Revolving around themes of resurrection and redemption, J. Wesley Hall’s novel follows a man gifted with numerous renewable lives who recollects his centuries-long existential experiences, from being found as an abandoned baby in 1724 Dublin to his affluent life in 21st century America.

Thomas Katt doesn’t know if he’s been blessed or cursed. After being raised by priests in Ireland, he saved enough money to book passage to colonial Virginia, where he eventually joined the Continental Army at the beginning of the American Revolutionary War —and was promptly killed viciously in combat. After Thomas awakens in his bed, a mysterious man named Jasper informs him that he has been given the gift of resurrection. For a limited number of times, every time Katt dies, he’ll wake up back in his bed as a 22-year-old and continue his life—again.

Katt ends up living through countless historical events—the American Revolutionary War, the Civil War, the Great Depression, the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis—and meeting innumerable legendary figures like Daniel Boone, Helen Keller, Jackie Robinson, and Will Rogers, to name a few.

While this is an interesting premise with lots of possibilities, the author focuses throughout on highly detailed historical anecdotes. While informative, this makes for a decidedly dry reading experience. Indeed, many passages sound more like an encyclopedia than an action-oriented novel. For example, at one point Hall writes: “Indians of the Lakota Sioux and Cheyenne led by Chiefs Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull took their revenge against Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer in 1876, in South Dakota, at a place call the Little Bighorn…” Such prose makes it difficult to engage with the larger plot.

Sadly, the bulk of the novel reads like nonfiction, rather than one man’s revelation-filled journey through the centuries. As such, the book’s audience will be highly limited.

Also available in hardcover and ebook.