Terri Bruce

“Why are you staring at me?”
“Well, it’s just, because…you know. You’re…” “Well…dead”

When she awoke in the morning, it all came back to her. She had searched the web for information about ghosts and the after life, but found nothing describing her situation.

She got in the shower and brushed her teeth. She felt, just because she was dead, that was no reason she shouldn’t take care of normal hygiene.

Suddenly, it came to her. There must be others in the same situation as hers. So she left the house in search of more answers.

When Irene waved to Mrs. Boine, she waved back. She ran up on the porch and began talking to her, only to find out she was dead too. As they talked two little girls came out asking for Grandma to push them. Mrs. Boine told Irene that they couldn’t see her, yet they knew she was there.

Irene came right out and asked Mrs. Boine what she was supposed to do? Where was she supposed to go? Mrs. Boine said she had everything she could want right where she was, so why should she go anywhere.

Irene was in Limbo, but at least now she knew she wasn’t the only ghost. She found that ghosts tended to have an aura about them. She couldn’t help but wonder – Where’s the bright light? – like in the Ghost Whisperer.

She found herself in front of a house and noticed the name Johnson.Why did that sound familiar to her? Then she remembered, the kid, Jonah could see her and his name had been Johnson. But what could a 14-year-old kid tell her? She felt she had to talk to him. She went in the house, even though he wasn’t home, and she hadn’t been invited in. It was obvious from his bedroom he was alive and well. But why could he see her? She knew he could be unseen, invisible to others, too. Why? How?

book of spells

She left a note and hoped he would come find her. When he did, he told her he found a book with spells, about astral projection and transcendental meditation. They talked about what he had discovered from reading books. She kept asking him questions. How would she get to the afterlife? What was ahead for her?

“You’re like a two-year old, you know that,” was his response.

And so began their journey to find the answers that would help Irene move on.

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Pretty cover and an appropriate title.

I got some chuckles when…..Well, I can’t tell you. For the subject of death, I really like Terri Bruce’s approach to it and the afterlife and the time in between. How would you react? What would you feel like if life went on without you? Is there life after death? Funny light-hearted look at death. A lot of food for thought in this book.

Irene - was a spoiled rotten brat. Selfish. The 14-year-old kid acted more like an adult than she did. She didn’t put her full effort into her job, even though she liked it. Definitely liked drinking and had no qualms about calling in sick, after partying all night. She felt she had done what she was supposed to do, wasn’t that enough? She had an education, a good job, family, friends and a love life. What else was there?

Jokes

“Why aren’t ghosts good at telling lies?” ” Because you can see right through them.”

“…what kind of mistakes do ghosts make…” “Boo-boos.”

“What kind of street does a host live on?” “A dead-end.”

“Who does a ghost invite to his party?” “Anyone he can dig up.”

Quotes

“Cops Undead: Miami”

“Today is the first day of your afterlife”

“You can’t come in. I didn’t invite you. ”That’s vampires.” “

“Here take my sock, it’s stinky, just like you”

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

The book brought to mind Charmed, Supernatural and Ghost Whisperer, three TV shows that deal with magic, death, ghosts, the supernatural, the paranormal……when Irene and Jonah talked about scrying, finding lost objects, spells…..made me think of all three shows.

Maybe ignorance is bliss. Maybe we are better off not knowing what is to come. What is life about? The infamous, why me? Regrets? Set a wrong right? Unfinished business. Who does the judging? What are the rules?

The ending wraps it up nicely and left me with a warm fuzzy feeling and a smile. All’s well that ends well, went through my mind.… (más)

Irene Dunphy was a 36-year-old party girl when she died in a car crash after a night of drinking, and she didn’t change much in the afterlife, as chronicled in Hereafter. Irene did meet Jonah – a solitary 14-year-old who could see dead people – and under his influence, Irene began to exercise her conscience and allow herself to be governed occasionally by reason instead of passion fueled by alcoholic beverages.
Thereafter picks up where Hereafter left off, and Irene picks up some new companions on this portion of her journey through the afterlife. Thereafter is packed with historical figures and intriguing snippets of ideas about the afterlife from various places and times. Irene is about as un-spiritual as you can get, but it would be pretty silly for her to deny that there’s an afterlife, since she’s living it. She just doesn’t know how she is supposed to be living it or what, if anything, she’s supposed to do? And the biggest question of all…Is there any way to get back to her old life on Earth?
Both books in the Afterlife series are fun reads with enough action in each book to keep you reading but also enough semi-serious speculation on different theories and philosophies about the afterlife to make you think a little, too.
Read full review at Bay State Reader's Advisory blog.… (más)