If We Had Known

Finished January 22

If We Had Known by Elise Juska

This novel is set around a shooting in a small college town in Maine. The shooting occurs in a mall and the shooter is a recent graduate of the college. Maggie Daley recognizes the name of the shooter, Nathan Dugan, as a former student. She teaches English composition a required course that many of her fellow teachers resented because of the challenge of teaching students who didn't want to take English. But Maggie is an enthusiastic teacher who loved the challenge. The students wrote papers, shared them in class, and talked about them with each other. In many cases the topics were deeply personal and the experience was a meaningful one in their lives. Maggie loves her job and really enjoys getting the students enthused about writing about something important to them. After Maggie's marriage ended she begin seeing Richard, another teacher at the college, but he still lives with his wife even though he says their marriage is over. Because he is worried about his wife's mental health, he and Maggie have kept their relationship secret. 

While Maggie is at the center of the story, she is not the only voice here. Another is the voice of her daughter Anna, who is just about to leave for college herself. Maggie and her husband Tom divorced and Anna hasn't been taking it well. Anna has a history of anxiety issues that began a few years ago and that this event is somewhat triggering for. As Anna leaves home, and adjusts to college life, she finds a good friend in her roommate, but soon is triggered in another way by someone new in her life and finds herself struggling again.

A third voice in the story is Suzanne, Richard's wife, who can see that Richard is pulling away from her and suspects that he is having an affair. She had a brief contact with one of the shooting victims and finds herself reacting to the news with a lot of emotion. We see as she discovers who Richard is seeing and takes some action against Maggie. 

Another voice in this book is Luke Finch, who was in Maggie's class at the same time as Nathan. For some reason he doesn't fully understand himself, Luke posts on Facebook about his memories of Nathan and then is taken aback when the post goes viral. People start responding to it from all over, and Luke has a variety of reactions to it. Luke is living at home, working in a donut shop and dreaming of a different life. His sudden fame has him reacting, but not always in a way that is helpful for him.

As these four people try to move on with their lives, but find themselves connected in a variety of ways, we see how this terrible event has changed their circumstance so their lives won't be the same. 

Maggie struggles to figure out whether she should have or could have noticed that this young man would do something so awful and tried to help him. She isn't sure of her ability to connect with the students anymore and we see her become more and more isolated. With Anna at college, she is alone, and she cuts off most of the world. 

This is a book that looks at our connectedness to others and what our responsibility to each other is in a larger way. These four people react in different ways, some of them harmful to others, some harmful to themselves, as they try to figure out how to move forward from in their own lives. 

A gripping story. 

The Chase

Finished August 31

The Chase by DiAnn Mills

This FBI thriller has two main characters.

Kariss Walker is a former television journalist turned novelist. She's written several successful women's fiction novels, but dreams of writing about her true passion, finding justice for those unable to do so themselves. She is haunted by an experience in her past where she was unable to protect someone vulnerable. One case she covered as a journalist was of a young girl, whose body was found, malnourished near an apartment complex. The girl's identity was never determined. This is the case that she plans to base her novel on.

Kariss has gained access to follow an FBI agent to get background information on the world she plans to write about. The agent is Tigo Harris. He has many years of experience, including undercover work, and is currently involved in a case involving gangs smuggling drugs and guns. 

When Kariss is able to get the case reopened, she and the FBI find new evidence that points to the child's identity, and perhaps to new crimes. 

Tigo is very close to his mother, who is dying from a cancer, and this element impacts how he lives his life and sets his priorities. 

Kariss makes a lot of questionable decisions putting her own safety into jeopardy. 

Both characters have families who are strong church goers, but both have distanced themselves from religion. The Christian element in this book is subtle until the end, when it suddenly becomes more evident. 

Last Night

Finished September 30
Last Night by Karen Ellis

This novel could be a teen crossover as the major characters in the book are both in their senior year in high school in New York City. Titus "Crisp" Crespo is a high achiever, and has been held to a high standard by the mother and grandparents that raised him. He is set to be valedictorian of his class in a public school, but the day before he is stopped by a cop and he talks back, and that lands him in jail. He isn't released in time for his graduation. After his release, with his judgement still impaired, an argument with his mother causes him to take off, and he decides to go visit Glynnie, a girl he knows only a little. He'd spotted her on the roof of her building when he was on the rooftop basketball court in jail and decides that he wants to let her know why he was there, that he isn't a bad guy. And thus events are set in motion that will have long-lasting consequences for both of them.
Glynnie is from a well-off family, but she likes to push things, and now isn't the time that she feels like stopping with that attitude. Not with her mother planning to send her to Outward Bound for the summer. Crisp is a good kid, but he also doesn't want to let Glynnie go off on her own into a potentially dangerous situation.
This plot has a lot going on, with gangs, drugs, and even guns. With the two teens in over their heads, they struggle to get out of a very bad situation.
I liked the plot and could see how something like this could unfold, one bad decision after another. One young character pulled at my heartstrings, and I liked the way that things started to turn around for him, a kid in a bad situation through no fault of his own, and with no one really caring that he fell between the cracks.
Although this is a second book in the series featuring police detective Lex Cole, it felt to me that the police were more minor characters here. They did have important roles and you did see some of their personal lives, but they weren't at the heart of things.
A good, fast-moving read that will keep you glued to your seat.

The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley

Finished July 25
The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley by Hannah Tinti, narrated by Elizabeth Wiley

This novel moves back and forth between the lives of Samuel and his daughter Loo, as they settle in the small town of Olympus, Massachusetts years after the death of Samuel's wife Lily, and Samuel's past.
Samuel has a shrine to Lily in their washroom. Everything she left behind from grooming products and cosmetics to slips of paper she wrote lists on is there. Loo is used to it. The shrine has gone with them as they travelled around the country, always moving suddenly, and taking little with them. One thing that has gone with them is Samuel's collection of guns, from his father's rifle to a variety of handguns and long guns. He looks after them, and Loo knows how to use them as well.
Their lives in Olympus are quiet, except for occasional conflicts with locals. Loo doesn't really fit in, and doesn't really want to. Samuel makes a quiet living fishing and gathering shellfish at low tide. As we see Loo grow from a tween to a life after high school, we see their relationship change as Loo tries to have her own secrets and gradually learns those of her father.
Loo's grandmother lives in Olympus, her mother's mother, and this relationship develops very slowly as well.
The twelve lives of the title are represented by the bullet wounds in Samuel's body, and we gradually learn through his history where and how he came by each one, learning also what his life has been, and how he came to meet Lily, and what happened to her.
This is a story of families, of the difficulty of escaping one's past, and of the constant hope for a better future. A very interesting read.