The Returned by Dr. Laurence B. Brown

I haven't done a good old fashioned book review on my blog here for a long time. I decided from now on, I will put up my book reviews here instead of on goodreads.com. I will update goodreads though with a link to my reviews once they are up on my blog.

1st time read August (10th completed) 2012
2nd time read August 22-24, 2014

I have read The Returned twice, the second time around to review it. I am a big fan of Dr. Brown's books, and have done reviews for some of his other books I have read so far. If you are interested, here they are!
The Eighth Scroll
The Zion Deception
MisGoded

The back of the book of The Returned reads: From Dr. Laurence B. Brown, author of the critically acclaimed best-seller, The Eighth Scroll, comes an exhilarating adventure of surprising depth and extraordinary resonance.

For brothers Nathan and Mark Jones, the best summer vacation they can imagine is one of wild adventure. That is why they join their college geochemistry professor on a prospecting trip to South America. But what begins as a simple expedition rapidly devolves into a life-altering trip into the darkest corners of the human soul. The brothers’ lives soon morph into a kaleidoscope of the best and worst that lawless human nature and untamed wilderness can dish out. They quickly realize that their survival depends not only upon one another, but upon the native Indians they have been taught to fear—the only ones who can lead them back to civilization.

Forty years later, Nathan returns to uncover the truths behind the deadly expedition. In the process, he uncovers a secret that traps him in a terrifying collision of belief, superstition, and survival.

 

In the vein of Thomas Berger’s Little Big Man and John Boorman’s The Emerald Forest, Dr. Brown captures with primal ferocity the clash between the west’s fanciful myths of indigenous cultures, and the harsh reality we encounter when our worlds, ideals, and morals collide. Probing the deepest recesses of the human psyche, he lays bare the unadorned savagery not just of primitive cultures, but of all people who are forced into adrenaline-fueled battles of wits and wills to survive. The Returned is an insightful, scintillating, action-packed adventure that illuminates the survival-based instincts that lie dormant in us all—and how choices in desperate circumstances define our characters.

*****

 
According to MY scale as described in http://sfraww.blogspot.com/2014/07/my... to me, 4 stars = really good (2-3 things disliked about the book). So here are my reasons for why I felt the way I did about The Returned.
 

I realized I love the cover art to all of Brown's books, including this one. Not a big deal, but if you pick up books based on their covers (yeah I know its' not good to judge a book my its cover, but who actually doesn't do this?!), then the cover art could make a difference to whether you choose to read a book or not. Regardless, The Returned was very action packed, suspenseful, and interesting. Some parts were gruesome, so if you don't like bloody descriptive scenes, I would avoid this book. (I'm use to this from reading Brown's other fiction books.) The book overall was very descriptive, giving the impression that Brown went to the Amazon jungle himself or did research on it, which he has done for many of his past books. Reading The Returned made me realize that I would HATE to be stuck in the Amazon jungle; I would actually be really scared!

The book is broken into 73 short chapters! While this may be good at times when we want to take a break or easily remember where to continue from, 73 chapters is a lot! A few other parts were also for more of an adult audience, in my opinion. For this reason, I think The Returned would be better suited for adult readers.

When I first read The Returned, I gave it five stars. This time, I was a little more critical. For some reason, giving it five stars again made me think, "I don't consider it a favorite, so why the 5 stars?" So four stars was more appropriate.

I wish I could give more specifics about The Returned that I try to usually include in my book reviews, but for now, this is where I stand with The Returned. It may not be a favorite like Brown's other books, but I still recommend adults read this one. You might learn to value your life more!