Jacob's ladder - Brian Keaney

A boy opens his eyes to find he is lying on the ground in the middle of a field and he can't remember anything about his life before that point, other than his name, Jacob. Jacob finds himself in a world of grey monotony and routine, living in a dorm of young people all in the same situation as him. Eventually Jacob realises that it is a kind of limbo world - he is dead and back in the world of the living his parents, whose voices he can hear in his head, are on the verge of breaking up as their grief at his death takes hold. Jacob is suddenly determined to find his way back to the real world, and he sets off, with two friends, on a mission to find the fabled Palace of Remembrance, a possible way out of the grey realm. There are many obstacles in their way and when they do find the palace, there is one last challenge they must face to be allowed back, to live their lives out to their natural ends. Can Jacob and his friends make the right choices? In the end, there is hope after all...