Pierce the Veil  by David Simms

Macabre Ink, 2024

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1637890516

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition (pre-order)

Buy: Amazon.com

Derek Boone and his friend and fellow bandmate Shane are navigating a snowstorm on their way home from a show when the car they’re in skids off the road and off the side of a bridge into freezing water, killing them both. Almost a day later, Boone is revived using an experimental cryogenic technology, All he wants is for life to go back to normal, fix things with his religious fiancée, Megan, and grieve Shane (I found his grief experience to be very convincing). However, his unique experience has made him news, and everyone has an opinion about what he should do and whether he should share his NDE (near-death experience) although he doesn’t remember it. He is suspended from his job as a teacher due to parent concerns that he will bring it up, asked to do a television interview, targeted by a priest-assassin, and kidnapped, with Megan, by a cult. The cult wants to use his NDE to prove to the world that there is no heaven, only a place of energy absorbing “clouds” that drain souls like batteries, and the brotherhood of the priest believes that due to the length of his NDE he can push through that “hell” to find light on the other side, to bolster the world’s belief that there is a heaven. It’s interesting that both sides make the exact same arguments. The brotherhood, as an underground branch of the Catholic Church, has a lot more institutional power behind it. Despite everything, Boone manages to hang on to the core of who he is.

Simms drops you right into the middle of the action, and it is a wild ride up to the end, with some horrific scenes, as well as some dread-inducing moments at the end. Yet there is space for Boone to participate in and process philosophical discussions on NDEs and the afterlife that are necessary to move the plot forward without feeling like the plot has lost its thread.

In terms of character development. Boone’s close friends Charlie and Heather, who are briefly mentioned near the beginning of the book, are memorable and help move the plot forward, Megan, whose function at first seems to be irritatingly pushy and misguided about religion, absolutely rocks in a team-up with Boone as the priest-assassin chases them through a shopping mall, She shows strength of character and puts herself on the line for Boone. Even the priest-assassin is revealed to have more to him than we initially see.

Boone is just an ordinary guy wanting to live an ordinary life, whose singular experience leaves him, and the people he loves, in precarious situations while he attempts to unravel his experiences during his NDE. As much as he wants to believe things in his life can stay the same, he’s’ left in a haze of uncertainty, grief, love, and fear that he needs to work through himself to find answers.

Pierce the Veil  is not just a thrill ride. It will make you think.

Reviewed by Kirsten Kowalewski