Alessandra Satori was a subject of Nazi experimentation as a child. As a result, she’s able to heal very quickly and ages very slowly. While she survives the experiments, she becomes a target of the US government to find out how her “powers” work. Refusing to be a guinea pig any further, she goes on the run. Along the way, she meets a the closest thing she ever has to a mother, the love of her life, and another victim of the same experiments.
“The darkness of night masked the clouds that rolled in while the world slumbered. All, that is, except the ten-year-old with the memories of a seventeen-year-old.”
Ageless is a thriller than spans from the 1930s to the mid 2020s. The story is told out of order, jumping between the various decades the story takes place in and between the cast of characters. For the most part, this works in the novel’s favor. The story moves forward at a nice pace, and isn’t so out of order that it creates confusion. It creates mystery and suspense in earlier parts that are filled in nicely later.
This novel has several action beats that are fun to read. I could picture this book being adapted as a summer blockbuster film. For the most part, the prose hits the right spot. It includes plenty of description and imagery without slowing the plot down. Usually. There are moments when the prose reads as overwrought and would have benefited from some editing.
Ageless gives plenty of spotlight both to it’s protagonist and to the rest of the cast. We follow Aless from her days as a child subject of Nazi experiments to an adult on the run from a US government. Given her extremely slow aging, she finds adapting to be a difficult process. Especially as she has to keep moving to keep CIA from catching her. We see the psychological toil this takes on her.
Ageless, however, does have some moments of clumsy writing. Aless’s relationship with her love interest isn’t very convincing. Especially when they first meet. It feels incredibly contrived.
We also meet another subject from the experiments Aless was part of. His ability is to go backwards and forwards in time for short periods. Despite all the build up around this character, he’s only around for a couple chapters. As a result, it feels like an entire plot line around him was cut out.
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