Conclusion: A Novel

by Peter Robertson

Colin Tugdale has only one year left to live. He has no complaints. He took the government money, and he lived for twenty years in perfect health, never growing one day older, never getting sick. But his time is almost over, and his beloved wife, Ruby, is already gone. Colin needs something to occupy himself. He meets a woman who should be dead. He sees a man who is dead. Is it possible that his government has been lying to him? Colin's last year might prove to be his most exciting. Set in a world gently different from ours, this thriller explores the nature of aging in society, within the context of a thriller that places two ordinary people in a race against time that culminates in a remote boundary land.

Genres: Science Fiction, Thriller

256 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 1, 2019

About the author

Peter Robertson was born and raised in Edinburgh, Scotland, graduated from the University of East Anglia in the U.K., and came to the U.S. at age 23. After traveling in the States, he settled in Chicago, where he has been a book reviewer for daily papers and magazines, stay-at-home dad, soccer coach, university student, and elementary and middle school teacher. An enthusiastic guitar player and cyclist, Robertson is married and the father of two adult children.

Reviews

[Elle · Rating 2 out of 5]

* Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. *

2.5 stars.

A cross of dystopian sci-fi and mystery/thriller, the premise of this book is terribly intriguing, set in a version of our world where individuals are scanned for disease and then "welded" if they are determined to be healthy at the age of 55. Those unlucky enough to fail the scan will simply live out their lives however their illness progresses. Those who have been subject to the weld will "conclude" at age 75, nearly 20 years to the day from their weld date.

Colin's wife, Ruby, has just pre-concluded, deciding not to hold the power in her own hands and not wait for her true conclusion date. Colin himself still has a year or two to live. When he decides to splurge on himself and winds up in the luxury flight lounge, he sees a man who he swears is already dead. What follows is his obsessive journey to discover if he is correct in his assumption that this is the same man and, if so, how the man has cheated the system.

The idea for creating this book was creative and original and I was terribly intrigued. The plot was fairly well paced for the first half of the book, though occasionally confusing -- something I somewhat expect when I'm reading a mystery (otherwise where would be the surprise?). I appreciated the detail to the surroundings and the comprehensiveness with which the Boundary Waters and their exploration were written. The writing of this book was overall decent and I did moderately enjoy reading the book enough that I never considered placing it in the DNF pile, but there were things that I unfortunately found lacking.

There was a lot that could have been done with this premise and it felt interesting for the majority of the book, but it didn't feel like it was explored thoroughly. While I enjoyed the character of Colin and nearly as well enjoyed Justin, the stories swirled around each other in a bit of a confusing way for a good chunk of the book and Justin's motivations were not entirely explored. I could have tolerated the confusion had the plot felt full, but the last third of the book felt overly rushed and not near as complex as the writing had been for the prior portions. There was a lot of repetitiveness to the writing, particularly in that last third, and the story didn't feel completely cohesive.

The additional characters, though they were few, fell flat and were unbelievable for the most part. Angie felt like a poor man's Lisbeth Salander and her presence in the plot felt heavy-handed. Her relationship with Colin didn't feel right and things moved in an awkward way. The antagonist(s) could have been present more in the story. It just felt a little slapdash in the end, as if the writer was attempting to hurriedly meet a deadline rather than working to fully culminate the story.

I was happy with the read until that fateful last third. After that, things just fell flat for me. Though a creative story and a fairly solid ending, it just didn't fulfill me.

[Alexia Chantel · Rating 3 out of 5]

At age 55 you can be welded, your genes altered to keep you in perfect health for twenty years. After that point, you'll conclude, your heart will stop at some near point upon reaching twenty years and you will cease to exist. The scientists say this only works on the healthy, but there's always a workaround...for everything.

A very intriguing, sci-fi concept that keeps the pages turning as Colin searches for answers to why he witnessed a concluded man enjoying a cigar. Unfortunately the ending felt very rushed and the reveal of the villain lost its impact.

