Never Return, the psychological mystery thriller centered on the unexplained disappearance of Jacksonville school teacher Jim Whitmore, returns in an expanded Second Edition that takes its haunting questions of identity, truth, and human resemblance into the age of artificial intelligence.

Scheduled for release in late November or early December 2026, the forthcoming Second Edition introduces readers to an expanded mystery in which advances in technology make determining what is real more difficult than ever.

The original mystery begins in 1952 when Jim disappears from a Floridale street ominously known as Never Return. Declared dead and cremated without a body or proof, Jim leaves his fiancée, Mary, searching for answers. Her encounters with men who look remarkably like Jim eventually stretch across cities, countries, and generations, challenging everything she believes about identity and reality.

The Second Edition adds seven compelling chapters that deepen the mystery through the emerging possibilities and uncertainties of artificial intelligence. As technology becomes increasingly capable of challenging what people see, hear, remember, and believe, Mary’s search for answers enters unfamiliar territory. The mystery that began decades before the digital age now takes on new dimensions, forcing her to reconsider the evidence of the past and question what can still be trusted.

Filled with psychological suspense, generational mystery, unexpected twists, and a final return to the street where everything began, the Second Edition of Never Return invites readers to reconsider an old assumption in a new technological age: Seeing is no longer believing.

Additional publication and availability information will be announced closer to the release date.

Dr. Ronald Holmes is the author of 33 books and publisher of “The Holmes Education Post,” an education focused Internet newspaper.  Holmes is a former teacher, school administrator, test developer and district superintendent. Holmes has written children’s books on the coronavirus, solar system, flowers, colors, careers, continents, animals, birds and school bullying. His adult books focus on religion, relationships, hazing, workplace bullying, bipolar disorder, health and fitness, educational reform, and navigating the dissertation process.