A LIFETIME LAST NIGHT

In Homick’s debut novel, a man is given a second chance at life after dying in a car accident—but must do it in the body of the man that killed him.
Richard Dunham is a man in trouble. He secretly poured his and his wife’s life savings into an investment that’s gone sour. He’s also being blackmailed by a beautiful woman—and his wife’s overprotective sister has seen him with her. To top it all off, he’s entirely forgotten about his 24th wedding anniversary. As a result, his heartbroken wife, Emily, throws him out, and he spends the night in a homeless shelter, where he meets an odd man named Arthur. The next morning, however, he notices that some details are different: A room in the shelter that he once painted purple is now green, and no one but Richard seems to remember Arthur at all. Richard then gets into a car accident and wakes up from a coma in the hospital almost a year later. Or does he? Everyone keeps calling him Michael Riordan—the name of the man who hit him. Arthur then reappears to tell him that he’s been given a second chance to solve his problems and reclaim his wife’s love—but he must do so in the body of Riordan, a man with his own problems. As Richard comes to grips with his strange situation, he discovers love all over again and learns, with the guidance of Arthur, that “the past is the past; it’s what we do next that matters.” The author subtly acknowledges the influence of the movies It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) and Heaven Can Wait (1978), but thanks to inventive complications—Emily dating a ruthless politician and Richard feeling the effects of Michael’s alcoholism—this debut novel effectively stands on its own. It has some weaknesses, however; for example, so much of the book takes place in an “alternate reality” that it somewhat detracts from the impact of Richard’s lived experience. Also, Arthur, for all his wisdom, often speaks in clichéd platitudes (“Look into your heart and you will find the answer”). Homick’s novel rises above these few complaints, however, as its fully realized characters cope with their difficult situations.
A well-plotted story of second chances and transcendent love.