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Diminishing Return
“We are all recycled people.” Time has stopped, and people are no longer living in the Present Pause. Disenchanted with Nostalgia Incorporated’s Time Travel Experience and the memory loss it causes, a former musician turned sanitation worker spends his time sorting through a lonesome world of trash left behind by humanity while he composes a letter to his younger self. The desire for the most insignificant of changes may be his last desperate connection to existence. When he meets a dead girl, the subject matter of his letter changes. Her apparent suicide has been halted by the Pause, leaving a bullet spinning, locked in time next to her head. Their interactions bleed into his letter and he begins to understand that her wisdom reaches far beyond his comprehension. As his letter and his compassion for the dead girl grow, he questions his desire for time to continue. The only thing more important than remembering the past is making sure you’re not living in it.
203 pages, Paperback
Published April 14, 2019
8 people are currently reading
63 people want to read
About the author
Joseph D. Newcomer
10 books58 followersJoseph D. Newcomer is an author of speculative and literary fiction. He was born in the blue collar Northwest Pennsylvania city of Erie in 1980. Currently, he resides in the Arizona desert where he continues to write follow up novels to his debut novel, El Camino Blue, and his second novel, Diminishing Return.
Joseph spends his spare time photoshopping his daughter, Ari, and his girlfriend, Andrea, (the two greatest loves of his life) into art from comic books and building Ari’s comic book collection. Other members of the family include their Boxer, Harvey, and Coonhound, Cooper. Despite their efforts to teach her how to say both of their names, Ari insists on calling them both Cooper. Her language skills are developing, but she doesn’t quite grasp the hard “C” sound yet. For the time being, both dogs are Pooper. Joseph would not mind if it stayed that way forever.
(*Update: Harvey is now “Arvey”, Cooper is still, and will hopefully always be, “Pooper.”)
Joseph is happy to answer any questions about his life, his work, or any inquiries regarding signed materials or events anyone would like him to participate in, just contact him on Facebook or via email:
https://josephdnewcomer.com/
https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B01J6M1PLU
https://www.facebook.com/JosephNewcom...
https://www.facebook.com/joe.newcomer.9
Email: josephdnewcomer@gmail.com
Joseph spends his spare time photoshopping his daughter, Ari, and his girlfriend, Andrea, (the two greatest loves of his life) into art from comic books and building Ari’s comic book collection. Other members of the family include their Boxer, Harvey, and Coonhound, Cooper. Despite their efforts to teach her how to say both of their names, Ari insists on calling them both Cooper. Her language skills are developing, but she doesn’t quite grasp the hard “C” sound yet. For the time being, both dogs are Pooper. Joseph would not mind if it stayed that way forever.
(*Update: Harvey is now “Arvey”, Cooper is still, and will hopefully always be, “Pooper.”)
Joseph is happy to answer any questions about his life, his work, or any inquiries regarding signed materials or events anyone would like him to participate in, just contact him on Facebook or via email:
https://josephdnewcomer.com/
https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B01J6M1PLU
https://www.facebook.com/JosephNewcom...
https://www.facebook.com/joe.newcomer.9
Email: josephdnewcomer@gmail.com
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
August 19, 2019
“Daddy, what’s an Eeoode?”
"Diminishing Return" is a thought-provoking glimpse into a dystopian future that is frighteningly plausible. Time stops, you don’t die and technology lets you jump back and forth in time. What could possibly go wrong? Well, as we discover as "Diminishing Return" unfolds, plenty. Through his characters, Newcomer explores ennui, isolation, depression and suicide. But this is not a depressing book. Far from it! Joe balances his treatment of these subjects with an engaging writing style, endearing characters and just the right mix of humor. I particularly like his use of musical references throughout the book. And I heartily applaud Joe for providing a list of resources at the end of the book to help those struggling to find hope and purpose in their lives. "Diminishing Return" is a book you need to add to your library and read more than once!
"Diminishing Return" is a thought-provoking glimpse into a dystopian future that is frighteningly plausible. Time stops, you don’t die and technology lets you jump back and forth in time. What could possibly go wrong? Well, as we discover as "Diminishing Return" unfolds, plenty. Through his characters, Newcomer explores ennui, isolation, depression and suicide. But this is not a depressing book. Far from it! Joe balances his treatment of these subjects with an engaging writing style, endearing characters and just the right mix of humor. I particularly like his use of musical references throughout the book. And I heartily applaud Joe for providing a list of resources at the end of the book to help those struggling to find hope and purpose in their lives. "Diminishing Return" is a book you need to add to your library and read more than once!
