Replay by Ken Grimwood

If I mentioned the title "Replay" some of you might have the artist IYAZ's song in mind, but in this case, Replay isn't a song, but Ken Grimwood's breakthrough novel, first published in 1987. Jeff Winston was a news director for WFYI in New York. He had no children and a failing marriage with his wife, Linda, because of their lack of money and communication. It was October 18, 1998, at 1:06 PM, and Jeff was on the phone with Linda. As Linda was saying "We need..." Jeff felt a pain in his chest, and died of a heart attack.

When Jeff woke up again, he was in his college dorm at Emory College. Instead of going to hell, Jeff was still alive, and gone back in time. With the help from Frank Maddock, another Emory student, Jeff made huge bets on horse races, world sports events and investments that he knew of from the future, and with all the winnings, Jeff quickly became rich. Frank and he flew to Las Vegas, where Jeff met Sharla Baker, and they stayed together for a few years, but separated when Jeff came to realize that Sharla was useful only for sexual purposes and nothing else. In the years that Jeff knew what was about to happen, he tried to make changes for the better. He had tried to stop Lee Harvey Oswald from assassinating President John F. Kennedy, but his attempt didn't do much a difference when Nelson Bennett assassinated the President instead. Jeff soon married a woman named Diane, and they had a daughter, Gretchen, but then he died again on October 18, 1988, at 1:06 PM from a heart attack. Jeff was 18 years old again, and he was at the movie theater with Judy Gordan. He was replaying his life over, not once but twice. Everything that Jeff had worked for in his past life was gone, even Gretchen, who might not have even existed at all. This time, Jeff married Judy and decided to live a quiet life in Atlanta. Jeff and Judy ended up adopting two orphans, April and Dwayne. As the days were getting closer to the 18th of October 1988, Jeff knew what was to come soon, so he admitted himself to a hospital. This time he was fully prepared, but as the clock struck 1:06 PM and doctors came rushing in, Jeff knew he wasn't going to make it, and he died from a heart attack again.

Jeff was back at Emory College, and he was 18 again. He was infuriated. Why was this happening to him? Jeff didn't care for anything anymore. He had worked so hard for the past two lifetimes, and yet everything, everyone he loved was gone, or might not have even existed. When the time came, Jeff asked Frank Maddock to help him bet again, and then he alone traveled to Las Vegas. Jeff found Sharla Baker again, looking the same as she was when he first saw her two lifetimes ago. For a few years, Jeff and Sharla traveled around doing drugs, alcohol and sex. One time, Jeff told Mireille, one of Sharla's friends, how he was replaying his life over and over again. While waiting for their flight at the airport, Sharla revealed to Jeff that Mireille had told everyone about the secret Jeff had told and everyone had been laughing at him. During the flight, the plane caught on fire and had to make an emergency landing. After everyone was off safely, Jeff left Sharla behind. For the next few years, Jeff lived by himself, almost isolated in northern California. While Jeff was restocking his supplies at a warehouse, Jeff heard about a movie, Starsea, that had become a great hit. Jeff went to see the movie and suspected the producer, Pamela Phillips, of being a replayer too, because this movie had never existed before. After a month, Jeff finally met Pamela Phillips, and he was able to confirm that they were both caught up in the same phenomenon of replaying their lives after dying from a heart attack on the same day. The two didn't meet again until 3.5 years later, when Pamela came to find Jeff. They believed they were destined to be together and become a couple real soon. When the time of their death was near again, Jeff knew whom to look for when he comes back again.

