So last night was my book club's (Aventura Book Club - a.k.a ABC) May meet-up where we discussed "Look Again" by Lisa Scottoline.
Has anyone of you read a book by her?
Well, this was my very first one by Scottoline, and when I started reading it, I didn't know what to expect. The main character of this book is a journalist, so I thought it might get boring and loose my interest but then at the same time the story involves a little boy whom she adopted and yet who might actually be someone else's KIDNAPPED child ... so I gave it a chance.
I finished the book in 2 days! Wow, loved it. Really enjoyed it a lot and my book club members liked it as well.
Scottoline jumped right in to the story and kept things moving page after page. She grabs your attention right from the beginning! Chapter 1 starts like this: "Ellen Gleeson was unlocking her front door when something in the mail caught her attention. It was a white card with photos of missing children, and one of the little boys looked oddly like her son. She eyed the photo as she twisted her key in the lock, but the mechanism was jammed, probably because of the cold...Ellen couldn’t stop looking at the white card, which read HAVE YOU SEEN THIS CHILD? The resemblance between the boy in the photo and her son was uncanny. They had the same wide set eyes, smallish nose, and lopsided grin. Maybe it was the lighting on the porch... She held the photo closer ... The boys could have been twins.Weird, Ellen thought. Her son didn’t have a twin. She had adopted him as an only child."Tell me that doesn't grab your attention?
Well it grabbed mine... and yes, most people, as discussed with my ABC members don't even look at these missing child photos anymore. I'm not saying that this is a good thing, but you don't really even see them anywhere. They used to be printed on milk cartons, but now, I don't think I have seen one in years!
Anyway, as I was saying, most people would dismiss such as thing and go on with their life, not thinking about it. But that's not what the book is about... the book is about a woman who does NOT dismiss that little white card. A woman who goes through great extent to find out the truth about her adopted child and her suspicions.
After all, she is a journalist, so it's in her nature to want to research this and get to the bottom of it.
So as I was reading the book, one exciting thing after another kept on happening and because her chapters are so short it made reading the book super easy. Of course, right after I finished it, well no, not true, a couple of chapters before I finished it, I went online to research her other books and already bought one!
And then there is also the love interest which always appeals to me of course! I love, love, love anything that has to do with romance, so the extra added hunk and sexy boss kept my interest as well :-)
Though some of my ABC members (pictured below) predicted the ending of the book, I did not think it was very predictable. I would give you examples, but I don't want to ruin the story for you, it's best you go and pick up a copy yourself and let me know if you predicted some of the happenings. And there is always something new happening!
I must mention one negative thing though about this book and that is about the characters. They were interesting and each one had a different personality, but I felt like I wanted to know more about them. So in that regard it was lacking depth, but other than that, I will give this book an A for the story line and the way it was written.
Here are some questions we discussed last night (please feel free to answer them if you have read the book!):
1. As a journalist, Ellen has a heightened need to find the truth. In this circumstance, was this a good thing, or a bad thing?
2. What would you have done in Ellen’s place?
3. Would you have looked for the truth, even if it meant losing your son?
4.What do you think were Ellen’s motivations?
Sincerely,
Aventura Book Worm
P.S. The other Scottoline book I purchased and intend to read very soon, is "Think Twice"
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