2013 Book Review #29: Don't Go

This author is one I discovered a couple of years ago and although I haven't read all of her books, the ones I have read are very good and quick to get through.  The reading level is not difficult at all and even a junior high student could read her stories.  They are a little bit family saga and a little bit mystery with often a moral or ethical dilemma thrown in.  This book had all of these themes plus the themes of forgiveness, familial love, friendship, and betrayal.  

STORY SUMMARY

Dr. Mike Scanlon is a podiatrist and has been serving the USA as an army doctor in Afghanistan for about a year.  He faces many dangers and he knows his time over there will be difficult for his wife Chloe and their newborn baby Emily.  Mike does not think of himself as a warrior or hero.  He thinks of himself as a healer doing his job for his country.

One day, while operating on a wounded soldier, Chloe dies in their house.  She is the victim of a household accident due to a large cut on her arm with a kitchen knife.  Mike learns of the news from his superiors and rushes home.  He is devastated.  However, when he returns to Pennsylvania, he discovers that the life he has left behind while serving in this never-ending war, has fallen apart.  The medical practice that he is a part of is struggling and many changes are taking place.  And he is a complete stranger to his now 7-month-old baby girl who doesn't take to him.  She has been living with Chloe's sister Danielle and her lawyer husband, Bob.  Danielle and Bob have never had children but Danielle is a natural with Emily.

After just a couple of days at home to bury his wife, Mike makes plans with Danielle and Bob for them to have temporary custody of Emily while he goes back to Afghanistan for another tour of duty which will last a year.  He feels it is necessary to go back and finish serving his country yet he is torn that he will be away from his precious baby girl.

While he is over there, he begins to learn a horrible secret about Chloe and the circumstances surrounding her death.  This sends him into a downward spiral of emotions.  While serving, he is wounded one evening and has to have his left arm amputated.  Now he is relying on pain killers to get him through his days.  He returns home only to discover more shocking news:  his dead wife's best friend, Sara, a teaching colleague, has been murdered.  With a knife.  

Mike soon realizes that the most important war he is facing is the one at home.  He must go to court to get his own daughter back from Danielle and Bob and he wants to learn the truth about Chloe's death.  To make matters worse, he discovers that Chloe was a month pregnant when she died!  And he was overseas......

whose baby died along with Chloe?? Was Chloe murdered?  What happens to Emily?

Will Mike be able to save his family and be the hero that Emily needs him to be??

Read the book to find the answers!!

MY THOUGHTS

I enjoyed this book because it was dealing with the emotions behind a father who has gone to war in Afghanistan and how this affects an American family (although the story is fiction,  I fear there is a lot of truth to some of these circumstances, like dealing with a lost limb, marital affairs, children not really knowing their daddy and dads missing out on major developmental milestones, plus Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome for our returning vets).  I liked the fact that the author wrote a story from a man's viewpoint because so often these types of novels are from a woman's.

I like that the ending is not predictable regarding what happened with Chloe.  I was guessing it was a certain character and I was wrong!

One thing I didn't care for was the fighting scene towards the end of the story with Mike and his neighbors. I feel like that was a stretch.....I  understand why the author wrote it the way she did, but I was so caught up in the story because it was so real-like, and that is definitely fiction......I just don't really see that happening in "real life". It reminded me of a cheesy movie although it did wrap up that part of the "mystery" very neatly if somewhat abruptly.

I do like that the underlying theme of bravery and forgiveness prevails throughout the book.

In my opinion, this book is appropriate for ages 17 and older (although a younger teen could read it as it isn't a challenging  literary piece of work.  But it does have some mature plot lines in it)

On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, I rate this an 8