21st out of 34 books
—
95 voters
You Came Back
Thirty-something midwesterner Mark Fife believes he has successfully moved past the accidental death of his young son Brendan, as well as his subsequent divorce from his college sweetheart Chloe. He's successful, he's in love again, and he believes he's mastered his own memories.
But then he is contacted by a strange woman who tells him not only that she owns his old house...more
But then he is contacted by a strange woman who tells him not only that she owns his old house...more
Hardcover, 432 pages
Published
June 12th 2012
by Grand Central Publishing
(first published 2012)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
1,745)
From BBC radio 4 Extra:
Supernatural thriller about a man trying to rebuild after the accidental death of his son.
Supernatural thriller about a man trying to rebuild after the accidental death of his son.
WARNING! SECOND PARAGRAPH CONTAINS SPOILERS!
I don't normally do spoilers in reviews, but there's no way to adequately praise Christopher Coake's first novel without them. The spoilers begin in the next block of text. But first: This book is fantastically well-written, gripping, smart, emotionally wrenching--everything a good thriller is supposed to be but so rarely is, plus all the things a good "literary" novel ought to be, only not pretentious. The sentence-level writing alone is worth the pri...more
I don't normally do spoilers in reviews, but there's no way to adequately praise Christopher Coake's first novel without them. The spoilers begin in the next block of text. But first: This book is fantastically well-written, gripping, smart, emotionally wrenching--everything a good thriller is supposed to be but so rarely is, plus all the things a good "literary" novel ought to be, only not pretentious. The sentence-level writing alone is worth the pri...more

Erm okay; low three.
“You were loved and lost ... then you came back.
Thirty-something Mark Fife believes he has moved on from the accidental death of his young son Brendan and the subsequent break-up of his marriage. He's successful, in love again, and he thinks he's mastered his own memories at last. But when a strange woman tells him she believes her house is haunted by Brendan's ghost, his life is thrown into turmoil.
Mark doesn't believe in ghosts, but his distressed ex-wife does, and he really wants to help her...more
Thirty-something Mark Fife believes he has moved on from the accidental death of his young son Brendan and the subsequent break-up of his marriage. He's successful, in love again, and he thinks he's mastered his own memories at last. But when a strange woman tells him she believes her house is haunted by Brendan's ghost, his life is thrown into turmoil.
Mark doesn't believe in ghosts, but his distressed ex-wife does, and he really wants to help her...more
Those who know me know that I love debut novels. They bring new voices to the genre - stories told from a fresh and unjaded point of view. You Came Back is a quick read and riveting debut.
It has been 7 years since Mark, the main character, has lost his only child - his son, Brendan. Since that horrible moment in time, he quit drinking and watched as grief and loss have taken his marriage. Now, as he readies to propose to his girlfriend, Allsion, and embark on a new life - a strange woman seeks...more
It has been 7 years since Mark, the main character, has lost his only child - his son, Brendan. Since that horrible moment in time, he quit drinking and watched as grief and loss have taken his marriage. Now, as he readies to propose to his girlfriend, Allsion, and embark on a new life - a strange woman seeks...more
You Came Back is everything you want a literary novel to be - a great premise that draws you in, fully realized characters that provide a deep insight into what it means to be human, and a writing style that gives you the feeling you're in the hands of a talent that won't let you down. Here Coake explores the ramifications of parents who suffered the loss of a child and had their marriage crumble as a result. The novel picks up seven years later when their lives have started to pick up again, an...more
Mark is in his 30s and finally finding happiness again, having endured the loss of his 7 year old son and the subsequent break up of his marriage. Having hit a low while grieving for Brendan he has now moved on and is in love with Allison. He is on the verge of proposing when an unwelcome woman comes barging into his life.
She lives in the house where his son's accident occurred and claims he is haunting the house. Mark's father is very logical and has raised him to be the same, so he tries to i...more
She lives in the house where his son's accident occurred and claims he is haunting the house. Mark's father is very logical and has raised him to be the same, so he tries to i...more
Mark Fife is on the verge of starting a new life with a woman he loves several years after his 7-year-old son dies and the divorce from his son's mother.
Connie Pelham, the woman now living in the Victorian house where Brendan died, finds Mark and tells him that it's haunted with Brendan's ghost. Connie also reaches out to Chloe, Mark's ex-wife and Brendan's mother to tell her the same thing.
Mark becomes obsessed and withdrawn over the possibility of reconnecting with his son. He and Chloe star...more
Connie Pelham, the woman now living in the Victorian house where Brendan died, finds Mark and tells him that it's haunted with Brendan's ghost. Connie also reaches out to Chloe, Mark's ex-wife and Brendan's mother to tell her the same thing.
