The End Specialist
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Product Description
Review
‘Drew Magary's haunting first novel imagines a postmodern dystopia that would seem far-fetched if it didn't seem so possible. The End Specialist will make you regret ever wondering, even secretly, what it would be like to live forever’
-Stefan Fatsis, author of Word Freak and A Few Seconds of Panic
‘As insanely entertaining as it is ambitious, The End Specialist takes us into an America set in the next few years and coming apart under the onslaught of a dreadful new plague – that of human immortality. Magary possesses an explosive imagination and let loose in The End Specialist, he creates an alternate history of the near future that feels real and is probably inevitable’
-Evan Wright, author of Generation Kill
‘This thoughtful novel cleverly explores the consequences of having a long-term lease on life, from the mundane to the profound … Fascinating’
-Publisher’s Weekly
Product Description
A gripping, compulsive thriller set in a future where the cure for ageing has been discovered… to devastating consequences
“You got me. I don’t want to die. I’m terrified of death. I fear there’s nothing beyond it and that this existence is the only one I’ll ever possess. That’s why I’m here.”
(An excerpt from the digital journal of John Farrell, cure age 29)
2019. Humanity has witnessed its greatest scientific breakthrough yet: the cure for ageing. Three injections and you’re immortal – not bulletproof or disease-proof but you’ll never have to fear death by old age.
For John Farrell, documenting the cataclysmic shifts to life after the cure becomes an obsession. Cure parties, cycle marriages, immortal livestock: the world is revelling in the miracles of eternal youth. But immortality has a sinister side, and when a pro-death terrorist explosion kills his newly-cured best friend, John soon realizes that even in a world without natural death, there is always something to fear.
Now, John must make a new choice: run and hide forever, or stay and fight those who try to make immortal life a living hell.
The e-book edition contains exclusive extra content - for those who want to find out even more consequences of the cure for ageing.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
'The End Specialist' ('The Postmortal' in the US) is the first novel by Drew Magary, previously better known as an American sports blogger and the author of 'Men With Balls'.
'The End Specialist' takes its cue from Max Brooks' 'World War Z', a superior zombie apocalypse thriller. One of the strengths of that book was that once the reader had allowed the premise - the appearance of a disease that killed and reanimated human beings - almost everything else followed logically, with Brooks' plausible descriptions of events taking on an almost documentary quality and the rapidly shifting point of view building up a composite portrait that was ultimately more convincing than any one person's testimony.
Magary's premise is if anything more plausible than Brooks'. In the second decade of the twenty-first century, an American scientist accidentally discovers a treatment for ageing. Persons to whom 'the cure' is administered cease to age beyond their 'cure date'. Magary follows the life of a young lawyer, John Farrell, who uses his relative wealth and connections to take the cure in the early days of its development, at a time when it is still technically illegal. He is now immortal in the sense that he has ceased to age, although he is still vulnerable to accident and disease.
So far, so good. Magary goes on to follow Farrell's life as a 'postmortal', as the unforeseen consequences of the accidental discovery of immortality work themselves out in a world that hasn't thought very hard about the possible implications - a world that is still riven by political and social divisions, international rivalries and the impending exhaustion of natural resources.
'The End Specialist' is never less than readable, but it isn't as good a book as 'World War Z'. John Farrell isn't a particularly interesting protagonist, and although Magary switches away from him periodically he is almost always the centre of attention. But the larger problem lies with Magary's shortcomings as a writer. His talent is essentially comic, and he gets a lot of mileage out of the blackly humorous scenes in which Farrell is forced to adapt to social changes and the events of his unnaturally prolonged existence by changing profession.
But Magary has little feeling for the tragic, and relies far too heavily on melodrama and unlikely coincidences for the reader to take him seriously when the tone darkens. The book is also very male and very American in tone: the female characters exist only in relation to the men, and the rest of the world exists only insofar as parts of it pose a threat to the United States (cartoonish visions of Russia and China). Another weakness is that Magary's ideas concerning the possible consequences of practical human immortality are rather obvious and uninventive; the book doesn't do enough in this regard to distinguish itself from others, and by the end feels rather generic.
In sum: 'The End Specialist' is readable, occasionally exciting and often amusing, but not in the first rank of recent books of this type.
'The End Specialist' takes its cue from Max Brooks' 'World War Z', a superior zombie apocalypse thriller. One of the strengths of that book was that once the reader had allowed the premise - the appearance of a disease that killed and reanimated human beings - almost everything else followed logically, with Brooks' plausible descriptions of events taking on an almost documentary quality and the rapidly shifting point of view building up a composite portrait that was ultimately more convincing than any one person's testimony.
Magary's premise is if anything more plausible than Brooks'. In the second decade of the twenty-first century, an American scientist accidentally discovers a treatment for ageing. Persons to whom 'the cure' is administered cease to age beyond their 'cure date'. Magary follows the life of a young lawyer, John Farrell, who uses his relative wealth and connections to take the cure in the early days of its development, at a time when it is still technically illegal. He is now immortal in the sense that he has ceased to age, although he is still vulnerable to accident and disease.
