A Life Eternal

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Actually, the first chapter is quite good, and there were several beautiful sentences I highlighted, which perhaps raised my expectations too high. Okay, that’s not entirely true. There are probably readers out there who’ll enjoy this book, but they certainly aren’t reading the same things I am. Richard Ayre's A Life Eternal is a book that poses so many dilemmas. If you were able to live forever, how would you feel? Is it something to treasure or resent, the power of immortality. Every now and again there is an aside in the voice of ‘the dark man’. Unlike many detective novels, where the murderer is just portrayed as a bad ‘un, the psychopathy of this murderer is believable, I thought. Gradually it dawns on us who it is. I rather thought the suspects were guessed too easily by the investigators. A little more than halfway through the book, it looks like the crime is solved. But Pence suspends Handy from duty. Jarman and Handy work out who the original Ripper was. The author grounded the book with significant historical events planted throughout as recognisable milestones that acted as both anchors and showing the passing of time.

A Life Eternal is a poignant exploration that really gets you thinking about whether immortality would be a blessing or a curse. An extraordinary novel with a simple philosophical premise. Who wants to live forever and if this were possible, would you wish for this, and how would it affect you and want would you do.

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For detective Jonas Handy, himself the son of a prostitute who died when he was 8, the cases strike close to home. But he’s a good character to watch the world through the eyes of. And the characters he meets along the way… well they all change him in their own unique way. The protagonist of the novel, Rob Deakin experiences life and love and death in equal measure. Each experience shaping and changing him, the indestructible life force within him changing and hardening his attitude towards humanity. And bringing him to a life long resolution that is poignant and well considered. It moves fast, skipping through years and focusing on the big events in our history, namely the World Wars. We see the USA and most of Europe at various times and it is a nice little introduction for readers who might want to delve further into our world history.

A riveting and heart-breaking tale, simply and elegantly written in the first person, which puts a new spin on the classic themes of the immortality tale.It wouldn’t take him long to discover that the medic he met had imparted eternal life to him. He would never age and he would never die. He emigrated to America where he was involved in running rum during prohibition. He knew that he must keep traveling to hide his condition. He saw that people kept their distance from him. He pretended that it did not bother him and pretty soon, he began to realize that it really did not bother him. Through the years, he saw much of the world. He did many jobs. He learned several languages. He found lust and he found love. I absolutely adored this story. Everything about it. The good, the bad, the ugly, the sad, the heartbreaking, and the redemption. The writing style is solid and again, very much like reading a first person interview. It reminded me of "Interview with the Vampire" by Anne Rice, in its style, but Rob’s unburdening of self is less story and more ‘police report”...”I did this, and then I did that, and then I went here...”. This book truly shows the talents of Fullerton; a modern John le Carre mixed with a hint of Clive Cussler. All in all a fabulous, well-researched, gripping thriller. This book should be a movie; it has everything needed.

Only after many years did he come to realize the truth. The truth about himself and his unique condition. He finally found the medic. The medic had become an old man. He was dying. How had that happened? This was a great book about war, love, death, betrayal, pain, laughter, and life. All of which very importantly shower us the dualistic nature of the human condition. I laughed, I was angry, I loved, I despaired, and I cried true tears of joy and acceptance. Well done, sir! I'm looking forward too reading more of your work! Sam once again is on the trail of X-Ray and nothing is going to stop him getting his man. There is also the shadowy 'Widower Maker' to contend with, a serial killer who is as gruesome and awful as any character can be. All in all, Sam has his hands full, but, being the man he is, he isn't going to stop until he's won the day.The characters are wonderful; not just Willow, but her new found companion Ruby, the mysterious Raven and Rev. Goddard. All of these come across as three dimensional and, good or bad, they are believable. The research, as well as the obvious personal knowledge of this dark and mysterious world, is laid bare by the author, whose understanding of this world has already been shown in his previous books 'Spy Game', 'Spy Dragon' and 'Spy Trap.' However, I found the depth 'Emperor' went into was breath-taking. I enjoyed the personal dramas of Qin, his family problems, and his constant need to keep on top of the generals and admirals of the Chinese armed forces, as well as the fast-paced excapades and investigations by Ava, the American analyst trying to use the leaks from a Chinese spy to save the world from possible armegeddon.