Upon receiving this book The Next, I realized that it was the second in a series. I searched and found the
first book, The Quick, and read it for background. I am glad I did. It made the second book so much easier
to understand.
Jimmy Miles is a private investigator who never sleeps at night. Shucks he almost never sleeps. Why you may ask?
Because he is a sailor. A person who is lost between this world and the afterlife. It is believed that sailors have
something left undone. Until it is settled they stay here on this earth. They are the same person they were before,
but they are not recognizable to their loved ones.
Angel is a gentle soul who helped Jimmy when he first became a sailor. He has asked Jimmy to follow a young girl
and keep her safe. No other explanation. The girl's name is Lucy and Jimmy feels she is the saddest person he has
ever seen. As she leaves town, she picks up a young boy who he assumes is her brother. The boy is a musician and
Jimmy nicknames him Les Paul.
As the story proceeds, Jimmy realizes that someone, probably a sailor, is tricking mortals into taking their own
lives. He also sees Mary, a girl he loved many years ago. She is married and has a son, but Jimmy is torn about
whether to reveal himself.
I quickly got into these stories and wanted Jimmy to be the hero. I loved the characters; both the leading and
the small stand-bys and cared about what happened to them. I hope Dan Vining writes more for this series real soon.