January 8, 2026
For starters, I still get angry when I finish this author’s books because I am that much in love with the style of his writing. What I would give to be that “fly on the wall” of his brain as he develops something fictional, but also so closely related to reality, or what it can become, that it is almost impossible to put these books down. Truly, an author of true art through words.
This is the second book I have read from this author and this one was another five-star read, easily. However, this one has more to it than I think I was able to digest in one read and is a well deserved reread in the future. I found myself highlighting my copy with excerpts that spoke to me. For example, “Those people at those specific times will never leave you if you allow them to stay. They are worth remembering. At the very least, they are worth trying not to forget” (Newcomer, pg.125). There is a phenomenal story here, but also requires a lot of reading between the lines.
At first, I was a bit angry with the female character and her perpetual state of having a bullet rotate just inches from her temple the entire story. It hit a soft spot in my heart for my brother who is days away from his 5th year gone after losing his battle with PTSD/suicide. Then you make it to the end of this remarkable story to find a note from the author himself. Heartfelt, genuine, and open as he leaves not only resources for his readers, but his own personal email to simply say, ‘if you feel nobody else is here to lend and ear and listen, I am’. There is so much gratitude felt for a human like you in the potential crumbling world of humanity.
If there is just one book you read this year, regardless of your background, traumas, thoughts on faith or humanity, this is the one. It is more than just a story, it has more than what meets the eye. As upsetting as it was to finish this, I feel it was also a part of my own healing journey to just know good people do in fact, still exist.
Now, who is going to read Newcomer’s novels and start a petition for more literary artistry to be published ASAP?!
This is the second book I have read from this author and this one was another five-star read, easily. However, this one has more to it than I think I was able to digest in one read and is a well deserved reread in the future. I found myself highlighting my copy with excerpts that spoke to me. For example, “Those people at those specific times will never leave you if you allow them to stay. They are worth remembering. At the very least, they are worth trying not to forget” (Newcomer, pg.125). There is a phenomenal story here, but also requires a lot of reading between the lines.
At first, I was a bit angry with the female character and her perpetual state of having a bullet rotate just inches from her temple the entire story. It hit a soft spot in my heart for my brother who is days away from his 5th year gone after losing his battle with PTSD/suicide. Then you make it to the end of this remarkable story to find a note from the author himself. Heartfelt, genuine, and open as he leaves not only resources for his readers, but his own personal email to simply say, ‘if you feel nobody else is here to lend and ear and listen, I am’. There is so much gratitude felt for a human like you in the potential crumbling world of humanity.
If there is just one book you read this year, regardless of your background, traumas, thoughts on faith or humanity, this is the one. It is more than just a story, it has more than what meets the eye. As upsetting as it was to finish this, I feel it was also a part of my own healing journey to just know good people do in fact, still exist.
Now, who is going to read Newcomer’s novels and start a petition for more literary artistry to be published ASAP?!
March 7, 2021
Diminishing return is a thought provoking read that will have you on the edge of your seat. Simply couldn’t put this book down once I started. I can’t wait to see what this author publishes next!
January 18, 2022
Newcomer’s latest is not a good book, it’s a great one.
It’s the first book in quite a while that made me truly think. It made me think about life, death, love, friendship, the general dumbing-down of public discourse and entertainment, the occasional, apparent, futility of existence. Pretty heady stuff for a relatively short (205 pages) work.
When I finished the book, I closed my iPad and sat there. Just thinking. Thinking about the book and all the themes and thoughts Newcomer (@josephdnewcomer) put into it. I sat there for nearly 30 minutes.
You should read this book. You may not need it, but you’ll know someone who does. Buy it and give it to them. Don’t skip the resources Newcomer lists at the end.
That was my review for Amazon, and I stand by it. However, it’s time to unleash the Feral-o-meter on this book.
This book was tough to navigate for the first two chapters. Lots of expository writing and “this is the way it works, just go with it,” non-science. I was really close to quitting the book at the end of Chapter Two, particularly after the over-used scene of the protagonist hitting a golf ball off the roof a building. I’d probably hit a few balls myself in the same situation, but it’s been done, and recently. (I Am Legend comes to mind.)
I decided to give it another chapter and am glad I did. I decided to take the Queen’s advice to Alice about believing impossible things for at least a half hour each day. I got over my science hubris and trusted that Newcomer would pay me back. He did.
Minor Spoilers follow.
Because modern entertainment stinks, society turns more-and-more to recycling old stories, songs, etc. Original creativity ceases to be worth the effort. Everyone gets implanted with a device that allows video to be streamed directly into your brain. Then time travel is accidentally invented, and our dystopian romp is off.
