REPLAY BY MARC LEVY - REVIEW

pic and description taken from Goodreads

Description:

On the morning of July 9th 2012, New York Times investigative reporter Andrew Stilman is jogging along the Hudson River when he feels a sudden, sharp pain in his lower back. He collapses in a pool of blood. When he regains consciousness, it's May 7th 2012—exactly two months earlier. From that moment on, Andrew has sixty days to uncover his murderer. Sixty days to find out who wants him dead and why. From New York City to Buenos Aires, Andrew embarks on a gripping race against time. By turns funny and heartrending, this page-turner builds up to a mind-blowing denouement.

My Review / Thoughts:

This book surprised me.  I was on Edelweiss one day just looking at book, and found this one.  I had requested several books before but I am always denied :(.  Kind of a bummer, but I am still new.  I think it's a blessing in disguise because I obviously do not read and review as many as my fellow bloggers.  Anywho, I requested it and much to my delight I was finally approved for this one.

It took me a while to get to it, maybe that's why I don't get reviews...hehehe.  The description totally sucked me in, and I have been anxious to read it.  I picked it up Friday night, and finished it Saturday.  I couldn't put it down.  

Andrew Stilman is an investigative reporter who is on the brink of a career changing article.  He in in a bar one night when he runs into an old flame from his past by the name of Valerie.  This part of the book was a little too fast for me.  I thought the meeting and the moving in together was way too quick, but it didn't deter me from wanting to read the rest of the story.

When Andrew is out on one of his morning runs he collapses with a sharp pain in his back, and when he wakes up, he is 60 days in the past.  He finds that he has the opportunity to find out who killed him, but he only has a two months to do it in.

Meanwhile, he is still researching a crime involving child trafficing in Aregentina.  He enlists the help of a retired cop by the name of Pilguez, and his best friend Simon.  These are the only two people he has told that he has to find his murderer.  He has to go on living life like nothing has happened.  Yet, he keeps finding that even altering little things changes how things happen in this second time around.

New evidence comes to light in his investigation, and it's exciting.  This is what surprised me.  The beginning seemed to move too fast, and then we get into the nitty gritty and I see why.  The beginning is just an "opening ceremony" for the mess he gets himself into in Argentina.

When parts of his article are revealed in this book, I found it very hard to read.  I am always amazed (okay, it may not be real...but you get my drift) at the disgusting acts humanity can do.  I was brokenhearted when reading his article about a little girl named Maria Luz.  So, let me just say, if you get a chance to read this book, just remember to not judge the book by the beginning :).

I am so glad Andrew gets to go back and "find" his murderer.  It allowed for the story behind his investigation to come about, and it was fantastic.  It was heart wrenching, and terrifying, and kept me on the edge of my seat.  I so did NOT expect his killer to be who it was.  I LOVE it when a book does that to me.  I was almost certain I knew who it was, and then low and behold I was WAY off the mark.  

If you like mystery, suspense, and excitement you will enjoy this book.

Content:  There is some language in this book including the "f" word a few times, but it was not overwhelming.  There is some talk of sex, but not descriptive.

Source:  Thanks to Edelweiss and Penguin Group (USA) LLC  for this ARC ebook.  I am not affiliated with Edelweiss or Penguin Group in anyway, and was not compensated for this review.  These are my own PERSONAL thoughts on the book.

My Rating:

4 out of 5

Where to Buy:

Available June 3, 2014

Amazon * Barnes & Noble 

About the Author:

pic and bio taken from Goodreads

Marc Levy was born in France on October 16th, 1961.When he turned eighteen, he joined the Red Cross, where he spent the next six years. In parallel, he studied management and computer programming at Paris-Dauphine University. In 1983, he created a computer graphics company based in France and the United States.

Six years later, he lost majority control of the group and resigned. Starting again from scratch, he returned to Paris and co-founded an interior design and planning company with two friends; the company soon became one of the leading office architecture firms in France.

At thirty-seven, Marc Levy wrote a story for the man that his son would grow up to be. In early 1999, his sister, a screenwriter (now a film director), encouraged him to send the manuscript to Editions Robert Laffont, who immediately decided to publish If Only It Were True. Before it was published, Steven Spielberg (Dreamworks) acquired film rights to the novel. The movie, Just like Heaven, produced by Steven Spielberg, starring Reese Witherspoon and Mark Ruffalo, was a #1 box office hit in America in 2005.

After If Only It Were True, Marc Levy began writing full-time. All of his novels have hit the top of the best-seller list in France. They are also very successful internationally and are consistently on the bestseller list in several countries including Germany, Italy, Spain, Russia, and Taiwan.

If Only It Were True, 2000 (adapted for film in 2005)

Finding You, 2001 (adapted for television in 2007)

Seven Days for an Eternity, 2003

In Another Life, 2004

If Only It Were True 2, 2005

London Mon Amour, 2006 (adapted to film in 2008)

Children of Freedom, 2007

All Those Things We Never Said, 2008.

The First Day, 2009

The First Night, 2009 (the sequel to The First Day)

The Shadow Thief, 2010

The Strange Journey of Mr. Daldry, 2011

Replay, 2012

Stronger than Fear, 2013

The combined sales of Marc Levy's fourteen novels, translated into 48 languages, have surpassed the 30 million copy mark worldwide. Marc Levy is the most read French author in the world. (Source for all rankings and figures: Ipsos/Livres Hebdo/Le Figaro)

Marc Levy has also written short stories and directed a short film for Amnesty International, Nabila's Letter, screened in March 2004. In addition, he has written song lyrics for various artists including Johnny Hallyday.