thePULSEChristopher Coake’s You Came Back
By Stephanie Monahan
Mark is a man haunted by the past. There’s nowhere for him to hide from the memory of the death of his young son, or the ghost of his ex-wife, Chloe, whom he can’t seem to stop thinking about, or his own guilt over the mistakes he made when Brendan was alive ~ and especially the ones he made on the day he died.
But now, Mark is determined to get on with his life. To prove it, he’s about to propose to his girlfriend, Allie, and is considering leaving Ohio for a new life on the west coast. Then, one winter morning at a coffee shop, he realizes he’s being watched. A woman he doesn’t know is following him around town, even trespassing on his property when he’s not home. When they finally speak, Mark is dumbfounded. She lives in Mark’s old house, she tells him, and her son can’t sleep because of “the ghost of the little boy who used to live here.”
Mark doesn’t believe in ghosts. He doesn’t believe souls go anywhere when they die. He believes his son is gone, only a body in the ground…until, that is, Chloe tells him she’s been back to the house, and that she’s seen Brendan, too. She pleads with Mark to return there with her, to feel Brendan’s presence there like she has, and to connect with their son again. Mark finds himself caught between two worlds ~ the comfort of reuniting with his son and the love of his life, and the promise of the new life he’s started with a woman he’s trying to love.
You Came Back is half ghost story, half romantic drama, and works on both levels. Mark’s desperation is palpable, and even when he makes stupid decisions (going out in a blizzard for booze, locking himself out of his apartment, lying to Allie about where he’s been), you can’t help but root for him. Fair warning: there’s a twist about three-quarters of the way through that you won’t see coming and, if you’re like me, may necessitate tissues (I don’t recommend reading this book in public). But if you’re looking for an eerie, beautifully written story to keep you up at night this Halloween, you won’t be disappointed.
