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WORK TITLE: The Return
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE: 1983
WEBSITE: http://josephhelmreich.tumblr.com/
CITY: New York
STATE: NY
COUNTRY:
NATIONALITY:
https://us.macmillan.com/author/josephhelmreich/ * https://civilianreader.com/2017/03/20/quick-chat-with-joseph-helmreich/
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born 1983.
EDUCATION:Rutgers University, B.A.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer, musician, voice-over actor, illustrator, ventriloquist, film distributor. The Weinstein Company, script-reader. Member of alternative folk duo, Honeybrick.
WRITINGS
Contributor of fiction to publications, including Every Day Fiction and New York Press. Worked on various film and television projects, including Garden State, Late Night With Conan O’Brien, and No Direction Home: Bob Dylan.
SIDELIGHTS
Joseph Helmreich writes science fiction and nonfiction about psychology, and has worked in film and television. With a degree in film and philosophy from Rutgers University, he interned and worked on such shows as Garden State and Late Night With Conan O’Brien, and was a script-reader for The Weinstein Company. Interested in writing, he has contributed to Every Day Fiction and New York Press. He lives in New York City.
Warring Parents, Wounded Children, and the Wretched World of Child Custody
In 2008, Helmreich published Warring Parents, Wounded Children, and the Wretched World of Child Custody: Cautionary Tales with cowriter Paul Marcus, a psychoanalyst and forensic evaluator in child custody cases. The book reveals the tragic yet enlightening stories of divorce, destructive child custody disputes, and dysfunctional legal proceedings that do even more damage. Describing ten case studies of people in various ethnic and economic backgrounds, the book delves into how the children are the biggest losers in custody battles, what parents can learn to make the court experience easier on them and their children, and how to avoid tragedy. At the end of each chapter, the authors offer commentary and provide practical information for parents, judges, lawyers, law guardians, and mediators.
Of the book’s scary docket of divorce stories, a reviewer in Publishers Weekly noted that while the tone is professional and the book offers messages in clear language, “the practical upshot can get lost in the parade of unhappiness, betrayal, abuse and familial collapse.” A contributor to Reference & Research Book News commented that the book gives “an inside view of the self-destructive human flaws—selfishness, blindness, and stupidity.”
The Return
Turning to fiction, Helmreich wrote The Return in 2017. In the story, astrophysicist Andrew Leland was providing commentary for news stations on the night of a combined lunar eclipse and winter solstice, when his abduction by aliens is caught on film. He was lifted into the sky into a green spacecraft. Six years later, he appears in a South American desert. He claims he knows nothing about the abduction and simply changed careers to become a farmer.
During the time he was gone, a cult grew up around his abduction, and obsessed graduate student Shawn Ferris is determined to learn what really happened to Leland. In fact, so do government forces that have been chasing Leland across continents. “Helmreich combines just enough science with thrilling action to keep the reader hooked,” observed Frances Moritz in Booklist. A contributor to Publishers Weekly praised the book for portraying multidimensional characters and an intriguing concept, but added that “the plot takes some clever turns, though the ending doesn’t quite live up to the beginning.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, March 15, 2017, Frances Moritz, review of The Return, p. 32.
Publishers Weekly, January 30, 2017, review of The Return, p. 183.
Reference & Research Book News, May 2008, review of Warring Parents, Wounded Children, and the Wretched World of Child Custody: Cautionary Tales
ONLINE
Publishers Weekly, https://www.publishersweekly.com/ (November 1, 2017), review of Warring Parents, Wounded Children, and the Wretched World of Child Custody.
JOSEPH HELMREICH
JOSEPH HELMREICH has contributed writing to Every Day Fiction and New York Press and is the co-author of Warring Parents, Wounded Children, and the Wretched World of Child Custody (Greenwood Press, 2007). He is a graduate of Rutgers University, where he studied philosophy and film, and spent his early twenties working or interning on film and television projects, such as Garden State, Late Night With Conan O’Brien, and No Direction Home: Bob Dylan, before becoming a script-reader for The Weinstein Company, an experience which helped inspire him to become an author. In addition to his writing, Helmreich is also a voice-over actor, illustrator, ventriloquist and member of alternative folk duo, Honeybrick. He lives in New York City and works in film distribution.
Quick Chat with JOSEPH HELMREICH
March 20, 2017 Civilian Reader InterviewDebut 2017, Joseph Helmreich, Most Anticipated 2017, Mystery, Return, Sci-Fi, St Martin's Press, Thomas Dunne Books
Let’s start with an introduction: Who is Joseph Helmreich?
