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David Ely
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Seconds Kindle Edition

by David Ely (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 153 ratings
A disaffected banker gives up his life for a chance to start over—with a new identity and body—in the cult classic sci-fi thriller. 

Though he possesses all the trappings of success, Antiochus Wilson is completely and utterly bored with his life. But that all changes when he gets a call from a dead friend. Turns out the friend isn’t exactly dead. He simply traded in his old life for a new one. And Wilson can do it too. As a Reborn, he can have all the excitement, wealth, and happiness he’s been missing . . . for a price.

Intrigued, Wilson encounters a mysterious and exclusive organization—one that arranges for a client’s demise and outfits each with a new body in which to begin again. But there’s no turning back, and no room for second-guessing.

When Wilson begins to question his new circumstances, he finds himself surrounded by danger. And as he pushes against the boundaries of his reborn life, his second chance may be his last.
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  1. Print length
    185 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Harper Voyager
  4. Publication date
    January 8, 2013
  5. File size
    1.5 MB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
    Enabled
  8. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

What would you give up for a second chance?

Antiochus Wilson is completely and utterly bored with his life, until he receives the call that changes everything. When the voice on the other end of the line promises him excitement, wealth, and happiness, he is more than a little intrigued.

Arriving at a hastily scrawled address, Wilson discovers a mysterious and exclusive organization that offers its clients whole new lives . . . for a price. The organization arranges for a client's demise or disappearance and outfits each with a new body in which to begin again. But there's no turning back, and no room for second-guessing. When Wilson begins to question his new circumstances and pushes some very well-established boundaries a bit too far for the organization's comfort, his second chance may just be his last.

About the Author

David Ely was born in Chicago and was educated at the University of North Carolina, Harvard, and Oxford. He is a former newspaperman and the author of seven novels as well as two collections of short stories. His novel Seconds was the basis for the 1966 Rock Hudson film of the same title. He and his wife live on Cape Cod, in Massachusetts.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B009CZI1GO
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harper Voyager; Reprint edition (January 8, 2013)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ January 8, 2013
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1.5 MB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 185 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 153 ratings

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David Ely

David Ely

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Customer reviews

4 out of 5 stars
153 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book an enjoyable and thought-provoking read with an interesting concept. They praise the writing quality as well-written and simple, describing it as a quick and easy read that holds up over time.

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18 customers mention "Readability"18 positive0 negative

Customers enjoyed the book's readability. They found the story interesting, enjoyable, and thought-provoking. The concept was unusual and the book kept their interest with its twists and turns. Many described it as a fast-paced, fun read that also challenges the reader to think.

"Great fiction." Read more

"...that question I would highly recommend the novel both as a suspenseful story and as an examination of the attitudes and values that dominated..." Read more

"This was a very unusual book, reminded me a lot of "The Game", but with lasting, "forever" consequences...." Read more

"fairly compact and quick read, but still thought-provoking nonetheless...." Read more

6 customers mention "Writing quality"6 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the writing quality. They find it well-written, a quick read that holds up over time, and simple yet beautifully written.

"fairly compact and quick read, but still thought-provoking nonetheless...." Read more

"This is a remarkable, simply but beautifully written and seemingly little-known novel...." Read more

"...I must say that for the most part the writing held up for those 30 years. I still enjoyed this reread." Read more

"...It is well- written, and a bit scary, kind of reminded me of The Stepford Wives, although it involves men rather than woman...." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Amazon Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars Read the book. Watch the film.
    Reviewed in the United States on January 12, 2025
    Verified Purchase
    Great fiction.
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  • Jim Lester
    4.0 out of 5 stars An enjoyable, thought-provoking book
    Reviewed in the United States on January 21, 2014
    Verified Purchase
    This is a quick, fun read that also challenges the reader to think about some serious concepts. The story revolves around a man who signs on with a company that offers him a new appearance, a new identity and the chance to walk away from his old life and start over again. The deal seems to include sexy young women and an idyllic home by the ocean. But as the plot unfolds the man begins to question the wisdom of abandoning everything that was familiar to him.

    The main character is supposed to be in his forties but his speech and inner thoughts seem more appropriate to someone in his sixties. This may result from the fact that the novel was written fifty years ago when men tended to act older than they do now. The book was the basis on a successful Rock Hudson film and, according to the book cover, has achieved a certain level of cult status.