So far, so good. Magary goes on to follow Farrell's life as a 'postmortal', as the unforeseen consequences of the accidental discovery of immortality work themselves out in a world that hasn't thought very hard about the possible implications - a world that is still riven by political and social divisions, international rivalries and the impending exhaustion of natural resources.
'The End Specialist' is never less than readable, but it isn't as good a book as 'World War Z'. John Farrell isn't a particularly interesting protagonist, and although Magary switches away from him periodically he is almost always the centre of attention. But the larger problem lies with Magary's shortcomings as a writer. His talent is essentially comic, and he gets a lot of mileage out of the blackly humorous scenes in which Farrell is forced to adapt to social changes and the events of his unnaturally prolonged existence by changing profession.
But Magary has little feeling for the tragic, and relies far too heavily on melodrama and unlikely coincidences for the reader to take him seriously when the tone darkens. The book is also very male and very American in tone: the female characters exist only in relation to the men, and the rest of the world exists only insofar as parts of it pose a threat to the United States (cartoonish visions of Russia and China). Another weakness is that Magary's ideas concerning the possible consequences of practical human immortality are rather obvious and uninventive; the book doesn't do enough in this regard to distinguish itself from others, and by the end feels rather generic.
In sum: 'The End Specialist' is readable, occasionally exciting and often amusing, but not in the first rank of recent books of this type.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition
I like my science fiction simple. Some of the genre's finest novels are where an author alters a single aspect of life, and tries to imagine how things might turn out. This is exactly what Drew Magary does in this book, and to great effect. The novel's premise is simple - What if there was a cure for ageing?
The novel opens post an unspecified apocalyptic event, tied into the cure for ageing, which is decried as 'very bad thing' (or words to that effect). We are then told, that we about to read is a blog written by somebody who was 'there' from the beginning. The rest of the novel is an account by John Farrell, detailing his life in the 'postmortal' world. I'm not entirely sure this blogger-as-narrator device works completely, but the story is a compelling and entertaining one.
When Farrell starts his tale, he hasn't had 'the cure'; not many people have. It's still illegal in the US, and most of the western world, but it is available to the rich and famous, either out of the country (in places such as Brazil), or at home on the black market (similar to but, very much a polar opposite of back-street abortionists). Farrell gets the cure. The cure does not prevent death; you can still get cancer, be run over or kill yourself by watching too much X Factor, but from the day you take the cure, you stop ageing.
Magary then casts a fine tooth comb over what this would mean for humanity - starting with the doctor who gives Farrell the cure, refusing to do cure anybody over thirty-five, as they are past it already. As a 38 year old, I found this slightly depressing. What would happen in a world where the rich can live forever but the poor must wither and die? What happens to the world's population if ageing ceases? What would we all eat? What effect would it have on marriage, when suddenly there is no 'til death to do us part'? Magary asks all these questions and more; his answers suggest a pretty dim view of humanity, which is probably all too accurate.
I don't want to give too much away about the storyline, only to say that Farrell's life moves in some unexpected directions. The novel isn't an unadulterated success. After a strong and thought-provoking opening, where the issues of immortality are pondered over, there is a rather lacklustre middle section, where Farrell is given to morose navel gazing and stating the obvious.
The overlong middle third can be forgiven though, because of the power of the novel's concluding chapters. Here Magary is back on track, with some great ideas, and emotive writing. This is not a perfectly conceived dystopia but it is a well realised one. Add to this some well-paced action sequences, a humours narrator and 'The End Specialist' delivers a good value read that marks Drew Magary as an author to look out for.
The novel opens post an unspecified apocalyptic event, tied into the cure for ageing, which is decried as 'very bad thing' (or words to that effect). We are then told, that we about to read is a blog written by somebody who was 'there' from the beginning. The rest of the novel is an account by John Farrell, detailing his life in the 'postmortal' world. I'm not entirely sure this blogger-as-narrator device works completely, but the story is a compelling and entertaining one.
When Farrell starts his tale, he hasn't had 'the cure'; not many people have. It's still illegal in the US, and most of the western world, but it is available to the rich and famous, either out of the country (in places such as Brazil), or at home on the black market (similar to but, very much a polar opposite of back-street abortionists). Farrell gets the cure. The cure does not prevent death; you can still get cancer, be run over or kill yourself by watching too much X Factor, but from the day you take the cure, you stop ageing.
Magary then casts a fine tooth comb over what this would mean for humanity - starting with the doctor who gives Farrell the cure, refusing to do cure anybody over thirty-five, as they are past it already. As a 38 year old, I found this slightly depressing. What would happen in a world where the rich can live forever but the poor must wither and die? What happens to the world's population if ageing ceases? What would we all eat? What effect would it have on marriage, when suddenly there is no 'til death to do us part'? Magary asks all these questions and more; his answers suggest a pretty dim view of humanity, which is probably all too accurate.