I’m a New York-based writer and this is my second book and first novel. I also play in a band called Honeybrick and I’m a ventriloquist, though I never mention that last part except at the start of interviews.
Your debut novel, The Return, will be published by this year by St. Martin’s Press. It looks really interesting: How would you introduce it to a potential reader? Is it part of a series?
It’s a sci-fi thriller about a physicist who gets abducted by an alien ship during a live TV broadcast and then turns up years later and claims it never happened. It wasn’t planned to be part of a series, though I’d certainly be open to doing a sequel.
What inspired you to write the novel? And where do you draw your inspiration from in general?
I had a few ideas floating around in my head and when I pitched this story to my editor, Brendan Deneen, he really liked the premise. I draw much of my inspiration from pop culture, but I also love to imagine crazy “what if” scenarios inspired by daily life.
How were you introduced to genre fiction?
My Dad read me The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe when I was about six and, when I got a bit older, I fell in love with A Wrinkle Time as well as the the Bruce Coville’s books about alien teachers. Oh, and Goosebumps. I devoured those.
How do you like being a writer and working within the publishing industry?
I absolutely love it and the team at St. Martin’s Press have been a joy to work with.
Do you have any specific working, writing, researching practices?
I tend to take a lot of walks where I can daydream about the plot, especially when I feel stuck. I do a lot of my actual writing at The Writers’ Room, a shared work Space in Greenwich Village, where I can get away from everything and just focus on the work.
When did you realize you wanted to be an author, and what was your first foray into writing? Do you still look back on it fondly?
I started writing books about Gumby when I was six. My Mom would take my dictation and I’d draw the pictures. If The Return is a success, I fully expect those Gumby books to be re-released with a major publishing house.
What’s your opinion of the genre today, and where do you see your work fitting into it?
I’m happy to see science fiction gaining more and more respect. I’d like to think my work can be enjoyed by sci-fi fans and also fans of thriller-writers like Harlan Coben and Lee Child, two of my heroes.
Do you have any other projects in the pipeline, and what are you working on at the moment?
Right now, I’m working on adapting The Return as a screenplay. I also have a few ideas for books and short stories, but nothing fully formed.
What are you reading at the moment (fiction, non-fiction)?
I’m about halfway through Alden Bell’s terrific post-apocalyptic zombie novel, The Reapers are the Angels. I’ve also been reading short stories by I.B. Singer. He’s truly one of the greatest fantasy authors ever, even though he’s not thought of that way.
If you could recommend only one novel to someone, what would it be?
The Return.
What’s something readers might be surprised to learn about you?
Though my book delves pretty deeply into theoretical physics, I was very unfamiliar with this subject matter before I researched it for the book. I was a C+ phycics student in high school. Thank God I have a few physicist friends.
What are you most looking forward to in the next twelve months?
I’m excited to get the book out there and to get to know more fans and fellow writers in the sci fi community.
***
The Return is out now, published by Thomas Dunne Books (and available in the UK).
Joseph Helmreich
Writer, musician, ventriloquist.
Author of forthcoming novel "The Return" (St. Martin's Press, 2017). Contact at josephhelmreichATgmail.com.
Writing What You Know—Or What You Don't
Monday, March 13, 2017| Permalink
Joseph Helmreich is the author of The Return, a science fiction novel about a vanished astrophysicist who reappears six years later and inspires a cult following—despite denying he was abducted or ever even missing. With the release of the book this Tuesday, Joseph is guest blogging for the Jewish Book Council all week as part of the Visiting Scribe series here on The ProsenPeople.
“Write what you know.” At some point, every beginning writer hears this controversial piece of advice. While there’s been considerable debate over its exact meaning, there’s no denying that its simplest interpretation has allure. Does anyone think John Updike could have written about Newark Jews with the same insight and realism as Philip Roth? Or that Roth, working out of his clapboard house in Connecticut, could have composed a story collection about Indian Americans to rival Interpreter of Maladies? Knowledge and experience breed authenticity and authenticity matters; this is especially true in today’s cultural landscape, where the trait is no longer seen as merely an artistic virtue but—as the recent controversy surrounding Lionel Shriver’s comments at the Brisbane Writers Festival demonstrates—often a moral one, as well. The writer who relies too heavily on imagination over life experience can invite charges of cultural insensitivity or, worse, appropriation.
