Who is Alfie Logan? He’s sitting in an interrogation room in the Bahamas, accused of rigging a roulette game for a staggering two million dollars. After three winning spins in a row, there can be no other explanation. At least, that’s what veteran gambling-fraud detective Vincent LaPorta believes. But is the frail, elderly man across from him really a criminal mastermind? That’s what LaPorta intends to find out.
Instead of mounting a defense, Alfie slides a thick notebook across the table, a handwritten account of his life. “All the answers,” he insists, “are in there.”
Reluctantly, LaPorta begins to read, and what he discovers defies reason. Alfie claims he has a gift. He's bestowed with the ability to relive a moment simply by uttering one word—twice. But the power comes with two unbreakable rules. First, you only get one shot at a second chance. It sticks, for better or worse. Second, you can’t use it for love. Go back, and the person who once loved you will never love you again.
Even second chances, it seems, come at a price. How Alfie used his gift—and what brought him to that interrogation room—is a story you’ll have to read to believe.
When I first picked up Mitch Albom’s latest novel Twice, I couldn’t shake a sense of déjà vu. At first, I thought it was because the idea of getting a second chance at life echoed Matt Haig’s bestselling The Midnight Library. But then I realized Albom has explored similar territory before. His book, For One More Day, asks, “What would you do if you could spend one more day with a person you've lost?”
In Twice, Albom expands that second-chance mythology, giving his protagonist the power to redo moments throughout his life. It’s an intriguing twist that pulled me in quickly. Albom doesn’t necessarily break new ground here, and that’s okay. His storytelling has always carried a sense of moral clarity and hope, and that’s on full display. Even if you’ve read variations of this story before, there’s comfort in the way he tells it. It’s the kind of book that invites you to pause and reflect on your own “what ifs,” reminding you that sometimes, once is enough.
For more information, visit the author's website, Amazon, and Goodreads.
(2025, 83)
It is interesting to think about what moments you might change if you could do the same thing. Though knowing me, I'd probably mess up my do-over and end up making things even worse. ;D
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