A Stand-in for Dying

Far into the future, no one is really sure what life will be like for us, especially when we can only draw from information that is happening at the moment. Rick Moskovitz has created a trilogy in which he explores questions of the future and presents them in a sci-fi story—the first of which is called A Stand-In for Dying. One of our central characters is Marcus, a young man who cares deeply about maintaining both his body and the environment correctly. During an afternoon run, he is confronted by a beautiful red-headed woman who presents him with a life-changing offer. Because he had a rough childhood, which then led to an even more difficult adult-life, it seems like a no-brainer for what his response will be. He is told that this offer will not only change his life for the better but also help in aiding the must-needed progress of the world at the same time. Not seeing himself as a very influential person, he jumps at this opportunity.

Next, we meet Ray – a former world-famous celebrity who invented HibernaTurf as a way to help the world’s environmental global warming issue. What started out as saving the environment, rapidly began to cause more problems than it solved. Ray quickly goes from the most beloved person to the most hated. Another advancement in their society is the Ambrosia Conversion, in which a relatively young person’s cells are able to be frozen in time, disallowing the physical act of aging to ever happen. This invention is seen as a literal life-saver for some people and, for others, it is seen as unnatural.
The idea of immortality plays a large role in this story and shows how far some people will go to prevent their death and to be able to extend their life forever.

The first installation in this trilogy is full of thought-provoking, futuristic ideas – many of which might be closer to being part of our mainstream life than we think. The creation of SPUDs (artificial intelligence) is another topic within the story, which could be seen as an allusion to slavery and racism for people in the U.S., even still today. A Stand-In for Dying is a combination of action, intrigue, and suspense. Moskovitz has created a story that hooks you from the beginning and keeps you turning the pages until you finish the final book in the trilogy.