by Jodi Picoult
First published 2009
Chris Harte and Emily Gold have been inseparable since birth. Their families, the Hartes and the Golds, have shared eighteen years as neighbors, becoming so intertwined they feel like one extended family. The children grew up together, and in high school their deep friendship naturally evolved into young love. They seemed destined for each other from the start. Then a midnight phone call shatters both families. Emily lies dead at seventeen, killed by a gunshot to her head. Chris holds his father's gun with one unused bullet remaining. He tells police he planned to kill himself too, that they made a suicide pact together. But a detective questions Chris's story. The investigation forces both families to confront whether they truly knew their children at all. This tragedy will test bonds that seemed unbreakable and reveal secrets that challenge everything they believed about love, friendship, and the price of growing up.
Genres: mystery, contemporary, thriller, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, suspenseful
Tropes: unreliable-narrator
384 pages · Kindle Edition · HarperCollins e-books
Content warnings: death, suicide