Author: Peter Kassan
Date Published: March 25, 2013
Publisher: Melange Books
Source: ARC
Genre: Paranormal
Rating: ★★★★★
Links:
Goodreads
Book Information:
What if you suddenly discovered you had a sense—and powers—that almost no one else in the world did?
When Amanda Lindner Nichols, a 24-year-old graphic artist living with her husband in Queens, New York, is revived from a near-death experience, she discovers she perceives everyone around her as points of light—but not with her eyes. She soon learns she can not only perceive the life energy of others, but she can give and take it. With the help of others like her, she brings her husband Chris to the brink of death and back to bestow on him the same remarkable faculty, and they’re the happiest they’ve been.
But not for long. All over the world, people who’ve been revived from their own near-death experience at just the right moment discover themselves with these same unusual powers. They find ways to use them—some for good and some for evil. When Amanda and Chris encounter a ruthless group of gangsters with the same faculty, tragedy follows—and Amanda faces the greatest challenge of her life.
Review:
An engrossing and well-written story about Near-Death-Experience (NDE) and a clever play on the premise of 'what if the people who came back from death gained inexplicable powers?'
First off, this book has really great premise! I love the idea of being able to read people's auras or lightpoints even they were a few blocks away. This kind of ability is certainly helpful in so many situations, as demonstrated by Amanda's experiences.
Also, I love how Amanda chose to gradually investigate about her newly acquired sense, rather completely shirk it off because it made her different. She chose to see it as a gift rather than as a curse and I really applaud her for that.
Secondly, I really appreciate that there was a gradual experimentation by different people of what they can do with their new abilities. The explanation of NDE and OBE (Out-of-Body-Experience) was quite vivid that I can clearly imagine it happening.
Story-wise, it was a little dragging. The book allotted quite a lot in explaining and gradually demonstrating the use of powers acquired by people who experienced NDE. At the same time, the story also humanized the characters because they feel emotions such as depression and loneliness after feeling different. Also, I like how the book also showed that the ability cannot be solely explained by one religion as it is also manifested in others.
The ending was quite unexpected though. Personally, Amanda appeared to me as level-headed. She grew up in a loving environment and had a loving husband. I didn't expect her to go on a rampage for revenge, but if I were her, I would have done the same. Sometimes, revenge is the only way to exact justice. Especially since in this story, there was no way for Amanda to get justice through the usual means.
All in all, this one was definitely engrossing. It was a little bit dragging but it was definitely worth reading.
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