One day Ben Gould slips on the ice, hits his head, and is supposed to die. But he doesn’t. Instead, Gould finds himself in a strange situation where he continues to live as if nothing happened. As a result, a ghost that was originally sent to guide Ben to the Afterlife is stuck on earth while its bosses try to figure out what went wrong. The situation catches the attention of various supernatural entities, besides the ghost. The story weaves through the perspectives of Ben, the ghost, his girlfriend German Landis, and even a talking dog named Pilot.
As Ben and these characters grapple with the implications of his non-death, they start to uncover deeper mysteries about love, destiny, and the reasons why some people are chosen to live or die. The story delves into the complexities of human emotions and connections, with a focus on how love can transcend even death itself and the invisible forces that shape our destinies.
Jonathan Carroll has published more than twenty novels including The Land of Laughs, The Wooden Sea, and Outside the Dog Museum, two story collections, and a collection of short nonfiction pieces, The Crow’s Dinner. His work has been translated into over thirty languages. He’s won a Pushcart Prize, World Fantasy award, British Fantasy award, French Fantasy award twice, and the Bram Stoker award. His novella Black Cocktail was dramatized in a one man show at the Edinburgh Festival. For many years he was a teacher at the American International School in Vienna while secretly writing his novels under the covers at night, lit only by hope and a dull flashlight. Carroll’s latest novel is Mr. Breakfast (2023).