It was summer of 1963 when Jeff came back. He had come back 3 months later than last time. Jeff hurried to Westford where Pamela grew up, but she had no recognition of Jeff when he finally got there. He moved to Boston and 1.5 years after, Jeff received a telegram at his doorstep. Pamela had come back! Jeff went to find Pamela and after getting permission from Pamela's parents, they were finally able to stay together after Pamela graduated. However, Pamela and Jeff had a problem in mind that they couldn't figure out. Why was Jeff 3 months late this time and Pamela 1.5 years late? Together, Jeff and Pamela tried small advertisements in local newspapers to see if there could possibly be any other replayers, and they found Stuart McCowan, who lives in a private mental hospital, and no one listens to him because Stuart believes there are a group of aliens called the Antareans who were responsible for their replays, and these replayers had to create violence and blood shedding to entertain the them. During this lifetime, Jeff and Pamela spent most of their time trying to find other replayers. In their 5th replay, Jeff had waken 17 months late, and Pamela was 5 years late. Instead of advertising this time, Jeff and Pamela decided to go public about the phenomenon that was happening to them. A man named Russell Hedges from the American secret service came and tried to make a deal with Jeff and Pamela but he regarded them as psychics, and imprisoned them. Soon, the world had known of the accurate "predictions" Jeff and Pamela had made, and the countries were getting more defendant and created more bloodshed and violence. New events were happening all over the world, events that Jeff and Pamela knew nothing about and hadn't expect to happen. Pamela soon felt frustrated and guilty because her good intentions to change the world had did the opposite instead. She got mad and avoided Jeff until it was time to die again. Jeff wakes up in Miami in 1968, and already in a relationship with Linda. He found out that Pamela had woken up in 1976, and was already pregnant with her 2nd child, so there was no way she was able to leave them to be with Jeff. This time, Jeff and Pamela led their own separate lives, but determined to live a happier life together next time. In their 7th replay, it was 1976, and Jeff was back to the failing marriage he had with Linda. They had a divorce soon and Jeff waited for Pamela until she came back in 1984. Pamela and Jeff, they spent the next 4 years as happily as they could because Pamela believed this would be her last replay. In their 8th replay, Jeff thought that Pamela was gone. He followed her at a museum, but she struck up a conversation with him, and they fell in love again. On October 13th, 1988, Pamela came back, and got mad that Jeff had made her fall in love with him when he knew that wasn't the Pamela from before. They died separately this time. Jeff woke up at 12:59 PM on October 18, 1988. He was on the phone with Linda, and he felt a sharp pain in his heart. Then he died and kept waking up and dying over and over again. When he woke again, it was 1:07 PM, and Linda had just told him "We need to talk." Jeff had just suffered a minor heart attack. He called Pamela and found out the same thing had just happened to her and they decided to live their own separate for now. Jeff thinks back to all the lifetimes he had seemingly replay, and realizes that all the possibilities to life are endless.

This novel relates to scientific concepts, because it relates to the passage of time and the effect on humans and society. Jeff and Pamela hadn't been able to find the reason for their replays. Through each replay, both Jeff and Pamela had the power to propose changes that could heavily change and impact the world. In Jeff's first replay, he had somewhat changed the financial world by becoming a millionaire, but this change would be really small and had not much of an influence on the world. However, he had also tried to stop the assassination of president John F. Kennedy. Although his attempt proved to be a failure in the end, it would've had a great impact on the world if Jeff had truly been able to stop the disastrous event, because perhaps John F. Kennedy could've done or created something big that would greatly change the world in a way that it never would be. Pamela had also influenced the world in her own way, because in her 3rd replay, she had made the movie, Starsea, which greatly altered the consciousness of people who saw it all over the world. This consciousness could've provided people the motivation to do many new things, whether good or bad, that could possibly affect the world. Another example, which is also the biggest one, is in Jeff and Pamela's 5th replay, when they had decided to go public about their secret. This decision had caused the whole world to become paranoid about who was good or bad, and contrary to that, Jeff and Pamela's initial intentions to prevent the deaths of many actually caused much violence and deaths and also created an environment that might have possibly developed a World War III.

These scenarios are not much likely to be portrayed in real life, because it probably isn't possible for three people (Jeff, Pamela, and Stuart McCowan) to be caught up in the same several "replays" after a minor heart attack. Depending on which replay that we would be focusing on, it might or might not affect our society if it became reality. The replays in which Jeff and Pamela led a quiet life would have a little to no influence on our society compared to the replays in which Jeff and Pamela had tried to do something big. Referring to the paragraph above, if the replay in which Jeff had tried to prevent the assassination of John F. Kennedy or had almost died of a plane crash, or where Pamela had created the movie Starsea, or where Jeff and Pamela had decided to reveal their secret, had become reality, then it might have had an effect that would've created a worldwide event. Other than these specific replays, the other replays where Jeff and Pamela led a normal life with their families, or even their real original life, would not have too much of an affect on our society if it had become reality.