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Dec 13, 2017JCLChrisK rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
What would you do if you found out you were about to die? There's an app currently available called WeCroak. From it's website: "Find happiness by contemplating your mortality with the WeCroak app. Each day, we’ll send you five invitations at randomized times to stop and think about death. It’s based on a Bhutanese folk saying that to be a happy person one must contemplate death five times daily." Of course, that's only contemplating the possibility of distant death. What about the certainty of imminent death? An app, say, that notifies you, "Today is the day. You have less than 24 hours to live." That's the case in this book. A service exists that phones people shortly after midnight on the date of their deaths. No more information than that, just sometime before the next midnight they are going to die. It is always correct. There is no avoiding it. Mateo and Rufus each receive the call on September 5, 2017. Today is the day. Now they have to figure out how they will spend the short time remaining to each of them. How or if they will say goodbye. How or if they will grieve. What experiences they want to sneak in before it is too late. If they will interact with the industry that has formed around this knowledge--apps, services, and business for "Deckers" like themselves. The two young men (ages 17 and 18) take turns narrating their stories, along with a mix of others they encounter during their day. They have distinct personalities, voices, and approaches. And it's not a spoiler to say they meet each other through an app called Last Friend, becoming each other's "last friends." Together, they try to live a lifetime in a single day. This is a thoughtful, moving, and, given the title spoils the ending, surprisingly tense and suspenseful book. A very worthwhile read.