    As you read the book, you can't help but ask yourself if you were offered the opportunity to chuck your current life and start over again, would you go for it? No matter how you might answer that question I would highly recommend the novel both as a suspenseful story and as an examination of the attitudes and values that dominated America in the last half of the 20th century.
    7 people found this helpful
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  • Carolyn J. Jenkins
    3.0 out of 5 stars No snap.
    Reviewed in the United States on November 3, 2013
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    This was a very unusual book, reminded me a lot of "The Game", but with lasting, "forever" consequences. I think the lesson to be learned here is that you can't move on before you've finished with the one you're leaving....lives, that is. I found it somewhat frustrating, in that this guy went at all of this with so much naivete and childishness that you could see what was coming a mile away.
    Because it was just so unique, I kept reading. But I didn't truly enjoy it as I could see what was coming a mile away. (I know, redundant) even to what was to become of him at the end. Sorry. I wanted to like it. Just couldn't get past the predictability.
    9 people found this helpful
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  • Timothy L Mayer
    5.0 out of 5 stars Afterlife and Discontents
    Reviewed in the United States on February 19, 2014
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    Seconds, by David Ely, was first published in 1963. In 1966 it was made into a movie starring Rock Hudson. I viewed the movie version and read the book in the space of a week. I must say the movie is a very faithful adaptation of the book. The movie is considered part of director John Frankenheimer's "paranoia" trilogy, the other two being Seven Days in May and The Manchurian Candidate.

    The book opens from the point-of-view of the protagonist. We never find out his real name, but he's attempting to contact the anonymous "company" about faking his death and being "reborn" in a new identity. We do know that he is a 50something banking executive and went to prep schools. After being shuttled down from one safe house to another, he's finally introduced to Mr. Joliffe, who outlines the company's policies, what kind of death they are going to fake, how much it will cost, and where he will be sent. The protagonist, who adopts the name "Wilson", is at first apprehensive, but then is shown another bit of forgery: a film of him assaulting a woman in a cheap hotel. After he's introduced to the owner of the company, "Wilson" has no choice but to sign his future life to them.

    What follows is an extensive round of surgery to completely redesign his face and body, although Wilson looks in a mirror and notes his eyes remain the same. Next, the company puts him through drug-induced hypnosis and finds out what he's always wanted to do: paint landscapes. After having his new life explained to him, Wilson is shown a series of counterfeit documents for it and flown to a seaside house on the California coast, which will be his new home.

    But deep down inside, Wilson remains the man he always was. All the physical and career conditioning the company can do will never change his inner self. The butler he's proved with, Jonathan, does everything possible, even bringing him a young figure model who wants to satisfy his every need. It all comes crashing down when Wilson agrees to sponsor a cocktail party and meet his neighbors. Drunk, he begins to talk of his former life, how he misses his wife and daughter. However, it turns out his neighbors are also "reborns" and don't appreciate his blabbering. But nothing can change him. Not even repeated calls from "Charley", a friend from a former life who recruited him for the company.

    Finally, Wilson commits the ultimate sin: he flies to Denver and New York to meet with his real daughter and wife. They don't recognize him of course, but he introduces himself as an old friend of the husband/father and tries to find out what they really thought. Of course, they didn't think a lot of him, he was too busy trying to earn a living in his Mad Men world. When he leaves his wife's house, there's car waiting for him from the company. It doesn't end well.

    As close as the movie was to the book, there are some differences. The whole naked grape stomp scene doesn't exist in the book. The woman he meets on the beach at the beginning of his new life doesn't do much in the novel. But there's enough similarities to enable you to read the book as you watch the movie. I can't read the words of the old man who runs the company without hearing Will Geer. Although the company representative he first encounters has a different name than the same character in the film, all I could hear while reading this section was Jeff Cory saying "corpse" in that strange speech pattern of his.

    The chaplain's speech at the conclusion of the novel is almost identical to the one in the movie:

    "You were perhaps reared in the Protestant faith?”
    “Yes.”
    “And you were never converted to any other?”
    “Well, no.”
    “Good. That is,” Dr. Morris amended with a smile, “I mean ‘good’ in the sense that we have a certain definition. I don’t mean to suggest that being a Protestant is any better than being a Catholic or a Jew, and as a matter of fact, I would be qualified, if I may say so, to serve you in either of those faiths as well.”
    Wilson gazed at him uncertainly.

