Two authors a century apart team up to help the spirits of the departed to get to the Utopia on the other side of the evil Barrier that collects memories. The spirits lose one with every attempt at penetrating the Barrier.
Memories are all that is left when we die and reflection on our past is our last greatest accomplishment. The memories live on after death and those memories propel us to a different dimension where people with the same memory can connect in the afterlife. Fond memories are what carry us through the Barrier to the Utopia on the other side. It is Heaven and Hell if religion is thrown into the mix. Hell being the barrier trying to prevent you from reaching the other side and Heaven being on the other side. People with few fond memories will find it difficult to reach the other side. The moral is to live your life and amass as many memories as possible because those memories may be your salvation when all is said and done. This is a story of James C. Patch and Jacob Masterson. Two authors living generations apart who have a common goal and that is to make the spirits of countless people know what it’s like to live in the Utopia on the other side of the Barrier. Getting to the other side is perilous to those who have not lived a life full of warm memories. They would find the road difficult. Jim and Jacob will assist them but not without cost.
Professional Reviews
A new take on the afterlife
There have been many books and movies based on the author’s imagination of the afterlife, but you won’t find one like this. Jim Patch knows all about the afterlife and how to cross the barrier into Utopia, however, the barrier is determined to keep Jim and his family from reaching it. There are many tragedies in Jim’s life and it makes you wonder how could this man go on for as long as he does. He endures all this heartache to write his book about the Barrier and the afterlife because he feels his knowledge will change the world. However, he is unable to accomplish this during his short lifetime and must wait until a like-minded writer comes along who can continue his life’s work. Jacob is such writer and in his attempt to conquer writer’s block, he rents Jim’s old family home in Vermont. It is there that Jim communicates to Jacob and begins showing him what to write. Jacob also endures many evils from the Barrier in this house, as well as his 2 assistants who come to stay with him. Yet Jacob does not leave because he has come to realize how important his mission is. Jacob also realizes that he has the same ability to separate his spirit from his body and cross the barrier. Each trip beyond the barrier comes at a price however, he must lose a memory. Jim has risked this for years and is afraid if he continues to pass through, he will lose all memory of his family. Jim risked his memories once again though when he teaches Jacob how to go back into the past and see what happened to his family. It is then that Jacob discovers a secret that will rock his world. There are many twists and surprises in the book, as well as moments that are quite scary. However, there are also moments of pure happiness and good, almost too good to be trusted. This is an extremely unique story that will really make you think. I’m looking forward to reading the next installment!
James C Patch; The Barrier
Two authors born nearly a century a part, dedicate their lives for others, to cross The Barrier to reach the other side which some may recall as "utopia". Life is bursting of memories, by theory of James C. Patch, when we pass on, replicas of our time gone by is our last utmost triumph. James C. Patch feeling remorseful for the aimless spirits, who were incapable to pass through the barrier, devoted his life to help those who were unable to attain this triumph. Regrettably at an immense cost, the evil entities encountered him rigid and strong, when he would not back down; they in turn propelled their vengeance on something that was inevitably everything to James C. Patch, his family, which they eventually dreadfully destroyed. The demented illusions became so overpowering for James that he killed himself. Jacob Materson, a renowned writer of nearly 100 years later, was the chosen man to assist in terminating the evil entities from prevailing over the deceased Patch family, allowing them to cross the barrier to the other side and become a family once again.
Author Gary D. Henry, with his masterful blend of mystery and suspense, along with this ability to keep the reader unequivocally involved within the story, has written what I feel is a exceptional book. This book is magnificently composed, written for a readers mind to entwine within the book, chapter after chapter, but in the end, it concluded to what we all desire. Peace and serenity to move on, to the next life, with pleasurable memories and to share them with those who have meant the most in our living life.
Grab Your Popcorn - It's Movie Time for The Books of James C. Patch Trilogy
I've read books one & two in this trilogy all because of the Book2Film trailer for this book - The Books of James C. Patch: The Barrier. The trailer (see You Tube: The Barrier Book2Film Trailer) inspired me to read both of these books, but no trailer could ever convey the twists and turns this author has come up with. Where is M. Night Shyamalan when you need him. This and the second book would make phenomenal movies. There is something about a story that you can't figure out and keeps one on the edge of there seat. This is a supernatural thriller that kept me guessing throughout both the first book (The Barrier) & the second book (Returning). I love movies and the James C. Patch series most definitely should be made into movies! But until then, you gotta read these books - just not by yourself.
Boom! Pain! Blackness!
After an RPG attack on their barracks in Afghanistan, corpsmen, Amber Fox, Luke Owens , Wade Scott and Ross Miller wake up in an Army hospital in Germany.
Thus, begins a months long recovery for all of them. A
