It is relatively rare that I stop reading a book. I usually persist out of sheer obstinateness. I couldn't be bothered here.

It took way too long to begin to figure out what was happening with the protagonist -- it was beginning to be evident that people were reincarnated...

I got maybe a quarter of the way through and gave up. Too much thriller, too much coyness in drawing out the awakening, I suppose. Maybe I was expecting more sci-fi. Maybe I just hadn't gotten to the good bit.

The premise is: a homeless guy has memory problems and a terrible headache. When he starts remembering who he is, he becomes a problem to the Association. They like to play with their people before they kill them. At a point, it felt like a transparent tribute to the Matrix -- lots of identical people descending on the protagonist to kill him, and then saved at the last moment by a support crew in a ship. To explain that his reality is coming into a new body -- that the body is nothing. OK, cool...

But that's as far as I got. Too much handholding of the confused resurrectee, who apparently is/will be their leader once again. Too much coy spy thriller cheap writing. I don't know how else to describe it. I'm sure much lovemaking will commence, judging from the way the protagonist looks at one of his companions. Again, can't be bothered. ( )

This book was a quick and enjoyable read. One thing this book does is set up a for sequel. By the end of the book there are just enough plot treads to keep a reader interested. Dead Forever: Awakening starts with a fairly standard main character who seems to be down on his luck and just lurching from day to day. Pretty soon we move through fast paced action sceens with a a set of characters that we want to like, but have very glaring, in your face "character flaws". This makes the characters more believable, although the "look this person has another side" dialogue can get a little heavy handed in a few places. Overall this book explores, and promises to explore more deeply, what it would mean never to die in spirit or have your true self extinguished. What benefits and issues arise when you can custom order your next body. It's a pretty cool concept that carries the book from start finish. I will pick up the second book, mostly out of curiosity about how the main character will fully manifest his "powers". ( )

This was a very good book. William Campbell has a great writing style that I really enjoyed, it kept the story moving along and kept the mind imagining these places and characters that I really liked. The scope of the story is amazing considering it's only the first book, but I loved the ambition of it this story could end up going anywhere and I can not wait to find out what happens in the second book Apotheosis. ( )

Where to begin? The first thing that most people see is the cover, and despite the popular adage it is normally a large part of the decision to buy a book. For a Science Fiction book, this cover has it all: A spaceship, A rather attractive young lady pointing a laser-gun type weapon and plenty of mysterious figures over a metropolis backdrop. Good Stuff. This cover however, meaant that it took me a few pages to realise that the main character was male. Also, I assume that the image refers to a scene towards the end of the book, but it's considerably different to what I read there. So brilliant but misleading cover.

Now we can look inside the book. The first two chapters are confusing and quite hard to get through. For me, it took some work. Things change rapidly, confusingly, and since the main character knows nothing, neither do we. I nearly put the book down out of disinterest. My obligation to review the book however, meant that I had to continue.

Fortunately, the Book gets a lot better very quickly. As soon as the main character is rescued it get's more interesting (and funnier). The character's friends have a sort of drunken humour, which can creat an interesting mind effect when reading sober. As for Adam, the protagonist, his observations of the world around him can be highly amusing.

The author is rather good at writing sexual tension, but when emotion starts to be an issue he loses it slightly. This could be because we don't understand the feelings, Adam's returning memory makes feelings apparently come from nowhere, for a character we don't meet until the very end.

In addition, there seems to be no main objective to the plot, which weakens it somewhat, although the ending is a direct suggestion of a sequel (which does exist). I've read other reviews saying that the author tackles the subject of reincarnation well, but I disagree. Not that his ideas on the matter are well written, but that it is truly reincarnation. It's a different sort of process. I would be interested to see where the author takes it next, but for me the sequel is not a priority read.

In all, the book is entertaining and not entirely frivolous, but if you are looking for a strong plot and realistic human characters, you'll need to look elsewhere. ( )