Near Death by Glenn Cooper

336 Pages
Publisher: Lascaux Media, AuthorBuzz
Release Date: November 15, 2014

Fiction, Mystery, Suspense, Thriller, British, Crime Thriller, Psychological Thriller, Cults

A neuroscientist discovers a way to have a near death experience. Unfortunately, his success comes with a high price. When Alex and family are returning from a Liverpool football match, there is a terrible car accident. Alex was severely burned, and his parents are dead. He has a near death experience and sees his father calling him. He tries to reach him but is pulled back to life. Now as a scientist he is trying to find his way back.

Cyprus, an FBI agent, has an eight-year-old daughter, Tara, dying from an inoperable brain tumor. Alex the neurologist addressing her seizures. When a series of unusable murders comes to the attention of the FBI, Cyprus is on the case. Alex develops a God complex with a group of devotees – cultish.

The book has a fast pace, the characters are developed, and it is written in the third person point of view. The author has a descriptive writing style. The reader can almost feel the bliss from the drug. If you like psychological thrillers, this is a good read.

I received a free copy from NetGalley. This is weird and creepy.

Date is made up. I feel behind on reviews.

Cleaning up my NetGalley account. Unfortunately, I had a few titles I could not get to before they were published. Should I read the title in the future, I will be sure to promote a review via my Goodreads and/or my blog. Thank you for the opportunity.

I'm sorry I was not able to read and review this book before it was archived due to serious health issues.

(I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.)

A brilliant neuroscientist, obsessed with death since his own childhood near death experience, resorts to drastic measures to prove the existence of the afterlife.
Milan, Italy today. It is the most serious crisis that the world has ever faced. Bewildered, young and old, believers and atheists are asking all the same, distressing questions: What will they do now that the greatest dream of humanity has turned into a nightmare? What will happen when the countdown clock winds to zero?
Boston, a few months before. It is the most complex investigation that Cyrus O'Malley has ever faced. The FBI special agent looks at photos of the victims for the umpteenth time and wonders why, after being strangled, the serial killer has drilled a tiny hole through their skull. For Cyrus, the case becomes an obsession. To solve it, he will be forced to give up everything he holds dear.
England, 1988. It is the most overwhelming feeling that Alex Weller has ever had. In ecstasy, at the pivot point between life and death, the boy sees a river of light flowing in front of him and on the other side there is his father, joyfully urging him to join him. But Alex cannot move, and suddenly he is back at the site of the terrible car accident that has just killed his parents.
Since that time, Alex has had only one goal: to understand and relive that experience. Even if he is forced to kill.

Hmmm...this was sadly disappointing. I really did enjoy the "Library of the Dead" trilogy but this is nothing at all like them. It was a little slow getting going and, once it was moving along at a decent pace, everything really did become just a little too predictable for my tastes. Some of the plot points also seemed to be just a little too convenient to be taken seriously. Finally, the religious component of the story was a little overwhelming and detracted from the suspense (for me, at least.)

If you want to read a great book from Glenn Cooper, I suggest you go and read the Library of the Dead series featuring FBI agent Will Piper. They are fantastic and much more enjoyable.


Paul
ARH

Another fun, thrilling read by Mr. Cooper. I loved this book and cannot get enough by this author. Highly recommend for those who enjoy mytery/thriller reads.

When a researcher tries to repeat his near death experience by finding what it is in a person's body that causes this kind of experience. When he accidently kills a helper and takes fluid from his brain and synthesizes material that he takes. Eventually, a synthetic form is made and get distributed on the streets, given the name Bliss. Meanwhile, a policeman is searching for the killer of several prostitutes. The drugs release has unintended consequences and soon the researcher has a god-like persona. The book ends with a twist and leaves the reader to decide what happened

Sorry, this book had too much swearing for me to get through it. Netgalley needs better filters for people who don't like to read swearing.