The Returned: The New York Times bestselling debut from the author of Hell of a Book

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I absolutely loved how Harrison layered all those spooky elements - and how I couldn't tell fact from fiction. Overall, this first novel for me from Rachel Harrison instantly made me a fan. The only slight critique I had is that things seemed to slow down significantly around the half-way point when it focused exclusively on one character's past for a bit too long. Other than this, the writing style was very well paced, and the characters felt "alive" in a way that the readers can easily become attached to. Lately I read too many great thriller ARC COPIES (Like brilliant Sun Down Motel) so I was really expecting too much and so excited to read this book but you cannot find the winners every time. Let’s forget this book and move to the next one! The government man works for a newly formed agency that helps to repatriate into the world of the living

A group of close friends who’ve known each other for years. As time has passed they’re now spread far and wide across the country, but they’ve committed to doing their best to stay connected. So what happens when one member of the group vanishes!? The book’s other strength is Mott’s style. It is full of precisely observed details written in clear, unpretentious prose. Here is Louise confronting those who wish to destroy the Returned as abominations:Nicholas Sparks excels on the quirky, small-town feel with this book. He created some rather ordinary characters, at first glance uninteresting and at second glance, they were everything I wanted to read. So Mae books them all rooms in a themed room hotel out in the middle of nowhere where they will have a chance to rekindle the magic that has always made their relationship with each other so special. ”Sometimes when we’re all together, I get confused about who is who. Where one of us stops and the others start. We overlap, bleed together.” Maybe I’m just paranoid, but as they take me on a tour of this hotel, I start to feel creeped out, creeped out in a Stephen King sort of way. I’m grinning though because this has all the makings of a modern gothic extravaganza. Many thanks to Elisha at Berkly Publishing Group for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review Julie, Elise, Mae, and Molly have been lifelong best friends. Then one day they are told that Julie has gone missing while out on a hike in the Maine mountains. Mae and Molly succumb to their grief but Elise is sure that Julie isn't dead. She knows that Julie likes the attention too much so she holds out hope for her return.

Understandably, her friends were heartbroken. After a significant amount of time passed, with no sign of Julie, a funeral was held. In spite of this, Elise genuinely didn't believe Julie was gone. The novel also occasionally looks at the phenomenon from the viewpoint of the Returned, who appear to have no knowledge of or explanation for their return, and only want to live their lives. The Returned are described as being largely identical to their pre-death selves except for strange quirks that are frequently described as odd or unnerving by people who formerly knew them. With one final push, she leans low into the cot, searches the bedding with both hands carefully. Then frantically. Because I coveted this book for so long the choice was simple. I kept going! Certainly plenty of parts that were super-creepy but I wouldn’t say they scared me. (Can I open my eyes now?) The protagonist Trevor, recovering veteran and retired doctor had a life that was secluded, involved focus on recovery, health and bees. Bees…honestly, I adored this aspect of the story, the foundation and focus it brought to all the characters in the book . And my favourite character? Trevor’s grandpa, what a man. Alongside Trevor, there were a small cast of characters and they were all interesting, especially Natalie and Callie.Reaching what she thinks is the chest of drawers, she hauls herself upright and with the last of her energy, hooks both arms heavily into the tiny cot that sits next to the bed. The flames have reached the other side now. Her bedclothes flare brilliantly, momentarily lighting up the swirls of fog. She wants to lie down, to float away into this great mesmerising heat. her hand loses its grip on the edge of the cot. But it’s the feel of those tiny spindles that spur her on– the memory of the last few weeks spent poking her hand in through that narrow gap between them, to stroke his warm, velvety palm.

Harold and Lucille Hargrave's eight-year-old son, Jacob, died tragically in 1966. In their old age they've settled comfortably into life without him.... Until one day Jacob mysteriously appears on their doorstep--flesh and blood, still eight years old. The people whose story I appreciated the most was that of Camille and her identical twin sister Lena, whose lives had been severely affected by Camille’s death, and subsequent return. The other people in the book just didn’t really interest me though, and it was quite difficult to keep slogging my way through this book. This is really a story about female friendships, toxicity in relationships, expectations placed on women, and the performative survival instincts women use to feel like they're measuring up to societal standards. Natalie talking about the school and yearbooks and maybe that’s how they can find Callie. Trevor: How did you come up with that? That’s brilliant!

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Over the top, campy, cheesy, gruesome, crazy, entertaining. This book was like a bad horror movie that you watch over and over and over again because you are just so Hooked. SO once upon a time there were four friends Elise, Mae, Molly, and Julie. The girls met in college and formed an unbreakable bond. When Julie goes missing they are all devastated, where is their Bestie? A year after Julie goes missing her husband Tristan holds a memorial, but Elise is not convinced that Julie is dead. Been two years to the day after Julie goes missing she shows up again on the porch swing wearing the same clothes she went missing in. Julie seems to have come out of this mostly unscathed but she cannot remember where she was. The besties are all so excited and plan a girls weekend at a Hotel in the Catskills. What follows is a very interesting tale. Is the hotel haunted? Is Julie possessed? Has Elise gone crazy? Thank you so much to the publisher, Berkley Publishing, for providing me a copy of this to read and review. It was a fantastic time! When they reunite at a remote, "quirky themed" inn after Julie's reappearance, the relationships, personalities, and comedic banter really shine through. Through it all, the fact that Julie is . . . "off" . . . in so many ways continues to gnaw away at the other characters and readers, alike. All over the world people’s loved ones are returning from beyond. No one knows how or why, whether it’s a miracle or a sign of the end. But as chaos erupts around the globe, the newly reunited family finds itself at the center of a community on the brink of collapse, forced to navigate a mysterious new reality.

Der Einstieg in das Buch fiel mir einfach. Man hat zwar viele Personen und somit viele kleine Geschichten, aber die Personen sind doch sehr unterschiedlich, sodass ich das gut differenzieren konnte. Tending to his grandfather's beloved bee hives while gearing up for a second stint in medical school, Trevor isn't prepared to fall in love with a local . . . and yet, from their very first encounter, his connection with Natalie Masterson can't be ignored. But even as she seems to reciprocate his feelings, she remains frustratingly distant, making Trevor wonder what she's hiding. The book starts well enough, It has all the elements that are time and tested to produce a four star rating - war veteran, PTSD, scarred human being, a half dead young guy, a dead grandfather, a young mysterious teen, a young mysterious woman and a doctor with a LOT of time on his hands.From the New York Times bestselling author of Hell of a Book, a sensational novel about an impossible miracle and a family given a second chance at life... I had a love/hate relationship with this novel – extremely well written and most definitely addictive, I have not seen the tv show but am now very tempted to take a look. All her friends have no common, talking like teenagers not nearly 30 years old people, keep saying “I love you’”s but they don’t have any idea why the hell they love each other so much are really worried about their friends. But they don’t ask what is going with her. This was a story of why a loved one died mid-adventure and what he was up to, who was Callie and why was she so closed up and why was Natalie the way she was. It was a tale cleverly woven together, I felt like I almost got there with some of my guesses but they were just out of reach. When the reveals came, I was all ‘oh my’. The Scalpel, the Sword: The Story of Dr Norman Bethune – Ted Allan & Sydney Gordon (MCCLELLAND & STEWART)