All through school, math and science plagued me. When I got to high school, I found biology interesting–at least enough to take regular and Advanced Placement classes. Chemistry, though, was baffling, and physics? Well, I even avoided the hallway outside of that particular classroom. Math was much the same. I survived algebra and barely escaped the clutches of geometry. All of the history is to set the background for this review of AND THEN YOU’RE DEAD.

Now, in the second half of my forties, it seems unlikely that I’d even elect to read a book steeped in both science and math. And yet I did–and I thoroughly enjoyed it! Perhaps it’s the humor and sarcasm written into the narration; perhaps I have picked up an affinity for subjects I once dreaded; perhaps it’s the fact that there are no quizzes, tests, or final exams related. Whatever the reason or motivation, I think AND THEN YOU’RE DEAD was deeply detailed and absorbing. I hung on every word and pestered both friends and family members to check it out. At the very least, you’ll learn what to do if the elevator cable snaps while you’re riding inside or which objects to avoid if you’re walking past the Empire State Building just as someone throws them from the top floor.

Oh, and word to the wise: don’t stow away on the next mission to the moon. It wouldn’t end well.