The Man Who Saw Seconds
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3.0 • 4 Ratings
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
Winner, 2025 Locus Award for best science fiction novel of 2024
Winner, CIBA Mark Twain grand prize winner for best satire of 2024
Finalist, Foreword Reviews for best thriller of 2024
Finalist, Eric Hoffer Award
"10 for 2024" Year-End Best Books List
Preble Jefferson can see five seconds into the future.
Otherwise, he lives an ordinary life. But when a confrontation with a cop on a New York City subway goes tragically wrong, those seconds give Preble the chance to dodge a bullet—causing another man to die in his place.
Government agencies become aware of Preble’s gift, a manhunt ensues, and their ambitions shift from law enforcement to military. Preble will do whatever it takes to protect his family, but as events spiral out of control, he must weigh the cost of his gift against the loss of his humanity.
A breathless thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very last page, The Man Who Saw Seconds explores the nature of time, the brain as a prediction machine, and the tension between the individual and the systems we create. Alexander Boldizar provides an adrenaline-pumping read that will leave you contemplating love, fear and the abyss.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In the opening pages of this tedious outing from Boldizar (The Ugly), Preble Jefferson, the New York state champion in "chessboxing" (alternating rounds of chess and boxing), gets into a fight with a cop who accuses him of "seat hoggery" for placing his chess bag on a subway seat. Preble can see five seconds into the future, and after he dodges a bullet meant for him and it takes out the cop's partner, he flees the scene. He worries that the authorities will come after him—to say nothing of the guilt he feels for letting another man die in his place. After discussing the situation with his lawyer friend, Preble decides to disclose his gift of foresight to the NYPD and offer them his services. Word gets out, sparking a global manhunt as international agencies scramble to find and exploit Preble, a goose chase Boldizar unsuccessfully tries to mine for insights on fate and free will. Unfortunately, the novel's mishmash of surreal comedy and earnest moralizing never coheres. Even adventurous readers are likely to find this exhausting.
