Signs of Life

Signs of Life is a semi-canonical official Lost novel written by Frank Thompson. The main character is Jeff Hadley, a modern or post-modern artist. This is the third Lost novel and was released March 1, 2006. The front cover features Locke and Walt. This book is only available as a paperback, and has been translated to other languages.

Publisher's summary[]

"Someone is out there."

Nick Hadley did some terrible things. The famed artist, sculptor, and professor was once the toast of the art world, but a scandal turned his life upside down. Nick needed a place to lay low for a while. In boarding Oceanic Flight 815, he got just that.

Now one of the many survivors of a plane crash, Nick has all the time in the world to reflect on his bad choices. The Island life even seems to instill in him a newfound artistic inspiration.

But Nick’s new drawings take on a sinister quality. He begins having dreams…horribly vivid dreams. And then come the voices….and feelings of guilt and pain. Is the Island trying to tell him something…or is his past finally catching up with him?

Synopsis[]

Off the Island, Jeff Hadley was an artist. He primarily painted portraits of beautiful, often naked women. These women were most often placed in unexpectedly bizarre places, such as on top of a mushroom cloud from a nuclear detonation. He becomes close to art student Ivy Tennant after hiring her on as a model after encountering her when he was lecturing at a University in London. He sleeps with her several times, and she makes him spaghetti with sauce; he enjoys it, but has recently received a commission to work at Robert Burns College in Lockheath, Scotland. He breaks her heart, goes to the college, and never speaks to her again. At Robert Burns College, he is greeted to his surprise by much fanfare, lead by the triple-speaking Mr. Blond. He gets a small house/studio, which he becomes fond of; he then becomes fond of his only intelligent student, Savannah. They develop a relationship, and, after a year of painting, sculpting, and having sex with each other, they begin to draw attention from university officials. Before the attention can come to a head, Jeff is invited to do a lecture tour in Australia. Feeling that his relationship with Savannah has advanced as far as it should, Jeff accepts the invitation, breaks Savannah's heart, and goes to Australia. He spends about eight months touring Australia, and is then invited for another lecture tour in North America, beginning in Los Angeles.

Jeff then becomes one of the passengers on Oceanic Flight 815, and a survivor after the crash. On The Island, he finds a grove of trees that is fortuitously shaped like a small building, and makes himself at home in a makeshift studio. Here, he is once again inspired to create works of art, although the results have become increasingly darker as he suffers from terrifying dreams of shapeless creatures, unknown symbols and incessant voices speaking in unintelligible languages. Jeff befriends Hurley and joins Charlie, Michael and Locke on a boar hunt. The characters encounter The Monster whilst hunting boar.

Details[]

• There are 23 chapters and 173 pages.

Translations[]

• "Amber" translated this book to Polish.
• Polish title is "Znaki Życia" and was released in June 2006

Trivia[]

• Continuity error: According to the book, the plane crashed in the year 2006. The main character receives a letter in the year 2002 asking him to hold a position for three years. He does so, which puts us in late 2005. He then goes to Australia for six months (2006) and boards Oceanic Flight 815 for LA. As the season 2 finale "Live Together, Die Alone, Part 1" states that the crash occurred on September 22nd 2004, this must be an error.
• Jacket copy error: The jacket names the main character as Nick* Hadley, but his name within the book is Jeff Hadley.
  • Note: in France, as well as in Spain, this error has been fixed.
• In the book, Jeff Hadley is referred to as Nick Hadley, Richard Hadley, and at one time as Jack.
• In the book, the main survivors that are noted are Sawyer, Jack, Jin, Sun, Michael, Locke, Kate, Walt and Hurley.