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    AFTERLIFE
    AFTERLIFE
    AFTERLIFE
    Audiobook11 hours

    AFTERLIFE

    Written by Marcus Sakey

    Narrated by Finty Williams

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    An instant Wall Street Journal bestseller. Soon to be a major motion picture from Imagine Entertainment and producers Ron Howard and Brian Grazer.

    Between life and death lies an epic war, a relentless manhunt through two worlds…and an unforgettable love story.

    The last thing FBI agent Will Brody remembers is the explosion—a thousand shards of glass surfing a lethal shock wave.

    He wakes without a scratch.

    The building is in ruins. His team is gone. Outside, Chicago is dark. Cars lie abandoned. No planes cross the sky. He’s relieved to spot other people—until he sees they’re carrying machetes.

    Welcome to the afterlife.

    Claire McCoy stands over the body of Will Brody. As head of an FBI task force, she hasn’t had a decent night’s sleep in weeks. A terrorist has claimed eighteen lives and thrown the nation into panic.

    Against this horror, something reckless and beautiful happened. She fell in love…with Will Brody.

    But the line between life and death is narrower than any of us suspect—and all that matters to Will and Claire is getting back to each other.

    From the author of the million-copy bestselling Brilliance Trilogy comes a mind-bending thriller that explores our most haunting and fundamental question: What if death is just the beginning?

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateJul 18, 2017
    ISBN9781536682748
    AFTERLIFE
    Author

    Marcus Sakey

    Marcus Sakey’s books have sold more than a million copies and been translated into dozens of languages. He lives in Chicago with his wife and daughter. For more information, visit www.MarcusSakey.com.

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    Reviews for AFTERLIFE

    4/5

    122 ratings15 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Solid book. Not quite a s good as his previous series but a fun stand alone. I found the world building interesting but the characters were just okay and that's what kept me from loving it. The characters were flat. Good was good and evil was evil. Don't get me wrong, sometimes that's exactly what I want in a book but in this instance it just didn't quite feel right. They just didn't quite go with the world he created. This world screamed for some ambivalence and he painted with black and white. It didn't make a bad book but it kept me from loving it.