People prefer to live in the consequence-free past and opt out of real life. Eventually enough of us do it that time stops in a thing Newcomer calls “The Pause.” It’s like reality, but time doesn’t progress. The Protagonist is one of a very few who prefer to live in The Pause.
For a bit, it’s all Last Man on Earth fun and games. Then…
Major Spoilers follow.
The Protagonist stumbles across a girl who was in the process of committing suicide when time pauses. She ends up with a slowly revolving bullet next to her temple. The bullet somehow follows her wherever she moves.
Newcomer alternates Point of View between chapter segments. In one, he follows the Protagonist in third person. In the next, we’re first person in the Protagonist’s head as he writes a letter to the indeterminate future. Took me a while to catch on.
Back and forth he teases out the story and the themes of depression, hopelessness, friendship, and suicide.
It’s worth the read and you will know someone who needs to read this book.
Science rants:
There are several, but the biggest one is this: The bullet continues to rotate but has ceased to translate – it’s spinning and nearly in contact with the girl’s temple. Why would the Pause allow motion about one axis, but not along that same axis? I dunno. Newcomer doesn’t know. The Protagonist doesn’t know. It just works that way. Believe the impossible thing and move on.
The book deals with weighty topics and devolves into short rants at times. It’s a story worth reading.
It’s the first book in quite a while that made me truly think. It made me think about life, death, love, friendship, the general dumbing-down of public discourse and entertainment, the occasional, apparent, futility of existence. Pretty heady stuff for a relatively short (205 pages) work.
When I finished the book, I closed my iPad and sat there. Just thinking. Thinking about the book and all the themes and thoughts Newcomer (@josephdnewcomer) put into it. I sat there for nearly 30 minutes.
You should read this book. You may not need it, but you’ll know someone who does. Buy it and give it to them. Don’t skip the resources Newcomer lists at the end.
That was my review for Amazon, and I stand by it. However, it’s time to unleash the Feral-o-meter on this book.
This book was tough to navigate for the first two chapters. Lots of expository writing and “this is the way it works, just go with it,” non-science. I was really close to quitting the book at the end of Chapter Two, particularly after the over-used scene of the protagonist hitting a golf ball off the roof a building. I’d probably hit a few balls myself in the same situation, but it’s been done, and recently. (I Am Legend comes to mind.)
I decided to give it another chapter and am glad I did. I decided to take the Queen’s advice to Alice about believing impossible things for at least a half hour each day. I got over my science hubris and trusted that Newcomer would pay me back. He did.
Minor Spoilers follow.
Because modern entertainment stinks, society turns more-and-more to recycling old stories, songs, etc. Original creativity ceases to be worth the effort. Everyone gets implanted with a device that allows video to be streamed directly into your brain. Then time travel is accidentally invented, and our dystopian romp is off.
People prefer to live in the consequence-free past and opt out of real life. Eventually enough of us do it that time stops in a thing Newcomer calls “The Pause.” It’s like reality, but time doesn’t progress. The Protagonist is one of a very few who prefer to live in The Pause.
For a bit, it’s all Last Man on Earth fun and games. Then…
Major Spoilers follow.
The Protagonist stumbles across a girl who was in the process of committing suicide when time pauses. She ends up with a slowly revolving bullet next to her temple. The bullet somehow follows her wherever she moves.
Newcomer alternates Point of View between chapter segments. In one, he follows the Protagonist in third person. In the next, we’re first person in the Protagonist’s head as he writes a letter to the indeterminate future. Took me a while to catch on.
Back and forth he teases out the story and the themes of depression, hopelessness, friendship, and suicide.
It’s worth the read and you will know someone who needs to read this book.
Science rants:
There are several, but the biggest one is this: The bullet continues to rotate but has ceased to translate – it’s spinning and nearly in contact with the girl’s temple. Why would the Pause allow motion about one axis, but not along that same axis? I dunno. Newcomer doesn’t know. The Protagonist doesn’t know. It just works that way. Believe the impossible thing and move on.
The book deals with weighty topics and devolves into short rants at times. It’s a story worth reading.
October 30, 2019
Have you ever finished a book and kept thinking about it for days or weeks after? Diminishing Return is one of those books. This ended up being a very quick read for me because I just couldn't put it down. And, my poor husband had to endure my commentary as I progressed. "OMG ... this line right here is some real talk." ... "Ugh. Humanity sucks. Why are we like this?" ... And, "F---," when I got to the end. This book is like if "Idiocracy" and "Doctor Who" had a baby with an epic record collection. Seriously. If you're into music, this book will be your jam. It's peppered with references that I didn't fully understand but felt cooler for reading them.