    The novel is just as power today, almost fifty years later. And I think it resonates with men in their later years who can look back and wonder what happened to all their dreams. If someone could reboot your life for you, would you let them?

    The old man has the best comment at the end of the book:

    "...Oh, except that the failures kept on coming, more and more, and I finally had to admit that I might possibly have based my enterprise on a fallacy. I’ve always tried to be honest with myself, son. That’s the only way to live honorably.” He waved his pipe, which promptly went out, and he was forced to light it again. “As for that fallacy, it was simply this: that my business seemed to attract the wrong kind of clients. In fact, I often wondered whether it didn’t attract only the wrong kind of clients."
    [...]
    7 people found this helpful
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  • Gabriel Stone
    4.0 out of 5 stars Well-written and quick read
    Reviewed in the United States on June 22, 2018
    Verified Purchase
    fairly compact and quick read, but still thought-provoking nonetheless. Yes, it is a novel about identity and dreams, but it isn't so clear-cut, especially when the protagonist sees "regular" people walking around like drones, and couples dragging along with the ennui and boredom that can arise from marriages wrung dry. Such situations are not ideal, but at least they are real. Why do we want what we want? And how do we know when get it? Nothing earth-shattering in this novel, but done well and in compact fashion. Worth a couple hours in your favorite easy chair.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Edward St. Boniface
    5.0 out of 5 stars DON'T GET 'REBORN' BEFORE YOU'RE READY...
    Reviewed in the United States on July 9, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    This is a remarkable, simply but beautifully written and seemingly little-known novel. It was republished on its fiftieth anniversary in 2013 and is available as an in-print paperback online. I discovered it through the 1966 John Frankenheimer-directed feature film of the same name. An established and comfortable and successful but unhappy New York middle aged man is offered the chance of a new face, identity and freedom in California with all material needs and housing met. But after leaving his old life behind, surgery, rehabilitation and arrival at a Malibu colony of fellow 'Reborns' like himself, he can't adjust and makes the biggest mistake his benefactor, the mysterious 'Company', forbids. He tries to go back. An eerie and prescient novel of identity and the price of genuine freedom. It so compelled me, book and film, it has influenced my own writing!
    4 people found this helpful
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  • Leatha Benson
    3.0 out of 5 stars Shows It's Age
    Reviewed in the United States on January 20, 2019
    Verified Purchase
    Seconds is a story from the 1960s and it is very much of its time. There was a literary movement that believed that middle class life was dull and unfulfilling. Women were, of course, just part of the furniture. Children came and went from a man's life as little more than temporary responsibilities. If you're a fan of Kafka you might enjoy it.
    One person found this helpful
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  • ScoobyDioux
    5.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable story.
    Reviewed in the United States on October 6, 2020
    Verified Purchase
    After reading I learned it was film featuring Rock Hudson.
    The film was almost just as satisfying as the book.
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • Darlene Craig
    5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book - easy read
    Reviewed in Canada on May 14, 2022
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    I couldn't find this book for the longest time but when I received it, I devoured it in a few hours.
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  • Stephen Sheffield
    5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, well written book
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 19, 2017
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    I thoroughly enjoyed this story. I've seen the 1966 movie (starring Rock Hudson) a couple of times, and it's brilliant - one of my favourite films. Shot in black and white from strange and weird angles coupled with unsettling effects, the chilling movie is true to the book. If you like to read novels that are "different," especially ones that incorporate a tincture of surrealism, then I recommend you read Seconds as soon as you can.
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  • Cliente Amazon
    4.0 out of 5 stars Um bom livro
    Reviewed in Brazil on November 17, 2015
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    Eu gostei muito do filme baseado no livro [...]. Por curiosidade resolvi ler o livro. Gostei também. Mesmo depois de 50 anos, trata-se de uma estória atual. Os problemas e aflições das pessoas continuam os mesmos.
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  • Dr Horreur
    5.0 out of 5 stars Written Before the Film
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 28, 2020
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    This is the book that came before the film. The film script follows pretty much the book with just a few changes. Actually, the film ending is rather more horrific. In fact, the film defines the 'horror' in 'horror film' for me. I got the book because I love the film.
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  • S. Miller
    5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 23, 2016
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    Yes I really liked reading this book.
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