GREAT READS

Look Again

Lisa Scottoline.

I've never read (or in this case listened to) a book by Lisa Scottoline before, but have been told by many patrons and by my mother-in-law that her books are terrific. Scottoline is a Philadelphia based writer and her settings are familiar to me, having grown up in Pennsylvania myself. In Look Again we meet Ellen Gleason, a journalist and single mom of an adopted son that she once did a series of articles about as a sickly baby. Her son Will is now three and in good health, but Ellen still worries about him. This initial level of concern is nothing compared to what Ellen goes through as she begins to suspect that her son Will is really a kidnapped baby from Florida. Through her journalistic efforts she begins to uncover the truth. However, she questions herself and her motives constantly and wonders whether or not she is putting Will's best interests above her own as any real mother should. Without giving the whole story away, I just wanted to say that I really liked the narrator's portrayal of the myriad characters in the book. You may recall Mary Stuart Masterson from her roles in films such as Fried Green Tomatoes and Benny & Joon. She is an accomplished actress and it shows in her performance of this book. I admit I had to overlook some of her mis-pronunciations of area towns like West Chester and Lancaster, but otherwise she narrated so well that I was caught up in the suspense of the book.

Recommended by Cheryl Finnan