losing a loved one, but not being able to lay them to rest because a stranger now inhabits their body. Imagine having lost a loved one years ago but finding out they are now alive in a body that you don't recognize. Now imagine being that person, perhaps a child that was run down in the street waking up in the body of an elderly dying man. This is the wondrous concept brought to life by P.D. Casek.
I received an advance copy for review.
I received an advance copy for review.
April 17, 2019
I loved this novel. It's powerful, uplifting, and in several places, a tearjerker. Make sure you have a box of tissues handy before you start it.
I have a review up at my blog, which you can read here: https://sdvassallo.com/2019/04/17/sec...
I enjoyed P.D. Cacek's tale, and I look forward to reading more of her work. I give this novel a solid 4 stars.
Disclaimer: I received an advance reading copy of the novel from Flame Tree Press in exchange for an honest review. I received no money or any other form of compensation for my review, and the opinions stated are my own.
I have a review up at my blog, which you can read here: https://sdvassallo.com/2019/04/17/sec...
I enjoyed P.D. Cacek's tale, and I look forward to reading more of her work. I give this novel a solid 4 stars.
Disclaimer: I received an advance reading copy of the novel from Flame Tree Press in exchange for an honest review. I received no money or any other form of compensation for my review, and the opinions stated are my own.
April 12, 2019
Second Lives is a unique perspective on reincarnation. What would happen if your loved one died, yet came back. Not just that, but what if they came back as someone else? How would you handle that? How would they?
The beginning of the book covers the deaths of four people who seem to have little in common. They are different ages, different walks of life and had different causes of death.
The next part has them waking up in other people's bodies. From there Second Lives goes on to ask the "what ifs" of this situation.
While I prefer hard sci-fi this was a decent read.
The beginning of the book covers the deaths of four people who seem to have little in common. They are different ages, different walks of life and had different causes of death.
The next part has them waking up in other people's bodies. From there Second Lives goes on to ask the "what ifs" of this situation.
While I prefer hard sci-fi this was a decent read.
dnf
April 15, 2019I'm afraid this is a DNF for me.
I read the first chapter and really enjoyed what I read. Then, I kept reading all the way to the end of Part One but had to stop.
There are TOO many characters with TOO many stories. It felt like I was reading a collection of short stories about a bunch of different people from different time periods, yet nothing was happening to the main storyline. I know that probably makes no sense because each chapter contained a different person's death, so it's obviously packed with story... but as a novel, this wasn't working for me.
It's too disconnected. But what's worse is that there were too many characters to have time to care about any of them. I realise there's probably a point where everything and everyone comes together, but I wasn't invested in anyone enough to keep going.
It's too bad, I thought I'd enjoy this. And the writing style was nice.
I read the first chapter and really enjoyed what I read. Then, I kept reading all the way to the end of Part One but had to stop.
There are TOO many characters with TOO many stories. It felt like I was reading a collection of short stories about a bunch of different people from different time periods, yet nothing was happening to the main storyline. I know that probably makes no sense because each chapter contained a different person's death, so it's obviously packed with story... but as a novel, this wasn't working for me.
It's too disconnected. But what's worse is that there were too many characters to have time to care about any of them. I realise there's probably a point where everything and everyone comes together, but I wasn't invested in anyone enough to keep going.
It's too bad, I thought I'd enjoy this. And the writing style was nice.
March 27, 2019
Time taken to read - 2 days (as and when I could)
Pages - 256
Publisher - Flame Tree Press
Source - Review Copy
Blurb from the back cover
A frightened little boy killed in 1956 cries out for his mother from the body of an eighty-one year old Alzheimer's patient. The soul of a spinster killed in a Suffragette rally wakes in the body of a new mother. An Orthodox Jew, murdered in 1922, opens the eyes of a man who just committed suicide and a teenage girl wakes to discover she's now in the body of a forty-five year old woman.
