The Pact: Jodi Piccoult

If you've read other Jodi Piccoult books, this one might not measure up. It started a bit slow for me, so slow that I almost laid it down completely but I decided to keep going.

The book begins with a young couple being rushed to the hospital after the girl has been shot. It appears to be a double suicide pact gone wrong. The boy claims that they both intended to commit suicide but after she shot herself he passed out before he got his turn.

In the usual Jodi Piccoult style the book alternates between the past and the present, going back in time to tell the story of these two young lovers who have known each other since they were born. Their families lived next door to each other since before they were born and their mother's were best friends. It was everything the parents hoped for when the children went from friends to dating.

Soon after the girl dies the police begin looking at the boy and wondering if this was really a suicide at all or if he had reason to shoot her. Startling facts in the autopsy give them more reason to wonder if he had a motive to kill. Once he is arrested an 18 year long friendship between these two families comes to a startling halt.

The book does pick up in the second section as they go into the love story of the kids and how they went from friends to more. As well as giving more insight into both of their stories and adding details to explain why things might have gone as they did.

All in all it's pretty standard Piccoult, and fairly predictable. Despite the twists I had a good idea of what had really happened pretty early on. It's still worth the read, but I'd only give it 3 out of 5 stars.