Lifers

A Novel

De: Keith G. McWalter

Narrado por: DH Callahan

There came a day when the boomers stopped dying. Early warnings went unheeded. Long-term care facilities filled to overflowing. Funeral homes and cemeteries began to close. Social Security imploded. Now, in 2049, the “longevity plague” has engulfed the world. There are half a billion super-centenarians worldwide who should be dead but live on. They’re called Lingerers, or the Undead, or Lifers.

Amid the tumult, three extraordinary women—an ex-CIA microbiologist, a Washington lobbyist turned advocate for gray rights, and a philosopher of death and dying—navigate violent ageism, the politics of scarcity, love rivalries, and dreams of a super-centenarian utopia in a transgenerational struggle to redefine what it means to be mortal.

Electric with compelling action and trenchant social commentary and perfect for fans of Nikki Erlick’s The Measure, this genre-straddling work of speculative fiction examines ageism from a new and haunting perspective.

©2023 Keith G. McWalter (P)2024 Keith G. McWalter

So good! So Original!

I don't like much, so 4 stars from me usually means pretty much anyone will at least *like* this book.

How is it I (who spend hours each week reading about books, listening to podcasts about books, searching for books) had never heard of this and just stumbled on it? Why does Audible's algorithm suck so badly that it rarely recommends good books and instead just recommends crap? So frustrating.

Read the synopsis. But the book is a lot more interesting than that.

The 2 things that prevent it from being 5 stars:

1. It doesn't adequately address why everyone wants to live so long, especially when half the "lifer" population is homeless. Even if I were as wealthy as 2 of the main characters, I can't imagine wanting to be 130 years old. In this book, almost everyone wants to live as long as possible--and it it could be 200 years to centuries.

2. The character development isn't as strong as it could be. It's enough, though, especially since it follows a few different characters. Still, there was not one second that I was bored--I even slowed down the audio to make it last, which I rarely do. It is so plot driven and the ideas so interesting, that even though I wanted more character development (and a longer book!), I'm not sure if others will feel the same.

Totally worth a credit!