Book Review: The Returned by Jason Mott

About:
The Returned by Jason Mott is the first novel by the author who published two poetry collections previously. The story takes place in a small Southern town and asks several interesting questions.

The pub­lisher is giv­ing away one copy of this book –to enter fill out the Raf­fle­copt­ter form at the end of the post.

• 352 pages
• Publisher: Harlequin MIRA
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0778315339

 

My rating for The Returned – 5

Buy this book in paper or electronic format*

Thoughts:
The Returned by Jason Mott asks several very interesting questions: what would you do if loved ones came back from the dead? Are they your loved ones or are they “copies”? How would the world react? What would the world do with all the over population?
And more.

Mr. Mott tries to answer these questions through a compelling narrative coupled with a gripping story. The book is not a paranormal novel, it reads more like literary fiction if anything else. The paranormal aspects of the story are simply there but do not take over the plot.

The author uses several point of views to tell the story, which I always found to be somewhat distracting unless done properly. Mr. Mott does so properly.
How?
I found myself caring about the people who were telling the story, each of them has his or hers reasons for doing whatever they think is right at a certain point in time.

This novel would be an excellent selection for a book club since it raises several interesting hypothetical questions and gives the reader a lot to think about. The author leaves many of the queries unanswered  to allow an open interpretation and contemplation by the reader.

As I mentioned before, the book gives the reader a lot to think about while appealing to their emotions. While sometimes the book felt a bit slow, it is still and easy read with a fresh and unique perspective on a subject which has fascinated people for centuries.

Synopsis:
Harold and Lucille Hargrave lost their young son, Jacob, on his eighth birthday 50 years ago. One day Agent Bellamy of the International Bureau of the Returned knocks on their door with Jacob in tow.
While Lucille embraces her son, Harold is not so sure.

In the town of Arcadia, and all across the world, the Returned are appearing causing sadness, happiness, alarm and overpopulation. While some people think it’s a miracle, others think the Returned are the work of the Devil, yet many others simply don’t know what to make of this phenomena.

Buy this book in paper or electronic format*

Give­away

• Give­away ends: Sep­tem­ber 10, 2013

• US/Canada Ship­ping Addresses Only

• No PO Boxes

• Win­ners will have 24 hours to write back with their address, oth­er­wise an alter­nate win­ner will be picked

Congratulations: goode2shews@

Zohar — Man of la Book
Dis­claimer: I got this book for free from TLC Book Tours.
*Ama­zon links point to an affil­i­ate account