But “write what you know” is more than just pragmatic or even ethical advice. The maxim reflects the genuine artistic impulse to share. Writers have deep, personal connections to what they know, and writing about these subjects—their hometowns, families, communities, personal struggles, etc.—often transcends the simple transfer of knowledge. The writer bares their soul, exorcises their psychological demons, bring us into their world, and in doing so, bonds with the reader as the personal gradually transfigures into the universal.
And yet, there are other kinds of writers and other reasons to write. In fact, we sometimes learn the most from the writers who started out knowing the least. When Tom Wolfe delved into the variously alien worlds of psychedelic hippiedom, fighter jocks and astronauts, and Wall Street “Masters of the Universe”, he emerged with works of prose that are not only realistic and engaging, but are widely regarded as definitive. As opposed to being limited by his ignorance, Wolf used his outsider status to his advantage, dressing deliberately out of place in flashy white suits so as to provoke people into explaining things to him. Like the great journalist he is, writing for Wolfe has always been a process of learning as much as teaching and, in both his fiction and non-fiction, he takes his readers along for the ride. If Tom Wolfe or Joan Didion or Margaret Atwood or even Philip Roth had embarked on all their books by considering only what they already knew, their oeuvres would undoubtedly be thin and far less interesting.
When I began writing my science fiction novel, The Return, I didn’t consciously set out to explore topics with which I was unfamiliar. But when the story demanded it, I didn’t fight it either, and so I soon found myself researching quantum mechanics (I was a C+ physics student), Catholicism (I’m an observant Jew), and coastal Spain (my European excursions are largely limited to the concentration camps in Poland). I can’t say that my treatment of these subjects will necessarily read as accurate to those more familiar with them.
I also readily admit that in my book’s genre, that might not matter much. Authenticity is inevitably less scrutinized in a sci fi thriller than it is in literary fiction. In a book like mine, the plotting much more than the setting, prose, or dialogue, is the lifeblood of the story.
Still, I’m sure there are many who would have encouraged me to stick to what I “knew” and in some sense, they’d be right. My descriptions of Spain will never match Cervantes or Javier Marías’s. I can’t expound on theoretical physics like Neil deGrasse Tyson and my writings on Christian theology probably fall short of Dan Brown’s, to say nothing of Milton’s. I hope I got more right than wrong, but either way, for me, the challenge of tackling these less familiar subjects made for a richer and more exciting writing experience. I’d like to think that the sense of adventure and curiosity it brought out in me will also be contagious to the reader.
“Write what you know” is useful advice, but, like all artistic advice, it needs to be taken with a good dose of skepticism and applied carefully. In the end, a spirit of openness, possibility and risk-taking may be more valuable than a timeworn adage that, sensible as it may be, ultimately encourages us to play it safe.
Joseph Helmreich is the author of The Return and co-author of Warring Parents, Wounded Children and the Wretched World of Child Custody. In addition to his writing, he is a member of the alternative folk duo Honeybrick. He lives in New York City and works in film distribution.
Monday, March 20, 2017
Interview with Joseph Helmreich, author of The Return
Please welcome Joseph Helmreich to The Qwillery as part of the 2017 Debut Author Challenge Interviews. The Return was published on March 14th by Thomas Dunne Books.
TQ: Welcome to The Qwillery. When and why did you start writing?
Joseph: As a child, I always loved writing my own books by hand, drawing the pictures and then stapling the pages together. When I got older, I was mainly interested in trying to write screenplays. Eventually, a psychologist and author named Paul Marcus approached me about co-authoring a book based on some of his cases and in working on that project, I realized just how much I loved writing prose.
TQ: Are you a plotter, a pantser or a hybrid?
Joseph: I'd say for this project, I was more of a plotter because the structure of the story is a bit complicated and I needed everything to fit together. But there are writers I admire who dive into their projects with no idea where they're going and I think that's extremely exciting (if also terrifying) and I'd love to write something that way.
TQ: What is the most challenging thing for you about writing?
Joseph: I think it's always a challenge to find the core or "soul" of your story and not let that slip away. Writing a novel can take a long time and it's important that you don't lose focus on what you're story is really about, though you don't want to be rigid, either. It's a delicate balance.
TQ: What has influenced / influences your writing? How does being a musician influence or not your novel writing?