They are completely alone, displaced in bodies that are not their own, and terrified. All must find immense bravery within themselves to transition into their new lives.
My Review
The tagline (and cover) grabbed me on this one, I have read before reincarnation books but this is something different. Each chapter the character's name and timeline is at the top, we then meet the characters, those in their original time period, the lead up to their deaths and those who "die" and are re inhabited. By the time you meet all the characters you are about half way through so I wasn't sure where the book was going to go?
The author, in my opinion, has created a fresh new and frightening story, not in a horror sense but more of a OMG what if, can you imagine and what would you do, humanity rocked. Your loved one dies and then comes back, you are ecstatic but the person who has come back isn't your loved one but someone who has lived previously and now inhabits your loved ones body, can you imagine!
Cacek comes at the story in many angles, the hospital/medical professionals, the people who are replaced? (I don't know what word best applies to the phenomena, travelers?), the travelers themselves and the loved ones dealing with these new people in their loved ones bodies. It looks at humanity, how ordinary people deal with having this emotional trauma flung onto them and those who have been dead and now alive again albeit in different bodies, readjusting, adapting.
The timeline shift for the characters is really interesting, imagine living in the early 19oo's - women fighting for basic rights to then being flung into modern day living. Indoor plumbing, flesh on show, speaking when you want rather than when society dictates when a woman should (this is relevant to one character only). Religious beliefs, coming back into the body of someone living a life at odds with your beliefs, a child into an elderly gentleman's body who has Alzheimer's, a teen into an older woman's body with physical limitations. The book doesn't explore these themes in huge depth as it is more about the individuals but it does get the reader thinking, what if? How would you cope? As the traveler, as the family?
Whilst the story itself and characters are fascinating I think the book prompts a lot of in depth thought and musing from the reader, you can't help but imagine being in that position as you read the scenes. How would you react? I didn't want to put it down to see how each situation would play out. A bit of an emotive read at parts as death, grief, suicide, murder, acceptance and loss are huge themes integral to the story. When you have so many characters and time jumps you can easily be put off in books or find it hard going, Cacek does it effortlessly and I had no problems following it, I thought it was really well done. My only complaint would have been to have more! I would have loved the book to go on and sure they say an author is doing their job if they leave the reader wanting more (not hanging, I hate that). 4/5 for me this time, this is my first dance with this author, not sure what their other books are like but I plan to check them out for sure!
Pages - 256
Publisher - Flame Tree Press
Source - Review Copy
Blurb from the back cover
A frightened little boy killed in 1956 cries out for his mother from the body of an eighty-one year old Alzheimer's patient. The soul of a spinster killed in a Suffragette rally wakes in the body of a new mother. An Orthodox Jew, murdered in 1922, opens the eyes of a man who just committed suicide and a teenage girl wakes to discover she's now in the body of a forty-five year old woman.
They are completely alone, displaced in bodies that are not their own, and terrified. All must find immense bravery within themselves to transition into their new lives.
My Review
The tagline (and cover) grabbed me on this one, I have read before reincarnation books but this is something different. Each chapter the character's name and timeline is at the top, we then meet the characters, those in their original time period, the lead up to their deaths and those who "die" and are re inhabited. By the time you meet all the characters you are about half way through so I wasn't sure where the book was going to go?
The author, in my opinion, has created a fresh new and frightening story, not in a horror sense but more of a OMG what if, can you imagine and what would you do, humanity rocked. Your loved one dies and then comes back, you are ecstatic but the person who has come back isn't your loved one but someone who has lived previously and now inhabits your loved ones body, can you imagine!
Cacek comes at the story in many angles, the hospital/medical professionals, the people who are replaced? (I don't know what word best applies to the phenomena, travelers?), the travelers themselves and the loved ones dealing with these new people in their loved ones bodies. It looks at humanity, how ordinary people deal with having this emotional trauma flung onto them and those who have been dead and now alive again albeit in different bodies, readjusting, adapting.
