Billionaire's Final Gamble Explores Life After Death in 'AFTER' by Timothy Ashby

Innovative supernatural thriller challenges the mysteries of the afterlife

NY, UNITED STATES, November 13, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The gripping new novel, “AFTER” by Timothy Ashby, has been released worldwide. This compelling supernatural thriller dives into uncharted territory, where scientific intrigue and paranormal phenomena collide in a thought-provoking exploration of life after death.

The story begins with Mark Long, a reclusive multibillionaire facing a terminal diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. Desperate for answers as his mortality looms, Long risks his fortune to incentivize global competitors to prove the existence of the afterlife. What follows is an electrifying modern ghost story, intertwined with real-world scientific theories and deep ethical dilemmas.

Drawing from his own career steeped in global intrigue and his lifelong fascination with the paranormal, including expertise as a historian and real-life experiences working in high-stakes government positions, author Timothy Ashby creates a narrative that is both riveting and profoundly insightful.
The novel is a masterful blend of action, mystery, and speculative science fiction that challenges our views on existence and mortality.

“AFTER” (ISBN: 9781966074274 / 9781966074267) can be purchased through retailers worldwide, including Amazon and Barnes & Noble. The hardcover retails for $27.99, the paperback retails for $17.99, and the ebook retails for $2.99. Review copies and interviews with the author are available upon request.

Purchase the book on Amazon.

For updates on Timothy Ashby’s work, visit www.timashbybooks.com.

From the Back Cover:

Afflicted with terminal cancer, billionaire Mark Long has mere months to live. Fixated on what comes after, Long anonymously offers a $5 billion prize to anyone who can prove to his satisfaction that there is some kind of life after death. The contest is quickly whittled down to three finalists. Professor Megan Finlay, chair of the Holmes Parapsychology Institute at the University of Edinburgh, is close to a breakthrough. She specializes in near-death experiences and winning Long's multibillion-dollar prize is a necessity. The funding for the financially troubled institute ends in a matter of months. If the institute closes, Finlay's entire life's work will be all but forgotten.

Another finalist is Aidan McKnight, former Navy SEAL and head of Acheron Capital Partners, who is addicted to challenges. When he hears about Long's contest, he finds Hundra Benteen, a beautiful Montana-based "sensitive" who-in an industry filled with scammers, frauds, and charlatans-just may be the real thing. When McKnight meets Benteen, she turns his world upside down by knowing intimate information about his father, a SEAL who disappeared during a botched 1983 mission in Grenada. Can Benteen communicate with the spirit of McKnight's father and pass along any critical information?

The last finalist, the Swiss National Institute for Paranormal Studies, doesn't exist and is a front for Maxim Azimov, the world's most notorious cybercriminal and mastermind of Al Deepfake technology. As Long's battle with cancer draws to its inevitable end, Azimov plots to permanently eliminate each of his competitors and win the $5 billion prize fraudulently using Deepfake.

"Ashby's latest is a page-turning supernatural thriller that explores humankind's oldest question: 'Is there life after death?!"

"A profoundly moving read that will stay with thriller aficionados long after they finish the novel." -Kirkus Reviews

"Best Books of 2025"

"What a page turner! After has a simple but sensational plot, refreshingly free from clichés. The novel has characters we care about, and telling details ... but they're only a small part of AFTER'S much deeper and more mysterious story. I couldn't put the book down." -Mark Weston, author of The Runner-Up Presidency, The Elections That Defied America's Popular Will

"A truly great supernatural thriller. AFTER has all the right ingredients for the next Hollywood blockbuster. Read this book now so that you too can tell your friends "I told you so! "when the movie rights get snapped up." -Staton Rabin, screenwriter and novelist (Betsy and the Emperor, etc.)

About the Author:

Timothy Ashby is the author of seven previous books, including two non-fiction works and five historical thrillers. His historical novel “RANGER” was recently adapted as the pilot for “BLACK RANGER,” a seven-episode streaming TV series. Tim has written for the Harvard International Review, Business Week, and the New York Times. He is a lawyer, ex-senior government official and former counter-terrorism consultant. Tim grew up on the Caribbean island of Grenada and has lived in the UK, France, South Africa, Spain, Slovakia, Hungary and the USA. He is a graduate of the universities of Southern California, Edinburgh, and Seattle.

About Manhattan Book Group:

Manhattan Book Group (“MBG”), located on Broadway in New York City, is a registered
trade name of Mindstir Media LLC. MBG is widely known as a premier hybrid book publisher. We have combined the best of traditional publishing with the best of self-publishing to provide authors with the “best of both worlds” in a sense. To learn more about MBG, visit https://www.manhattanbookgroup.com/

Michelle VanSledright
MindStir Media LLC
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