The book has a wonderfully intriguing plot. What would happen if one were to have the opportunity to relive one's life after death? That is exactly what happens to Jeff Winston, a forty- three year old man who is trapped in a stale and loveless marriage with a dead-end job as the icing on his personal cake.

In 1988, Jeff has a fatal heart attack and wakes up in 1963 as his younger self, an eighteen year old college student. After his initial shock wears off, he realizes that he remembers what the future holds. Using that knowledge, he goes about trying to improve his life the second time around, only to die again at forty-three and have to replay his life, over and over.

Along the way, Jeff tries to correct his mistakes in judgment and develops a new perspective on life. He also discovers that he is not alone in terms of the ability to replay one's life and finds a soul mate who shares a similar fate. Jeff ultimately discovers true love, romance, adventure, and a deep appreciation of life itself. This is a wonderful book that will keep the reader turning the pages. Bravo!


One of the Few Books I ever Read Twice   December 28, 1999
 22 out of 26 found this review helpful

I first bought & read a hardcover copy of this book back in the early 90's. Within the year I read it a second time just to see if my very real initial enjoyment of it was just a fluke, decided it wasn't, loaned it to a friend, and never saw it again. Two years ago when I loaned & later gave my copy of "Jumper" by Steven Gould to my teenage stepson, he enjoyed it so much he asked me to recommend any other books I could think of that were even slightly similar in theme. Replay immediately came to mind but I wasn't sure it was still available & didn't take the time to find out. Needless to say, I've just rediscovered it & plan to order two copies shortly. If you're looking for lots of technical complexity in a novel you should move on; if you want a hard to put down, easy to read, thought provoking parable of how we all can take the simplest things in life for granted, it's a great book. I'm looking forward to reading it a third time and getting an extra twist this time by hearing my stepson's comments.


How many times does a person have to die?   October 18, 2006
 18 out of 19 found this review helpful

I love time travel books and this is one of the best ones I've read. Some details in the character's lives are slightly dated because it was written in the 80s, but that doesn't make it any less interesting. Hopefully Grimwood will write a sequel in the future. Even though the ending was decent, I wondered what happened to the main characters after they returned to their normal lives and if there were any other people that went through the same ordeal.


Isn't The Effect Of This Book On Your Personal View, EERIE!?   October 14, 1999
 17 out of 18 found this review helpful

I first read "Replay" when it was new, back in the 1980s. I remember picking it up on a whim at a now-defunct bookstore in the middle of London, and taking it home with me. I'd just suffered a breakup with a girlfriend, and was entrenched for yet another lonely and dull Saturday night in.

I thought.

Well, I kept reading, and reading, and reading. And just couldn't put the damned thing down. It was early the next morning, and I'd finished the thing in one sitting, and...it was WEIRD. It was almost a chemical reaction, like something had gone "clonk" in my brain. I know precisely what people here mean when they liken it to a religious experience (and I'm not even remotely religious.)

I've lent this book to SO many people over the years; purchased copied for others. It's almost a litmus test...you can tell a lot about a person by their reaction to it.

I met someone at a party once, and the title came up in casual conversation. The reaction was like "lighting the blue touch paper"...the room IGNITED. This book is so loved, it's almost eerie.

A friend of mine, a fellow screenwriter, casually dropped it into a conversation with me, and we ALSO went nuts over this. The feeling is evangelical...you just WANT this book to be read by others! (A friend of mine in Scotland just got a copy through Amazon as a referral from me...hi, Lee!)

As a coda, I'd like to add that this book *IS* currently in the early stages of development as a movie at Warner Brothers, but from what I've heard about the script drafts to date, the producers seem to have cut a lot of the guts and heart from the story. I feel myself, and other "Replay" fans, could be very disappointed with the results.

This is *my* favourite book ever, period. (And I'm so picky, I can't even compile a list of my top 100 movies!) Buy it now!!!!