The End by Paul Bryan Roach

U.S. Marine Captain Francis Xavier O'Rourke has a big problem: He is dying. Afghanistan, gunfire, and a helicopter crash have left him in pieces. Hospitalized and in critical condition, there appears a bright light at the end of a long tunnel…. When Francis visits the afterlife the concepts of heaven, hell, angels and demons initially seem confusing and at least fifteen degrees off of what he expected. Far from it being a beatific, peaceful, and dull plane of existence, he sees that life after death does not after all represent the end of the tumult and intrigue of the material world. There still are people to meet, choices to make, battles to fight, and the possibility of annihilation all over again. If anything, the ethereal world seems to be more intense than life in the material one. Francis falls in with his father who asks him to leave heaven and infiltrate hell as a double-agent; he attaches to a special forces unit; he is intrigued and courted by demons and others, and he meets a bold and lovely young woman named Deirdre who helps him understand and define who he wants to be, and why. While on the surface The End is an action/adventure thriller with military and medical elements, underneath the surface it is a philosophical story, exploring questions unique to our species such as what might be the nature of death and suffering, the purpose of human endeavor, and the value or the meaning of life? Metaphysical, it fractures traditional Catholic dogma to abstract a novel perspective and presentation of God and the Devil, good and evil, heaven and hell, and of messiahs. It is a love story, as well, of God and man, parent and child, man and woman, and the kinship and bonds between comrades-in-arms. Adventurous, raw, thought-provoking, and inspirational, The End weaves several story lines and multiple literary genres into one exciting ride which will surprise you and keep the pages turning until the story is complete. When it's over you'll miss the characters and perhaps you will think about some ordinary events in new, extraordinary ways.