From Jodi Picoult, one of the most powerful writers in contemporary fiction, comes a riveting, timely, heartbreaking, and terrifying novel of families in anguish -- and friendships ripped apart by inconceivable violence. Until the phone calls came at 3:00 A.M. on a November morning, the Golds and their neighbors, the Hartes, had been inseparable. It was no surprise to anyone when their teenage children, Chris and Emily, began showing signs that their relationship was moving beyond that of lifelong friends. But now seventeen-year-old Emily has been shot to death by her beloved and devoted Chris as part of an apparent suicide pact -- leaving two devastated families stranded in the dark and dense predawn, desperate for answers about an unthinkable act and the children they never really knew.

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.5 based on 407 reviews)

Love your kids

This book made me look twice at my daughter and really start to pay more attention to the little things instead of just seeing her as a "good kid. A must read for all Moms...Wonderful backdrop and riveting storyline.
January 01, 2009

Happy to finish.

The Jacket to this book really caught my attention, what could have happened to these young lovers that would make them want to kill themselves. The book starts off with a Bang but quickly looses its momentum. I find Chris to be a believable character until he helps Emily put the gun to her head, Emily in my opinion is not very believable, if the two of them were so close she would have confided in him about the baby. This book drug at times and was painful at others....I was happy when I was finished reading it.
December 29, 2008

Overpriced!!!

Once again...amazon.com has overpriced a book! You can get this a Wal-Mart for 6 bucks; it even says on the back of the book USA $7.99!! It is a great book though, a great read, but get it somewhere else.
December 22, 2008

Well written story...I enjoyed it over all

Well written story...I enjoyed it over all.
Character development on the girl could have been better, more believable.
December 01, 2008

2nd best Picoult novel, in my opinion

This is probably my 2nd favorite Picoult. It's well written and gripping. I read the book a while back, but grabbed the audio when I saw it on sale. The audio is fabulous, the narration is perfectly executed.

My previous thoughts from early last year:
How well do you know your child? How many parents knew their child was suicidal before they killed themselves? As parents, we like to believe we know our children, that we are close to them and that they tell us everything. Those of that remember being teenagers ourselves, know that isn't actually true ;)

I was up until 3am finishing this book. I could not put it down. In typical Picoult style, there's the "shocking twist", but the deeper levels of the book - how much you really know about your kids - is what kept me interested. I have a 4 and 6 year old. The fact that they will one day be teenagers scares the heck out of me.
November 17, 2008

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