Tag: #SavingMeghan

Book Review: Saving Meghan

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for the advance copy of Saving Meghan.  I told you guys in my last post I am behind, behind, behind on writing and posting reviews!  I did actually read this BEFORE it’s release date and have spread it around to a few people at work.  The consensus?  Read this book!!

This story is told from 2 perspectives; the mother, Becky, and the daughter, Meghan.  Meghan is sick, but no doctor can figure out what is wrong with her.  Becky is convinced there is some underlying disease and no doctor can find it.  Her husband starts to get fed up and thinks she may be making everything up.

Meghan gets sick, but only for quick periods of time.  Anytime vitals are run on her after an episode (fainting, blacking out, etc) they come out fine.  The doctors start to suspect it may be a case of Munchausen syndrome by proxy and given Becky’s history with her mother, it may very well be the case.

Becky’s mother worked the system and faked illness in order to get money.  She taught Becky how to lie and what to do as a child so she could catch a free ride.  Maybe everyone is right and the mother is just making Meghan think she is sick…

A doctor listens to Becky and thinks that Meghan may actually have a serious rare illness.  It happens to be the same serious rare illness his son died of and the hospital feels he over diagnoses.  The testing to verify the illness is also difficult.  Essentially, no one can determine for certain if she has this crippling, life-threatening disease.

The tale keeps weaving and eventually Becky and her husband lose custody of Meghan.  Their relationship is tested as they try to get custody of her back.  The doctor that gave Meghan a diagnosis is fired from the hospital, but decides to help Becky out and win custody back!  He really feels he is right with his diagnosis.

Things get ugly.  You will question everyone involved in this case.  Ok, I am stopping here.  This book gets JUICY and has a twist where your jaw will drop.  Who saw it coming?  I didn’t!  It was a superbly told tale that will leave you not quite sure who to believe.  I doubted myself so much as I read this book, flip flopping between what I thought was happening.  For what it’s worth, I was way, way, WAY off with what was happening.

Originally I gave this a 4 star read, however, upon reflecting on this book, I feel it’s more of a 5 star in my eyes.  I doubted everyone at one point or another in this book and I wasn’t really sure what was going on.  I never liked, or was on one’s side long enough, because the author kept the pace that fast.  Truly this is a wonderful book if you are a fan of thrillers!  Have you read this one?  What do you think??

 

Details

Title: Saving Meghan

Author:  D.J. Palmer

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press

Release Date: April 9, 2019

Find it here on Goodreads and Amazon

 

 

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There is nothing more exciting than running out to my mail box and seeing a cardboard envelope with a book stuffed inside it!  Talk about seeing someone run back into a house, that’s me on book mail days!

The book mail I got today is a psychological thriller from St. Martin’s Press called Saving Meghan by D.J. Palmer.  It is scheduled for release on April 9, 2019.  My first impression of this book is…YES!  Here’s a short description from the back cover…

Can you love someone to death?

Some would say Becky Gerard is a devoted mother and would do anything for her only child. Others claim she’s obsessed and can’t stop the vicious circle of finding a cure at her daughter’s expense.

Fifteen-year-old Meghan has been in and out of hospitals with a plague of unexplained illnesses. But when the ailments take a sharp turn, doctors intervene and immediately suspect Munchausen syndrome by proxy, a rare behavioral disorder where the primary caretaker, typically the mother, seeks medical help for made-up symptoms of a child. Is this what’s going on? Or is there something even more sinister at hand?

WHAT?!?!?  This description has me hooked!  There is a lot of praise from Lisa Gardner, Karin Slaughter, Lisa Unger (NYT bestselling author of Under My Skin), Lisa Scottoline (NYT bestselling author of After Anna), William Landay (NYT bestselling author of Defending Jacob), and Alafair Burke (NYT bestselling author of The Wife) for this book!

Here’s a quick sneak peek at the first few lines of the book from Becky, the mother…

Panic gripped her as the airplane’s hatch door closed. Her heartbeat skittered against the tightness stretched across her chest. The air tasted stale, harder to take in as her breathing turned rapid and shallow. A thin sheen of sweat dampened her face and coated her body. Her skin stuck to the seat;s faux leather upholstery like adhesive. Becky Gerard thought to herself: I’ve made a terrible mistake.

And a quick sneak peek a few chapters later at the first line from Meghan, the daughter…

I could see it in my father’s eyes.

I am SO excited to read this book!  I can’t wait to take you along the journey through this book with me!  I will be starting it soon so stay tuned!  If enough of you bug me I will move it up on my reading list and start it sooner!  This looks like a promising read so far!!!  I wonder if I will be on side #ProtectMeghan or side #BelieveBecky!  Hmmm…..