The timeline shift for the characters is really interesting, imagine living in the early 19oo's - women fighting for basic rights to then being flung into modern day living. Indoor plumbing, flesh on show, speaking when you want rather than when society dictates when a woman should (this is relevant to one character only). Religious beliefs, coming back into the body of someone living a life at odds with your beliefs, a child into an elderly gentleman's body who has Alzheimer's, a teen into an older woman's body with physical limitations. The book doesn't explore these themes in huge depth as it is more about the individuals but it does get the reader thinking, what if? How would you cope? As the traveler, as the family?
Whilst the story itself and characters are fascinating I think the book prompts a lot of in depth thought and musing from the reader, you can't help but imagine being in that position as you read the scenes. How would you react? I didn't want to put it down to see how each situation would play out. A bit of an emotive read at parts as death, grief, suicide, murder, acceptance and loss are huge themes integral to the story. When you have so many characters and time jumps you can easily be put off in books or find it hard going, Cacek does it effortlessly and I had no problems following it, I thought it was really well done. My only complaint would have been to have more! I would have loved the book to go on and sure they say an author is doing their job if they leave the reader wanting more (not hanging, I hate that). 4/5 for me this time, this is my first dance with this author, not sure what their other books are like but I plan to check them out for sure!
January 20, 2019
I received this book as an ARC
In P. D. Cacek’s sixth novel, Second Lives, many lives are disrupted by death: the ones who leave, the ones who are left behind, and the ones who come back. With these second lives, come second chances. How the characters deal with these is one of the main themes of this book.
In parts one through three, we are introduced to the inner thoughts and outer lives of the eight characters whose paths will intersect on August 24, 2017. The writing flows easily as we learn about Timmy, six-years-old from 1956 who watches Howdy Doody, and has just learned he will soon be a big brother. Then there’s Henry and Nora, a couple in their 80s dealing with Henry’s Alzheimer’s; and Elisabeth, a self described spinster from 1914, caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.
P. D. Cacek is a very experienced writer and it shows in this book. The winner and nominee of several Bram Stoker Awards tells a story that allows the reader to suspend reality and get pulled into the story. That’s not an easy thing for this reader.
As in all books, there are a couple things which could have been left out or added in. For example, it might not be necessary to address how a hospital is or is not legally liable when trying to explain the unexplainable—reincarnation, soul transportation.
I can highly recommend this book. The writing is solid, and the story is unique and enjoyable.
In P. D. Cacek’s sixth novel, Second Lives, many lives are disrupted by death: the ones who leave, the ones who are left behind, and the ones who come back. With these second lives, come second chances. How the characters deal with these is one of the main themes of this book.
In parts one through three, we are introduced to the inner thoughts and outer lives of the eight characters whose paths will intersect on August 24, 2017. The writing flows easily as we learn about Timmy, six-years-old from 1956 who watches Howdy Doody, and has just learned he will soon be a big brother. Then there’s Henry and Nora, a couple in their 80s dealing with Henry’s Alzheimer’s; and Elisabeth, a self described spinster from 1914, caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.
P. D. Cacek is a very experienced writer and it shows in this book. The winner and nominee of several Bram Stoker Awards tells a story that allows the reader to suspend reality and get pulled into the story. That’s not an easy thing for this reader.
As in all books, there are a couple things which could have been left out or added in. For example, it might not be necessary to address how a hospital is or is not legally liable when trying to explain the unexplainable—reincarnation, soul transportation.
I can highly recommend this book. The writing is solid, and the story is unique and enjoyable.
January 21, 2020
Thank you to Flame Tree Press for providing me with a copy of Second Lives by P.D. Cacek in exchange for an honest review!
Second Lives did not go in the direction that I expected; mainly, because I went in with the impression that this would be classified as horror. Reader, I was wrong. However, I am very glad that I chose to read this novel from P.D. Cacek!
