Saving Max by Antoinette van Heugten

What can I say about this book?  The story is chilling and the writing is superb. van Heugten has written a story that showcases strong female characters throughout

Danielle Parkman is a mother first and a lawyer second. In this book these two roles are closely woven. When she finds her son Max’s, diary, she becomes alarmed enough to reach out for the help that he needs. What she finds is a mental health nightmare, Maitland Psychiatric Institute. This place would give anyone the creeps! First of all, the nurse in charge gives a whole new definition to “nurse ratchet” She is written as the most uncaring, unfeeling person, who ever entered the profession. There is not one ounce of humanity in her, and that’s just for openers in this place. The physician in charge can only be described as an iron maiden. She is tough without being brutal, but make no mistake, she is in charge.

Parkman has her own demons about leaving her son here for an evaluation and boy is she ever correct. The bond between mother and child is explored and developed in this book, but never in a way that is contrived. The story also explores the bond between another mother and child in the book, Marianne Morison and her son Jonas. The reader starts out liking these two, but has very different outlook by the end of the story. Marianne Morrison suffers from Munchhausen’s by Proxy. How the story is discovered and told will make you cry, I know that I did.

Reading a novel requires the reader to suspend belief for the length of the story and this book succeeds at this is a strong way.  The book opens with a horror scene where Parkman discovers the murdered boy, Jonas, and her son is a bloody isolation room. Parkman becomes convinced that her son is being framed for the murder of Jonas, and will do whatever she thinks that she has to prove his innocence. This is where the suspension of belief comes in. There is so much going on and it is happening so fast that you find yourself wondering how she will pull it off! Against all odds, she succeeds. Along the way, she manages to shame the DA and the Judge and that was a good thing. The lawyer’s scene in New York depicts lawyers who are cold and uncaring. This may well be the way that major firms run, but it sure doesn’t make you like them. Parkman and Sevillas, on the other hand are the kind of lawyers I will always want on my side, if I ever needed them.

For everyone who enjoys a good mystery thriller, this is book to read. It is fast, gripping and believable. The ending leaves room for more by this author, I hope that she continues to develop the characters’ that she has introduced to us.  Antoinette van Heugten has written a true women’s mystery thriller.  Ninety percent of the characters are female and they can hold their own! They do not need rescuing, coddling or explanation. This book will go far.

Another site that I love for discovering new authors and new books is http://www.netgalley.com/ Feel free to explore this one, who knows what you will find there !