Things You Won't Say: A Novel

Sarah Pekkanen must be prescient because the backdrop to this emotionally charged book begins with the murder of one police officer and the critical wounding of another, followed in quick order by the fatal shooting of a young Hispanic boy, purportedly unarmed, by a policeman.

Each day as Mike Anderson prepares for work as a patrolman, his wife Jamie feels uneasy. Her fears are realized one day when a lone gunman fires shots outside police headquarters. As a prank, Mike had shoved his partner and best friend ahead of him, directly into the line of fire, where his wounds result in traumatic brain injury. Rather than taking time off and getting help with an obvious case of PTSD and survivor's guilt, Mike too quickly returns to work.

As Jamie's life with three young children and that of Christie, with whom Mike has a son, begin to return to a semblance of normal, another officer-involved shooting occurs. To everyone's horror, Mike has fatally wounded a young, reportedly unarmed, Hispanic boy. As is becoming increasingly commonplace in our world, the life of the Anderson family is inundated by the media and the rush to judgment against all its members. No one, including Christie and Jamie's sister, Lou, a woman more comfortable with her elephant charges at the zoo, is immune.

Although the shootings provide a nerve-wracking background, the real story for me is Jamie's and Mike's marriage and his relationship with Christie. Sarah Pekkanen effectively demonstrates the effect of a major crisis on relationships. I think it's safe to say that every relationship has cracks - some so minor that no one sees them. I am reminded of my father's words: Any couple who brags about never arguing is either lying or very, very boring.

Jamie now feels overwhelmed with three young children, her stepson, living hand-to-mouth and Mike's changing relationship with Christie. The tiny cracks in her marriage become chasms. She and Mike are barely roommates. Because he is on unpaid leave awaiting trial, Mike either hides in the basement or spends more time with Christie.

Lou rallies around the Andersons and, without fanfare, quits one of her jobs and moves in with her sister. She is the unsung hero of the book. Her selflessness quietly accomplishes what I thought might be impossible.

Sarah Pekkanen wrote a realistic story with believable characters. I have enjoyed all her books, but this one demonstrates a raised level of maturity. The story flows flawlessly from beginning to end. I highly recommend this book.

Yes, this book deals with a cop shooting - a topic we are all too familiar with thanks to the recent headlines. But what Sarah Pekkanen does with such a sensitive topic, is nothing short of miraculous. Where this subject matter could have easily been sensationalized, Ms. Pekkanen has chosen to tell the tale from a different vantage point - the officer's wife. To read about how such an event affects those that love the person involved is heart wrenching and eye opening. Yes, books are meant to entertain but in this one Ms. Pekkanen straddles the fine line of entertaining and educating without ever getting up on her soapbox. Both sides involved in the shooting are portrayed with an honest empathy showing how complex this particular kind of situation truly can be.

As serious as the topic can be, there are elements that lighten the book that make it a perfect beach read. The subplot with the elephants was enjoyable and I enjoyed following that character arc as well. My only gripe is that this particular area of the story was a subplot and would have liked to explore more of this character's world (but that would have made it a 700 page book!).

Grab it - it's a must read!

I want to preface this review with two facts. One, I'm a huge fan of Sarah Pekkanan and avidly follow her on social media. Two, my family suffered from the death of my uncle at the age of 23 from a police shooting. I preordered this book before I even knew what it was about. Just a couple days before it was published I saw a review and debated about canceling my order. This is a hard subject to read about, and living in Cleveland, OH this subject has been all over the news lately. Did I really want to read a fiction novel when it is happening in real life? Clearly I decided yes since I'm writing a review!

While the book deals with a white police officer fatally shooting a Hispanic teenager, it also creates this wonderful cast of characters. Sarah Pekannan writes so well, you believe that these people are real, feeling real emotions. It was very interesting for me personally to read the side of Mike Anderson, the police officer who pulled the trigger, and what he dealt with after the shooting. And it's not just him. There's 3 women and 4 kids who suffer right along with him. I really don't want to give anything away, but I will say this. Sarah Pekannan is such a fantastic author, and I think this is her best book to date. The way she writes about family and the every day struggles is just spot on. She also creates these fantastic characters that I sometimes wish were real. I would totally love to be Lou's friend and hopefully get to hang out with the elephants! Definitely a 5 star review from me!

