Words I Write Crazy: The Reclaimed: Review

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

The Reclaimed: Review

From Goodreads:
What happens when a family man comes back from the dead to find his mistress married to someone else?

Death is never final in Greenville, a frontier community on a faraway planet. Every year the townspeople vote on who will be Reclaimed, granting them a new life following an untimely, fatal accident. Often the elections are divisive, pitting neighbor against neighbor, or even family members against one another.

But when Ned Polanski comes back from the dead to a gloating wife and tense rejection from his young love, the brutal emotional aftershocks threaten the town's very survival.

My Review:
Yeah, this was a very strange short story! I enjoyed it a lot, but it was very weird! I enjoyed these characters a lot, and how they all reacted to Ned being brought back, with all the issues along with him, married but with a mistress-but who's married now? Yeah.

The idea that people would give their argument on why their loved one should be brought back from the dead, because only one person can come back, and only if they died within 3 years, is kinda heartbreaking. But the world and science behind it was pretty cool!

Then there's the secrets that everybody has, that bringing back Ned, brings back to the surface, and all those things that start to happen, well, it's a short story, but quite a bit happens in that time! Lots of fun to read!

There were clues to the big reveal, and when it happened, well, it didn't go over too well! Which, yeah, it happened, so they have to deal! Just because they didn't want to know, didn't mean that it wasn't happening!

Pretty great short story, I enjoyed it a lot!

Author: Phil Stern
Read: June 16th, 2012
Source: Virtual Book Tour Cafe Review Copy
Reason Why: Sounded good!
Publisher: Self Published
Published: December 12th 2011

4/5 Hearts

3/5 Books

3.5/5 Stars

Bio:
Phil Stern is the author of both Contemporary and Science Fiction.

His debut novel, The Bull Years, was published in 2011. A hard-hitting commentary on both the frustrations and ultimate validation of modern-day life, The Bull Years follows the lives of four people throughout the late 80′s, 90′s, and into the 21st century, directly addressing the gradual alienation and disconnection often experienced during young adulthood.

“I wanted to write about characters everyone could relate to,” Stern says. “We’ve all had our ups and downs. I think people sometimes feel everyone else has experienced more success than they have, or are more firmly grounded in our world than they could ever be. My hope is that everyone will recognize a little part of themselves in Steve, Sophia, Dave, and Brooke.”

Born in 1970 in Ossining, New York, Stern grew up with a love of all types of science fiction, including the works of Robert Heinlein, Anne McCaffrey, John Wyndham, Piers Anthony, and more.

“Speculative fiction is so different today than it was back then,” Stern says. “I wanted to write stuff a bit more recognizable to fans of my generation. Science fiction should be about ideas and alternate worlds, strong characters and good stories.

Going into talk radio after attending SUNY Albany, Stern hosted regular shows in the New York City area, Albany, Utica, NY, and Greenville, NC. He later went into the advertising and sales industries.

Stern now lives in Florida, and is working on his next novel.

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