      Now a review on the audio part. Solid reader, several mispronounced words or maybe just the accent, although I've never heard skeletal pronounced skeleetal, with the second e getting the long vowel sound. Overall she did an excellent job.
    • 4/5
      Great concept and good characters. Endings in a world building book are tough and this one gets a little muddy but still works.
    • 4/5
      I had a good time listening to this one. Interesting concept and some fun twists and turns. I'd read more from the author, for sure. The narration was great but I'm still trying to figure out why a British narrator was used for a book set in Chicago with no non-American characters. Still, Finty Williams is a fantastic narrator so the story definitely didn't suffer.
    • 3/5
      I chose to read Marcus Sakey's "Afterlife" because I was intrigued by the combination of a crime story with a fantasy. I have been trying to expand my range of reading lately and this seemed a good choice. I normally do not read Fantasy novels because I know before I begin that I will have to tolerate inconsistencies, holes in the plot and places where the fantasy itself exceeds any kind of "suspension of disbelief."
      "Afterlife" did all of those things in spades! Moreover, it violated its own premise, the foundation of its story line, included inconsistencies that were too big to ignore and went on to contradict itself in many of its details.
      In spite of my general rule to quit reading things when they just aren't working or interesting to me, I finished "Afterlife". It is the second book in a row I did not like yet finished anyway.
      I realize that there is a huge market for people who like Fantasy and I can only suppose they apply to their reading skills I just don't/won't apply to me. But at least, reading this helped reinforce my aversion to Fantasy novels so I don't waste time on more of them.
    • 4/5
      I have read a couple other Sakey books. Brilliance was the best of them (4.5*), The Blade Itself was the worst of them (2.5*), and this is somewhere in the middle... let's call it 3.5*.It doesn't really have much "happen" and is mostly an exploration of the meaning of death and the afterlife. We don't care about the characters, or the romance because they are just "shades" in/of life. The romantic connection was just there to explain why the hero had to pass through the layers of the afterlife, it was not fleshed out or realistic.It is, overall... an okay story. If this was a series, I would not read more in it, but I will read more Sakey in the future...
    • 5/5
      Loved this book. As for the writing -- tight prose, concise description, perfect pacing, smart dialogue, spot on metaphors. As for the story -- it was like watching a well-scripted movie unfold before my eyes. Explosive, yet poignantly candid emotional impact. Humorous, yet tragic. Suspense builds effortlessly to its though-provoking yet satisfying ending. Highly recommended for those who enjoy a timeless love story mixed with a fast-paced thriller. Sakey squeezes so much into a quick, powerful read and left me wanting more. Well done.
    • 3/5
      Interesting but too long and too long winded
    • 5/5
      AfterlifeBy: Marcus SakeyNarrated by: Finty WilliamsThis was the craziest after death book I think I have ever read. No ghosts here. Don't call Ghost Busters. This is one heck of a ride through levels of afterlife like you won't believe. It grabs you and won't let you go! I can't wait to see how Ron Howard turns this great book into a movie next year. Wow! I could picture it in my mind as it was happening, the author was so good in explaining it, the picture unfolded before me. Terrifying, suspenseful, horrors, yet at the same time it was a love story! It was full of twists and turns and WTF moments! It kept me on my toes and the narrator was just so perfect for this book! Wow, just right for all the emotions and the many voices! Wonderful job on author 's and narrator's parts.
    • 5/5
      Afterlife is a fantastic quick-reading book that is at once a re-imagining of Dante's Inferno and a novelized version of Doctor Strange. It begins as a crime thriller but quickly develops into something far different, exploring concepts of an afterlife that is far different than anyone could have imagined. Along the way the novel tackles concepts of good and evil, survival, power, addiction to power, and the connections between human beings. What makes us civilized? When do we veer off into something uncivilized? Does absolute power corrupt? How do minds deal with strange and different concepts? And carrying it through the novel is a battle against evil that takes us into worlds we never imagined- something out of Doctor Strange or Dr. Who. Don't know how I stumbled on this, but it is an excellent read.
    • 4/5
      In Afterlife Marcus Sakey delivers an unusual novel that pretty much defies genre placement. Elements of a mystery, some thriller and suspense aspects, certainly paranormal and science fiction is represented, yet no single genre easily encompasses the entire book. For some, I think this may be a problem, readers who read a single genre heavily come to expect certain genre tropes and are disappointed when their expectations are not met. For those readers who tend to read many different genres regularly, this novel will likely be far less problematic in this regard.I found the book to be a fun read and did not mind the mash-up of genre tropes. Much of the premise is based on an idea of what the afterlife might be like, so to claim it is unrealistic is a pointless complaint. It is Sakey's creation and the things that take place in the "regular" world are all realistic enough (again, there is an aspect of the afterlife influencing the "real" world and/or the paranormal possibility, so questionable events fall under those guidelines). In other words, you may or may not like the actions or the story but the so-called concern of it being realistic or not is just a cover up for whatever else might bother a reader.If descriptions of sex, brief ones at that, bother you this may also not suit you. I certainly read and recognized those few scenes but it wasn't until I saw that some readers were calling it pornographic that I went