Pale Highway

Written by Nicholas Conley

Narrated by Derek Shetterly

Gabriel Schist is spending his remaining years at Bright New Day, a nursing home. He once won the Nobel Prize for inventing a vaccine for AIDS. But now, he has Alzheimer’s, and his mind is slowly slipping away.

When one of the residents comes down with a horrific virus, Gabriel realizes that he is the only one who can find a cure. Encouraged by Victor, an odd stranger, he convinces the administrator to allow him to study the virus. Soon, reality begins to shift, and Gabriel’s hallucinations interfere with his work.

As the death count mounts, Gabriel is in a race against the clock and his own mind. Can he find a cure before his brain deteriorates past the point of no return?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Everand Productions
• Release date: Jun 7, 2022
• ISBN: 9781094442969

Nicholas Conley

Nicholas Conley is an award-winning Jewish American author, journalist, playwright, and coffee vigilante. His books, such as Knight in Paper Armor, Pale Highway, Clay Tongue: A Novelette, and Intraterrestrial, merge science fiction narratives with hard-hitting examinations of social issues. Originally from California, he now lives in New Hampshire. Visit him at www.NicholasConley.com

Reviews for Pale Highway

[Mary Kang Prior · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is so abysmally wretched that I’m tempted to just spoil it right here as a humanitarian gesture to spare further hapless readers from getting hooked in by what seems to be a unique approach to the “pandemic, mass extinction” genre. And it’s just as horrendously narrated. How does this narrator get work? And this author should give up.

[Frosty Theron · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Wow I’ve never listened to anything like that before! Had I know, I’m not sure I would have continued but oh well, an interesting mind, the author has!

[Catherine Penrod · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I really wanted to like this book. The story of Alzheimers disease and it's effects on the person and their family is so very important. I also understand that this is really an allegory. But, I think the story without the snails would’ve been so much more powerful.

[scott Newbry · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

WOW! What a great story! As a TBI survivor, grandson of two Alzheimer’s victims (and possibly heading that way myself) ihi REALLY enjoyed the writers description of what might be going on behind the scenes. Thanks man!

[Tim · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

What a stupid story. It started out having some promise and then it went overboard into stupid land. Salt + slugs in ocean = slugs dead.

[Nena · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I thought it was well written and a bit sad

because you get a glimpse of what it is

like to lose yourself. I thought at 1st he

was just hallucinating everything but after

reading to the end you see that maybe

it wasn't just his sickness but something

supernatural at play. I would recommend

this book especially if you enjoy a mystery

although there was a bit of space filler that

wasn't really nessary but not too bad. I

have an uncle that passed away a few

years back And he had Alhetimers, so at

times I could imagine my uncle feeling that

awful and made me so sad. Good book!

[Jim · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I can't believe I listened to the whole thing. It was interesting but silly.

[caytlain hewitt · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I was skeptical at first but in the end it was a very good book.

[Jamila Sids · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Started out so good, by the end it became unpalatable.

[Tracy pye · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This has got to be the most bonkers book I have ever listened to... I can't decide weather I liked it or not... It was a lovely tribute to altzimer sufferers and it had a sadness about it it also had fun and quirkyness too.. Its so far fetched and completely insane... Is this what it's like in a altzimer sufferers head? Who knows.. Take a listen but I warn you it's a mad ride... The narrator was very good

[mae · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Wow-I could not put this one down. The right mix of crime, sci and fiction- but the best: real good writing, likable characters and anyone interested in what aging will be like has to read it. Really- highly entertaining and knowledgeable at the same time. Great job.
Oh yes:,

[Geo Frank · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Weird but fun! Good pacing, breezed through it. It gets a little silly, especially at the end, but it's still a great ride.

[Testy Possum · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

About 6 or 7 chapters in, the book takes a turn that I definitely was not expecting. This is a solid sci-fi story that also takes a deep dive into the mind of an Alzheimer's patient.

[bookworm250-429069 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Pale Highway is an amazing book, totally unlike anything I've read before. It is a medical thriller, a life story and a science fiction thriller with a totally unexpected twist at the end.I really didn't want to read this after I had already agreed to review it. I didn't want to read the heart ache of people aging and with Alzheimer's. Once I picked up this book I couldn't put it down. I was hooked at the prologue.The main characters are developed well and the kind of characters you really like. The story is very well written and definitely engaging, it's just that for me the ending was a bit whacked out. I love the way the reader is taken through Nobel Prize Winning Scientist Gabriel's life. You learn how this man went from misunderstood brilliant youth obsessed with the human immune system to the young college student trying to be seen as normal, and not the oddity he feels his intelligence has made him to his summers with his daughter and his memories of the woman he stills loves. As I mentioned the ending just didn't cut it with me but the rest of the book is so good and well written this book still rates 5 stars.

[avoraciousreader · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

*Book source ~ A review copy was provided in exchange for an honest review.Gabriel Schist won the Nobel Prize for inventing a vaccine for AIDS. Now he’s in his 70s and losing the battle with Alzheimer’s. Living out his days in the Bright New Day nursing home, Gabriel is just trying to hang onto as much as his memory as possible. When a horrific and terrifying new disease begins to affect residents and the government is keeping it completely hush hush, Gabriel wonders if his deteriorating mind can come up with the cure before it fails him completely. He doesn’t think so, but a resident named Victor and some prodding by some hinky beings that are probably, maybe, figments of his swiss cheese mind get him working on the problem. The results are mind boggling!Gabriel’s tale is a terrifying one for someone like me, fast approaching 50 and familiar with relatives in nursing homes. However, while at times depressing as hell, there are plenty of times when it is quite heartening. Gabriel is an interesting character and in addition to seeing his life in the nursing home, there are flashbacks to when he was younger. They are very well-done and dovetail what is happening in his present. As the tension of the strange disease ratchets up, I had a hard time putting this book down. But…you knew there was a but, right? It got quite weird. Not exactly bad weird, just weird. I was left sitting there scratching my head and going wtf just happened? I mean, I pretty much know what happened, I think, but still… You’ll understand what I mean when you read it. LOL Even with the weirdness I recommend it. It’s quite the ride.

[sheriawilkinson · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Pale Highway by Nicholas Conley

Gabriel Schist, Nobel Prize winner for finding the cure for Aids is now spending the rest of his life in Bright Day Nursing Home. Alzheimer's is taking a toll on his body and sanity. The once brilliant genius is now struggling with reality and the horrid effects of his disease.

Then one of the residents falls ill, and Gabriel with the encouragement of a stranger (Victor), is determined to find a cure. But as he tries to research this new virus, his hallucinations become more apparent and it becomes a challenge to fight for sanity and save lives.

Gabriel is very likable. He is a very introverted and unique person, struggling to fit in. We get a look at his past, which was so detailed I felt as if I knew him. Then watching him slowly deteriorate to Alzheimer's was very emotional.

Nicholas Conley used a very different approach on this awful disease, he really got into the mind of Gabriel. He delved so deep and made me wonder; "Is this really what an Alzheimer patient is feeling?" I really loved that. I wish I could rate higher than five stars, because Pale Highway really delivers. I strongly recommend to all. This story will stay with me for a long time.