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Summary
Summary
Winner of the Edgar Award for Best Paperback Original.
Reminiscent of the bestsellers of Laura Lippman and Harlan Coben--with a dose of Big Little Lies or Stranger Things--an absorbing, addictive tale of psychological suspense from the author of the highly acclaimed stand-alone novel What Remains of Me and the USA Today bestselling and Shamus Award-winning Brenna Spector series, in which a seemingly open-and-shut police case with a clear-cut hero and villain turns out to be anything but simple.
Late one night in the quiet Hudson Valley town of Havenkill, a distraught woman stumbles into the police station--and lives are changed forever.
Aimee En, once a darling of the '80s pop music scene, claims that a teenage boy stole her car, then ran over another young man who'd rushed to help.
As Liam Miller's life hangs in the balance, the events of that fateful night begin to come into focus. But is everything as it seems?
The case quickly consumes social media, transforming Liam, a local high school football star, into a folk hero, and the suspect, a high school outcast named Wade Reed, into a depraved would-be killer. But is Wade really guilty? And if he isn't, why won't he talk?
Told from a kaleidoscope of viewpoints--Wade's mother Jackie, his younger brother Connor, Aimee En and Pearl Maze, a young police officer with a tragic past, If I Die Tonight is a story of family ties and dark secrets--and the lengths we'll go to protect ourselves.
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
A violent carjacking sends shock waves through sleepy Havenkill, N.Y., in this moving character-driven standalone from Edgar-finalist Gaylin (What Remains of Me). The incident leaves high school football star Liam Miller, who was run over while apparently trying to stop the thief, fighting for his life. Police officer Pearl Maze takes the initial report from badly shaken former pop star Amy Nathanson, a resident of nearby Woodstock, for whom the stolen vintage Jag is the only vestige of her '80s glory days as a one-hit wonder. Some of the details in Amy's account, such as having her window rolled down at a stop sign on a freezing cold night, strike Pearl as unlikely. As for the culprit, suspicion falls on high school pariah Wade Reed, who's rumored to be a Satanist, after finger-pointing from Liam's friends on social media. What really happened that night will take Pearl's considerable detective prowess-and courage-to figure out. Though the fast-paced plot takes a few implausible final twists, the novel's lasting impact comes from its indelible portrait of people in crisis. Agent: Deborah Schneider, Gelfman Schneider Literary Agents. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
After a hit-and-run kills a high school student, the court of public opinion convicts a lonely outcast.When Jackie Reed hears her 17-year-old son, Wade, sneaking out the night before the SATs, she knows she should stop him; instead, she pops a Xanax and returns to bed. At 4 a.m., Jackie's 13-year-old, Connor, wakes to find a rain-soaked Wade hiding something in his closet; he considers tattling but promises to keep quiet. These seemingly innocuous decisions come back to haunt Jackie and Connor the next morning. While Officer Pearl Maze was working the graveyard shift at the Havenkill, New York, police department, Amy Nathanson burst through the door claiming to have been carjacked. According to Amy, her screams summoned 17-year-old Liam Miller, whom the thief ran over during his escape. The cops canvass the neighborhood for witnesses, and the Reeds are stunned to realize that Wade matches the suspect's description. Evidence mounts against him, and the community ostracizes his family, but still Wade refuses to divulge his whereabouts at the time of the accident. The book opens with Wade's suicide note, then flashes back five days and unfolds from the perspectives of Jackie, Connor, Pearl, and Amy. This narrative shift maximizes suspense by forcing readers to guess at Wade's thoughts and actions, allowing Gaylin to insightfully explore the crime's ripple effects.This anxiety-fueled stand-alone from Edgar nominee Gaylin (What Remains of Me, 2016, etc.) takes the gulf that naturally develops between teenagers and their families and stocks it with sharks. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Upstate New York author Gaylin successfully follows her Edgar-nominated What Remains of Me (2016) with this riveting tale of domestic suspense set in a landscape she knows well. The complacence of Havenkill, a small Hudson Valley town, is shattered when a high-school football star is killed in a hit-and-run. The car is identified as a stolen Jaguar owned by an aging '80s pop icon, but who was the driver? Was it really the teenage son of Jackie Reed, who has worked hard at being a good single parent but now sees her sons distanced from her as they become obsessed by social media the same social media that turn into dangerous tools of accusation and revenge, making their lives a nightmare. The story is masterfully told in different voices from a well-developed cast of characters. Police officer Pearl Maze is worthy of her own series. Fans of Megan Abbott and Wendi Corsi Staub will relish this one.--Murphy, Jane Copyright 2018 Booklist
Library Journal Review
In the small town of Havenkill, NY, aging rock star Aimee En pounds on the door of a police station, claiming that her car was stolen and a teenager who tried to stop the carjacking was run over by the thief. Meanwhile, divorced realtor Jackie Reed frets over the growing distance between her and sons Connor and Wade. As the tragedy consumes the small town, secrets compound, and Wade becomes the target of everyone's suspicions. Edgar Award nominee Gaylin (Hide Your Eyes; What Remains of Me) deftly pries into the challenges of parenthood, the hidden lives of teenagers, and the cruelties that hide behind the idyllic facade of small-town life while also maintaining unrelenting tension. The narrative is told from four perspectives, each with a distinct voice and emotional depth and all trying to understand what happened that fateful night. Though the plot and characters are skillfully managed, the story wraps up quickly after the big reveal and may be unsatisfying to readers who want all their loose threads to be fully fleshed out. Verdict Gaylin's skillful balance of tension and intimacy will appeal to fans of psychological and domestic suspense, and the questions she raises about parents, children, and bullying have rich potential for book clubs. [See Prepub Alert, 9/22/17.]-Carol Munroe, Frank L. Weyenberg Lib., Mequon, WI © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
