The premise of this book, a little boy who remembers his past life, is as big a promise as anyone gets in this, or any other, life time. Unfortunately the book begins with the biggest cliche of all . . .a one night stand to protest turning 40. The language of that first section is so tired and predictable I would not have kept going if I wasn't already familiar with the work of Dr. Ian Stevenson and Dr. James Tucker, investigators into children who remember past lives. The story is compelling, but the enormous difficulties this mother would have experienced with schools and the medical system is minimized, another missed opportunity. On the other hand, the child Noah is a character you come to love and hope to see healed. The scene where Noah's mother feels her child preferring his mother from his previous life to her is probably the most well written in the book. The end is made for t.v. slop and Dr. Anderson should have been left at the good-bye at the airport. The most troubling continuity issue for me, as someone who has done immense research into this issue, is that children who actually connect with their previous families do NOT forget. A better editor, a few more rewrites, and this novel could have been GREAT. I almost gave it average, but the one well wrought scene saved it.