The First, The Sparrow, The Choice
Prequels to The Returned, by Jason Mott
These three short story are prequels to The Returned. All are available right now — free — on Kindle and from Audible.com in celebration of the publication — August 27 — of Jason Mott’s highly acclaimed first novel.
You can get them as audio from Audible.com and for Kindle from Amazon.com. You can get either or both. I’m greedy and I really liked The Returned, so I got both.
Each of the audio versions runs between 30 and 45 minutes and are beautifully narrated. The price is right and the stories are pure poetry. Jason Mott is a poet, an award-winning poet and these stories shine with prose so elegant it is poetry in its own right.
The price is right and I strongly recommend you pop on over to Amazon and Audible and get your own copies as soon as possible!
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The First, as the title suggests, is the story of the first of the dead to return.
![The First: A Prequel to 'The Returned' | [Jason Mott]](https://i0.wp.com/ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51RWw4+xg1L._SL175_.jpg)
A year after her fiance’s death, Emily has barely begun to make peace with Edmond’s abrupt demise. He was killed in a freak bus accident only one day after he had proposed and she had accepted. The couple never had the chance to live their dreams, to celebrate their love.
One day, Edmond Blythe shows up at work. As far as he is concerned it’s just another day.Only when fear, panic and chaos break out around him does he realize something else is going on. It isn’t merely any day… it’s a day like no other before or again.
Edmond is the first, though far from the last to return. Having returned, it seems everything and everyone is conspiring to keep him from reuniting with Emily.
– – –
![The Sparrow: A Prequel to 'The Returned' | [Jason Mott]](https://i0.wp.com/ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/514kRtnviVL._SL175_.jpg)
The Sparrow is the poignant tale of a returned girl, murdered in her tenth year in Sierra Leone. Showing up by the side of an American road, she is picked up by Heather and Matt Campbell. They take the little one home. They’ve heard about the returned, but now, suddenly, they have one. In their home in the middle of their lives.
Heather finds herself immediately drawn to ten-year-old Tatiana Rusesa. Matt cannot see anything but thing. Not a child, but a potential ticket to fame and maybe fortune.
Dodging the bullets of her husband’s unexpectedly crass reaction and sinister governmental plans to deal with the returned, Heather uses compassion and intelligence to navigate the rocky shoals of a situation for which she is completely unprepared.
– – –
In The Choice, a man’s childhood love returns after going missing twenty years before. Peter Galvin was ![The Choice: A Prequel to 'The Returned' | [Jason Mott]](https://i0.wp.com/ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51ChqA-TPYL._SL175_.jpg)
seventeen when the great love of his life vanishes without a trace. No body was ever found and though he grieves, life has inexorably moved one.
Married, with a family of his own, he is suddenly confronted with the girl he loved, apparently in the flesh. Will the call of past be stronger than the commitments of the present? It a love story … the love of a man for his wife, his daughter and a girl he lost and never imagined he would ever see again.
– – –
The Returned will be available as of August 27, 2013, on Kindle, as an MP3, in both hard and softcopy, and as an audiobook (audible.com).
About the author:
Jason Mott holds a BA in fiction and an MFA in poetry and is the author of two poetry collections. His writing has appeared in numerous literary journals, and he was nominated for the 2009 Pushcart Prize. Jason lives in North Carolina. The Returned is his first novel. Follow him on Twitter @jasonmott.
- The Returned by Jason Mott @JasonMott (readingrenee.com)
- An exclusive look: The Returned by Jason Mott (thewriteedgebookshelf.wordpress.com)
- Book Review: The Returned by Jason Mott (leeswammes.wordpress.com)
- {ARC Review} The Returned by Jason Mott (bookvacations.wordpress.com)
- THE RETURNED by Jason Mott: ARC Tour Sign-Ups (litlushes.wordpress.com)
- Review: The Returned by Jason Mott (asoulfluorescent.wordpress.com)
- Book Review: ‘The Returned’ by Jason Mott (thedailyquirk.com)
- A Welcome For The Dead – The Returned, A Novel by Jason Mott (teepee12.com)
- FREE Audiobook – The Choice by Jason Mott @JasonMott (Narrated by David Ledoux) (randomizeme.net)
- FREE Audiobook – The First by Jason Mott @JasonMott (Narrated by Victor Bevine) (randomizeme.net)
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SERENDIPITY: SEEKING INTELLIGENT LIFE ON EARTH 
Thanks for the heads up. I’ve just gotten the two prequels although, somewhat annoyingly, the kindle version of The Returned will not be available until September 7 in the UK. A real WTF (what the frig) moment! Great reviews!!
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Thanks. I liked the book (review copy) … but others were not as thrilled by it. The end is weak. Either he is planning a sequel (I doubt it) or it got too complicated and he just ended it. But until then, it was great, or so I thought. And it does give you pause to think on a bunch of different levels. His post script (the author’s) is very telling. The prequels are excellent, maybe in their own ways, better than the full novel. Mott does “short” very well.
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I agree, I’ve read two of the prequels and quite liked them!
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Elegant prose. He paints pictures. I can see why he’s a well-regarded poet.
On Tue, Aug 27, 2013 at 10:46 AM, SERENDIPITY
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Agreed! Someone for me to keep an eye on!
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Note there are THREE prequels.
On Mon, Aug 26, 2013 at 11:02 AM, SERENDIPITY
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What is the third one, btw…
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I don’t remember which ones you got, but the three are “The First,” The Sparrow,” and “The Choice.” They are all very good, in some ways almost perfect short stories … reminding me why, when it’s done right, the short story is the most elegant prose format. You can say so much, while using so few words. If you look at Jason Mott on Amazon, they’ll all come up.
On Tue, Aug 27, 2013 at 10:46 AM, SERENDIPITY
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The Sparrow is the one I missed…Cheers!
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