AIDENN

Nettleton’s philosophical novel depicts lessons learned in the afterlife.

There are four Aidens: Aid, Ide, End, and Den. These are angels of death, meaning their job is to escort souls to judgment. To complete their task, they can morph into creatures of “any size, shape, or color”; they may, for instance, appear as a dog to lead the dead into the afterlife in a comforting sort of way. The story depicts different souls being escorted and taught lessons. One thread follows Abraham Lincoln. After Lincoln is shot, Ide appears as a dog named Fido, who allows Lincoln to witness historic events such as the 1944 landing at Normandy and modern marvels such as bottled water. Another portion follows Pontius Pilate. Pilate, who “was skilled in using violence to maintain order,” is taken to the “forest of creeds,” where he learns about things like the emptiness of hedonism, but the most punitive experience is reserved for Adolf Hitler. Hitler enters into discussions with Pride and Envy (referred to as “Schenvy”) and experiences the horrors brought about by his own actions when he is turned into a Jewish man named Elijah. The adventures these Aidens produce are not always what one would expect from a typical post-mortem journey; for starters, there are a lot more dogs. Whether it’s an ordinary guy named Tom seeing his trusty old golden retriever or Hitler finding security in a German shepherd, the canines make for a strange detail in this pleasingly oddball story. However, the different tones of the narrative give readers a lot to process; moments of humorous contemplation, such as when Lincoln is brought to a Walmart parking lot and finds it “difficult to understand the scene before him,” contrast with more brutal developments like Hitler (now as Elijah) experiencing the full wrath of Nazi Germany. Still, the narrative ultimately offers much for the reader to consider in its own peculiar way.

An invitingly complex, sometimes scattered meditation on death, time, and living a good life.