Book Review: A Parallel Life (Edmund Lester)

Ben Williamson is dead…at least that is what his family, friends and colleagues think when they see his face and name in the news. It’s a shock, especially to Ben who is very much alive. As it turns out he had a double, a man who looked almost completely identical to him in every way.

Ben, the very much alive version is fascinated by this other man and decides to look into who he was. What he finds is a man who lived a completely different life to him but they had very similar goals at once stage, mainly being a rock star. Whereas Ben gave up all of that the other him didn’t and went on to be fairly successful albeit mostly forgotten in modern times.

Alive Ben can’t help but wonder what his life would have been like if he had followed his dream and he begins to start living it through the dead memory of his twin. What starts off as fascination starts to turn into an unhealthy obsession. One that will have dire consequences for everyone.

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A Parallel Life doesn’t quite have the same impact as Edmund Lester’s other story The Intersection yet it tells a story that is equally as fascinating. Using the same character, Ben Williamson was an interesting choice and I do like the idea of him being a reoccurring lead. It makes this, The Intersection and any following stories feel like we’re part of a multiverse. All these Bens, living different yet simple lives when a sudden event changes everything. Always leading to a horrifying end.

How many times have we seen a picture of someone who looks like someone we know? Is it a coincidence or is someone living a parallel life?