Perfect Match

In her most soulful and intimate novel to date, Jodi Picoult paints an indelible portrait of a family in anguish. Published to coincide with her new book, Handle with Care.'... so taut you may need to remind yourself to breathe.'- Sun-Herald'... packed with suspense and insight. If you enjoy reading Patricia Cornwell and Kathy Reichs, this is a novel which will absorb you.'- HighlifeWhat would push you to commit a crime? Assistant District Attorney Nina Frost prosecutes child molesters, and in the course of her everyday work she endures the frustration of seeing too many criminals slip through the system and walk free. So when she receives the awful news that her son Nathaniel has been sexually abused and is so traumatised that he is now mute she takes justice into her own hands as she enters the courtroom with a gun. She may have killed the man who hurt her son, but has she destroyed her family in the process? And whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty? In Perfect Match, Jodi Picoult again weaves a heart-wrenching story which explores the lengths to which a mother will go to protect her child. Part thriller, part courtroom drama and part family portrait, this disturbing novel paints an indelible portrait of a family torn apart, and the drama of its riveting courtroom conclusion maintains the suspense until the final verdict is handed down.Jodi Picoult's bestselling and widely acclaimed novels include Nineteen Minutes, My sister's Keeper, Plain Truth, Keeping Faith and The Pact. She lives in New Hampshire with her husband and three children. Read more about Jodi Picoult and her new novel Handle with Care on her website at www.jodipicoult.com.au For eighteen years the Hartes and the Golds have lived next door to each other, sharing everything from Chinese food to chicken pox to carpool duty - they've grown so close it seems they have always been a part of each other's lives. Parents and children alike have been best friends, so it's no surprise that in high school Chris and Emily's friendship blossoms into something more. They've been soul mates since they were born. So when midnight calls from the hospital come in, no one is ready for the appalling truth: Emily is dead at seventeen from a gunshot wound to the head. There's a single unspent bullet in the gun that Chris took from his father's cabinet - a bullet that Chris tells police he intended for himself. But a local detective has doubts about the suicide pact that Chris has described. The profound questions faced by the characters in this heartrending novel are those we can all relate to: How well do we ever really know our children or our friends? What if.? As its chapters unfold, alternating between an idyllic past and an unthinkable present, The Pact paints an indelible portrait of families in anguish, culminating in an astonishingly suspenseful courtroom drama as Chris finds himself on trial for murder For eighteen years the Hartes and the Golds have lived next door to each other, sharing everything from Chinese food to chicken pox to carpool duty. Parents and children alike have been best friends, so it's no surprise that in high school Chris and Emily's friendship blossoms into something more. So when midnight calls from the hospital come in, no one is ready for the appalling truth: Emily is dead at seventeen from a gunshot wound to the head. There is a single unspent bullet in the gun that Chris took from his father's cabinet a bullet that Chris tells police he intended for himself. But a detective has doubts about the suicide pact that Chris has described. The profound questions faced by the characters in this heartrending novel are those we can all relate to: How well do we ever really know our children or our friends? As its chapters unfold, alternating between an idyllic past and an unthinkable present, The Pact paints an indelible portrait of families in anguish, culminating in an astonishingly suspenseful courtroom drama Assistant District Attorney Nina Frost prosecutes child molesters, and in the course of her everyday work she endures the frustration of seeing too many criminals slip through the system and walk free. So when she receives the awful news that her son Nathaniel has been sexually abused by her family priest-and is so traumatised that he is now mute-she knows better than anyone that she cannot trust the courts to protect her child. Certain that she can do a better job, and convinced she is taking the moral high ground, she shoots the priest in cold blood at his arraignment What would push you to commit a crime? Assistant District Attorney Nina Frost prosecutes child molesters, and in the course of her everyday work she endures the frustration of seeing too many criminals slip through the system and walk free. So when she recieves the awful news that her own son Nathaniell has been sexually abused and is so traumatised that he is now mute, she takes justice into herown hands as she enters the courtroom with a gun. --- back cover Recently divorced Mariah White is struggling to come to terms with her new life when her seven-year-old daughter Faith starts behaving in a strange way - It seems that she may be actually seeing God - A storm of controversy arises and soon Mariah finds herself in court, fighting to prove her competency as a parent Mariah White is worried when her seven-year-old daughter, Faith, adopts an imaginary friend to help her cope with the aftermath of her parents' messy divorce. She's even more worried when Faith says the invisible friend is God, and female, and Faith begins to be touted as a prophet A New Hampshire girl effects miraculous cures, becoming the center of a controversy involving doctors, priests and the media. The divorced father who blames the mother sues for custody and the result is a trial, pitting believers against skeptics District Attorney Nina Frost and her husband, Caleb, face a nightmare when they discover that their young son Nathaniel has been molested, a trauma that has left him mute, terrified, and unable to reveal the identity of his attacker