'The Returned' return and multiply

"The Returned" American version.

            Here’s a story that is sure to have you confused by its conclusion.

            The French produced a television series titled “Les Revenants,” about a town haunted by a series of tragedies — a school bus accident, the disappearance of a finance and a rash of attacks on women. 

            Then one day the dead come back to life.

            “Les Revenants” means “The Returned” and it’s a riveting suspense series that won International Emmy Awards. Buzzfeed called it, “Some of the most beautifully eerie scenes ever on television.” For those of you who have access to the Sundance Channel, "Les Revenants" will begin airing Tuesday, March 3. For those of you with a Netflix subscription, you can watch the entire first season.

            In 2013, award-winning poet Jason Mott posed a similar scenario in his novel, “The Returned,” but this time it’s many people who have died throughout the world (although the book is focused on one small town), and the subsequent reaction by the government. We reviewed the book and you can read it here.

            In both stories, the “returned” appear as they had when they died.

            For readers, Seth Patrick has novelized the French series, published in 2014.

            Also in 2014, Mott’s story became an ABC TV series titled “Resurrection.”

            Confused yet?

            This year, A and E will offer an American version of “Les Revenants,” although producers insist the adaptation will be unique. The A&E version, titled "The Returned," premieres at 9 p.m. March 9.

            Again, for readers, Sourcebooks will release a U.S. edition of Patrick’s novel on April 7.
           Meanwhile, season 2 of "Les Revenants" is being filmed in France through the end of March. This is one viewer eagerly anticipating its release.

Louisiana Book News is written by Cheré Coen, the author of “Forest Hill, Louisiana: A Bloom Town History,” “Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana” and “Exploring Cajun Country: A Historic Guide to Acadiana” and co-author of “Magic’s in the Bag: Creating Spellbinding Gris Gris Bags and Sachets.” Write her at cherecoen@gmail.com.

Books with ties to television, real places

            Jason Mott’s gripping novel “The Returned,” which I reviewed on Nov. 24 (read it here), has been made into a series for ABC television titled "Resurrection." If you’ve been watching and enjoying the series, be sure and read the book. Mott will also be signing copies of his book at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 3, at Blue Willow Bookshop in Houston.

            If you’ve never heard of or visited Oak Ridge, Tenn., you’re missing a fascinating story. When the U.S. believed that Germany was in the process of creating an atom bomb, they set into motion plans for beating them to it. One of the “secret cities” developed almost overnight was Oak Ridge, created to enrich uranium. Most of the people living and working in this top secret town had no idea what they were doing for the U.S. government until the bomb was dropped on Japan.

            Denise Kiernan discusses this unique history in “The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II.” Shelf Awareness calls it “An evocative view of the Manhattan Project through the eyes of the women who worked and lived in the secret city of Oak Ridge, Tenn.--a compelling and unusual new perspective on the Project and World War II.”

            Shelf Awareness interviewed Kiernan recently and asked for her favorite line from a book. She quoted a Louisiana author John Kennedy Toole, author of “A Confederacy of Dunces,” whose first line is “A green hunting cap squeezed the top of the fleshy balloon of a head.”

            “Brilliant imagery to kick off what was of one of my all-time favorite reads,” Kiernan said.

            Fans of the Discovery Channel’s “Sons of Guns” will know exactly what kind of book they’re dealing with in Will Hayden’s “Sons of Guns: Straight-Shootin’ Stories from the Star of the Hit Discovery Series.” For those less informed, this book gives background into the owner of Red Jacket Firearms of Baton Rouge, subject of the reality series. Hayden, with assistance from Adam Rocke (who probably did most of the writing), offers an inside view into the weapons manufacturer, as well as some history and personal information.

            It’s a bit too much to take, but then I’m not a fan of the show. Chalking up character building to having your father push your through a wall at age five isn’t something I can get on board with, nor is the glorification of firearms. Calling yourself Cajun growing up north of Baton Rouge with Choctaw heritage didn’t set well with me either, but let’s hope that’s Rocke’s influence.