Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley

Where Things Come Back
by John Corey Whaley

After the death of Cullen Witter’s cousin, his small town become obsessed with finding an extinct species of woodpecker, and his brother suddenly disappears. Elsewhere, a a young missionary struggles to find purpose.

I didn’t realize this book followed two seemingly separate storylines at the beginning, which was a huge oversight on my part, so that was a bit surprising for me, but I liked reading both storylines and seeing how they came together toward the ending. While the writing style felt a little chaotic in the beginning during the character building and setting the scene, I ultimately thought it suited the story and really enjoyed it.

This book tackles a number of big themes: faith, grief, hope, and second chances, all tied together with a series of events that seem like they only happen in the movies, but occasionally happen in real life too. Also, I think the extinct woodpecker sighting is an actual event from actual real life. So that’s interesting.

A fairly quick read about a cast of characters who suddenly have a lot going on for a small, uneventful town. I enjoyed this book.

<3D