back to look. It is far from pornographic but is described in semi-detail. So are fights, deaths, and various other events in the book. If sex is pornographic to a reader while detailed violence is not, then that says more about the reader than this book. If some detail in a sex scene makes you uneasy, you can easily skim those few scenes and still enjoy the book. If a sex scene given realistic detail is pornographic to you, well, there is always Dr Seuss. I thought the idea of what the afterlife might be, as presented here, was very interesting. I probably got as much enjoyment out of debating with myself about how it might or might not be possible. As for the story itself I really did find the presentation of what people choose to do when presented with limited options (speaking of those in the afterlife) quite telling and applicable to situations in real life. I would recommend this to readers who are not too devoted to any particular genre but fluent across genres. For those who cannot step outside their own worldview, whether it be secular or religious, when reading a work of fiction, I have some reservations about your ability to appreciate this. For open-minded readers I think you will find plenty to like and probably some things you might think could be done better. I've yet to read the perfect novel so certainly can't condemn this one for not being perfect.Reviewed from a copy made available through Goodreads First Reads.
    • 4/5
      FBI agent Will Brody is hunting down a sniper who is terrorizing the city of Chicago. Eighteen lives have been lost and there is widespread panic in the city. Claire McCoy is leading the task force and is romantically involved with Will. After this assignment they look forward to formalizing their lives together. While investigating a tip on the sniper, Will enters a church and is engulfed in an explosion. Surprisingly, he wakes up without a scratch and is able to walk without any help. He is told he is in the Echo which is a parallel universe containing souls who died violently. While in the Echo you can see the living but lack the skills to communicate with them. Will must learn to relate to others who can’t see or hear him. Despite his limitations, he continues to investigate the sniper while finding ways to protect Claire and other innocent people. This book is very unique and provides a combination of mystery, supernatural and romance. This is a different genre for me and I enjoyed this creative story from Marcus Sakey. A movie of this novel is currently in development.
    • 5/5
      FBI agent Will Brody’s last memory is an explosion that sent thousands of lethal glass shards rocketing toward Officer Kurtz, an injustice he saw fit to correct by tackling the man to knock him out of the way . . . and thus placing himself in jeopardy.But he wakes up and discovers he bears not a single scratch.The building is destroyed. The officers on his team have vanished. Chicago is a dark and dreary place where cars sit abandoned in the roadways and he seems to be alone on a deserted street. But when he sees people approaching, he is stunned to realize they are armed with machetes.This, then, is Will Brody’s introduction to the afterlife. A terrorist has taken seventeen lives in Chicago and Claire McCoy heads the FBI task force formed to capture the sniper terrorizing the city. And now the inconceivable has happened: the sniper has claimed Will Brody, the man she loves, as his eighteenth victim.Soon Will and Claire will discover that the line between life and death is far more indistinct than they’d ever suspected . . . and getting back to each other may not be an insurmountable obstacle, after all.With well-developed characters, a mind-boggling premise, and non-stop action, this supernatural tale of good and evil offers readers much food for thought. Constantly-building tension ramps up the suspense and keeps the pages turning; readers are likely to find this apocalyptic narrative of love and sacrifice is simply unputdownable. Highly recommended.
    • 2/5
      One cop's alive, one cop's dead. The dead one is stuck in the afterlife which is a version of limbo. Yet there is some kind of inter-dimensional connection between them. It's all been done before but that was all right until the detective on the live side pulls something that NO ONEWHO HAS EVER SEEN A HORROR OR COP MOVIE WOULD EVER EVER DO. I quit reading in disgust.I received a review copy of "Afterlife" by Marcus Sakey (Thomas & Mercer) through NetGalley.com.
    • 4/5
      Very different story line.Well written and good characters.Did I like it? Hard to say. It's not a book I will ever reread as I do my favorites. And it's not a book I will save to my library but will pass it on in my Little Free Library.I think I was disappointed because something I read prior to reading this book said it was a sci-fi read and to me it wasn't .It's hard to describe this book except to say that the main characters are killed and find themselves "between" layered "after" worlds and their struggles to live in these worlds.
    • 5/5
      People have been debating the idea of an afterlife for centuries. Most of us have heard and/or read stories about reincarnation or an idealistic version of a spirit world. But it's unlikely you've ever read a story anything like this one.Afterlife is a visual reading experience. I could see the world(s) in which Marcus Sakey placed me. I felt like I was right there, with the characters, baffled and curious and terrified and hopeful.The plot explores human nature at its very core. It's impossible to talk about this story without giving spoilers, so I'll just say that it's one of the most unique books I've ever read. The concept is one that will stick with me for a very long time.The cast of characters is totally entertaining. Yes, Will and Claire are a little too perfect as heroes and lovers. They are, perhaps, the quintessential soulmates. But their perfection wasn't a flaw for me. I want to believe there are warriors like these two walking our planet. Pacing is quick without feeling rushed. The dialogue is believable. And the 'what if' possibilities captured my imagination. *I was provided with an advance ebook copy by the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review.*