Keep Quiet
Lisa Scottoline, 2014
St. Martin's Press
384 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781250010100
Summary
New York Times bestselling and Edgar Award winning author Lisa Scottoline is loved by millions of readers for her suspenseful novels about family and justice. Scottoline delivers once again with Keep Quiet, an emotionally gripping and complex story about one man’s split-second decision to protect his son—and the devastating consequences that follow.
Jake Buckman’s relationship with his sixteen-year-old son Ryan is not an easy one, so at the urging of his loving wife, Pam, Jake goes alone to pick up Ryan at their suburban movie theater. On the way home, Ryan asks to drive on a deserted road, and Jake sees it as a chance to make a connection.
However, what starts as a father-son bonding opportunity instantly turns into a nightmare. Tragedy strikes, and with Ryan’s entire future hanging in the balance, Jake is forced to make a split-second decision that plunges them both into a world of guilt and lies. Without ever meaning to, Jake and Ryan find themselves living under the crushing weight of their secret, which threatens to tear their family to shreds and ruin them all.
Powerful and dramatic, Keep Quiet will have readers and book clubs debating what it means to be a parent and how far you can, and should, go to protect those you love. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—July 1, 1955
• Where—Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
• Education—B.A., J.D., University of Pennsylvania
• Awards—Edgar Award
• Currently—lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Lisa Scottoline is the New York Times bestselling author and Edgar award-winning author of some two dozen novels and several nonfiction books. She also writes a weekly column with her daughter Francesca Serritella for the Philadelphia Inquirer titled "Chick Wit" which is a witty and fun take on life from a woman's perspective.
These stories, along with many other never-before-published stories, have been collected in four books including their most recent, Have a Nice Guilt Trip, and the earlier, Meet Me at Emotional Baggage Claim, Best Friends, Occasional Enemies, Why My Third Husband Will Be a Dog, which has been optioned for TV, and My Nest Isn't Empty, It Just Has More Closet Space.
Lisa reviews popular fiction and non-fiction, and her reviews have appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post and Philadelphia Inquirer. Lisa has served as President of Mystery Writers of America and has taught a course she developed, "Justice and Fiction" at The University of Pennsylvania Law School, her alma mater.
Lisa is a regular and much sought after speaker at library and corporate events. Lisa has over 30 million copies of her books in print and is published in over 35 countries. She lives in the Philadelphia area with an array of disobedient pets, and she wouldn't have it any other way.
Lisa's books have landed on all the major bestseller lists including the New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Publisher's Weekly, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times, and Look Again was named "One of the Best Novels of the Year" by the Washington Post, and one of the best books in the world as part of World Book Night 2013.
Lisa's novels are known for their emotionality and their warm and down-to-earth characters, which resonate with readers and reviewers long after they have finished the books. When writing about Lisa’s Rosato & Associates series, Janet Maslin of the New York Times applauds Lisa's books as "punchy, wisecracking thrillers" whose "characters are earthy, fun and self-deprecating" and distinguishes her as having "one of the best-branded franchise styles in current crime writing."
Recognition
Lisa's contributions through her writing has been recognized by organizations throughout the country. She is the recipient of the Edgar Award, the Mystery Writer's of America most prestigious honor, the Fun, Fearless, Fiction Award by Cosmopolitan Magazine, and named a PW Innovator by Publisher's Weekly.
Lisa was honored with AudioFile's Earphones Award and named Voice of the Year for her recording of her non-fiction book, Why My Third Husband Will Be a Dog. The follow up collection, My Nest Isn't Empty, It Just Has More Closet Space has garnered both Lisa and her daughter, Francesca, an Earphones Award as well. In addition, she has been honored with a Distinguished Author Award from Scranton University, and a "Paving the Way" award from the University of Pennsylvania, Women in Business.
Personal
Lisa's accomplishments all pale in comparison to what she considers her greatest achievement, raising, as a single mom, her beautiful (a completely unbiased opinion) daughter, an honors graduate of Harvard, author, and columnist, who is currently working on her first novel.
Lisa believes in writing what you know, and she puts so much of herself into her books. What you may or may not learn about Lisa from her books is that...
♦ she is an incredibly generous person
♦ an engaging and entertaining speaker
♦ a die-hard Eagles fan
♦ a good cook.
♦ She loves the color pink, her Ipod has everything from U2 to Sinatra to 50 Cent, she is proud to be an American, and nothing makes her happier than spending time with her daughter.
Dogs
Lisa is also a softie when it comes to her furry family. Nothing can turn Lisa from a professional, career-minded author, to a mushy, sweet-talking, ball-throwing woman like her beloved dogs. Although she has owned and loves various dog breeds, including her amazing goldens, she has gone crazy for her collection of King Charles Spaniels.