Don't even attempt to dissect the time travel/time stopped science in this book. That's not the point and you'll miss out on the message ... which is a truly fantastic message. (You'll see.)
I had a couple of predictions for how I thought it was going to end, but the actual ending was much better. It left me "feeling some kind of way," as the youths say. haha! I laughed. I cried. I hated myself a little but felt a strong (albeit, quickly fading) need for self-improvement. Joseph Newcomer does a wonderful job of transporting you to a world of self-reflection. Gah. I'm still shook. Two very enthusiastic thumbs up!
Don't even attempt to dissect the time travel/time stopped science in this book. That's not the point and you'll miss out on the message ... which is a truly fantastic message. (You'll see.)
I had a couple of predictions for how I thought it was going to end, but the actual ending was much better. It left me "feeling some kind of way," as the youths say. haha! I laughed. I cried. I hated myself a little but felt a strong (albeit, quickly fading) need for self-improvement. Joseph Newcomer does a wonderful job of transporting you to a world of self-reflection. Gah. I'm still shook. Two very enthusiastic thumbs up!
November 10, 2019
I've been slacking! 😯 I've read this book 2 times now and can personally attest that the Author, Joseph Newcomer, is one of the deepest, most interesting people I've had the privilege of knowing. But let me chat about the book. Ok, the book, no exaggeration, lip service none of that; this book is so good. Diminishing Return is a dystopian futuristic character study, but to describe it as just that is limiting, and to expound any further would risk spoiling an absolute must read and easily one of the top 5 books I've read this year. Be warned, this book is one that will have you thinking long after you put it down. It is a thought provoking, well crafted read, and a book I can't praise enough.
December 20, 2022
This is the first book I've read in probably over five years. It was a wonderful story and the last few chapters had me on the edge of my seat. However my favorite part was Shaffer's majestic nipples. So if you enjoy dystopian novels go get this one it's fantastic.
January 7, 2021
Well, I'd only gotten 1/2 of this very thought provoking book read when my schedule made it such that I had to put it down. My rating is based on what I've read thus far I am VERY much looking forward to having the time to read 'Diminishing Return' in its entirety!!
What I've read thus far makes you believe that Joe has both a real handle on the World at large (and where we're headed), as well as a direct connection to the future somehow. The initial problems that led up to time stopping honestly don't seem that far off in mankind's future, when you consider what we've been dealing with - especially since early 2016...
We the People - both in this country and Worldwide - are nothing more than pawns to those who care only for money and power. They have not one shred of concern for those whose general welfare they are tasked with seeing to. If we continue this direction, I can see parts of what I've read thus far becoming OUR future. Humans around the World need to wake up and take some action - BEFORE 'Diminishing Return' DOES become our future...
I can't wait to read the entire book!!!!
*********************************************
Below is my FULL review–which I thought I posted MONTHS ago... 🤦🏼♀️🤦🏼♀️
Diminishing Return
WOW!!!
I COMPLETELY enjoyed this book from start to finish!!! So many times I just wanted to be IN the book with the characters!!
What's truly frightening is that I can picture some world governments taking advantage of our current society's total lack of involvement with much of, well anything, except technology. Average everyday people aren't really REQUIRED to think much or figure things out on their own at all anymore!! It's disgusting!!
Computers and smartphones have made it such that thinking for one's self will soon be obsolete. Even vehicles have the capability to do things that people were once REQUIRED TO KNOW in order to safely drive - there are warning sensors for lane shift, and backing up, and parallel parking can now be done FOR YOU by your vehicle!!! Can you say, "complete LAZINESS"???
Then there's 'Alexa', 'Siri', etc. Is it any wonder that both the current AND 2 most recent generations are so self-involved, and barely capable of caring for themselves outside of the home they grew up in?
Trends such as these are what allow humans to become so jaded and full of themselves ("Ooohhh, look at all the cool stuff we developed!! We don't have to do much of anything for ourselves anymore!! Aren't we wonderful?!!?") that we leave ourselves ripe for the absolute disaster of having the very freedoms our Forefathers taught for taken away!!
Our reliance on technology for SO many daily things has left millions of people thoroughly incapable of functioning should there be World-wide catastrophic events affecting the entire planet all at once–beyond the Covid Pandemic.
I SO enjoyed the character development, as well as their scope of interactions. Throughout the book, Joe maintains such an array of experiences these 3 characters contend with during their very different journeys in both the post-Pause timelessness, and their returns to comfortable memories.
There was the author's initial sense of resignation to The Pause, why it happened, and where it ultimately left all humans–depending on their individual mindsets.
