The Returned

A Novel

By: Jason Mott

Narrated by: Tom Stechschulte

Length: 9 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's summary

"Jacob was time out of sync, time more perfect than it had been. He was life the way it was supposed to be all those years ago. That's what all the Returned were."

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 healed 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 Hargraves find themselves 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.

With spare, elegant prose and searing emotional depth, Jason Mott explores timeless questions of faith and morality, love and responsibility. A spellbinding and stunning debut, The Returned is an unforgettable story that marks the arrival of an important new voice in contemporary fiction.

©2013 Jason Mott (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

The Dead Are No Longer Dead

Imagine a world in which the dead start coming back to life. They have no memories from when they were gone; they simply start appearing all over the globe. This is the premise of Jason Mott's novel, The Returned. Prior to reading this novel, I read the three prequels, so I was very excited to see what the book had to offer. I was not disappointed.

The focus of the novel is on the Hargrave family, Harold and Lucille. Their only son, Jacob, died in 1966 when he was only eight years old. Now, the Hargraves are elderly, and their eight-year-old son has returned. He's still eight, and he has no memory from the time of his death. Harold and Lucille have very different opinions about their son's return. Lucille believes that he is a gift from God. Harold doesn't believe it's really his son. Even so, Harold continues to act as if he were his son.

In addition to the Hargrave family, the book also touches on some of the characters that were introduced in the prequels. My only disappointment with this books (and the only reason that I didn't rate it five stars) is that those other characters' stories are not as closely connected to the novel as I had hoped. I recently learned that this book (and its prequels) has been optioned for a television series. I am hopeful that more of the stories can be told in the television series.

Although the book focuses on the Hargrave family, it also looks at how the returned are affecting others around the globe. In particular, the question of what to do with the increasing number of returned is a critical plot point. The government (in its infinite wisdom) has decided that the returned need to be rounded up and placed in what could only be called concentration camps. The town in which the Hargraves live becomes one such camp. How the returned are treated there introduces a tremendous moral dilemma. Moreover, there is a battle between the returned (and their supporters) and the "true living," who do not believe that the returned are actually living. In a way, there is a type of civil war brought about by the appearance of the returned.

In many ways, this story shook me to my core. I was frequently questioning my own values and beliefs while reading the story. What would I do if one of my own family members were returned from the dead? It was a question that kept going through my head as I was reading. While I do not believe that I will ever have to face that reality, the question is still disarming. Because of my own shaken beliefs--and because of the characters in the story--I was in tears by its end. In my opinion, that is a sign of a great story. I highly recommend this book, and I am looking forward to the television series.

Interesting premise

An off track idea that could have been developed much more fully, this is a real soft read.

The story arc is lacking in cohesiveness to a large extent. I made a huge error by listening to the 3 Prequel short stories after I'd listened to the main story and they added absolutely nothing..

I didn't hate it and it's better than MEH-Average, but not spectacular.

Great narrator!

The story is very different from the TV show adaptation and we never get answers. What stood out was the EXCELLENT narration. I would listen to the guy read the dictionary!

Great story!

I wouldn't have read the book if I hadn't seen the TV show, but I'm glad I did. It was a great story and a good narrator.

I wanted to like it more than I did

Any additional comments?

What a great premise! I had hoped and thought it would explore really interesting and difficult questions about how we view death, and what death is and what there is or is not beyond life. It seemed like these issues would be explored, but I felt that they just got basically ignored in favor of a strange mixutre of matter of factness and stereotyped character types. I guess I enjoyed the story but was left very dissatisfied- really no questions were answered, and far too few were even discussed. The end was kind of not even there. What was the author's message? what did he want to leave in our minds and hearts to consider and either agree with or reject? If the answer is just- "I have no idea, form your own opinion" then...I could have done that w/o reading. Sorry to sound so negative- I would read another book by this author, but hope he would think through the bigger issues and use them to inform and frame the story a little more effectively.

Pointless

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

No. It was read very well, but the story itself was filled with too many cliches, and it did not go anywhere. It also seemed to be written to a very old audience. The most frustrating thing about it was the very idea of the returned. A very intriguing idea, that would require a fantastic explanation, only the writer never offers one. Instead - these people who just reappear in the world as the same people they were when they originally left it - seem to serve no purpose at all before they just randomly leave - just disappear - again.

What do you think your next listen will be?

Moby Dick, if I can get this Audible app to download my purchase to my phone.

Have you listened to any of Tom Stechschulte’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No. I did enjoy him very much though. I have witnessed the destruction of perfectly good story lines, by horrible narration. So, I appreciate good narration.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

No.

Any additional comments?

These audible books are priced too highly.

Disappointing

Any additional comments?

This is a rare occasion where I actually learned of the book after watching the tv show, now in its second season. There were some very interesting developments on the show. So, I decided to read the book to perhaps gain some insight as to what may be going on in the show. I cannot tell you how disappointed I was that the show is so much better than the book. Of course there are some differences, which I expected. But, the cast of main characters is so much smaller in the book. The intrigue in the show was not present in the book. Here's the kicker...you never find out why or how the returned came back. To me, that was a cop out. The story built up to the climax, but we never really got a full resolution. This is the first time in my life that a book was not as well developed as a movie or show.

The narrator did a nice job, and there were some very interesting story ideas in the book. But, it seemed like the author just decided to stop writing and threw in an author's note to explain some reasons why, without coming right out and saying that's what he was doing.

I wanted to like the book, and I was excited to read it. But, it was a disappointment.

Interesting premise; how would you react?

The premise is interesting and a wish fulfilling difficult subject. The author took the premise in a particular direction but examines it on a fairly shallow level. How would you deal with the return of a loved one? How would nations deal with the return of thousands of deceased and why didn't the author deal with potential return of famous historical figures both revered and hated?

Got boring

It started off well and I was interested but then I got bored half way in and had to skip a couple of chapters just so that I could finish it.

really wanted to like it

Is there anything you would change about this book?

the story was okay but it began to feel like the author was trying to teach me a lesson and i wanted entertainment.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

this could have been a series and taken many different turns, but it didnt and after awhile it was depressing.

Have you listened to any of Tom Stechschulte’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

no, he wasnt bad but I think the story was my main problem

Was The Returned worth the listening time?

not really, i did not even finish listening, it became a drag to listen to