The Next Time I Die by Jason Starr

Imagine there's no Google. It's easy if you try. No Trump as president, Al Gore as 45. 

That's part of the world that Jason Starr conjures up for us in The Next Time I Die. Because while this is indeed a pulpy kind of murder story, replete with a chain saw wielding serial killer, bodies buried in the woods, and grumpy (but perceptive) cops, it's also something more. References to Philip K. Dick are not untoward, as Steven Blitz's story begins to tilt, and we slide into an alternate world where Netflix has lost the dvd battle to Blockbuster, where Excite is the search engine of choice, and where President Al Gore averts nuclear war between Pakistan and India. But as crazy and as science fiction-y as that sounds, this novel is so grounded in reality that you constantly find yourself asking, "Is Stephen insane or is he actually experiencing The Multiverse?" 

I'd say that the internal evidence leans toward the latter explanation. When Stephen slides into the alternate universe where Donald Trump is doing hard time in jail for sexual assault (etcetera), he knows things that really don't allow the insanity explanation room to breathe. For instance, when he finds out that the serial killer he is defending in his first life is not only not his client in his second life, but has not even been identified as a killer, he seeks him out and VOILA! discovers that the fellow, one Jeffery Hammond, has indeed already killed, and will at least attempt to kill again. 

But as outrageous as that might seem to a lover of pulp fiction, it doesn't really feel untoward in this novel. Jason Starr does a masterful job of letting you into the Multiverse concept gradually, letting the reader experience it with Steven Blitz. Which means that the reader feels Stephen's initial incredulity, and then gradually comes to grips with the changes that exist in the world of his second life. And for those who don't want to follow that path, there's always the Stephen Blitz is a serial killer who is insane version of the story. So something for everyone.

In terms of pure entertainment, I'd give this book five stars. I'm a slow reader, since I read so many books at one time (The Next Time I Die was read alongside 8 other books), but I was turning its pages quickly, and despite other books, extensive dad duties, and the babysitting of my granddaughter, I finished it off in less than four days. So yes, by all means buy this book! It even goes beyond mere thrills and entertainment as it plays with the concept of the Multiverse, which is actually a viable concept in physics, and not just another idea that Marvel ripped off from DC Comics. (If you doubt that, please see Wonder Woman Volume 1, #59, which was cover dated May, 1953.)

P.S. I just got a 

So not only a most excellent writer, but a really nice guy, too.