Looking Back - The Pact

Looking Back... In an effort to transfer my book journal entries over to this blog, I'm going to attempt to post (in chronological order) an entry every Friday. I may or may not add extra commentary to what I jotted down in these journals.

The Pact: A Love Story by Jodi Picoult

Fiction

1998 William Morrow

Finished on April 18, 2001

Rating: 4.5/5 (Very Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

Friendship, loyalty, lifelong love -- and teenage suicide. A riveting, timely, and terrifying novel from an acclaimed writer who skillfully intertwines the intimate perceptions of Anne Tyler with the dramatic tension of John Grisham.

The Golds and the Hartes, neighbors for eighteen years, have always been inseparable. So have their children-and it's no surprise that in high school Chris and Emily's friendship blossoms into something more. But the bonds of family, friendship, and passion-which had seemed so indestructible -- suddenly threaten to unravel in the wake of unexpected tragedy.

When midnight calls from the hospital come in, no one is ready for the truth. Emily is dead at seventeen from a gunshot wound to the head. There's a single unspent bullet in the gun that Chris pilfered from his father's cabinet-a bullet that Chris tells police he intended for himself. But a local detective has doubts about the suicide pact that Chris describes.

This extraordinary, heart-rending novel asks questions that every parent faces: How much do we know about our children? Our friends? What if . . .? As its chapters unfold, alternating between an idyllic past and an unthinkable present, The Pact paints an indelible portrait of families in anguish . . . and creates an astonishingly suspenseful courtroom drama, as Chris finds himself on trial for murder.

It's rare to find a writer who combines Alice Hoffman's gift for evoking everyday life in pellucid prose with a remarkable ability to create a legal page-turner that will keep you up all night reading, but this is such a book. The Pact rings true: wonderfully observed, truly moving, frightening, and utterly impossible to put down.

My Original Thoughts (2001):

Excellent. This author is talented! Grabbed me with the first page. Riveting. Unpredictable. Page-turner. Somewhat scary - how well do we know our teenagers? Great courtroom drama (as with Keeping Faith). Couldn't put it down. Realistic events and characters. Twists and turns kept me guessing.

My Current Thoughts:

According to my reading journal, I read this in two days. That's extremely fast for me, considering the hardcover is almost 400 pages. I've often thought about reading it again, but with all the recent gun violence, I'm not sure it's for me anymore.