Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Finished with Life but Unable to Die (Unable to Die Book 1) by Scott Bartlett

Release date: July 20, 2015
Subgenre: Metaphysical science fiction

About Finished with Life but Unable to Die:

 

At ninety-one, Michael Haynes finds his terminal cancer diagnosis a relief.

He’s ready to move on from this world. In fact, he's convinced his death will make things better for his children, providing both financial ease and closure for a long-ago event that still haunts them all.

But just when he thinks he is finally shuffling off, Michael wakes from a coma to find he has undergone a miraculous new procedure and his time here is far from over.

As his condition piques the government’s interest, Michael begins to discover a shocking secret about how the universe works. Instead of solving everything with his death, he must contend not only with continuing to live indefinitely but also with stopping his family from tearing itself apart.

Excerpt:

 

 
Bright, white light. Shining through his eyelids. Making him squint, even with his eyes closed.
            He tried to open them, and couldn’t. “Where am I?” he rasped.
            Rustling, to his left. A hand gripped his knee through a blanket.
            “You’re in ICU, Dad. With us.” Luke. “You’re still with us.”
            This time, he opened his eyes. Luke was there, and Valentine, and Stephen.
            “How?”
            “The cancer is gone. You’re a survivor.”
            Michael felt his facial features draw downward. “That doesn’t make any sense.”
            “I’ve been working on this ever since you got sick,” Luke said. “I didn’t tell you about it, or anyone, because I didn’t want to get hopes up. But when I mentioned your cancer to a colleague, the first day I found out, she told me about a new procedure that was almost ready for human trials. I got in touch with the researchers and convinced them to take you on as their first trial patient.”
            “How on Earth did you do that?” This was wrong. This was all wrong.
            “Luke has some high-up contacts in the government,” Stephen said. “He had them put in a good word.”
            The two brothers’ eyes met, and annoyance flashed across Luke’s face. Then he turned to face Michael again. “That wasn’t all. Normally a ninety-one-year-old man would never be accepted as a trial patient, let alone the very first one. They want people in their prime, to increase the probability that the procedure will work, which makes it more likely to be adopted as standard medical practice. But these researchers were unusually confident. Animal tests weren’t just promising—they were mind-blowing. I convinced them that if they could cure a cancer-ridden old man, everyone would pay attention. Their procedure would be sure to change the world. Plus, you’ve always kept pretty healthy. So they agreed. You gave Stephen medical power of attorney, and we both knew you’d consent to it in a heartbeat, if you could.” Luke’s glasses magnified his calm eyes, framing his half-grin below.
            “How do you feel, Dad?” Valentine asked, a distinct note of uncertainty in her voice. Stephen seemed uncomfortable too. Unlike Luke, they sensed their father’s distress. The cancer was supposed to fix things. It was supposed to deliver me to Linda.
            But here he remained, with his children, two of who looked very upset. He couldn’t bear to see them unhappy. He would pass off his torment as a joke. He would lie.
            “You brats,” Michael said, and pain in his chest made him pause. Stephen winced.
            “You brats don’t get your inheritance yet.”
            They all chuckled, then. “That’s a shame,” Stephen said. “I’ve had my eye on that ratty old couch you made us haul over from Corner Brook.”
            But it wasn’t just a ratty old couch, and this disaster was no joke. Michael told them he needed to sleep, as cheerfully as he could manage, and they left. Wrapped in the sensation that everything in the world had spoiled, gone bad, he sunk into slumber, praying he would not wake.

 

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About the Unable to Die series:  

 

Finished With Faith - SMall Finished With Dignity - Small Finished With Mercy - Small Finished With Luke - Small
All 5 novellas in the Unable to Die series are available now!

 

About Scott Bartlett:

Scott Bartlett was born 1987, in Newfoundland, Canada, where he currently lives. He has been writing fiction for thirteen years.

Scott’s first novel, Royal Flush, received the H. R. (Bill) Percy Prize, and his latest novel, Taking Stock, was a semi-finalist in the 2014 Best Kindle Book Awards, and also received the Percy Janes First Novel Award and the Lawrence Jackson Writers’ Award.

His short fiction has received recognition as well. His story “The Proletarian” placed 2nd in Grain Magazine’s Canada-wide Short Grain competition, and “Author’s Note” was shortlisted for the 2014 Cuffer Prize.

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