Great read, shows how hard for kids to come forward if parents refuse to listen, may be many more before memory fades in later childhood.

Very intersting and quite believable!! ( )

While the premise and base story of this book was interesting, the writing itself was tedious and the story became annoying when it turned from the kid (who is apparently channeling a dead WWII fighter pilot) to his father (who finds every reason under the sun to not believe). I never really developed an empathy with any of the characters in this book, which is too bad, because it would have been easy to do so. I'm impressed by the amount of research the husband and wife did on an obscure WWII escort aircraft carrier and the men who crewed it and flew off it. And the story of their boy is somewhat interesting, but the book overall was rather boring. ( )

This book is overwritten with a cliched and awful narrative. The writers seem obsessed with describing the trials and tribulations of a difficult work life and moving house. For the first 6 or 7 chapters the information relating to their child's past life could be summarised in a couple of sentences...He had bad dreams. He called out strange things in the night ... I found myself speed reading through most of the book and only slowing down when I found something about his past life. It seemed to be more of a book about this child's parent's woes. When I did find a relevant part in the book it was interesting but written in a sensationalist manner. The authors did not need to put exclamation marks after every interesting sentence. The topic is very interesting and I did enjoy the latter part of the book regarding the men of the Natoma Bay, unfortunately the amateurish over writing spoilt the read. ( )

Soul Survivor is an incredible story that begins with a two-year-old's night terrors that repeat the same theme: a plane is on fire and the occupant can't escape. As the nightmares continue and the child becomes fascinated with planes in general, WWII aircraft specifically, it becomes obvious that there is something strange occurring. Young James is adamant about details of what he claims are memories, not only with regard to specific aircraft, but also other pilots and members of the family which he believes was formerly his. He describes the aircraft carrier from which “his” plane took off and the location at which “he” was killed. As it turns out, his statements were all verified, interestingly by research done by his father, who was trying desperately to disprove his son’s proclamations.

I found this book absolutely mesmerizing. It is written in an easy to read style that places the reader in the center of the family’s drama and asks more questions than it answers. How could a two year old identify the difference between a bomb and a drop tank? How could he know a Wildcat as opposed to a Corsair? What would allow him to know the names of soldiers who were killed in WWII, only months before the man he believed himself to have been was shot down? Where would he obtain the knowledge that allowed him to recognize the sister of the man he believed himself to have been, and to know details of the life she had with her brother? How could he know the name of former/past life friends?

If you believe in reincarnation, this book will enforce that belief. If you don’t believe in reincarnation, this book will give you hours of entertainment trying to find a different explanation. ( )