Saving Max by Antoinette van Heugten

Here's a quick bit from the website: Single mother Danielle Parkman is at the end of her rope and she knows it. A successful attorney, Danielle works grueling hours for her clients, yet devotes every spare moment to her teenage son, Max, who has Asperger’s – high-functioning autism. Alarmingly, Max has become violent and suicidal. Danielle is frantic. None of the professionals have helped him. Desperate for guidance, Danielle brings Max to a psychiatric hospital in the hope that the best and the brightest will bring the son she loves back to her. The bizarre twists and turns that take place in the hospital force Danielle to consider the unimaginable -- that Max’s problems may be greater than anyone could have imagined.

And then the true horror begins. Danielle finds Max lying bloody and unconscious next to the bed of a murdered patient – a boy his own age. When Max becomes the prime suspect, Danielle is determined to find the killer and absolve her son. She risks everything in a race against time to find out the truth. Is her son a murderer?

My Take
 
Okay, can you say INTENSE?!  This book is the stuff my nightmares are made of.  While it's not a YA book, it was totally wicked awesome to be sure.  We're launched pretty quickly into the heart-wrenching choice of Danielle having to put her child into a psychiatric facility for diagnoses.  That in itself is difficult enough.  Then when she can't manage to get her child returned to her, scary.  Things just get worse from there. 

While I did find the fact that Danielle kept running off and taking all these crazy chances a tad on the frustrating side, I would have done the same for my child if possible.  This book kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time.  Some of the details were a little gory, but nothing I couldn't take.

I love Doaks, the crusty old private investigator.  Every time he appeared in the book, I pictured Sam Elliott.  If they ever make a movie, I vote for him to play Doaks.

Having a child that has several diagnoses, I know that mental illness among adolescents is so misunderstood.  It was a tad scary how closely this book could have potentially mirrored reality as well.  I even found myself waking up at night, pondering how this was all going to work out in the end.

SAVING MAX is released in October 2010.  This book comes with four kisses from me!