The Methuselah Man, by Will Dresser

Will Dresser is a new author that I have just read for the first time. His book The Methuselah Man is amazing. I will disclaim that Mr. Dresser sent me a copy of the book in exchange for a review. Boy am I glad that I accepted his offer. This book is fascinating.

 The story starts out with Joe Rosenfeld and Liz Charles present at the burial of an extraordinary man. He has lead an amazing life that has brought him in contact with countless numbers of people, both simple and complex, poor and rich, weak and powerful. Yet Joe and Liz are the only two people to attend the burial, except for the grave digger. Why is that? Why does no one else come to this funeral? If this man was so amazing and so important why are there not others there?

Well, that's the point of the story. From the opening scene we are transported back in time to a couple of weeks before when Jared Kennan Cain, the Methuselah Man, shows up at the psychiatric office of Joe Rosenfeld to seek counsel and to `tell' his story. Liz Charles is Joe's secretary and confidant, so she gets to meet Cain, but not sit in on the sessions.

 On the other side of the country our hero, Wes Franklin, is having a friendly get together with an old friend, who just happens to be the Secretary of State, Crandall Forsyth. Crandall is asking Wes to help him discover some information regarding the Vice-President of the United States, George S. Austin.

It seems as though Austin and President Treem don't see eye to eye on Nuclear disarmament. There is a summit coming up and the Vice-President is put in charge of security and Forysth wants Wes to have a hand in that. Then there is another sub-plot, some Russian mobsters are trying to sell weapons grade Plutonium to some Arab businessmen. The CIA and others are trying to stop that and dismantle the threat of nuclear material getting into the hands of terrorist.

 So, how do all these stories come together? Oh, and did I forget to tell you about the Genetic Discovery Corp, and Dr. Bridger who are a CIA front for developing chemical and biological weapons? Yeah, they are going to play a big part in this story.

But the main plot of the story is The Methuselah Man. Cain has come to Rosenfeld because he is dying of cancer of wants to talk about the afterlife. The problem is this, Rosenfeld feels his client is in denial and doesn't want to come to terms with dying. But Cain wants to talk with Rosenfeld about his book on near death experiences. Why? Because Cain can't die! That's the bottom line. He can't die. He is living forever. He gets sick, but then he gets better. His body has a genetic make-up that is "the fountain of youth." He wants help from Rosenfeld to come to terms with God, heaven, the afterlife, and why he can't die, etc.

Dr. Bridger and the Genetic Discovery Corp want Cain back because they are studying him to see why he can't die. The Vice-President wants Cain back because he has a special project for him to do for him. 

Wes Franklin comes in to play because well, just because, you will have to read the book to find out. Wes, Joe, Liz and Wes's friends, Aryana and AJ all come together to try and save Cain from the clutches of Dr. Bridger and the Genetic Discovery Corp.

But Cain has some other ideas as well as to what he needs to do. All along Rosenfeld and Franklin discover the truth of the Methuselah Man, he has extraordinary powers of healing. He doesn't seem able to die, even when he is shot he heals. Oh, and how long has he been alive anyway. For Cain, all he wants is to die. He wants to be freed from immortality and to be brought back into the good graces of God. He is tired of being `punished by God' for a sin that he committed 1,000's of years before. But does God really punish people? Not according to my Theology.

But Cain thinks so and makes a very good argument for his belief. This book has more twists and turns than Lombard Street in San Francisco. You will be kept on the edge of your seat while reading. You won't want to stop. I lost sleep because of this book.

Will Dresser does a wonderful job of developing his main plot, weaving in his sub-plots and bringing them all together in a fast paced thrill ride ending that will leave you wanting more. Then he will take a couple of more chapters to tie it all up nice and pretty and deliver to you the ultimate reality of how power and greed, but mostly power will corrupt even the best of men.

The character development is wonderful. I thought that each person who was important to the story was well developed and you received all the information you needed to know them well. If you kept track of the players and the plots you could come up with the solution to the story, or could you? Towards the end of the story there is one more surprise that Dresser gives you regarding President Treem. I won't tell you what it is, you will just have to read the story to find out.

After you finish the book go back and re-read the opening chapter and you will be left smiling at the way this story all came together. If you love political spy thrillers you will love this novel. If you love Romance novels you will even find that in here. If you love Military hero's there is a great sub-plot for that with real life Medal of Honor winners who are good men, brave men, dedicated men, and men who realize they were just skillful and lucky.

 If you can't tell, I loved this book. Enjoy!