The Returned

The Returned
Dr. Laurence B. Brown
Create Space
Paperback
2011
ISBN: 9781466227477
$ 15.99
366 pages

When a tragic experience does not have closure, you try to go on. In the back
of your mind is that nagging need. of something wrong, unfinished. How do
bring an event to a close when you barely escaped with your life? Do you ever
get over the guilt about your twin brother's death? If you had it all to do
over again, would you have made the same choices?

Nathan Jones has a successful academic life but he is bothered by his past.
Remembering back forty years, he relates the adventurous tale that killed his
twin brother now to his own sons. He feels the need to record these events for
his family.

Forty years earlier, Nathan and Mark Jones were teenagers at Cornell University.
They vividly realized that they were part of a changing culture as being among
the first black students at this prestigious university. They believed that
life was theirs for the taking truly living the idea of "Seize the Day". So
when an opportunity to be a part of a prospecting expedition to the Amazon in
South America, they were excited about the upcoming expedition during their
summer break.

The expedition group consisted of twelve men, a geochemistry professor, his
assistant, a representative from the sponsoring mining company, four grad
students, three natives who were guides and a translator, and the two boys,
Nathan and Mark, who were twin brothers and the only blacks in the group.

In practicality, most expeditions are failures with the prospectors returning
home frustrated and broke. The fictional adventures like Indiana Jones are
rare. With this group, they do not realize the odds or the dangers that they are
truly facing. All the members viewed the expedition as an adventure and
definitely a benefit for their future resumes or reputations.

Quickly the two discover that they are extra pack mules and slave labor for the
expedition along with the burden of others' prejudices.. Another discovery
is that to all the members of this non-cohesive group, the Amazon is a constant
threat to their lives and just having guns does not make everyone safe as the
members of this group begin to die in a variety of ways.

The Returned is the story of this expedition's journey from their first day to
their final rescue. It tells of real people with different perspectives about
solving their daily problems involving complicated relationships regarding trust
and reliability. The tale is a page-turner that is a realistic action-adventure
through the Amazon.

Dr. Laurence B. Brown has previously written the fictional bestseller, The
Eighth Scroll. He has also written four non-fiction books, The First and
Final Commandment, MisGod'ed, God'ed?, and Bearing True Witness which deals with
his conversion to the Muslim faith. He lives in Saudi Arabia and works as an
opthamalmic surgeon.

The Returned is a fast-paced action-adventure tale with realism. This is a
well-written story that will make you glad to have only read it and not to have
actually experienced it.

Want a safe adventure? Read, only read, The Returned.