Things you won't say - Sarah Pekkanen

Mike and Jamie are a normal middle class American family - three children, an enormous mortgage, happily married, good friends and a nice suburban lifestyle.


Mike is a cop and Jamie lives in fear every day when he steps out to work wondering what the day would bring. It must be terrible to live under such a stress all the time. Most of the time she manages to shove the idea of this kind of future away but it is always there. What she did not envisage was when the tables were turned and Mike became involved in a shooting of a young teenager during a scuffle and especially when the boy was colored and the issue became a national one. Was the teenager shot only because he was colored?


The topic is extremely relevant in America today and I can see parallels in what happened just a couple of months ago but this is told from the side of the policeman and his family and the havoc that an incident can create in not just a family but even a tight knit community which could splinter over taking sides in such a highly volatile situation.


Jamie has to try to keep it together for the sake of her three children. She also wants to save her marriage which she feels is splintering under the relentless pressure of the media and she wants to save Mike from a breakdown which she feels is imminent. Mike facing the same pressure also from workmates and people on the force as well as the media is knowing that his wife is facing her own demons and is unable to help her. What happens in a situation like this is very beautifully related in this tragic story.


Very good characterization and storytelling.


I have read only one Pekkanen (mainly due to inaccessibility) and I was very surprised when Edelweiss sent this book on to me. Many thanks to them.


On a non blogging note since my reviews are done ahead of time I sometimes find that I do not update anything that may be of interest to readers on a non book note! We just finished a Presidential Election in our country and returned a new president after ten years! This is a huge change for everyone and all are now feeling our way around with a new person at the helm.


The Pope made a visit to Sri Lanka for just two days which was a huge success. Apart from the mass in Colombo he made a lightening visit to a church in Madhu which is in the wilds of Sri Lanka and very isolated. 300,000 people turned up. So glad he did this as another section of people were able to witness and hear the Mass said there.


Weather is now unbearably hot. We always have either too much rain or too little. There never seems to be a happy medium.