Natalia’s review of Keep Quiet by Lisa Scottoline 

Jake Buckman’s relationship with his sixteen-year-old son Ryan is not an easy one, so at the urging of his loving wife, Pam, Jake goes alone to pick up Ryan at their suburban movie theater. On the way home, Ryan asks to drive on a deserted road, and Jake sees it as a chance to make a connection. However, what starts as a father-son bonding opportunity instantly turns into a nightmare. Tragedy strikes, and with Ryan’s entire future hanging in the balance, Jake is forced to make a split-second decision that plunges them both into a world of guilt and lies. Without ever meaning to, Jake and Ryan find themselves living under the crushing weight of their secret, which threatens to tear their family to shreds and ruin them all.

My my this book! There is nothing I love more than a good mystery where you make a million guesses of all the possible endings, and race to find the actual one. This story made me run that race.

“Making a decision to have a child is Momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.” What a tremendous quote to start the story. It touched me deeply, and swept me in. It was a great story. For fear of spoiling anything, I will not go in to too much detail about the plot. All I will say is that it’ll have anyone reading until the end. The end was mostly something I didn’t expect nor predict.

I loved Jake’s fierce protectiveness of his son. His love knew no bounds, and this is a great thing. However, he had flaws that I just couldn’t come to terms with. The only show of strength he had was when protecting his son, but he was an absolute push over everywhere else! I couldn’t understand it or why! I also didn’t like His wife Pam at all. I understand that they were going through something abnormal by all means, but something has to be said when the teenager shows more sense than both parents.

I said before that the ending was unexpected to me and it was. I also found it a bit rushed and unrealistic. I won’t make further comments because they’ll spoil the book.

In spite of my nit picking, I quite liked this story and would recommend it.  I look forward to reading more books by this author in future.

Grade: 4 out of 5

This title is available from St. Martin’s Press.  You can purchase it here or here in e-format.  This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.