“I had overlooked the propensity of the dying to tell their story. The need to be heard one last time.”
Betsy’s world starts to fall apart after her brother dies on an MIA mission in Vietnam. She acts up at school and is told to spend the rest of the school year and summer reporting for candy striper duty at the local VA hospital – or repeat the school year. She goes begrudgingly until she realizes her brother could have easily been one of them and she would want someone to treat them tenderly and with respect. She soon looks forward to visiting the men. However, there appears to be one patient who is hidden away on the top floor. Betsy is determined to find out who he is and why he is hidden away.
The author requested Revenants: The Odyssey Home to be reviewed by me through my blog. I was given a free copy of the book in exchange for a fair review. The book’s description sounded very interesting and I enjoy reading historical fiction.
Betsy discovers the patient is a very old man and no one knows his name. By accident, her brother finds her with the patient and realizes he is tapping his finger in Morse code, which her brother knows from studying for a HAM radio license. The patient starts to tell them his story and they quickly realize they may be able to figure out who he is and get him home before he dies. They are up against time and a local politician who wants to keep the patient’s existence a secret.
I enjoyed reading Revenants and was curious to know how the story was going to end. The pace of the book moves pretty quickly until the end when Betsy discovers her brother’s journal. It could have moved quicker at the end. Anyone who loves historical fiction would enjoy this book and it has enough twists and turns to keep the reader guessing. There’s a little bit of mystery thrown in, too. It would be for high school ages or older as there are descriptions of war.
What is your favorite historical fiction book? Comment below!
