The Choice

A Prequel to 'The Returned'

By: Jason Mott

Narrated by: David Ledoux

In this short story by Jason Mott, author of The Returned, a man is forced to choose between the life he has now, and the one he thought was gone forever.

Peter Galvin was just 17 when Tracy Whitland - the love of his life - vanished without a trace. In the years after her death, he had finally moved on, gotten married, started a family. He is content with his life now - happy, even - until Tracy suddenly and inexplicably returns.

For weeks, Peter and his wife, Samantha, have been watching mysterious reports of people's loved ones returning from beyond, the world spinning into uncertainty and chaos. But they never imagined it would happen to them. With Tracy's unusual homecoming, Peter and Samantha must decide where they can possibly go from here, and whether their family can survive.

Listen to more stories of the Returned in The First and The Sparrow. And don't miss Jason Mott's haunting debut novel, The Returned, a story of one family given an extraordinary second chance.

©2013 Jason Mott (P)2013 Audible Inc.

Third of Three Prequels

Imagine a world in which the dead start coming back to life. They have no memories from when they were gone; they simply start appearing all over the globe. This is the premise of Jason Mott's novel, The Returned. In this third prequel to the novel, another of the returned is introduced. When she was only 17 years old, Tracy Whitmore disappeared. Eventually, her disappearance was ruled a death. Her boyfriend at the time, Peter Galvin, was heartbroken.

Fast forward 20 years, and Tracy has returned. She is still 17 years old, but Peter is not. All she wants is to see Peter again. Unfortunately, in the years since her death, Peter has married someone else and has a daughter. Nevertheless, Peter still loves Tracy very much. His new wife, Samantha, believes that he needs to make a choice between Tracy or her. Eventually, Peter agrees to meet with Tracy--and he makes a very difficult choice.

Out of the three prequels, I enjoyed this one the most. The story was just heart-wrenching, and I couldn't imagine what I would do if I were in this situation. At this point, I really took notice of how intense The Returned would be because I was starting to question my own values and beliefs while reading The Choice. When books can make you questions beliefs to which you have held firm for many years, it's a sign of a great book. I could not wait to read The Returned.

(I also want to make a comment about the low rating I gave the performance. While I had nothing against David Ledoux as the narrator, I thought that his voice was uncharacteristic for the seriousness of the book. If he were reading "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," I think he would be amazing. His voice just didn't have the right tone for this story.)

Let down by the narrator

Peter Galvin and Tracy Whitland were childhood sweethearts and each other's first love, until Tracy disappeared without trace when Peter was seventeen. In the intervening years Peter has moved on, married and had a daughter, but now Tracy has returned, still seventeen and in love. This story raises questions about what we want versus what we think we want, about happiness found versus happiness made and the choices we make and the reasons we make them.

This is the third of three prequels to 'The Returned', and all three stories hint at the plethora of issues facing society when those thought lost forever begin to return. No matter how beloved a lost love one is, life moves on without them. It will be interesting to see how Jason Mott handles the return of loved ones lost in time to a present they have no experience of. He has created a wonderful and imaginative concept and these three stories have piqued my interest in the novel itself. I hope it lives up to its promise.

My audiobook experience thus far has been that the narrator does impact the level of enjoyment of the story. David Ledoux injects himself a little too far into his reading of The Choice, which I found distracting and ultimately detrimental to the story. Perhaps in the world of audiobooks listeners follow narrators in a manner similar to the way readers follow writers. That said, 'The Returned' by Jason Mott is one to watch.

My least favorite of the three prequels

STORY - I liked the first two prequels, especially for short freebies, but this one didn't do it for me. Perhaps the novelty of loved ones returning from the dead has worn off, or maybe it's the fact that something about this one just seemed stupid. Tracy (the one returning in this prequel) is 17. I don't want to give too much away, but I thought there was way too much indecision regarding how Peter, 20 years her superior, might react to her return.

I am curious where these returned loved ones are coming from and why, but not curious enough to buy "The Returned."

PERFORMANCE - Good enough, nothing special.

OVERALL - I would recommend listening to "The First" and "The Sparrow." If you like those two, then make up your mind about this one. I think women might enjoy these more than men.

The Prequels worked!

I have now read all three prequels. While I wasn't sure in the first two, now I am truly interested and want to read The Returned. I do like that each prequel had a different angle and considered the different reactions and emotions. The concept is definitely thought provoking.

present is present past is past

This was a great follow up to the introduction to the series (The Returned). This was a demonstration on what was happening around the world from different standpoints. I found it intriguing the differences in the reactions to the returned. I found it amazing that Peter was a man that even present with the things of his present make the choice to accept the life he built and walk away from the one that was lost to him years ago.

Interesting and thought-provoking

This was exciting, interesting and you can't go wrong with it being free! This definitely hooked me into buying "The Returned".
This book really made me question how I would react in the same situation.

Prequel - not a stand alone short story

Maybe worth the couple of bucks it cost, this 40 minute prequel is fairly blah. I purchased all 3 prequels after I'd heard the story and frankly, it is a waste of money by them. Listen to them first if you plan on listening to The Returned.

The choice

This 3rd prequel was my favorite I believe. For some reason I related to it more. I must say I was worried the husband wad going to make the wrong decision. At the end I smiled.

Loved this prequel

I really enjoyed this prequel. I read all three of them, and this was my favorite (although I liked them all). These prequels are a great way to generate interest in the full book; I pre-ordered the full story after reading these.

Not as Strong as the Others

Something about this one did not resonate as strongly as the others. I didn't really feel invested into the characters as much. I think it was because no one was really likeable.