BLOG TOUR & REVIEW: Saving Max by Antoinette van Heugten

Description

Max Parkman—autistic and whip-smart, emotionally fragile and aggressive—is perfect in his mother's eyes. Until he's accused of murder.Attorney Danielle Parkman knows her teenage son Max's behavior has been getting worse—using drugs and lashing out. But she can't accept the diagnosis she receives at a top-notch adolescent psychiatric facility that her son is deeply disturbed. Dangerous.
Until she finds Max, unconscious and bloodied, beside a patient who has been brutally stabbed to death.
Trapped in a world of doubt and fear, barred from contacting Max, Danielle clings to the belief that her son is innocent. But has she, too, lost touch with reality? Is her son really a killer?
With the justice system bearing down on them, Danielle steels herself to discover the truth, no matter what it is. She'll do whatever it takes to find the killer and to save her son from being destroyed by a system that's all too eager to convict him.

Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Mira; Original edition (September 28, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0778329631
• ISBN-13: 978-0778329633

SOURCE:  PUBLISHER

REALLY LIKED IT

This book was really out of my comfort zone.  I normally don't pick psychological thrillers, but this one kept me enthralled.  The author quickly pulled me into the story and it really seemed like it was ripped from the headlines. I could really feel the pain of Max's mother, Danielle, and how the medical community doesn't always get things right when Max is diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, a type of Autism.  I  felt her anger and the need to get things right for her son.  It really makes you think that Max would have been one of those kids who would be lost in the criminal system and medical community if his mother wasn't a lawyer and smart enough to try and help.

It also brought up several issues of motherhood.  Even if a mother does everything "right", is it still enough?  Or even good enough?  It is interesting that she bonds with Marianne, Jonas' mother, the boy who ends up dead.  There are so many scary issues that are dealt with here.  The mental illness issues in this country are exploding and hopefully there will be more help for these diseases.  That said, you know a mother will do almost everything to help her own child and this story asks the question of how far should a mother go?  Well, the ending will give you a surprise and I am not talking about Max's mother.  I am not sure if this is the end of the story though since there is a creepy note from Marianne that completes the book.