Review: Do Not Resuscitate by Nicholas Ponticello

Do Not Resuscitate is a story told by the aging Jim Frost, who’s being harassed by a daughter with control issues to get his brain downloaded and backed up. As he considers what this means about the impermanence of death, and how much he doesn’t agree with it, he tells the story of his life. He’s seen a lot of the world go to pot while transporting red coolers for a mysterious boss.

Filled with interesting characters and a strong storytelling style that only slips a couple times, Do Not Resuscitate had me continually wanting to get back to reading it. I enjoyed it thoroughly.

In fact, while Do Not Resuscitate isn’t as dark or deep or weird as anything by Kurt Vonnegut, Ponticello’s writing somehow has the same music as those works. Maybe it’s the cadence of the words, or the patter of a slightly odd person talking about the insane world around them, but Do Not Resuscitate continually reminded me of Vonnegut, and that’s never happened before, in decades of reading science fiction.

Recommendation: Buy it. I enjoy seeing the simple red spine of this book among the more established authors on my bookshelf.