Synopses & Reviews
When a young girl is murdered, the only witness is a severely autistic boy. This acclaimed novel plumbs two mysteries: an appalling crime and the inscrutable workings of a locked-in mind.
Two children wander off from their school playground during recess. Hours later, they are found in the woods: one murdered, the other hiding near the body. Adam, the survivor and the only witness, is a nine-year-old autistic boy who cannot describe what he saw or heard.
Barely verbal on the best of days, Adam has retreated into a silence that Cara, his mother, knows only too well. As a single mother, she has devoted her life to opening paths of communication between her son and the outside world. Now she must interpret the changes in Adam's behavior‐not only to help him through the trauma of his experience, but also to help the police catch a killer.
A powerful story of the emotional bond between mother and son, and a thrilling novel of psychological suspense, this is a fascinating journey into the mind of a child in crisis and a mother determined to bring him through unscathed.
Synopsis
In the woods of a small town, Adam, a nine-year-old autistic boy, is discovered hiding near to the body of his classmate. They both wandered off from the school playground several hours earlier, and now the police are relying on Adam as the only witness to an appalling crime. But he cant tell the police what he sawor what he heard. Barely verbal on the best of days, Adam has retreated into a silent world that Cara, his mother, knows only too well. With her community in shock and her son unable to help with the police investigation, Cara tries to decode the puzzling events. Adam has never broken the rules before, so why did he disappear with the little girl during recess? As a single mother, Cara has devoted her life to opening paths of communication between her son and the outside world. Now, she must interpret the changes in Adams behavior not only to help him through the trauma, but to help the police catch a killer. Cammie McGovern brings her own experience as the mother of an autistic child to articulate the strugglesand the victoriesthat consume the lives of parents raising children with special needs. A powerful story of the tangled emotional bond between mother and son, and a thrilling novel of psychological suspense, Eye Contact won't let you go. Lovers of Mystic River will be captivated by this fresh and fascinating journey into the world of a child in crisis and a mother who longs to bring him through unscathed.
About the Author
JULIA FLETCHER has numerous regional theatre productions to her credit. Her voiceover work includes numerous video games as well as audiobooks.CAMMIE MCGOVERN was a Stegner Fellow at Standford and received the Nelson Algren Award in short fiction. Her work has been published in Redbook, Seventeen, Glimmer Train, and TriQuarterly. She lives with her husband and three children (one autistic) in Amherst, Massachusetts. This is her second novel.