Review of "IMMORTAL" - a Man Who Lives Forever

I was lucky enough to receive an advance copy of Gene Doucette's first novel, Immortal. I am not a rabid fan of fantasy, but I am a sci-fi geek, and I love a good story in any genre.

Immortal is a Sci-Fi/Fantasy adventure with a sense of humor. I was drawn into the story immediately by the author's sense of historical irony, the moral yet flawed main character, and the fact that anything - literally - could happen next. That's not to say that Immortal is chaotic. The story is very well structured, written with a distinct voice by the author, Gene Doucette. It's an easy read about a man who lives forever, yet whose existence is continually threatened by the many different types of creatures he encounters.

Immortal is relatively light fare in the world of mixed-genre imagination - which works for me - after reading any number of thousand-paged tomes. That is, the author does not belabor unnecessary details. Yes, I like Dune too, but sometimes one just doesn't want to slog through pages and pages of heavy description to envision a believable "other" world. The fun of Immortal is that Doucette makes it sound as if Adam, the immortal, could be a friend of any one of us who might decide to go along for the ride.

Although history is an important element in the story, Doucette does not fall victim to trying to cram every major event into one novel. Adam, the story's protagonist, sprinkles his wry observations of history here and there as appropriate. Most of Adam's time is spent fighting for his life against demons, known and unknown. Although he is immortal, Adam knows he is subject to injury. So to keep his immortality, Adam must use all the clever knowledge he has amassed over the centuries.

Doucette is a first-time novel writer, but makes quick work of creating a good story and teasing us with snippets of other possible tales to come. I did appreciate that Doucette's vampires did not spend all their time chasing each other through the forest in the throes of young love. I highly recommend getting Immortal now to read and enjoy through the cold winter nights.

I anxiously await the next novel from this author. Doucette has published other short humor books and religiously keeps his blog updated about the writing process.