Replay

By: Ken Grimwood

Narrated by: William Dufris

In 1988, 43-year-old Jeff Winston died of a heart attack. But then he awoke, and it was 1963; Jeff was 18 all over again, his memory of the next two decades intact. This time around, Jeff would gain all the power and wealth he never had before. This time around he'd know how to do it right. Until next time.©1998 Ken Grimwood (P)2008 Tantor

Critic reviews

World Fantasy Award, Best Novel, 1988

Great book!

This has long been one of my favorite books, so I was delighted to finally find it available in audio. It is not great literature, but it does make the listener think "what if...?" and consider your options if you had a "do over." It's well written and narrated, and well worth a listen.

Pleasantly surprised...

I picked this up on a $4.95 sale because it looked interesting, although some reviews said it was predictable...some parts were but the story line was deeply interesting.

Much better than I had expected!

I read all the reviews before I downloaded this one, and I expected a good listen, but it turned out much better than I had expected. I was initially delighed when I heard that familiar voice that I associated with "Old Man's War." After a kind of slow start, the story grabbed me and I fell in love with the characters. The story really tugs at your heart and the love and loss and sadness was profound. I'd recommend this to anyone! Of course some of the younger listeners might not relate to some of the events, since the periods covered are from 1963 to 1988, but even if you were born after 1988, I think you would still enjoy the book. The humanity of it is classic. I suspect that the guy who wrote that one bad review complaining about placing bets and making money with knowledge of the future never got past the first couple of chapters. There is so much more to this book than that.

Slow to start, but not bad.

At first, I did not like Replay. The exposition of the protagonist's past life and first Replays develop slowly and drag out at times. The problem with the story's development is that it relies on the plot device of the protagonist "replaying" his life to sustain the audience's attention. The effect of such a plot device is to be sensational enough to carry the story for a while, but not indefinitely. Unfortunately, it took five hours before the plot germinated as a result of the introduction of the second major protagonist and the resulting thematic device. After that, Replay picks up considerably. The cycle of physical and spiritual rebirth reminded me of Ursula K. LeGuine's The Lathe of Heaven. Some of the description was a bit dense and on the long side, but where the writing style succeeded, the composition flourished. Ultimately, I'm glad I gave Replay a second (or maybe third) chance and absorbed what it had to offer.

-Phil Selman

great premise

Haunting book that stays with me even now. Great idea for a plot!

spoiler alert.... it was good, but...

Stop now if you want to read the book.

I warned you.


Ok, here goes...


The ending SUCKS. At least for me, because I was expecting some sort of resolution or explanation of what was going on. Nothing. Can't recommend this book. Made me angry.

If you don't care about actually finding out what is going on, then give it a try.

Nice twist on the time travel theme.

Entertaining . Well explored possibilities and consequences. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes time travel or do over stories

Older novel but excellently done!

If you are old enough to remember the 80's you will like this time travel book. If you cannot remember a time before cell phones, internet and email, you may find this book unrealistic. I really enjoyed the plot and it was always a page turner. One of the best time travel novels I have read. I highly recommend this book because the characters are ones you care about, the plot constantly keeps you thinking ahead and also for the nostalgia it brought to me of that time period. I also would check out Lightning by Koontz and Schumann Frequency by Chris Ride. This book should be rewritten for contemporary times and it would be even better!

Fascinating idea, but......

I would say I struggled to finish it I kept waiting for excitement or something to come. I'm definitely not a fan of William Dufris's narration . It's obvious he puts heart into it , but there's something about his way with words that, IDK... the idea of the book sounded interesting so I purchased it, I figured it was worth a credit. I mainly got it for a break between another book that is about 70 hours long. If I had it to do over, I'd no doubt make a different choice.

10 star book

Fascinating philosophical spiritual wonderful
I wish he had written a sequel the ending will leave you wanting more!!!