Really - What would I do differently?īy the time the hero lives his bohemian life in Paris (still not the perfect life) or approaches Steve Jobs in that garage in Cupertino (not a perfect life either), you realize that this book isn't a thriller. The moment Ken Grimwood has his authorly hooks in you, you can't help but look at your own life and think, 'What would I do differently if I could live my life again?' And not in the way we all casually play this game. But the best part of Replay isn't the plot it's the fact that the book is about you - yes, you. Of course, this being a thriller, there's a love interest and a bad guy. It's pre-1963 and the ad reads, 'If you know who Lee Harvey Oswald is, call me.' Suddenly, the hero of Replay realizes he's not the only one out there reliving his life. But what cracks the book wide open is the moment the main character spots a classified ad in the newspaper. When he wakes up, he's now in his 20s - the space between death is shrinking. And this time, he realizes that money doesn't matter as much as he thought, so he lives a different life. When he wakes up, he's now in his junior year of college. And then he turns 43 and drops dead - again. He bets on the '69 Mets and makes a ton of cash. He doesn't marry the wife he knows he'd one day divorce. He gets - as the title says - to replay his life.Īnd this time, he's no dummy. He's 18 again - with all the memories of his 43-year-old self. He spots a Playboy centerfold of a brunette on the wall, and he realizes he's back in college, in his freshman dorm room. When he wakes up, he feels odd, taking in familiar smells and old sights. Replay has a simple premise: In the first chapter, the main character, a 43-year-old man, sits at his desk and drops dead of a heart attack. And it was in the midst of those dreams that I first read the novel Replay, by Ken Grimwood. When I was 19, my dreams were even bigger than my hair, which is saying something. and you wouldn't realize until you were 50 yards away and the butter pecan was dripping down your chest. He spent four years working at Haagen Dazs, and if you were mean to him or snapped your fingers in a rude way, he used his pinkie to break the bottom of your cone. Brad Meltzer is the author of the forthcoming thriller The Book of Lies.

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