“There’s only so much you can do.”
Grant is a Homeland Security agent in the department of Predictive Analytics, which investigates projections of terrorism to stop attacks before they happen. Sarah is a past-life therapist who accesses her patients’ previous incarnations to help them heal. Marigold is a patient whose “past” body lives in the present. In Simultaneous by Eric Heisserer, these three unlikely companions must work together to catch a serial killer and prevent the upheaval of the world.
This book felt too short. As soon as the past-lives idea started getting really interesting, the novel ended. There were a considerable number of moments that could have been drawn out longer, and there was a lot about the characters that was either left unexplored or discussed too shortly. I really liked the ideas behind the story and the characters, and I think they could play off each other well, but they were never given enough space to do so.
Eric Heisserer is a screenwriter known for his work on the film Arrival and the series Shadow and Bone, among other successful productions. I believe Simultaneous would work better as a screenplay. I think the subtlety of the characters’ feelings about each other and the world would be better conveyed through visual acting. As it is, with the characters’ emotions and motivations written out in unambiguous therapy lingo and explicit psychoanalysis, the characterization feels too heavy-handed. The problem isn’t necessarily with the characters intellectualizing their feelings but with the narrator stating it all to us outright.
The characters clash, but not as much as I think they should. They connect with each other, but not at a pace that feels natural. They reconcile, but only because they all end up speaking and thinking the same way. I know the author has good ideas about who Grant and Sarah are, but I think those ideas could be more specific and subtle; they could also be explored more in quieter scenes that help us to learn gradually who the characters are, not just by how they speak or how the narrator describes them but by the way they act on their own and around each other.
Marigold was unfortunately left as a plot device, the introduction to the idea of shared souls and the medium through which it is used to predict the future whenever convenient. I would have liked to see more of her.
I wish the writing had more flair and creative nuance. The many interesting scenes in this book could be elevated significantly by greater attention to atmosphere. I never felt the tone change when it should have, most notably when the trio started their pursuit of the Ash Killer.
I like when speculative thrillers are disturbing, morally contentious, and even convoluted. I like them to take a concept with concerning implications and then push it to its limits. I think they should make a statement, or at least make my heart race. Every part of Simultaneous unfolded logically and predictably. It was a fast-paced and readable story, but it didn’t leave me with any food for thought. The concept is very intriguing, but Simultaneous doesn’t fulfill its potential.