[Steve · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is set some time in the future when a procedure known as genetic welding has spread throughout the world. First you were scanned, and if you passed, you were welded - which basically gave you 20 years to live, in good health. Ruby Tugdale has reached her 20 year time limit while her husband, Colin has one more year to go. They took the money from the government and have lived in perfect health since they were welded. Ruby decides to go out on her own time. When Colin, the new widower, sees a man who should be dead and meets a woman who should be dead, he begins to wonder how that can be. His story evolves alongside that of Justin Everly, a man without a purpose but in search of something that apparently is in the northernmost part of Minnesota. Colin heads north in search of an individual in this boundary land, when he finds out more than he expected regarding this scientific phenomenon. I cannot tell you how many times I wanted to stop reading this book - the story was farfetched and for much of it was just meandering. It only got 2 stars because I was able to finish it. I do thank Gibson House Press and Edelweiss for the opportunity to read and review the ARC of this book.

[Marion Lougheed · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book had a lot of promise at the beginning, with an intriguing premise that drew me in. After the first chapter, however, it was all downhill.

Things I liked: the basic premise of "welding" technology; the relationship between Colin and Ruby; the descriptions of canoeing through the park

Things I didn't like: none of the characters have emotional response to anything; the writing changes tone randomly, so I don't know if the story is supposed to be satirical or not; there is an evil psychopathic evil villain who does not seem like a real person at all; many of the plot points are contrived and leave me wondering why anyone would behave in the way they do in the story.

Bottom line: Don't waste your time on this one. While it's a short read, there is not much payoff at any point.

[Meghan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't know why I picked up this book, and I wish I did. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't good, either. It had an interesting premise, a worthy mystery and a good structure. But the actual execution of the plot was just clunky. It was as if things were happening both too fast and too slow. It didn't exactly make sense that Colin would take up so quickly with Angie. It didn't exactly make sense that these two people would attempt to solve a big mystery-conspiracy. And the *the bad guy* shows up to be the bad guy and monologue why it all happened (insert evil laugh here) and then the *other good guy* who we really were rooting for, shows up to be a good guy. I dunno. I was disappointed.

[Linda Bond · Rating 5 out of 5]

What if you could be guarantee at least twenty years of disease-free existence before you die, but then your life would conclude at the end of that grace period? Would you take the government’s offer? What if you were near the end but began to notice things that should not be – someone who “died” and yet is still walking around, or someone who has managed to live even though quite ill. That’s the basic idea behind this alternate-world story that pits Colin Tugdale against time itself in a mystery unlike any I’ve read before. Quite the ride!

[Tracy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok, am I wrong to like the idea of this? You live to 75 in good health and then just die. Doesn't sound too bad! I liked the story and the characters, but the plot kind of fizzled out. A lot of unanswered questions and undefined motives. It's like at the end they just made the bad guy as evil as possible, when he wasn't really a major character up until then. Difficult to believe a guy who just lost his wife would be so up for an involved adventure, especially on a pretty flimsy motive, but then again he only had a short time left himself. Good, but flimsy I guess is my verdict.

[Kristin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sci-fi is not really my genre, but I received this ARC in the mail and it sounded promising. It didn't take me long to read and for the most part it kept me captivated, but I felt like it didn't go into enough detail about the procedure people undergo, why they undergo it, and it just didn't seem to gel well in my opinion. However, the premise of the book was interesting and not one I had encountered before, so that helped.

[Mrs C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Colin is a middle-aged man who hasn’t aged for 20 years. That’s because he availed of a treatment that welded his DNA that stopped the aging process. It comes with a price-you are only given a maximum of 20 years to live after the treatment and then you are forced to “conclude.”

Thanks to the publisher for the review copy.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was really taken over by the description of this book and SyFy nature of it, however I could not finish this book. I stopped about half way through and just had to give up, reading it was difficult. The writing is very choppy and the author uses way too many adjectives. Honestly, this reads like it was written for a high school essay contest. I was really disappointed.

[Roger Adams · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first real SF thriller/mystery and I really liked it. Robertson left one detail hanging out, unfinished and I can't imagine why. I can't write any more without spoiling it. Very enjoyable and very believable as a near-future piece.

[Krista · Rating 2 out of 5]

Intriguing premise but the buildup leads to a highly disappointing ending. 1 1/2 stars.

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun read written by a friend about a future world, a trip to the boundary waters, and a surprising ending.

[Diane King · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extraordinary

An immensely entertaining combination of nature and science fiction and a glimpse of what the future might hold for us.

[Ruth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad, not that compelling. Ends before it ever got started.