Joseph: As with many writers, my writing is heavily influenced by whatever I've just read or am reading. But in the case of this novel, the music I was listening to also played a very big role. There was one Arcade Fire song called "Tunnels" that served as the backdrop to a scene in my mind and there was a Joseph Arthur song called "Wait For Your Lights" that impacted the plot and there were an Okkervil River record that helped me get to the heart of my story. Music can function for the writer a lot like a movie soundtrack or score functions for an audience, helping you feel the story on a deeper level. As for being a musician, I'm not sure it impacts my writing, but the creative process is definitely similar for both mediums.
TQ: Describe The Return in 140 characters or less.
Joseph: The Return is about a physicist who gets abducted by an alien ship during a live TV broadcast and then returns and denies it ever happened.
TQ: Tell us something about The Return that is not found in the book description.
Joseph: A big chunk of the book takes place in Alicante, Spain.
TQ: What inspired you to write The Return? Why blend Science Fiction and Thriller?
Joseph: I was very intrigued by the idea of a public alien abduction that no one could deny and what that would mean for the world. In terms of combining sci and thriller, my creative impulses have always leaned towards sci fi and fantasy, but I love the pacing, plot twists and cliffhangers of thrillers and really wanted to replicate the feeling I get when I read those kinds of books.
TQ: What sort of research did you do for The Return?
Joseph: My writing process for this book was very much a rejection of "write what you know" and I had to learn a lot of material (particularly about theoretical physics) from virtually scratch. The research process involved lots of articles, maps, academic papers and discussions with people far smarter and more knowledgeable than myself on everything from quantum mechanics to proper military terminology to when Texans say "y'all" and when they say "all y'all."
TQ: Please tell us about The Return's cover.
Joseph: The cover was designed by David Curtis and I think it's perfect for the story. As to whether the image depicted there relates literally to any particular event in the book, I think that's up for interpretation.
TQ: In The Return who was the easiest character to write and why? The hardest and why?
Joseph: I think the character of Andrew Leland, the alien abductee, was both the easiest and hardest to write. Easy because his character goes through so many changes that he's not expected to come off as consistent. Hard because how do you make a character who changes so much still feel, on some level, like the same character?
TQ: Which question about The Return do you wish someone would ask? Ask it and answer it!
Joseph: When you're in the process of dreaming up a novel, do you find yourself walking around talking to yourself and humming the score to the movie playing in your head and generally causing other people to want to cross the street? Yes!
TQ: Give us one or two of your favorite non-spoilery quotes from The Return.
Joseph:
"If the conspiracy theorists are right and it never happened, then the day it didn't happen began innocently enough."
"'When faced with great and historic scientific challenges, there are always those who say it cannot be done. And when they say, 'We can't do it,' they're in at least one respect correct. When it finally happens, they will surely have had nothing to do with it.'"
TQ: What's next?
Joseph: Right now, I'm working on a few novel and story ideas and also trying to adapt The Return as a screenplay.
TQ: Thank you for joining us at The Qwillery.
Joseph: Thank you!
About Joseph
JOSEPH HELMREICH, author of The Return, has contributed writing to Every Day Fiction and New York Press. He has worked on film and television projects, such as Garden State, Late Night With Conan O’Brien, and No Direction Home: Bob Dylan, before becoming a script-reader for The Weinstein Company. In addition to his writing, Helmreich is also a voice-over actor and member of alternative folk duo, Honeybrick. He lives in New York City and works in film distribution.
The Return
Publishers Weekly.
264.5 (Jan. 30, 2017): p183.
COPYRIGHT 2017 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
The Return
Joseph Helmreich. St. Martin's/Dunne,
$25.99 (256p) ISBN 978-1-250-05219-3
An artfully crafted opening line ("If the conspiracy theorists are right and it never happened, then the day it didn't
happen began innocently enough") paves the way for an intriguing setup in Helmreich's debut novel of humankind's
first encounter with alien intelligence. The coinciding of a lunar eclipse with the winter solstice prompted television
coverage that inadvertently captured live video of an alien abduction in California. The victim, "washed-up celebrity
physicist" Dr. Andrew Leland, who had been retained to provide expert commentary on the celestial event, was seen
lifted up into the sky by an unseen force emanating from a green structure. Almost seven years later, Leland is found
wandering in a desert, but he denies knowing anything about the abduction, claiming that he retired from scientific
research and has spent those years working as a farmhand. Brilliant young physicist Shawn Ferris becomes obsessed
with learning the truth about what happened to Leland. The plot takes some clever turns, though the ending doesn't
quite live up to the beginning, and Helmreich's characters are satisfyingly multidimensional. (Mar.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"The Return." Publishers Weekly, 30 Jan. 2017, p. 183. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA480195188&it=r&asid=cfdff51dcec77fb632b22cfedfd0835f.