Mark becomes obsessed and withdrawn over the possibility of reconnecting with his son. He and Chloe star...more
This was a very well-written book and a quick read. The characters are very well-developed and the story line delves into so many emotional aspects of losing a child, death, divorce, remarriage, etc. I typically do not like to read depressing stories and this one left me wanting to hold my little daughter as tightly as possible. I cannot imagine enduring the loss that Mark Fife does in this novel.
The reason I give this book 4 stars instead of 5 is because it was a little too sad for me (my prob...more
The reason I give this book 4 stars instead of 5 is because it was a little too sad for me (my prob...more
This second novel by Coake will stay with you long after you've put it down. Thirty-something Mark Fife is on the brink of starting a new life with his fiance, several years after his 7-year-old son Brendan dies in an accidental fall and his wife divorces him. Until he meets Connie Pelham, the woman now living in the Victorian house where Brendan died. She's sought him out to tell him something unimaginable--that the ghost of Brendan is still in the house, and he wants his father.
I love ghost s...more
I love ghost s...more
Review copy from NetGalley
I'm not sure what compelled me to want to read this novel, since the very thought of losing a child is enough to make me sick, but I think it was the possible "ghost" element that spurred my interest.
I was just reading last night (in the current issue of Psychology Today) that 32% of Americans believe that spirits of the dead can return, 37% believe in haunted houses, and 16% aren't sure. They also mentioned the fact that bereavement increases the chance of a visit fro...more
I'm not sure what compelled me to want to read this novel, since the very thought of losing a child is enough to make me sick, but I think it was the possible "ghost" element that spurred my interest.
I was just reading last night (in the current issue of Psychology Today) that 32% of Americans believe that spirits of the dead can return, 37% believe in haunted houses, and 16% aren't sure. They also mentioned the fact that bereavement increases the chance of a visit fro...more
I thought this was an extremely interesting book. It dealt with the already troubled marriage of a young couple that explodes into chaos when their young son is killed. The mom cannot forgive the father and even though she is the love of his life, she divorces him. Then 7 years later her husband has a uncomfortable encounter with a stranger who now lives in his old home. She says her young son has been talking to the ghost of his child. An unusual premise, but I was rivetted by it. Mainly you ar...more
I'm not sure how I feel about this book. It's the story of a couple who have a son. The son dies by accident (before the story began). Of course, both of the parents are filled with grief and sorrow. They don't want to blame each other but they do and their marriage has fallen apart. Each of them is trying to pick up the pieces and go on. Seven years have passed when this story begins....n A woman comes into each of the couple's lives and tells them that she wants to share some information with...more
Well, well. Interesting book really dealing with relationships. How they can survive a traumatic event. Or basically how they won't. A real lesson on what NOT to do. It was heart breaking to read the effects of a child's death to all who loved him. That super natural part was really a brief part of the entire book to me. A lot of sub-plots. The main characters Mark & Chloe aren't even likable. Annoying to say the least. As for Allison, if this was real life, I would tell her to run as fast a...more
I'm not one for ghost stories, but I love an Ohio connection and Christopher Coake got his MFA in fiction at The Ohio State University, so You Came Back is set in Columbus. He mentions German Village, and Short North and even Hocking Hills, so I felt very comfortable with the setting. I did not feel comfortable with the subject matter because the loss of a child, even in a fictional setting, is unfathomable for me. Mark Fife's young son Brendan died after fall in their home and, although the los...more
Loaned to me by my boss, this book is lush and gorgeous with the imagery and emotions that come with losing a child. Throw in the ghost of that child, and that mixes up the emotions pot quite a bit. Protagonist Mark Fife, who lost not only his son Brendan in an accident, but soon after, his marriage to wife, Chloe; a marriage he was not necessarily that happy in. Seven years later, a stranger begins stalking Mark, who is now recently engaged and happier than he thinks he may ever have been in hi...more
I liked this book - a good summer read. It does what a ghost story should do - takes you to the edge of that reasonable explanation for a 'haunting' and then nudges you over into the world of the supernatural - where you are asked to suspend your beliefs and make room for explanations that are not strictly 'reasonable'. The author adeptly teeters us back and forth between these worlds as he tells the story of a family destroyed by the accidental death of a child. The surviving parents have sold...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
This book kept me on the edge of my seat, but I could only read about forty five minutes at a time because the main character, Mark, made me so anxious! In a horror movie kind of way, Mark chooses the option you know he shouldn't over and over again. Should he tell his fiancee about the strange woman who keeps telling him his dead son is haunting her house? Should he go to the house to find out for himself? I also enjoyed the setting: most of the novel takes place in Columbus, OH where I went to...more
Losing a loved one to sudden death feels a lot like losing your sanity. Rationality is gone, and everything and everyone suddenly seems at peril – life as you knew it has been ripped away. Losing a child is, for most of us, unthinkable. Clearly, this sense of wrongness underlies and informs the actions and motivations of the main character – Mark, the grieving dad. It also explains the behavior of his ex-wife, the mom. So why did I spend so much of this book annoyed and impatient with Mark? As m...more
I just couldn't get into this. I think my main problem was Mark and the subject matter. While you were sympathetic to Allie and Chloe, they still felt like caricatures. Sam was wonderful, but he almost seemed like he didn't fit with his son. Even Lew (also a bit of a caricature) was tolerable - he had a place in the story. But Mark was such a jerk that I really didn't care what happened to him.
