by Jason Mott
First published 2013
Harold and Lucille Hargrave answer their door to find Jacob, their son who died at his eighth birthday party in 1966. He stands before them exactly as he was then, still eight years old, flesh and blood real. The Hargraves had spent decades learning to live without him, their grief softened by time, until this impossible moment shatters their quiet old age. Jacob represents something larger happening across the world. Dead loved ones are returning everywhere, and no one understands why. Harold and Lucille cannot even agree between themselves whether this boy is truly their son or something else wearing his face. The global phenomenon creates chaos as communities struggle to process what these returns mean. The Hargrave family finds itself caught in the center of their town's breakdown. Neighbors turn against each other as fear and wonder collide. The family must navigate not only their own questions about Jacob's identity but also a community ready to tear itself apart. The story examines what happens when the impossible becomes real and forces people to confront fundamental questions about death, identity, and what makes someone human.
Genres: fiction, mystery, contemporary, 21st-century, family-drama, apocalyptic
Vibes: emotional, intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, unreliable-narrator
Setting: United States
Period: 1966, 21st Century
338 pages · Hardcover · MIRA
Content warnings: death