Accessed 8 Oct. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A480195188
10/8/2017 General OneFile - Saved Articles
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The Return
Frances Moritz
Booklist.
113.14 (Mar. 15, 2017): p32.
COPYRIGHT 2017 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist_publications/booklist/booklist.cfm
Full Text:
The Return.
By Joseph Helmreich.
Mar. 2017. 256p. St. Martin's/Thomas Dunne, $25.99 (9781250052193).
On the day his disappearance into the sky was captured on live television, Andrew Leland was a washed-up physicist,
having traded in his controversial scientific theories for Hollywood-style self-promotion. Obsessions with the broadcast
led to a renewed interest in astrophysics across the globe as governments shifted funding into scientific research and
defense, hoping to discover how Leland had been abducted and by whom. Shawn Ferris was one of the obsessed, a
student focusing on Leland's work, with his obsession renewed six years, seven months, and 22 days later when Leland
returned to Earth just as abruptly as he had vanished. Shawn's obsession eventually led to a correspondence exchange,
the revelation of a clandestine government organization, and fleeing across the country with Leland. The main
characters, both geniuses, make all too human mistakes that push the story along in unexpected directions. Helmreich
combines just enough science with thrilling action to keep the reader hooked on this story while pondering the greater
meaning of Leland's abduction and the sparse memories of his time off-planet.--Frances Moritz
Moritz, Frances
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Moritz, Frances. "The Return." Booklist, 15 Mar. 2017, p. 32. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA490998482&it=r&asid=60d121a4d0c5514088894df7c3786c24.
Accessed 8 Oct. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A490998482
10/8/2017 General OneFile - Saved Articles
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Warring parents, wounded children, and the
wretched world of child custody; cautionary tales
Reference & Research Book News.
23.2 (May 2008):
COPYRIGHT 2008 Ringgold, Inc.
http://www.ringgold.com/
Full Text:
9780313349737
Warring parents, wounded children, and the wretched world of child custody; cautionary tales.
Helmreich, Joseph and Paul Marcus.
Praeger
2008
131 pages
$39.95
Hardcover
HQ777
Helmreich is a screenwriter, journalist, and musician based in New York City; Marcus is a psychologist and
psychoanalyst in New York City who has been a forensic investigator in child custody cases in New York State courts
for 20-plus years. They present ten detailed cases of child custody disputes that demonstrate the havoc that such cases
wreak on both the couple and the children. Rooted in actual cases, the ten accounts follow people of every kind of
ethnic and economic background, and give the reader an inside view of the self- destructive human flaws--selfishness,
blindness, and stupidity--that play a significant role in people's downfalls. Each chapter ends with commentary offering
concrete practical instructions on what to do and what not to do in similar situations. For parents, judges, lawyers, law
guardians, and mediators. No subject index.
([c]20082005 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Warring parents, wounded children, and the wretched world of child custody; cautionary tales." Reference & Research
Book News, May 2008. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA178635627&it=r&asid=4d99ba936d35c986533b9b91e8cf9c4c.
Accessed 8 Oct. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A178635627
Review: The Return by Joseph Helmreich
MARCH 22, 2017
Review: The Return by Joseph HelmreichThe Return by Joseph Helmreich
Published by Thomas Dunne Books on March 14th 2017
Genres: Science Fiction
Pages: 256
Format: Finished hardcover
Source: Publisher
Thanks to Thomas Dunne Books for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
LibraryThing button-amazon book-depository-button audible-button
four-stars
Based on its topics, The Return is what I would describe as hard science fiction—lots of heavy emphasis on technical details, especially surrounding the fields of astronomy and quantum physics. The result is a lot of complex and advanced scientific theory going over my head and plenty more technobabble I’m sure I didn’t quite grasp. So why did I enjoy this book much? Well, for one thing it was thoroughly addicting. Combining an altogether engaging sci-fi premise with the fast-paced intensity of a breathless thriller, Joseph Helmreich’s clever debut is a wild and unexpected journey worth taking.
