THE END SPECIALIST by Drew Magary

There's an interesting premise to this book - somebody discovers how to remove the gene that causes ageing - and plenty of dark humour. Giving the premise away isn't really a spoiler, as you discover that in the first few pages. And the first third or more of the book is given over to snippets, allegedly from a blog, about the various practical and ethical problems that lack of ageing causes. I particularly remember "You know you can never retire, right?" Quite. You might live forever, frozen at age 35 or whatever, but you still have to fund it.
   I enjoyed the book, but it isn't perfect. I think it loses its way in the last third or so. It loses its 'blog appeal' and starts to read like... well, like a book. And it moves away from exploring the ethical dilemmas and instead turns into a sort of thriller. Sure, it describes the breakdown of civilisation pretty well, but as a book I think it lacks consistency. I certainly enjoyed the first half more than the second.
   Don't let those quibbles put you off, though. If you want a vaguely philosphical, humorous future-based blog-cum-adventure story, you won't find another book quite like this one.
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