The Reconstructionist A Novel
The Reconstructionist by Nick Arvin, published by HarperCollins on March 13, 2012, is a novel that explores the profound impact of a single moment on a lifetime. The story follows Ellis Barstow, who, haunted by the tragic death of his older half-brother Christopher, embarks on a career as a forensic reconstructionist. In this role, he investigates fatal car accidents, guided by John Boggs, who has his own connections to Ellis’s past. As Ellis delves into the chaos of these incidents, he grapples with his own secrets and the complexities of his relationships.
Readers will find a narrative that raises significant questions about the intersection of science and emotion, as well as the inescapable nature of the past. The novel intricately weaves together themes of loss, purpose, and the search for justice amidst tragedy. As Ellis navigates his professional responsibilities and personal dilemmas, including an affair with Boggs’s wife, Heather, he embarks on a journey to uncover the truth behind both the accidents he investigates and his own life. This edition spans 352 pages and is presented in English, offering a thought-provoking exploration of human experience and connection.
Official synopsis Publisher
One instant can change an entire lifetime.
As a boy, Ellis Barstow heard the sound of the collision that killed Christopher, his older half brother—an accident that would haunt him for years. A decade later, searching for purpose after college, Ellis takes a job as a forensic reconstructionist, investigating and re-creating the details of fatal car accidents—under the guidance of the irascible John Boggs, who married Christopher’s girlfriend. Ellis takes naturally to the work, fascinated by the task of trying to find reason, and justice, within the seemingly random chaos of smashed glass and broken lives. But Ellis is harboring secrets of his own—not only his memory of the car crash that killed his brother but also his feelings for Boggs’s wife, Heather, which soon lead to a full-blown affair. And when Boggs inexplicably disappears, Ellis sets out to find him . . . and to try to make sense of the crash site his own life has become.
Raising a host of universal questions—Can science ever explain matters of the heart? Can we ever escape the gravitational pull of the past?—Nick Arvin’s novel is at once deeply moving and compulsively readable.
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