Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley

The news about the Woodpecker Lazarus broke out just in time as Gabriel Witter (15) mysteriously disappears. While the sighting of the mythical bird threw the entire town of Lily, Arkansas abuzz, the Witter’s over the loss of their beloved Gabriel are thrown out of their peaceful and normal lives as they struggle to cope up with this heartbreaking news. Meanwhile, Benton Sage was sent to Awasa, Ethiopia for his first missionary work. Realizing that he wasn’t cut out for this he begged to be sent back home where a very disappointed family awaits him. Benton Sage soon kills himself (on Christmas day) leaving his roommate, Cabot Searcy, in a religious quest to bring light into Benton’s self-murder and into a misguided quest that will only lead him to a crime he didn’t intend to commit. These are two different stories one will find skipping in and out of from John Corey Whaley’s first book of fiction “Where Things Come Back”. I have often wondered the relevance of Cullen Witter’s story that of Benton Sage’s. It wasn’t until I approached its last few pages that I found out about its relevance. The ending, though predictable, was at least the kind that did not leave you guessing or devastated at all. It was the kind of that evokes a smile as one closes the book. I enjoyed it and felt myself holding back tears as I approached its final chapters.

A few years from now I will surely forget what it’s all about just as I am now slowly losing some whos, whats, whys and wheres but I know I’ve read a beautiful story. And what comes from this is a lesson that one must carry around in life: everyone is entitled to second chances, that blind faith is dangerous and that one must keep a pocketful of hope in the midst of despair. But of course you must read it yourself to understand.