Second Lives dives into the lives of several characters; chapters alternating between the cast and different time periods. This sounds like it could get messy, but P.D. Cacek does an amazing job of bringing each character to life. I, at no point, got confused at who was what, and where was when.
This read does have some challenging topics that may possibly be difficult for some to read. There were points where Second Lives dragged my mood down, especially in terms of an Alzheimer’s patient who becomes inhabited by a child after his death. So, yes, this isn’t the happiest read.
At times, Second Lives might feel slow, but this was clearly done so readers have a chance to get to know the characters and their relationships; allowing for a bigger impact when the characters die & move into other bodies. If Cacek didn’t provide us with a deep view of the characters prior to the meat of the story, then it wouldn’t have been close to being as good of a read as it was.
I thoroughly enjoyed the aspect of the characters having to adjust; not necessarily the ones who are dealing with being in a different body, but those around them who must now deal with their loved ones being taken over by another soul.
This is not necessarily a book that I would reread, again very depressing, but I am very glad that I did read it. I enjoyed Cacek’s writing style and her ability to create such rounded characters that I ended up really caring about during my read.
Second Lives did not go in the direction that I expected; mainly, because I went in with the impression that this would be classified as horror. Reader, I was wrong. However, I am very glad that I chose to read this novel from P.D. Cacek!
Second Lives dives into the lives of several characters; chapters alternating between the cast and different time periods. This sounds like it could get messy, but P.D. Cacek does an amazing job of bringing each character to life. I, at no point, got confused at who was what, and where was when.
This read does have some challenging topics that may possibly be difficult for some to read. There were points where Second Lives dragged my mood down, especially in terms of an Alzheimer’s patient who becomes inhabited by a child after his death. So, yes, this isn’t the happiest read.
At times, Second Lives might feel slow, but this was clearly done so readers have a chance to get to know the characters and their relationships; allowing for a bigger impact when the characters die & move into other bodies. If Cacek didn’t provide us with a deep view of the characters prior to the meat of the story, then it wouldn’t have been close to being as good of a read as it was.
I thoroughly enjoyed the aspect of the characters having to adjust; not necessarily the ones who are dealing with being in a different body, but those around them who must now deal with their loved ones being taken over by another soul.
This is not necessarily a book that I would reread, again very depressing, but I am very glad that I did read it. I enjoyed Cacek’s writing style and her ability to create such rounded characters that I ended up really caring about during my read.
dnf
June 7, 2019DNF @ 18%
I really wanted to like this book, but the narrative style just isn't for me. There were too many perspectives, people, and timelines for me to keep track of and it wasn't an enjoyable experience for me. I think this will be an amazing story, but it's been almost two months since I set it aside and I still don't have the desire to return to it. Perhaps I will try again down the road, and when I do I will be sure to take lots of notes.
Many thanks to Flame Tree Press for sending me an eARC via NetGalley for my honest review!
I really wanted to like this book, but the narrative style just isn't for me. There were too many perspectives, people, and timelines for me to keep track of and it wasn't an enjoyable experience for me. I think this will be an amazing story, but it's been almost two months since I set it aside and I still don't have the desire to return to it. Perhaps I will try again down the road, and when I do I will be sure to take lots of notes.
Many thanks to Flame Tree Press for sending me an eARC via NetGalley for my honest review!
Blog | Twitter | Pinterest
March 3, 2019
At first glance, Second Lives may be considered a horror story but it is so much more. Four people from differing walks of life die. Yet, they are somehow miraculously brought back from the brink of death, long after such a thing should have been possible. Are they really though, as each person claiming to be someone else, with no memory of the person whose body they now inhabit? The more you read, the story transmutes into one of kindness, compassion, and understanding.