The day humanity found out that it was not alone in the universe began just like any other, with the exception of a few pockets in the scientific community all abuzz with the anticipation for that night’s lunar eclipse coinciding with the winter solstice. It is an occasion rare enough that a news television station has arranged a live broadcast on site in the Bernasconi Hills of Southern California with expert physicist-turned-celebrity scientist Dr. Andrew Leland to cover the event. This is why, when a mysterious spacecraft suddenly swoops down upon the TV crew after the eclipse, Dr. Leland’s subsequent abduction by aliens was captured entirely on film and televised live on air for all to see. The footage was so clear that not even the fiercest skeptics could deny the evidence of what happened that day. The next six years saw drastic changes in almost all facets of life, ranging from mass panic to renewed dedication to studying the space sciences, people either reembracing or abandoning their faith, lots of discussion and speculation about what might have happened to Leland and where he might be now.
At least the last question was answered one day when the world received another shock—in the middle of the South American desert, a bedraggled wanderer was picked up by authorities and identified as none other than Dr. Andrew Leland. But instead of enlightening everyone with the details of what he saw and experienced in the last six years, Leland claims that he remembers nothing. In fact, he denies having been abducted at all. Soon after, he becomes a recluse, retreating completely from the public eye. For some people though, that simply would not do. Shawn Ferris is a young physics grad student who has been obsessed with the life of Andrew Leland ever since he watched the famous video of the abduction as a young boy. He wants answers and is determined to get them by tracking his hero down. In doing so, however, what Shawn did not expect to find are others hunting Leland too, except their intentions are not so nice.
To my utter astonishment, the publisher description actually contains a lot more detail and potential spoilers for its own story—though I suppose with the sheer number twists and turns in this book, they probably figured revealing a couple of them wouldn’t hurt. If you truly want to be surprised though, I would suggest avoiding the blurb if you haven’t read it already, and also not to seek out anything more about the plot. Trust me, it’ll make finding out what happens so much better…
While in essence The Return is a science fiction novel, its style, format and pacing is more in keeping with a suspense-thriller by employing devices like a third-person omniscient point of view, lots of POV jumps and incidental characters, cliffhangers at the end of chapters, etc. If these are the kinds of stories you like, then this book will work very well for you. It is also in large part a mystery, keeping readers guessing in anticipation at what the big picture is. At first, the story is told in two disparate threads, one following Shawn Ferris in America and the second taking place in Spain, with no hints as to how they are related. But as events gradually unfold in each storyline, the connections start to form. From the very start, I was impressed with Helmreich’s sleek and polished writing style and the clever way he structured the plot. And despite the amount of scientific jargon, reading this never felt like a chore thanks to the writing being very readable and the punchy pace keeping me from putting the book down.
Perhaps the only part I felt dubious about was the ending, which wrapped up much too quickly and felt just a little too convenient, considering the elaborate development that went into the ramp-up to this point. But even though the ending wasn’t as satisfying as it could have been, I wouldn’t say I was disappointed—not when many of the events in the final parts of this book are just as shocking and unexpected as those in the first half, and I confess I was even left feeling gut-punched by several of those surprising twists.
This is a genre I often struggle with, but The Return succeed in drawing me in with its smart and intriguing premise. While it is not completely without its flaws, for a debut effort it is nonetheless impressive, featuring a story that often kept me perched on the edge of my seat. Joseph Helmreich’s writing is also solid and very “cinematic” in its quality—sharply vivid and immediate, delivering maximum thrills and entertainment. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and would recommend it for readers who enjoy a kick of an adrenaline rush with their sci-fi.
Warring Parents, Wounded Children, and the Wretched World of Child Custody: Cautionary Tales
Joseph Helmreich, Author, Paul Marcus, Author Praeger Publishers $39.95 (131p) ISBN 978-0-313-34973-7
MORE BY AND ABOUT THIS AUTHOR
With journalist Helmreich, psychoanalyst Marcus, a veteran forensic evaluator for New York State child custody cases, has collected a sad, scary docket of divorce stories, taken from his 20-plus years on the job, that expose the dysfunctional legal system currently making the worst of already traumatic situations. Each chapter presents the narrative of a different family struggling through divorce, a breakdown of Marcus's recommendations in their court case and ""reflections"" that draw out hard-earned lessons; the Gordons, for instance, could have avoided more than a decade in litigation had one of the spouses done a better job hiding an affair. Accurately labeled ""cautionary tales,"" the stories' cumulative portrait is of a legal system as useful in family problem-solving as a hammer is in dentistry. The tone is suitably professional and detached, and the final chapter lists the take-home messages in clear language (encouraging ""correct attitudes"" and self-critical honesty), but the practical upshot can get lost in the parade of unhappiness, betrayal, abuse and familial collapse.