Lisa first fell in love with the breed when Francesca added her Blehneim Cavalier, Pip, to the mix. This prompted Lisa to get her own, and she started with the adorable, if not anatomically correct (Lisa wrote a "Chick Wit" column about this), Little Tony, her first male dog. Little Tony is a black and tan Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.
But Lisa couldn't stop at just one and soon added her little Peach, a Blehneim King Charles Cavalier. Lisa is now beyond thrilled to be raising Peach’s puppies, Daniel Boone and Kit Carson, and for daily puppy pictures, be sure to follow Lisa on Facebook or Twitter. Herding together the entire pack is Lisa’s spunky spit-fire of a Corgi named Ruby. The solitude of writing isn't very quiet with her furry family, but she wouldn't have it any other way.
Cats
Not to be outshined by their canine counterparts, Lisa's cats, Vivi and Mimi, are the princesses of the house, and have no problem keeping the rest of the brood in line. Vivi is a grey and white beauty and is more aloof than her cuddly, black and white partner, Mimi.
When Lisa’s friend and neighbor passed, Lisa adopted his beloved cat, Spunky, a content and beautiful ball of fur.
Chickens
Lisa loves the coziness of her farmhouse, and no farm is complete without chickens. Lisa has recently added a chicken coop and has populated it with chicks of different types, and is overjoyed with each and every colorful egg they produce. Watching over Lisa's chicks are her horses, which gladly welcomed the chicks and all the new excitement they bring. (Author bio adapted from the author's website.)
Visit the author's website.
Follow Lisa on Facebook.
Book Reviews
The pace of the novel accelerates...through under-age and extra-marital sex, set-ups and cover-ups, and more murders—both attempted and completed. Twists and turns of the high drama plot come at the expense of character development but excitement builds nonetheless.
Publishers Weekly
Jake Buckman lets son Ryan drive the family car on a back road. Very bad idea. The car hits someone, and she's dead.... Very slow off the mark, though once blackmail and murder enter the picture, Scottoline moves things along with her customary professionalism, if scant credibility.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
1. At the heart, Keep Quiet is about a parent who makes a mistake. Have you ever made a mistake, as a parent? If you did, do you understand why it happened? Jake Buckman made the mistake because he wanted to protect his child, and because he wants to make up for not having spent enough time with him in the past. He says yes to his son when he should have said no. Jake knows he has made a mistake as soon as he makes it, but he cannot unmake it. Can you imagine being in that kind of a bind? Have you
ever been?
2. Jake made his split-second decision in an emergency, with the intention of saving his son. How do you react in emergencies? Are you cool and calm under pressure, or do you get flustered? Who do you lean on in emergencies? What do you think you would have done in Jake’s position?
3. Jake and Ryan’s relationship suffered because Jake was working so many hours to build his business. What do you think motivated Jake to work so hard? Was he creating a fiscally sound base for his family, or was he feeding his own need to be successful? Either way, is there anything wrong with what he did? How do you think Jake’s own childhood contributed to his view of what it meant to be a good dad?
4. Although Pam is closer to Ryan, she is not a perfect parent either. What mistakes do you think she made, and do you understand why she made them? Did you like her? Why or why not? How would you describe her, and do you view her as a helicopter mom? Is that a bad thing? Do you think the closeness that Pam and Ryan shared sometimes squeezed Jake out of the picture? What responsibility, if any, do Pam and Ryan have for Ryan’s relationship with Jake?
5. Do you think any of the decisions that Pam and Jake made would have been different if Jake were not an only child? How does having other children in the home influence your parenting practices? What kind of pressure comes with being an only child? Do you have siblings? If so, in what ways do you think your life would have been different if you were an only child, or if you came from a family full of children?
6. Ryan spends much of his free time playing or practicing basketball, and you can feel the pressure on him, whether perceived or real, to perform. Youth sports today is no longer just recreational. Between travel teams, tournament teams and private training, do you think parents today have lost perspective on the importance and/or the benefits of being part of a youth sports team? Do you think it is harmful or beneficial for the kids? Are parents too heavily invested emotionally in the success of their children when it comes to sports or any other youth activities? Do you think kids are learning the right life lessons that should come from youth sports?
7. What punishment do you think Ryan deserved? Did he deserve to go to jail? How do you think the justice system would have handled Ryan’s case? Does the punishment always fit the crime? Teenagers make stupid mistakes. In a way, we are expecting them to. Who was more responsible for what happened, Jake or Ryan? Should Jake have faced jail time?
8. Although they say it takes a village to raise a child, what rights do other adults have to parent your child? Do you think Dr. Dave overstepped his bounds in trying to help Ryan? Have you ever had a parent reprimand your child inappropriately? Did you say anything? How do you speak to your child without undermining the authority of adults?
(Questions issued by the publisher.)