Saving Max

This book was a page turner from the start definitely kept my attention. If you love a good thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat, you need to read this!!!! Also side note: this would be a great movie 😉😉

Why I read this: I was asked by the publicist if I would like to read it and I really like the titles put out by Mira Books. I read the description and I knew I was hooked and had to read this one. How is the novel driven: Action and character, since this is a suspense/thriller novel, action is the dominant driving force, but character development is key as well. My thoughts: I have read mixed reviews so I wasn't sure what I was going to think about this one before I started. But as I started reading this one and as I finished I realized I'm on the gushing side of this one. Saving Max hooked me from the first page which takes place in the present and then the book starts and goes back to the point in time where the prologue occurred and then the events after. It's an intriguing start and when the event that occurs in the prologue finally occurs in the timeline of the book - I found I was still really shocked. As the book continues, the suspense ratchets up. I went through so many emotions and so many things that I thought was happening only for the author to keep proving me wrong. Then there is a final aha moment where I figured it out, but it doesn't end there, I was kept on the edge of my seat right up until the end. The suspense is very tightly written and it is something that will keep the suspense lover intrigued through the book. I liked the mother of an autistic child (Max has Asperger's) angle and how that mother had a high-stress job as well as being a single-mother yet she still did the best she could for her child. The book is well-written, the characters are very intriguing. There is some romance, some family, lots of suspense and it is just a great book. I think this is one I'll be recommending for awhile. Danielle is a character I think most moms will relate to, she is simply trying to balance a career with a personal life and then add a special needs child on top of that. But she loves him like every mother loves her child no matter what the problems are and she simply wants the best for him, and she never stops wanting the best for him and will sacrifice herself and take risks to make sure he is taken care of. I think of her as an admirable character and I really like how she is developed through the book. When I read Heather Gudenkauf's The Weight of Silence for review last year - it was her first book and I felt like it was one of those iffy things, will I like it or won't I, but again it was a Mira book and I love this Harlequin Imprint. I ended up loving The Weight of Silence and that is how I feel about Saving Max as well. Antoinette van Heugten is an author worth giving that first chance, and after you read her I'm sure you will want to read more from her and as soon as possible (hint, hint Mira books and Antoinette!)

This story completely caught me by surprise. I was expecting something completely different. The character build up is fantastic. I was never sure if Max was really crazy and commented the crime he was accused of. And Danielle was a wonderful example of the length a women would go to to protect her child. It was hard to accept her version of things. There were times I felt like yelling at her. I just wanted her to look at the facts and admit that it was possible that she was wrong. I think since she's always had such a hands on approach to her son and his well being, she refused to acknowledge that there was any possibility. There were a lot legal things that I'm not sure I agreed with. And, I thought it the end there still should have been some ramifications for Danielle's actions. But, the truth was shocking. The story was intense once the ball got rolling and didn't stop until the end.

Danielle Parkman is a single mother who has combined a successful career as an attorney with parenting her teenage son Max, who has Asperger's syndrome. As the story opens, Danielle's parenting skills are being tested by Max's violent outbursts and she is concerned for his emotional wellbeing because of his expression of suicidal thoughts and drug use. Danielle takes Max to a psychiatric hospital for assessment in the hope of finding treatment which will help to manage his volatile behaviour. The assessment leads to a recommendation is that Max requires in-patient treatment for more specialized psychiatric assistance and he is admitted to the Maitland Psychiatric Unit. Thus begins a nightmare for Max and Danielle. Max is found bloody and unconscious next to the bed of a murdered patient: a boy named Jonas. The circumstances mean that Max is the prime suspect, and Danielle herself becomes implicated in the crime. Danielle's fight to clear Max leads to an investigation involving a number of interesting characters and events as Danielle seeks to uncover the truth. I enjoyed this novel although I found parts of it disturbing. On one level, this is suspenseful fiction. On another level, it raises a number of `What if?' questions about medical diagnosis and treatment. The characters, particularly Danielle and Max, are finely realised. `To have a child who has friends, goes to school, has a future - these are the dreams of a race of people to whom she and this woman no longer belong.' Jennifer Cameron-Smith

I HAD TRUBLE SLEEPING AFTER READING THIS BOOK. LOTS OF TWISTS. OVERALL A GREAT BOOK.