3 out of 5 stars
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I think the power to kill by just saying a few words or using a gesture would be an awesome responsibility. I don't think I could handle it. Could you?
Do you remember the silly things your mom used to tell you? Jake Silver does. In Just Die by E. Alan Fleischauer, one of those things caused him a lot of trouble. Instead of getting angry and giving people the finger, she said to point at them and say, "Just die!" (Not any better, in my opinion.) Since Jake’s stroke, though, those people really do die. First, it was the guy in the hospital bed next to him that kept moaning and coughing; then, it was Kim Jong-un on TV; and then, it was a random bicyclist who angered him. What was going on?
Jake discussed his problem with his fiance, Beth Ann, and his friend and driver, Omar. At first, neither of them could believe he had such a "gift”, but eventually they both decided that it was possible, even if they didn't believe in it. After Jake tried his new power on a possibly rabid raccoon at the veterinary clinic where Beth Ann had a job and it worked, everyone involved believed. How hard would it be to control a "gift" this powerful? Could you do it?
I don’t like that Beth Ann and Mary Jane call this a God-given power. As far as I'm concerned, God doesn't condone frivolous murder and He would never give anyone the ability to murder others so casually, if at all. I can't say I really dislike it, but all of the female characters have more than one name. Even DC—that's her full name—has one that sounds like it should stand for two. It’s just a little strange.
I liked that Jake was using his power to help farmers save their livestock from predators. That might have been one good thing to come from his use of the power. Though no one had dealt with this kind of situation before, obviously, they were OK with it, even supportive. I liked that all of the characters were fleshed out. The reader was told something about even the most minor character.
This novel contains a lot of non-borderline profanity and some that is borderline. Kids probably hear worse in regular conversations, but I cannot recommend this to younger readers. I do think this is an interesting topic, and I recommend it to those who like thrillers. It's especially intriguing because the main character is not doing this killing intentionally, for the most part.
I really liked reading this book, even though it was truly fiction. The main situation could never happen. Unfortunately, some things, like planting evidence and making arrests without good cause, can, and do, happen. It was easy to like until the final few chapters. This novel was exciting from the first pages and kept me reading voraciously throughout. I was very disappointed in the ending, however. It felt to me like Mr. Fleischauer ran out of anything for the secondary characters to do, so he just cut them off.
There were very few errors, and this book was obviously well edited. I really wanted to give this novel a higher rating. Because of the abrupt ending and my dissatisfaction with how the wrap-up was handled, I was only able to rate this novel 3 out of 5 stars. I just can't get past the fact that everyone calls this a God-given gift, and I can't believe that God would support such a power.
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Just Die
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