‘The Many Lives of Jimmy Leighton’ Book Review By Ron Fortier

The Many Lives of Jimmy Leighton Book Review By Ron Fortier

THE MANY LIVES OF JIMMY LEIGHTON
By Dave Thomas & Max Allan Collins
Neo Text
328 pgs

Considering his past works, writer Max Allan Collins is the last person we’d ever associate with science fiction. But that’s exactly what we have here in this thriller co-written with Dave Thomas. “The Many of Lives of Jimmy Leighton” is half sci-fi and half crime mystery. Jimmy Leighton is a young thief living in Boston’s notorious South End. He’s in debt to a sadistic Vietnamese gangster and decides to rob the house of a scientist. In the man’s cellar, he discovers a quantum machine and accidentally activates it while he is shot in the back of the head by a second intruder.

And just like that there are two Jimmy Leightons. One who collapses from the gunshot wound and the second who simply vanishes? Jimmy’s consciousness is transported to another earth and into the body of a duplicate Jimmy Leighton; one who is rich and lives in Chicago. As our dimension-hopping protagonist tries to comprehend his dilemma, his other self is rescued and taken to a Boston hospital where surgeons save his life but leave him in a coma. Enter detectives Sam Neer and Taylor Farr, assigned to the case. Who shot the thief in the scientist’s basement and why? From this point, the book jumps, much like our hero, back and forth between the story of the cops trying to solve the shooting and Jimmy’s quantum identity jumps. Throughout the story, he’ll find himself as a boxing prize-fighter, a bank robber, an infantry soldier in Afghanistan, and even a hometown Catholic.

The balance between both narratives is really well handled; both writers maintain a truly enjoyable rhythm throughout the story. They bring it all to a very satisfying conclusion for all the characters. This is obviously a one-shot as we can’t envision any sequels. Yet we’d really like to see Neer and Farr again. Perhaps in a more traditional cop mystery in the future? Regardless, “The Many Lives of Jimmy Leighton” is a fun read one not to be missed.

ESO Network Sponsors

GEEK CHIC IS THE NEW … CHIC
COME TO THE GEEK SIDE. WE HAVE THE BEST SWAG

Support Us

A Dollar a month keeps us in orbit. Trust us it’s better that way.

Ways to Listen

Find Us Wherever Fine Podcasts are Found

Sign Up for the ESO Newsletter

WE HARDLY EVER SEND THEM OUT BUT WHEN WE DO THEY ARE AWESOME

ESO Network Archives

Archives

No matter where you go here you are

Follow the ESO Network

You didn't come this far to only come this far

Contact Us

    Remember any comment made today will be the tomorrow you worried about yesterday

    <-- see them in a pretty grid

    42 Cast
    The Best Saturdays of Our Lives
    Blurred Nerds
    But First, Let's Talk Nerdy
    Cigar Nerds
    The Con Guy
    Cosmic Pizza
    Dragon Con Report
    Drinking with Authors

    Most Recent Episodes

    Earth Station DCU
    Earth Station One
    Earth Station Trek
    Earth Station Who
    Epsilon Three
    Flopcast
    Metal Geeks
    Modern Musicology
    Monkeeing Around
    Monster Attack
    The Monster Scifi Show
    Soul Forge
    Thunder Talk
    The Watch-a-thon of Rassilon