The story begins in the past, following four people's lives...and deaths: Elisabeth Wyman, died in 1914 attending a woman's suffragette protest, Timothy O'Neal, in a hit and run accident in 1956, Aryeh Rosenberg, murdered in his watch shop in 1922, and Christine Moore, accidentally falling off her high school balcony in 1992. Then we jump to August 24th. These travelers, as they will be later deemed, wake in new bodies: Elisabeth in the body of Sara Cortland, comatose and pregnant but kept alive until her baby reaches term; Timothy in the body of Henry Rollins, a dementia patient whose body is failing him; Aryeh in the body of James Cooper, a paraplegic gay man who decides he can no longer deal with the demands of life and commits suicide; and Helen Harmon, who chose cardiac surgery so that she can get on with her life. While at first, it was challenging to follow so many different characters and timelines, they eventually blend.
Read more at Cats Luv Coffee
The story begins in the past, following four people's lives...and deaths: Elisabeth Wyman, died in 1914 attending a woman's suffragette protest, Timothy O'Neal, in a hit and run accident in 1956, Aryeh Rosenberg, murdered in his watch shop in 1922, and Christine Moore, accidentally falling off her high school balcony in 1992. Then we jump to August 24th. These travelers, as they will be later deemed, wake in new bodies: Elisabeth in the body of Sara Cortland, comatose and pregnant but kept alive until her baby reaches term; Timothy in the body of Henry Rollins, a dementia patient whose body is failing him; Aryeh in the body of James Cooper, a paraplegic gay man who decides he can no longer deal with the demands of life and commits suicide; and Helen Harmon, who chose cardiac surgery so that she can get on with her life. While at first, it was challenging to follow so many different characters and timelines, they eventually blend.
Read more at Cats Luv Coffee
February 11, 2019
Dying is easy .... the hard part is the situation for those left behind! This forms the crux of this wonderful novel. In this case, however, not only dealing with the grief and loss of your loved one... but, trying to deal with the inexplicable presence of another soul in their body.
It's been a long time since I've read a fantasy that is so poignant . The reader experiences a wide range of emotions ... pitty, sadness, joy, heart-warming and rending, tearfulness, and lastly wonder.
The major premise deals with the possibility of transmigration of souls ... certainly a viable consideration if you are a Kabbalistic scholar or a believer in reincarnation. This is not only a story of "The Fab Four" but also of their patients and families and loved ones. Psychiatrist, Dr Bernard Ellison gathers the four doctors in a conference room to hopefully shed light on these bizarre events. On August 24th four patients died within hours of each other... and then spontaneously revived with a new personna and past history. The patients: Sara Cortland... comatose and pregnant mother kept on life support for months until her baby could be delivered; Henry Rollins ... end-stage dementia with escalating episodes of aspiration pneumonia; James Cooper ... paraplegic who can no longer cope with his life and wheelchair, commits suicide by drowning; and lastly Helen Harmon .. 42 year old who wants a definitive fix for her cardiac condition, but dies on the operating table. And most important are "The Travelers" who awake in a different body and time. Cacek proves to be a marvelous storyteller and unravels this multifaceted tale... sparing no swings in the reader's emotions. Elisabeth Regina Wyman ... killed in 1914 at a women's suffrigete riot in London, awakens in Sara's body after life support is discontinued; Timothy Patrick O'Neal .. who died as a hit-and-run accident a few days shy of his sixth birthday in 1956 ... awakens in the dementia patient, Henry; Aryeh Rosenberg ... a Jewish watchmaker murdered in his shop in 1926, New York City... awakens in the paraplegic body of a gay man; and lastly: Christine Taylor Moore ... who died at 16 of a broken neck while accidentally falling off a balcony in her high school in 1992, awakens in the post-op body of Helen
Dr Stanton, the cardiac surgeon comes to The Fab Four meeting with a flash drive containing his research into the past history of all the Travelers. This is spurned onward by his fortuitous situation in which he actually knew Christine in high school ... and her apparent ravings about being someone other than Helen ring true. He doesn't believe that all four patients are experiencing a fugue state.