I don't want to give too much away about the storyline, only to say that Farrell's life moves in some unexpected directions. The novel isn't an unadulterated success. After a strong and thought-provoking opening, where the issues of immortality are pondered over, there is a rather lacklustre middle section, where Farrell is given to morose navel gazing and stating the obvious.
The overlong middle third can be forgiven though, because of the power of the novel's concluding chapters. Here Magary is back on track, with some great ideas, and emotive writing. This is not a perfectly conceived dystopia but it is a well realised one. Add to this some well-paced action sequences, a humours narrator and 'The End Specialist' delivers a good value read that marks Drew Magary as an author to look out for.
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review
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I couldn't put it down.
Which is rare for a work of fiction for me. I read this almost in a single sitting, pausing only for a few hours sleep. Now I have finished, I'm glad I know how it ends - and this time I didn't read the end prematurely - another unusual thing for me, but I am left wondering deeply.
Currently there's a TV series running in the UK, that has the same central premise - no one dies. but Drew Macary's book makes it sound plausible and real. Here, gene therapy means you don't age and therefore don't die, but you can still die - of injury, illness etc. You just don't get old.
The book examines the moral ethical issues, how old must you be before you can gain immortality, what happens to a life sentence when you could live for ever, should marriage be for life and many more; and comes up with some answers and a whole lot more questions. It's not a heavy read however, so you could give it to someone who doesn't like scifi and they would enjoy it or you could read it somewhere like the beach. What it will do is have you asking people around you "would you choose immortality" and then blasting them with the good and bad points.
The story is pretty good as well. There's some plot twists that you definately won't see coming, the characters are rounded; I felt genuinely sad for one of them by the end. In all it's a book that will have you thinking and involved and I throughly recommend it.
Which is rare for a work of fiction for me. I read this almost in a single sitting, pausing only for a few hours sleep. Now I have finished, I'm glad I know how it ends - and this time I didn't read the end prematurely - another unusual thing for me, but I am left wondering deeply.
Currently there's a TV series running in the UK, that has the same central premise - no one dies. but Drew Macary's book makes it sound plausible and real. Here, gene therapy means you don't age and therefore don't die, but you can still die - of injury, illness etc. You just don't get old.
The book examines the moral ethical issues, how old must you be before you can gain immortality, what happens to a life sentence when you could live for ever, should marriage be for life and many more; and comes up with some answers and a whole lot more questions. It's not a heavy read however, so you could give it to someone who doesn't like scifi and they would enjoy it or you could read it somewhere like the beach. What it will do is have you asking people around you "would you choose immortality" and then blasting them with the good and bad points.
The story is pretty good as well. There's some plot twists that you definately won't see coming, the characters are rounded; I felt genuinely sad for one of them by the end. In all it's a book that will have you thinking and involved and I throughly recommend it.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Compelling sci-fi thriller that feels so real it's disturbing
The End Specialist is a sci-fi thriller initially set in the very near future where the cure for ageing is discovered. Read more
Published 4 days ago by Crazy Jamie
The End Specialist (The Postmortal)
The premise of this book is an exciting one. Magary's concept of a dystopic world where everyone has the potential to live forever after a cure for aging is developed is rich in... Read more
Published 12 days ago by AJ Ward
A troubling and important book
Here i sit awkwardly typig a review on a kindle, hurtling through the darkened english countryside on a train branded after a record company, using 3g mobile phone connections to... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Ant Miller
Forever young
A simple premise - scientist accidently identifies the gene that controls ageing and develops gene therapy that halts the aging process. Read more
Published 1 month ago by mythicalkings
Reviewed to keep track of what I've read
one two three four five six seven eight nine ten eleven twelve thirteen fourteen fifteen sixteen seventeen eighteen nineteen twenty
Enjoyable, would consider others by... Read more
Enjoyable, would consider others by... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Dartguru
average book, could have been better
Great concepts and falling on the idea of "would you want to live forever", it explains the drawbacks and the issues associated with this, with a back story. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Jennifer
Hugely recommend this great piece of dystopia
The End Specialist by Drew Magary was recommended to me via Amazon because I had also read Genus by Jonathan Trigell. Read more
Published 2 months ago by R. A. Davison
The End Specialist
In this universe, we have creams with so-called anti-aging formulas; things that remove wrinkles and prevents the 'seven signs of ageing' but what would happen if a 'cure' was... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Alex
Thought provoking and interesting ...
A really good, thought provoking read. This novel is set in the future ~ yet it is a future that could all too soon be real. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Jan Marshall
Stark
This is a thought experiemnt in print, a 'what if' taken and typed out to a plausible end. Unlike many books of this nature, however the characters have depth and honesty. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Realist
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