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Paula W. (East Wenatchee, WA)
The Life of the World to Come
Dan Cluchey is an excellent writer. This is his first novel. His many characters are a bit weird. I enjoyed how they interacted with one another. Rather then reading a novel it was like listening to conversations between friends, however odd friends. At one point in his novel he mentions Woody Allen and I immediately thought...yes these characters could be right out of a Woody Allen movie. Leo is the main character. When he graduates from law school his first job is to defend criminals on death row. This is s novel about Leo's relationships and struggles. It is a great read.
Lynn W
A different read
Leo is the main character and the narrator of his story. This is a love story, a tale of friendships and thought provoking parts on capital punishment and religion. Seems like a lot but the story flows so well and even tells a realistic story. An enjoyable read.
Janet W. (Davis, CA)
Maybe needs a second chance
This story spent so much time on the main character's angst, phobias, love-lost, that by the time it got to the second part of story...the part that was worth reading...I had almost given up. Leo is pathetic. He is not interesting enough to care about. He is all that is wrong with his generation. He spends most of his time feeling sorry for himself. Until he meets Michael, his death-row client, he is consumed with his woes. At the point of this meeting, the story finally becomes interesting. The Michael Tiegs character offers his perspective and interjects some unusual concepts into the mess and helps the story become interesting.
Henry W. (Lake Barrington, IL)
A quirky read
A combination love story, mystery, philosophy and fantasy story. An interesting though at times confusing journey of a young man's transition from youthful fantasy life to the reality of adulthood. Along the way the the characters discuss afterlife from a philosophical perspective to reality. The cast of characters range from the very normal to an out of touch death row inmate. While quirky and at times disjointed a desire to come to resolution with characters forces one to continue to read the book. In the end an unusual read but worth the effort for those who enjoy the unusual.
Brenda S. (Winter Haven, FL)
Let's talk self-indulgence
This is a story that was written in waves. Some nice highs and lows, no whitecaps. Love and life are not always easy or joyful; however, the reaction does not have to be predictable.
The story started slow, sped up slightly, then washed us to shore. Not a fan of the writing style. Hoping the next book will keep me at sea...
Suzanne (AZ)
Not a strong book—
In my opinion the story tended to jump around, and I said a lot of "What?" It would take awhile to put two and two together and then I'd hit another wall and have to try to decipher what the author was saying. The story itself was interesting and the author certainly shows an ability with words; he only needs to work on the flow of those words. In a way it reminded me of The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender, having the same kind of tongue-in-cheek humor. I'm not sure I'd recommend this book. It would be hard to explain the premise of the story.
Cindy C. (Withee, WI)
Not really my cup of tea
I found this book to be a bit too philosophical for my taste. I had difficulty keeping track of whether I was in reading about an event in the past or something that was current. I also found the fact that the author used big words a lot annoying. I read a lot and have a fairly decent vocabulary, but there were just too more words that I didn't know the meaning of. And the author also didn't translate the Spanish for me, so I have no idea what those conversations were about. I don't like to give bad reviews, but quite honestly I don't think I would seek out the opportunity to read another book by this author.
Beth T. (Savannah, GA)
Not for Me
I love the opportunities that First Impressions books provide and try really hard to be generous and open when considering what I will say in my review. I know that this author has talent, and am happy that so many readers seemed to enjoy this book, his first novel - but I am, unfortunately, not one of them. I kept waiting for things to get GOING - for the characters to come to life and make me care about them. It didn't happen. I've read a lot of really GREAT fiction lately, and this novel pales in comparison. It may be a great read for some, but not for me.
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