After the the characters begin to interact, the reader gets to see them in an abundance of experiences that incorporate feelings of humor, sadness, loneliness, melancholy, regret, outlandishness, suspicion, joy, excitement, love, exuberance, fear, frustration, and their final resignations as to how the story plays out.
The ending ABSOLUTELY blew me away!! What an incredibly inventive and gut-wrenching ending. Being both a compassionate individual, as well as someone who has completely fallen for her–quirks, spinning bullet & all–he works so desperately to reach her towards the end of the book that you can't help but get drawn in to the swirl of emotions he is certainly feeling!! The emotions experienced by the characters were written so well that I got as emotional as if I were truly a part of the story.
This is an AMAZING book, Joe!! Thank you so much for writing it!! ❤️❤️
What I've read thus far makes you believe that Joe has both a real handle on the World at large (and where we're headed), as well as a direct connection to the future somehow. The initial problems that led up to time stopping honestly don't seem that far off in mankind's future, when you consider what we've been dealing with - especially since early 2016...
We the People - both in this country and Worldwide - are nothing more than pawns to those who care only for money and power. They have not one shred of concern for those whose general welfare they are tasked with seeing to. If we continue this direction, I can see parts of what I've read thus far becoming OUR future. Humans around the World need to wake up and take some action - BEFORE 'Diminishing Return' DOES become our future...
I can't wait to read the entire book!!!!
*********************************************
Below is my FULL review–which I thought I posted MONTHS ago... 🤦🏼♀️🤦🏼♀️
Diminishing Return
WOW!!!
I COMPLETELY enjoyed this book from start to finish!!! So many times I just wanted to be IN the book with the characters!!
What's truly frightening is that I can picture some world governments taking advantage of our current society's total lack of involvement with much of, well anything, except technology. Average everyday people aren't really REQUIRED to think much or figure things out on their own at all anymore!! It's disgusting!!
Computers and smartphones have made it such that thinking for one's self will soon be obsolete. Even vehicles have the capability to do things that people were once REQUIRED TO KNOW in order to safely drive - there are warning sensors for lane shift, and backing up, and parallel parking can now be done FOR YOU by your vehicle!!! Can you say, "complete LAZINESS"???
Then there's 'Alexa', 'Siri', etc. Is it any wonder that both the current AND 2 most recent generations are so self-involved, and barely capable of caring for themselves outside of the home they grew up in?
Trends such as these are what allow humans to become so jaded and full of themselves ("Ooohhh, look at all the cool stuff we developed!! We don't have to do much of anything for ourselves anymore!! Aren't we wonderful?!!?") that we leave ourselves ripe for the absolute disaster of having the very freedoms our Forefathers taught for taken away!!
Our reliance on technology for SO many daily things has left millions of people thoroughly incapable of functioning should there be World-wide catastrophic events affecting the entire planet all at once–beyond the Covid Pandemic.
I SO enjoyed the character development, as well as their scope of interactions. Throughout the book, Joe maintains such an array of experiences these 3 characters contend with during their very different journeys in both the post-Pause timelessness, and their returns to comfortable memories.
There was the author's initial sense of resignation to The Pause, why it happened, and where it ultimately left all humans–depending on their individual mindsets.
After the the characters begin to interact, the reader gets to see them in an abundance of experiences that incorporate feelings of humor, sadness, loneliness, melancholy, regret, outlandishness, suspicion, joy, excitement, love, exuberance, fear, frustration, and their final resignations as to how the story plays out.
The ending ABSOLUTELY blew me away!! What an incredibly inventive and gut-wrenching ending. Being both a compassionate individual, as well as someone who has completely fallen for her–quirks, spinning bullet & all–he works so desperately to reach her towards the end of the book that you can't help but get drawn in to the swirl of emotions he is certainly feeling!! The emotions experienced by the characters were written so well that I got as emotional as if I were truly a part of the story.
This is an AMAZING book, Joe!! Thank you so much for writing it!! ❤️❤️
March 6, 2025
Absolutely obsessed with this book. From the first chapter I was hooked. If you are a fan of dystopian story lines you will finish this quickly. A heartbreaking but beautiful story.
August 22, 2020
I have no idea what this book was really about. It has something to do with time-travel to the past causing time to stop. It seemed like it was trying to be really deep - maybe it was just too deep for me. Anyway, I didn't understand it or enjoy it. 1.5 star
January 20, 2020
This book was hard to put down, I had to know the ending. The concept of what time travel does to a society is a refreshing take on the subject. The book takes respective care of tough subjects like the want to belong and suicide while giving readers a compassionate understanding of what it is to treat others with kindness. I love the comedic relief the author provides though the character Shaffer and also the heartbreak that time travel brings to the friendship. I think this book will be a conversation starter among readers.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews