God is an absentee landlord in Lethe, where unfinished souls come to forget their lives. Newly deceased, Dan Tompkins wants out.
“Welcome to Lethe! Just so you know, kid, this ain’t Heaven or Hell. It’s Lethe. You can't die here. You're already dead. But you can be Collected. You might look pretty now, but lose your blood and you stop healing. You get uglier and slower until you can’t run from the Collectors any more. Of course, the Guides expect you to Ascend before any of that happens, but I guess they never counted on so many of us slackers. It don’t matter, though. I don’t plan to stick around long. I’ve got a hunch. There’s a way back for souls like us.”