I recently read "Things You Won't Say". Overall I enjoyed it. The story tracks the lives of a family who has faced a tragedy when her husband loses his partner on the police force. He is then forced to end the life of a teenager at a scene.

While I won't dive into details (I hate spoilers), I will tell you that this is a well written book. The characters are well developed and the world she has created for the characters is believable. I really like the perspective shift from the ex-wife, wife, and sister-in-law of the police officer.

The one thing I didn't like is that it took a little while to pick up steam. I beg you to stay with it though. Although it is not the greatest book I have ever read, it really does build well. It is a thoroughly enjoyable read. For those of you who like a good family/drama read, this is a good choice.

Every book written by this author has featured strong characters undergoing difficult situations, and TYWS is no different. Spouses of police officers face a tough battle every time their loved on heads out on duty and this book shows just how difficult their lives can be when facing a horrible situation.

What I loved: Lou is such a welcome distraction in the novel. She’s a quirky character that may even have a touch of Asperger’s Syndrome, but the love she feels for the elephants, other animals, and her family are so pure that you cannot help but like her.

What I didn’t love: When facing their tough situation, Jamie focused on the big picture, the long run and her children’s well-being and happiness, but Mike was just concerned with the moment, the day to day, and being right. It was frustrating and difficult to read those passages as I just wanted to hit Mike upside the head.

What I learned: I now know how an elephant gives birth. It’s a strange part of the story, but so integral!

Overall Grade: B+

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I discovered Sarah Pekkanen's books by accident. I picked up my first book at a second hand store never having heard of her before. I fell in love with her writing and immediately purchased and read every single one of her books. I'm so happy she has another book coming out in May!

If you love writers like Emily Giffin, Jodie Piccoult, Jennifer Weiner, and Diane Chamberlain, you are sure to love Sarah. Her characters are struggling with real issues and you are on the journey with them for the entire ride. Once I started reading Things You Won't Say, I had a hard time putting it down. Due to my work schedule and home life with three boys, I only get to carve out a small amount of time in the evening to get lost in a book. I couldn't wait to get home each day to dive back in where I left off.

Relationships can be complicated and the book captures several complicated relationships. Jamie wants desperately for her husband to open up to her and let her help; however, he feels she lacks faith in him. The situation in which they find themselves will either make or break their marriage. Add to that they have small children in the home and a shared son with Mike's ex, Christie. We all know women like Christie and we want to hate her but throughout the book, you get more glimpses of her vulnerability and there are times you actually feel sorry for her. To Lou, Jamie's sister, Jamie has always been her rock and now the tables are turned. She struggles with how to support Jamie during this difficult time when this is a role she's never had to perform before. Figuring out how to support someone through every day difficulties is hard enough but this is no ordinary circumstance.

This is an excellent read and I highly recommend it. I've since loaned it out to two friends and they both have raved about it, as well. Happy reading!

This is the first time I've read a novel from Sarah Pekkanen, and it definitely won't be the last! The story was a real page-turner, and was hard to put down. It alternates between three people's lives - Jamie, the cop's (Mike) wife, who's dealing with her husband's struggle before and after Mike fires his weapon; Lou, her sister who would rather be with her animals than with people, works at the local zoo and later steps in to help Jamie out during this difficult time in her life, when it's usually the opposite way around; and Christie, Mike's ex who have a child together, Henry, whom Jamie doesn't always see eye-to-eye with.

Pekkanen really has a way of making you love/hate characters and making you feel the emotions they do - Christie you often find getting annoyed with, right along with Jamie. Later in the book, when Jamie's trying to connect with Mike during the turmoil in their lives, and they fight, I felt sadness right along with Jamie and actually shed a tear or two, as the emotion was so strong.

The only thing making me give a 4 star review is I felt much of their (Jamie and Mike's) reconciliation was left out, and I would have liked more elaboration on that part. I felt it jumped from they're not sure where their relationship is going to go from here, to they're great again with a few comments from how their marriage counseling went. This was still a fantastic read, and I'm already looking at which book of hers I'm going to read next.

The book was ok. There were some twists and surprises but mostly it remained predictable. Some of the characters were well developed, especially the two sisters Jaime and Lou. It seemed that there was a sudden rush to finish the end of the story where the beginning and middle of the story moved at a much different pace. Not sure why the author did this, almost as if they were running out of pages.