The Returned

The Returned (2013) by Jason Mott. Disappointing novel with an intriguing premise. The premise: All over the world, dead people are reappearing, still the age they were when they died. They are not zombies, they are just perfect replicas of the people who died, complete with memories, scars, birthmarks, etc. What Mott does with the premise is the disappointment. Rather than seeing the resurrections as miraculous, currently living people react suspiciously, and the Returned are herded into concentration camps where conditions are less than ideal. Religious fundamentalists see the Returned as a sign of the End of the World. Others, for no discernible reason, gather and protest and want the Returned done away with. It just seemed to me like Mott struck wrong note after wrong note in describing the world with the Returned in it, and then in the end the Returned just start disappearing. No explanation is ever given for why they came or why they are leaving. I was just really disappointed in this book. Grade: C