Thanks so much to Netgalley and Flame Tree Press for providing an Uncorrected Proof of this wonderful story in exchange for an honest review. Although I've never read P.D. Cacek before, this will certainly be remedied now.
It's been a long time since I've read a fantasy that is so poignant . The reader experiences a wide range of emotions ... pitty, sadness, joy, heart-warming and rending, tearfulness, and lastly wonder.
The major premise deals with the possibility of transmigration of souls ... certainly a viable consideration if you are a Kabbalistic scholar or a believer in reincarnation. This is not only a story of "The Fab Four" but also of their patients and families and loved ones. Psychiatrist, Dr Bernard Ellison gathers the four doctors in a conference room to hopefully shed light on these bizarre events. On August 24th four patients died within hours of each other... and then spontaneously revived with a new personna and past history. The patients: Sara Cortland... comatose and pregnant mother kept on life support for months until her baby could be delivered; Henry Rollins ... end-stage dementia with escalating episodes of aspiration pneumonia; James Cooper ... paraplegic who can no longer cope with his life and wheelchair, commits suicide by drowning; and lastly Helen Harmon .. 42 year old who wants a definitive fix for her cardiac condition, but dies on the operating table. And most important are "The Travelers" who awake in a different body and time. Cacek proves to be a marvelous storyteller and unravels this multifaceted tale... sparing no swings in the reader's emotions. Elisabeth Regina Wyman ... killed in 1914 at a women's suffrigete riot in London, awakens in Sara's body after life support is discontinued; Timothy Patrick O'Neal .. who died as a hit-and-run accident a few days shy of his sixth birthday in 1956 ... awakens in the dementia patient, Henry; Aryeh Rosenberg ... a Jewish watchmaker murdered in his shop in 1926, New York City... awakens in the paraplegic body of a gay man; and lastly: Christine Taylor Moore ... who died at 16 of a broken neck while accidentally falling off a balcony in her high school in 1992, awakens in the post-op body of Helen
Dr Stanton, the cardiac surgeon comes to The Fab Four meeting with a flash drive containing his research into the past history of all the Travelers. This is spurned onward by his fortuitous situation in which he actually knew Christine in high school ... and her apparent ravings about being someone other than Helen ring true. He doesn't believe that all four patients are experiencing a fugue state.
Thanks so much to Netgalley and Flame Tree Press for providing an Uncorrected Proof of this wonderful story in exchange for an honest review. Although I've never read P.D. Cacek before, this will certainly be remedied now.
January 11, 2019
Review Copy
The description of this book is long so there is no reason for me to rehash it. If you haven't read it, GOOD! Don't! Take the title and the recommend and dive in. I couldn't devour this novel fast enough.
And a novel novel it is. I can't recall reading anything quite like it. Cacek took a tough subject (life and death) and looked at it from a brand new perspective. She created a multitude of characters that were separate and distinct and wholly their own. And while I did have questions about some people and things, I was willing to overlook them because I felt it adding more information might gum up the story.
The story is nicely broken up into easy to follow sections. By the third section, I was snatching tissues to wipe my eyes; soon I was beginning to weep. I realized I had to stop or I couldn't finish the book, but finish I did through blurry eyes.
This is a wow. Try it.
The description of this book is long so there is no reason for me to rehash it. If you haven't read it, GOOD! Don't! Take the title and the recommend and dive in. I couldn't devour this novel fast enough.
And a novel novel it is. I can't recall reading anything quite like it. Cacek took a tough subject (life and death) and looked at it from a brand new perspective. She created a multitude of characters that were separate and distinct and wholly their own. And while I did have questions about some people and things, I was willing to overlook them because I felt it adding more information might gum up the story.
The story is nicely broken up into easy to follow sections. By the third section, I was snatching tissues to wipe my eyes; soon I was beginning to weep. I realized I had to stop or I couldn't finish the book, but finish I did through blurry eyes.
This is a wow. Try it.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 63 reviews