A review by bobpony
Immortality Inc. by Robert Sheckley

2.0

This is a relic of another time. It's from 1959, but it reads as though it were written in the 30's or early 40's. The plot is convoluted - one moment you're flying in an air-car equipped with flight sticks and 'vanes', the next you're being chased by zombies. And then you're a hunter straight out of 'The Most Dangerous Game'. Then hanging out with gangster types. Or raiding a crypt. Or sailing the south sea islands. The story just ping pongs here, there, and everywhere, never in depth, leaving the feeling of an old serial chapter play. It's kind of Buck Rogers mixed with The Crimson Ghost (maybe...I just had to google 'a spooky chapter play', lol). There's that swerving story with lots of cliffhangers. The characters are no better. Extremely shallow, barely described, with motivations that spin on a dime. "Oh, I couldn't possibly hunt and kill a man, my character won't allow it...but then again, you did make a good point there, so, ok, I'm in". Dialog like that. Ugh. Too much of the story is told via exposition, often in the form of the main character's internal dialog. It's boring. Can you tell that I didn't like this book? It's just so...flat and basic. A bad effort. It actually put me off reading for a couple of days, I had a hard time coming back to finish this, but I knew that I was 2/3's of the way through and had to do it. Blah. There are some interesting twists and ideas here. But none of them are presented in anything resembling a thoughtful or cohesive manner. I really did think it was written in the 40's, and was stunned when I finished and saw it was from 1959. Avoid this one.