A unique-sounding premise and was hyped online including a 4.5+ on Goodreads, so I had high expectations. Those expectations were largely unmet despite the last 30 pages making up for what was a mostly a middling read. Characters were cliche and plot was saccharine, invoking memories of Michael Landon and Highway to Heaven. Levi layered on one “heart-wrenching” scenario on top of another, but the plot lacked any real sense of drama. Where was all this sentimentalism provoked by the old-man protagonist leading to? Apparently nowhere fast, until some surprising late inning actions—along with multiple reveals that tied together loose ends—partially redeemed the novel. Yet it actually wrapped up in too tidy of a fashion, punctuated by an Epilogue that was an unbelievable accounting of how all the main characters were thriving post-climax. Some readers will allow the feel-good nature of the book to override these details. I couldn’t get there. I also felt that Levi used the worldly cultural experience of the protagonist to show off his own knowledge of art, literature, music and nature. Pick one, or maybe two, of those subject areas to adopt as protagonist strengths, but to elaborate on all those topics came across as braggadocious. It should be noted that in a world of negativity, this book is the inverse with overwhelming positivity served up with a medium dose of Christianity. This serving of religiosity—that I contend is mostly inconsequential to the overall story arc—may be way too distracting for others. If Christianity is a hot-button for you, I’d skip this book.