The afterlives, by Thomas Pierce

There seems to be a theme of dying dogs in my literary choices lately – see The friend, by Ingrid Nunez reviewed earlier.  In this case, it is more of a ghost dog, having died in the house that is now, many years later, a restaurant.  The protagonist, Jim Byrd, has also technically died at thirty-three from heart anomaly, but was revived and now kept safe by a technological marvel implanted in him called HeartNet.  He remembers nothing of the death experience, no tunnels of light, no long-lost relatives greeting him.  When visiting the restaurant, he seems to hear ghostly voices behind the wall on the staircase.  Wondering what, if anything, is beyond death, he researches the history of the house, and also finds a physicist who believes we are only 93% present in current time.  She is convinced she can put him, and his wife, Annie,  in touch with those who have died through a machine she has developed.  A strange and not completely satisfying book.  366 pp.