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© 2026 Juvoni Beckford

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Fiction · 2014

The Life We Bury

Allen Eskens

The Life We Bury Cover
Rating
7/10
Difficulty
Light
Read time
7 hours
Best in
  • Audible
  • Kindle

303 pagesRead May 2, 2016Staying power: Lingering influence

by Juvoni Beckford·@juvoni

Before readingWhy I picked it up

I was in the mood for some mystery fiction after writing a blog post with some references to Sherlock Holmes. I had good things about the narration and structure for Eskens' debut novel.

After readingPosted September 11, 2016

Grab a seat, this captivating thriller, a debut novel Allen Eskens, will sure take you on a ride. I was glued to this story! I should note that I'm giving this bonus points from a 4 up to a 5 because of the excellent narration by Zach Villa on audible which added soo much personality and color to the story, as well as this being one of the few thrillers I've read so the patterns and metaphors used were new to me.

The story follows, Joe Talbert a young college student who was working his way through school, taking care of himself and soon had a lot more on his plate as the story develops. He was given a term paper assignment to write about an elderly person, and choose to write about Carl Iverson, a dying Vietnam veteran and a convicted murderer.

Three reasons to read it

  1. 01Well written mystery story.
  2. 02Gripping story of a college student who had to complete a writing assignment and wrote about a convicted murderer on his deathbed.
  3. 03Lessons on responsibility.

Notable quotesAllen EskensMore in Quotes

  1. 01

    “What if I was wrong? What if there was no other side. What if, in all the eons of eternity, this was the one and only time that I would be alive. How would I live my life if that were the case?”

  2. 02

    “We are surrounded every day by the wonders of life, wonders beyond comprehension that we simply take for granted. I decided that day that I would live my life—not simply exist. If I died and discovered heaven on the other side, well, that'd be just fine and dandy. But if I didn't live my life as if I was already in heaven, and I died and found only nothingness, well…I would have wasted my life. I would have wasted my one chance in all of history to be alive.”

  3. 03

    “No sin could be greater than a sin that cannot be rectified, the sin you never get to confess.”

Notes for this book are still being transcribed.

←PreviousThe War of ArtSteven PressfieldNext→On the Shortness of LifeSeneca
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No affiliate link·Goodreads

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The Life We Bury cover, this bookXenocideThe Fault in Our StarsReady Player OneThis bookAlso in Fiction

Xenocide, The Fault in Our Stars and Ready Player One.

13 books in Fiction →