Death Never Sleeps

By: E. J. Simon

Narrated by: Josh Goodman

Length: 10 hrs and 25 mins

Publisher's summary

The problem with Alex Nicholas is he won't stay dead. Death Never Sleeps is a unique crime thriller featuring artificial intelligence; a story of two very different brothers, Michael Nicholas, a corporate CEO, and Alex Nicholas, a major NYC illegal gambling figure. When Alex is murdered, the deeper mystery unfolds as Michael struggles to close down his brother's business, instead becoming enmeshed in it.

As he becomes the target of his brother's killers, he discovers that Alex left a duplicate of himself on a hidden laptop computer. A fast-paced pause resister, the story takes place in interesting locations such as NYC's Manhattan and Queens, Beverly Hills, Paris, Saint-Tropez, and Rome.

©2013 E. J. Simon (P)2014 E. J. Simon

Captive

I very much enjoyed the book. Kept you stimulated and kept you guessing. Was full of surprises and kept turning in different directions and kept me listening to the book. I look forward to listening reading some of other EJ Simons books

Interesting concept and well executed story

I found this author on Twitter... or he found me...? Whichever... I follow a lot of authors on Twitter.

Anyway... I decided to check out the book. Lo and behold, it was on Audible, the narrator sounded good in the sample, and I had a credit. The summary and Amazon reviews provided me with just enough info to decide to give it a shot. The idea of uploading consciousness to a digital format intrigues me... not because I think it's possible, but because it's a really cool idea that get the imagination going... like flying horses.

Plot summary is right on: 2 brothers, very different lifestyles, the shady one gets whacked, the "good" one reluctantly takes over the shady business intending to shut it down, but then he finds his brother's consciousness uploaded to his computer. From there... murder, mystery, suspense...

Let's get the negative commentary out of the way first. I found Michael to be... well... a bit bipolar. Sometimes, he was a pretentious ass. Other times, he was just a regular guy. I don't know if this was on purpose, but I found the pretentious side very unlikable. As for the performance... I tend to be a bit nit-picky, so the few mispronunciations the narrator made were annoying (especially Hermes). Otherwise, Goodman's performance was very good.

Other than those two relatively minor issues, the story was great. It moved along at a nice pace. was entertaining and it kept me guessing most of the way through. Simon writes clearly, keeps the story flowing, and throws in just enough red herrings to provide suspense without frustration or confusion. I'm happy with the resolution at the end, making it a complete book, while still leaving just enough thread dangling to begin weaving a sequel tale. (Yes, please!)

I recommend giving this one a shot. I'm glad I did. (And my BF, who I share audiobooks with liked it, too... so two thumbs up.)

good but underdeveloped story

Is there anything you would change about this book?

it could have been a far more exciting book than it was; the basic premise was quite good but needed a lot more development of the characters whom I felt I never really got to know in this story. Alex in the computer especially needed far more to do within the story.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

the most interesting aspect of the story was the basic premise that our minds - if not our souls - could live on after our bodies have ceased to exist. The least interesting aspect of the story was the main character, Michael. He was supposed to be a dynamic worldly man but instead came over as being vapid.

Which character – as performed by Josh Goodman – was your favorite?

no favourites here.

Do you think Death Never Sleeps needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

No, round one was enough.

Any additional comments?

recommend purely for the unusual premise. Not badly written and quite interesting, but not really an addictive page turner.

Don't hesitate

Great read/excellent narration. Looking for a story to immediately draw you and keep you engaged throughout? This is it. I heard great things about the author and started listening with no expectations. I am really impressed by the combination of simplicity, mystery, intrigue, and contrast of characters. Well written and narrated. My only disappointment is that I do not see more of the author's books on audible.