As a parent of young kids this would be a hard book for me to get through. But I thought it might be wo...more
As a parent of young kids this would be a hard book for me to get through. But I thought it might be wo...more
I had a love-hate relationship with this novel, but ended up feeling quite satisfied by the way the author resolved the story, hardly wrapped up in a neat package, but oh so believable. The relationships here are complex and author Christopher Coake develops them very subtly. Bad things happen to good people and, inevitably, they doubt themselves, what they deserve in life or don't deserve. And then there's the question about whether things happen for reason. Or is there no reason at all? As yo...more
That I'm neither a parent nor have I ever lost someone I loved & yet felt this story deep in my bones is a testament to Christopher Coake's talent as a storyteller & writer. He had me hooked on this story within a few short pages. It was sad as the theme is about losing a child & the toll it takes on his parents, but it was also a bit hopeful, with the possibility of somehow finding a way to not just continue living past the grief but overcoming it so that life can somehow be somethi...more
You Came Back
Christopher Coake
Did you like Turn of the Screw? Do you like psychological horror stories that leave you wondering if the “whatever” is real?
Coake crafts such a story. Mark Fife lost his beloved son, Brendan, to an accident. His wife Chloe has left him. Seventeen years have gone by and Mark is about to start a new life with a new woman.
But there are tales that Brendan is haunting the house Mark, Chloe and Brendan used to live in. Is it true? Mark scoffs, but Chloe is not sure.
What...more
Christopher Coake
Did you like Turn of the Screw? Do you like psychological horror stories that leave you wondering if the “whatever” is real?
Coake crafts such a story. Mark Fife lost his beloved son, Brendan, to an accident. His wife Chloe has left him. Seventeen years have gone by and Mark is about to start a new life with a new woman.
But there are tales that Brendan is haunting the house Mark, Chloe and Brendan used to live in. Is it true? Mark scoffs, but Chloe is not sure.
What...more
Mark and Chloe's marriage falls apart after the accidental death of their son Brendan. They each have started the lives over with new partners yet make time for each other to grieve annually on Brendan's birthday and the anniversary of his death. Then enters a woman and her son who have moved into their old home. Both of them claim that the ghost of Brendan is haunting the house. Mark is skeptical but Chloe clings to this idea ferociously because she so much wants to know that she might be able...more
This book almost lived up to its hype. It's well written and explores the worst scenario a family can face: the loss of a child. When the new family living in the house sold after the divorce resulting from the loss of their child comes forward with the tale that their son is still in rehouse, calling for his father, Mark Fife and his ex-wife must decide if they believe that the ethereal essence of their son is still in their former home or if , for some unknown reason, the young boy and his mot...more
I was hoping for a thrilling ghost story, but that is not what this novel is about. It was more of a relationship analysis of the main character and his ex-wife and fiance.
As a parent, this book was hard to read due to the main characters having lost their young son. The effect it has on the parents is heart-breaking.
Another interesting component of this book is that it is written from the point of view of a thirty-something male. I did not find this character likeable at all. The author inclu...more
As a parent, this book was hard to read due to the main characters having lost their young son. The effect it has on the parents is heart-breaking.
Another interesting component of this book is that it is written from the point of view of a thirty-something male. I did not find this character likeable at all. The author inclu...more
While well written with hugely well developed characters, this book requires some suspension of disbelief to truly appreciate. I am not the type to suspend disbelief in regards to the ghosts of dead children. The characters are understandably sad and mentally fragile, and this got to be a bit tiring as the book is rather long. Would have liked it better if it were shorter. Read it if you can believe in seances, mediums, ghosts, and have lived in Columbus, Ohio. (Which I did for one year of colle...more
I absolutely loved this book. I felt the anxiousness and heart-ache in every page, every paragraph. I was stunned to find out this is Christopher Coake's debut novel and I will definitely be looking out for his next book
To lose a child must be one of the most heart wrenching experiences on this earth and I hope I never have to experience it.
Before I had children I imagined how it would be to love a child, but when I had my children I found out I was way off. The following quote from the book des...more
To lose a child must be one of the most heart wrenching experiences on this earth and I hope I never have to experience it.
Before I had children I imagined how it would be to love a child, but when I had my children I found out I was way off. The following quote from the book des...more
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »

Loading...

























updated Mar 05, 2013 08:54am