Saving Max by Antionette van Heugten

Title: Saving Max

Author: Antionette van Heugten

Published: September 2010 by Mira

Pages: 400

ISBN: 9780778329633

Source: sent for review by Publisher

Description: What would a loving mother not do for her child? Lawyer Danielle Parkman is at her wits' end. Her son Max, a whip-smart teen with high-functioning autism, has always been a handful. But lately he's shutting down, using drugs and lashing out - violently.  Desperate, Danielle brings Max to a top-flight psychiatric facility for a full assessment. But rather than reassurance, Danielle receives an agonizing diagnosis describing a deeply damaged, dangerous boy - one she's never met.
Then Danielle finds Max unconscious and bloodied at the feet of a patient who has been brutally stabbed to death. A fiercely protective mother instinct rears its head - and Danielle is arrested as an accessory to the heinous crime.  In a baffling netherworld of doubt and fear, barred from contacting her son, Danielle clings to the thought of Max's innocence. But has she, too, lost touch with reality? Is her baby boy really a killer?  With the justice system bearing down on them both, Danielle steels herself to discover the truth - no matter how horrifying. It's a path well on the wrong side of the law. But only finding the true killer will absolve her from having to choose between her son and her soul. 

I Give This ...

  

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.

On a side note, the cover of the ARC I received in different than the final cover.  I like the new one so much better.  Check out my post HERE to see what I mean!