Tim Waggoner’s LIKE DEATH

I picked up the book I’m hooked on, once before. I checked this out a month ago and read the first two pages and decided it didn’t intrigue me enough. When I went to pick up a hold at the library I didn’t realize what book I was picking up until I saw it and it was in my hands. I’m so glad I gave it a second chance. I gobbled up the first seventy-five pages in record time and struggled to put it down!

The main character in the book is a writer (likes to think of himself as a journalist; sounds more prestigious). He had a horrific event happen during his childhood. The twist being that he doesn’t remember all the details of what happened. He gets so wrapped up in his work that he loses himself and then comes close to his wife being his ex-wife. His most horrorific loss being the loss of his son, David. While reading, I constantly wondered if this guy (Scott) was remotely sane in the least (!?). That’s what kept me reading, because I wanted to prove him sane and innocent. The reader is left with room to speculate: Did he commit the horrendous killing? Is she a ghost/figment of his imagination? Is she for or against him? Is he just plain nuts or is he a link of some sort, between past and present?

The dark and confusing world he visits is full of evil, sinister, and heinous thoughts and actions. There were times when I found myself in over my ‘head’ with the strange twists and dangerous curves of the plot. Remember it’s horror, so anything is possible and don’t always believe everything you read right from the get-go. There is room for questions, speculations, and mindful quirks.
Find out the answers for yourself. Don’t hesitate to read this one. Or to give it a second go-around J

P.S. Waggoner doesn’t stop at writing a great story but he also adds in some thought provoking and thoughtful tidbits every now and then.
Here are some I found daunting and as an ah-ha moment…

A dead sparrow lay in the middle…the bird was just another piece of discarded trash. God might note the fall of every sparrow, but that didn’t mean he cleaned up the mess afterward. ~ pg.24

Everything worked to create an image of a practical, mature woman who felts no need to draw attention to her beauty. If she truly was the kind of woman she seemed, … she wouldn’t have felt the need to buy a twin pack of self-esteem. ~ pg.33

She (Lolita/Miranda) released his hand, and he felt a sudden loss…he wondered if it was the same sense of loss that babies felt when the umbilical cord was snipped. ~ pg. 51


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Warning:: You may notice the words, tutelary and latter become very common vocabulary. Get your revenge by using them on your friends and family.