Book Review: Don't Go By Lisa Scottoline

DON'T GO

By: Lisa Scottoline

Published: April 1, 2013

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Fiction

Dr. Mike Scanlon, an orthopedist, is overseas serving his country in Afghanistan.  Back home his wife, Chloe, and seven-month-old daughter, Emily, are trying to survive without him.  In just a month, his tour will be over and he will be home for good.  During his last month in Afghanistan, he finds out his wife has died after a freak, household accident.  He returns home to a daughter who has no idea who he is, a dead wife who appears to have been a closet alcoholic, and a failing medical practice.  With plans to return back to Afghanistan for the remainder of the month, he leaves Emily in his sister-in-law's care and hopes that everything can be managed once he returns home.

Life doesn't go as planned once Mike returns to Afghanistan and his home life also begins to spiral out of control.  As Mike leaves Afghanistan, he hopes all the battles are behind him and he just wants to see his daughter.  Instead, he has battles to fight at home as well.

This is my first Lisa Scottoline book and definitely not my last.  I rank her up there with Jodi Picoult and Kristin Hannah for writing stories with real characters and true-to-life situations.  The characters feel like people you know and their emotions overflow off the page.

"Mike couldn't listen, thinking of Chloe's loving heart, leaking blood until it stilled. He thought of Emily's tiny heart, beating down the hall, and his own heart, broken."   Page 27

Scottoline did thorough research related to war injuries, PTSD, and family law.  From the way the soldiers communicated and dealt with the war to the affects on the families left behind during their service, Scottoline covered all the emotions, struggles, and complications that can be involved. 

"War didn't stop for the dead. War didn't stop for anything or anybody." Page 119

The chapters are short and keep you riveted so you want to read the next chapter and the next chapter and the next.  You will breeze through the book because you want to know what really happened and what the future holds for Mike and his daughter, Emily.

This was our book club choice for this month and I am sure we will have lots to discuss.  If you like character driven stories with a bit of mystery and real-life situations, you will rush through DON'T GO. If nothing else, it will make you see soldiers and their families with a whole new perspective.  I can't wait to read another of Scottoline's books. 

As a side note, I hope the author has found a new proofreader since the printing of this book.  The amount of typos and silly mistakes in this book were distracting and unprofessional for this caliber of an author.

Lisa Scottoline

Lisa Scottoline is the best-selling author of 22 novels.  Her latest novel, KEEP QUIET came out in April 2014.  Her suspenseful novels about family and justice are loved by millions of readers. For more on Lisa Scottoline, check out her website, HERE. 

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