Synopsis:
Fifty-seven year old Robert Malone is the CEO of a successful clothing store chain and married to a former model. When his doctor tells him he is dying of cancer, he refuses to go quietly. Instead of death, Robert chooses cryonics. He knows it’s a long shot. His frozen body will be stored in liquid nitrogen for the next seventy-five years, and then he’ll wake up in the future. Maybe. If technology figures out a way to bring him back. He’s willing to take that gamble.
What he doesn’t realize is that he won’t lie in some dreamless state all that time. His soul is very much awake, just like the others who were frozen before him. He discovers that he can ride in the cockpit with the pilots, but he can’t turn the page of a magazine. He can sit in the oval office with the president, but he can’t prevent a child from dashing in front of a car. He doesn’t work, or eat, or sleep.
These obstacles make it difficult to fall in love, and virtually impossible to reconcile with the living.
Over the next several decades, Robert Malone will have plenty of time to learn The Ups and Downs of Being Dead.
Over the next several decades, Robert Malone will have plenty of time to learn The Ups and Downs of Being Dead.
My Thoughts:
Robert Malone is what you'd expect and rich business man to be: a self-centered, controlling jerk. He's married to a woman who hates him and his while he adores his business savvy daughter, his grown son is a spoiled drug addict who only wants money. When Robert finds out he is dying, he decides to have his body frozen in hopes that in seventy years or so he will be brought back brand new and healthy to continue his life. What he didn't know is that while his body is frozen, his soul is stuck living daily life but with little benefits. The only people who can hear or seem him are the other dead people. Dead, boring people. Robert is not thrilled about having to spend his years hanging around as a ghost, waiting to be brought back. But maybe that time is what Robert really needed to see what it truly meant to live...
The Ups and Downs of Being Dead was truly a great read. I was sucked into Robert's story immediately. Can you imagine having yourself frozen, only to wake up and realize that you have to hang around as a ghost for seventy years just with the hopes that you might actually be brought back? What would you do with all that time?
I admit that I was not a fan of Robert for most of this book. He was very arrogant and I felt bad for his family. I could see why they turned out the way they did. Having married his wife for her looks, their relationship was far from healthy and they grew to despise each other. His son was a horrible person, addicted to drugs and still taking his mother for all she was worth. I wanted to reach into the pages and slap the sense into each one of these characters.
Even so, I still felt kind of sad for each of them. Robert grew up with a hard family life and even though he only wanted to have a better life than his father, he ended up with the same bad qualities. This played a major role in the downfall of Robert's family and I felt awful for him. I was so happy to see Robert start to grow as a person (even though he was technically dead) that I couldn't turn the pages fast enough. I was anxious to see how Robert would be able to repair his relationships while still a ghost, or if it was even possible.
Aside from Robert himself, the idea behind this story is fascinating. I've always been interested in cryonics, mostly because my husband is always talking about it, but because the idea of coming back again after death is intriguing. Who wouldn't want to come back? I admit that science is not my strongest subject, but I didn't feel like I was missing anything when it came to the actual freezing process in this story. There isn't a ton of scientific terminology, or when there is, it is explained in an easy way for me to understand. I had no problem following along and understanding how the system worked.
Another thing that I loved about this book is that it didn't take a turn to towards the spiritual side in which most stories like this would. There was no "higher power" at work here and there was no big explanation as to why Robert and the others were still hanging around. They just were, and this was all the explanation I needed.
Overall, I enjoyed this story quite a bit. Robert's journey of self discovery, as well as his journey through the after life is not one to be missed. I recommend this story to anyone who is looking for a refreshing new read.
For more about M.R. Cornelius and The Ups and Downs of Being Dead, visit her website here.
Purchase:
*I received this book for free in exchange of my honest review. This did not influence my opinion any way and all views and opinions expressed are 100% my own.
I love the title of the book. The summary sounds interesting, and I'm glad to hear it turns out as intriguing as it sounds. Robert does sound like a hard-to-like character, but it's good to know you didn't end up totally hating him. I'll definitely be adding this to the wishlist.
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