Julie's Review: Things You Won't Say

Author: Sarah Pekkanen
Series: None
Publication Date: May 26, 2015
Publisher: Washington Square Press
Pages: 352
Obtained: purchased
Genre:  Contemporary Fiction, Women's Fiction
Rating: 3.75/5.0
Bottom Line: Timely novel about how split second decisions alter our lives
Grab, Just get it at the library, or Remove from your TBR list? Library

Summary: How far would you go to save your family? Every morning, as her husband Mike straps on his SIG Sauer and pulls on his heavy Magnum boots, Jamie Anderson tenses up. Then comes the call she has always dreaded: There’s been a shooting at police headquarters. Mike isn’t hurt, but his long-time partner is grievously injured. As weeks pass and her husband’s insomnia and disconnectedness mount, Jamie realizes he is an invisible casualty of the attack. Then the phone rings again. Another shooting—but this time Mike has pulled the trigger. But the shooting does more than just alter Jamie’s world. It’s about to change everything for two other women. Christie Simmons, Mike’s flamboyant ex, sees the tragedy as an opportunity for a second chance with Mike. And Jamie’s younger sister, Lou, must face her own losses to help the big sister who raised her. As the press descends and public cries of police brutality swell, Jamie tries desperately to hold together her family, no matter what it takes. ~powells.com  

Review: Things You Won't Say is a book about how choices we make an instant can alter not only our lives but those of strangers and of our family. Jamie and Mike seem to have the best marriage. Sure he risks his life but he carves out time to spend with his family as he can. They've created a loving environment for their three kids and Mike's son, Henry, from a previous relationship. Mike has been in a depression since his partner got shot outside headquarters and is working his way back from a severe injury. Some might say that Mike shouldn't be on the job yet, that his head isn't in the right place.

Jamie and Mike don't really handle the situation well. Mike shuts down and Jamie lets him. He feels she doesn't believe him and therefore he can't count on her. Jamie feels that he won't talk to her and is worried that their marriage is crumbling. Enter Jamie's sister Lou who needs to prop up her big sister during this time of need. In my opinion Lou is the best character in the book. She's a little lost except when she with her beloved elephant, Tabby. She does show up when her sister, Mike and the kids need her.

Lou was my favorite character in the book. Whether it's her animal family or her human family she is there when they need her the most.  She doesn't get in the middle of Jamie and Mike's issues but is there for both of them when they need her. She's the fun Aunt who takes them to the zoo and shows them the behind the scenes with the animals.

For me, Christie should have been mentioned in passing. She was Mike's ex but they never had a life together, they are only linked by their son, Henry. She didn't add a dimension for me except that she was always a little resentful of Jamie and her place in Mike's life even though that's not what Christie wanted. She was a woman who didn't want to take care of herself but wanted a man to take care of her but she was always choosing the wrong kind. She tries to take advantage of the situation between Mike and Jamie but it doesn't really go as planned. I didn't hate her, I felt sorry for her.

Ms. Pekkanen always picks a timely subject matter with her novels. I would have liked to here from Mike. For me, in this novel, he was the missing voice.


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