The Pact
With this riveting psychological drama, Jodi Picoult explores the dynamics of intimate relationships under stress - from the seemingly inexplicable mind of a teenager to the bonds of friendship and marriage.
Reviews
'This psychologically shrewd tale is as suspenseful as any best-selling legal thriller . . . she forges a finely honed, commanding, and cathartic drama.'
- Booklist
About the book
For eighteen years the Hartes and the Golds have lived next door to each other. 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 a midnight call from the hospital comes 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.
