Written by: Connie Willis
Published by: Bantam Doubleday Dell

Death is the ultimate mystery, a conundrum that unites us all. Many feel a clue to this riddle is the Near Death Experience. Dr. Joanna Lander is trying to conduct a scientific study of the phenomena. This isn’t helped by the familiarity the public has with the classic NDE. She is further hindered by pop psychologist and best-selling author Maurice Mandrake. With his leading questions and constant preaching of his New Age pseudo-Christian version of the afterlife, most of the patients Dr. Lander want to talk to only have Mandrake’s vision in their heads. Even the subjects that give untainted descriptions cause her problems. Maisie, a child with a failing heart which takes her near death too often is a master of keeping adults around to keep her company. So Dr. Lander needs all the help she can get.

Dr. Richard Wright seems to be that help. His project involves a drug that stimulates the brain in the same pattern as an NDE. He has volunteers taking the drug then telling their experiences. Unfortunately, the volunteer pool is full of crackpots, Mandrake followers, and other unsuitable candidates. So, Dr. Lander volunteers herself to take the drug. What she experiences and the doctors’ work to unravel those experiences could change the way we perceive NDEs and maybe life and death itself.

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