Review & Giveaway: The Returned by Jason Mott

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Author: Jason Mott
Publisher: Mira (Harlequin)
Date of publication: August 2013

Harold and Lucille Hargrave's lives have been both joyful and sorrowful in the decades since their only son, Jacob, died tragically at his eighth birthday party in 1966. In their old age they've settled comfortably into life without him, their wounds tempered through the grace of time ... Until one day Jacob mysteriously appears on their doorstep—flesh and blood, their sweet, precocious child, still eight years old.

All over the world people's loved ones are returning from beyond. No one knows how or why this is happening, whether it's a miracle or a sign of the end. Not even Harold and Lucille can agree on whether the boy is real or a wondrous imitation, but one thing they know for sure: he's their son. As chaos erupts around the globe, the newly reunited Hargrave family finds itself at the center of a community on the brink of collapse, forced to navigate a mysterious new reality and a conflict that threatens to unravel the very meaning of what it is to be human.

The Returned is a beautifully written debut novel by Jason Mott.  It's an interesting look into what would happen if the dead started coming back.  This isn't your typical zombie story.  The people don't want to eat you.  They just appear one day having no idea how they got there or what happened to them after they died.  Most people come back in far away places.  The Returned focuses on the impact of  the phenomenon and how it affects one town and one family.  Sprinkled throughout the book are hints as to how the rest of the world is dealing as well.

For Harold and Lucille, they find that the return of their 8 year old son (who died in 1966) isn't all its cracked up to be.  They both have very different initial reactions.  Lucille is thrilled, but Harold is wary and doesn't believe it is his son.  Despite this, Harold chooses to stay with Jacob when he is put into the containment camp. The scenes in the containment camp reminded me of the horror stories we heard about the shelters during Hurricane Katrina. Being over run with people, no space, running water, or sanitary conditions. Not a situation I would wish on anyone.  I don't want to give too much away, because it would spoil the story. For me the ending was very bittersweet. 

The unique thing about the book is that no one ever figures out how or why the people came back. At least, the reader is never told. For me, that wasn't really the point of the book.  The book is more about deciding if you would want that second chance. If you got it, what would you do with it?  Sometimes, I think about having one more day with a lost loved one.  But, would that ultimately cause me more grief once they left me again? I think this is going to be one of those books that will stick with me for a long time to come.  I definitely recommend trying it out.

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Did you know that the book is being turned into a series for TV?  It is called Resurrection. How cool is that to have your debut made into a TV show?  Check out the trailer below:


About the author:

Jason Mott lives in southeastern North Carolina. He has a BFA in Fiction and an MFA in Poetry, both from

the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. His poetry and fiction has appeared in various journals such as Prick of the Spindle, The Thomas Wolfe Review, The Kakalak Anthology of Carolina Poets, Measure and Chautauqua. He was nominated for a 2009 Pushcart Prize award and Entertainment Weekly listed him as one of their 10 “New Hollywood: Next Wave” people to watch.

He is the author of two poetry collections: We Call This Thing Between Us Love and “…hide behind me…” The Returned is his first novel.

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