Book Review for Unexpected Afterlife by Dan Sofer

I received this book for free. This did not impact my review in any shape or form.

An Unexpected Afterlife, by Dan Sofer, is a paranormal adventure about strange predicaments one could face if they were raised from the dead. An example of this would be Moshe Karlin, a secular Jew who, after being resurrected by some unknown means, winds up homeless, familyless, and jobless. He gets taken in by Rabbi Yosef, who believes that Moishe’s resurrection is a sign of the End Times. After meeting Irina, a woman in a similar situation, Moshe sets out to regain everything he’d lost, from the love of his life to some semblance of financial freedom. Meanwhile, the honorable Prophet Elijah, who was supposed to meet Moshe and the others, winds up in a psychiatric hospital where he meets the lovely researcher named Noga who, for all intents and purposes, does not believe a single word he says. 

I laughed at these characters’ pains way more than I should’ve. I like the idea of Moshe being revived and not remembering a single thing about the afterlife. I also like that when Moshe and others came back to life, they weren’t greeted with any fanfare or even welcomed back with open arms (of course, excluding Rabbi Yosef). Everyday stressors still got in the way of them having a safe place to stay. They still had to get jobs. Money still needed to be earned. Reputations were still at stake if the Great Council and Avi were anything to go by. And true, Moshe demonstrated his leadership prowess and love for his fellow undead by establishing the Dry Bones Society. However, that was only because of his perseverance and the ability to hold fast to his values, which are very human traits, nothing supernatural about them. Is there potential for corruption? Of course, but everything that Moshe and Rabbi Yosef earn is deserved. 

I also smiled when Samira revealed her backstory and Rabbi Yosef’s reaction to it. Especially nowadays with everything that’s going on in the Middle East. Death really is the great equalizer. Doesn’t matter what you do or which religion you subscribe to; everyone dies. So it’s not that far off to say that some people might be there for the end times, people you might not have realized were, you know, eligible to witness the end times. 

Unfortunately, this book painfully reminds me of my job. Some clients believe they’ve experienced angels talking to them and Heaven (especially after a bad acid trip), and because of that, have given up on engaging with life. Granted, when they take certain medications, they no longer experience that Heaven, but the memory sticks with them. So for the Prophet (maybe) Elijah to go through what he’s going through, I just kept thinking to myself, “How many clients have actually experienced the unimaginable and are put on psych meds because of it?” If I asked them, “Hey, are you experiencing any hallucinations or delusional thinking?” If they give me something remotely similar to Elijah’s beliefs, I wonder what my reactions would be. Definitely not the psych ward, but it’d be something. 

I had a lot more fun with this book than I should’ve. It’s a feel-good story about lost men and women finding a purpose in their lives again, whether it be continuing old dreams or finding new ones. As such, I would give this book a 4 out of 5 stars.