Returned Original/E (The Returned, #1)

by Jason Mott

[Angie]

The Returned isn’t my usual type of read, but as soon as I heard about it, I was intrigued. All over the world, the deceased are returning to the land of the living. They’re not zombies, or anything supernatural really. They come back just as they were before they died. For Harold and Lucille Hargrave, it’s their 8 year old son who appears on their doorstep after 50 years. Neither of them really know what to think about this boy who may or may not be their son. Soon there’s a wave of Returneds being brought back into their tiny town and everyone is shaken up about it. Are they blessings from God or abominations from the devil? How many of the dead are going to return and will they outnumber the “real living”? Are the Returneds even people?

While The Returned has some Sci-Fi elements, it definitely reads more like Adult Contemporary. I was expecting this, but it still took me a few chapters to settle into it. The pacing is quite slow, and the book does cover an extended period of time. I think it worked though, fitting the small town pace of life. It was also a lot more religious than I anticipated, but it’s definitely not preachy at all. Lucille is a woman of faith, and so is much of the small Southern town of Arcadia. I actually found this to be extremely interesting because the people all had different views on the Returned. Many felt like it was God blessing them and reuniting them with loved ones, while others thought the Devil was tempting them. Before her son returns, Lucille is in that latter group, but once she sees him, something inside her flips. Her husband on the other hand was the opposite which surprised me.

After each chapter there are a few pages that show the returned from other places other than Arcadia. Some of these are happier than others, and some are downright disturbing, such as when Nazi’s appear outside of a Jewish community. The reactions to the dead returning are quite varied so I really liked these little snippets. It was also interesting how different places handled them differently, although the general consensus seemed to be that they’re not really people and need to be kept separate. At the end I wish there had been more about how this situation was resolved (or not) around the world. We only see what Arcadia is like, but I was also interested in how many people there were worldwide and if they were being accepted or not. This is the only reason The Returned gets 3-stars instead of 4. The ending just felt a little incomplete.

The Returned is certainly a thought provoking novel. I’m sure lots of people would want to see their deceased loved ones again, especially if they were taken away too early, but being faced with it in reality is much different than pondering the possibility. This book is quite different than anything I had read before, and I like that Harlequin is trying something new. While it didn’t work for me 100%, I would be interested in reading more titles like this one.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.