Throwback Thursday – The Pact by Jodi Picoult

Throwback Thursday is a meme created by Renee at It’s Book Talk to share old favorite books rather than just the new shiny ones. This is a great idea to bring back to life some much-loved books. Please feel free to join in.

My choice for this week is: The Pact byJodi Picoult

Goodreads description:

For eighteen years the Hartes and the Golds have lived next door to each other, sharing everything from Chinese food to chicken pox to carpool duty– they’ve grown so close it seems they have always been a part of each other’s lives. Parents and children alike have been best friends, so it’s no surprise that in high school Chris and Emily’s friendship blossoms into something more. They’ve been soul mates since they were born.

So when midnight calls from the hospital come in, no one is ready for the appalling truth: Emily is dead at seventeen from a gunshot wound to the head. There’s a single unspent bullet in the gun that Chris took from his father’s cabinet– a bullet that Chris tells police he intended for himself. But a local detective has doubts about the suicide pact that Chris has described.

 

THE PACT was released in 1998 and was my introduction to Jodi Picoult. I fell in love with her writing and have never looked back. I have read all of her books and I am always excited when a new one is released. She’s definitely one of my favorite authors.

This is an excellent book. The relationship between Emily and Chris is complex, beautiful, and heartbreaking. I was gripped by this story and read it in just two or three sittings. Although it’s been almost 20 years since I’ve read this book, I remember it well. It’s one that really has stayed with me all these years.

I lost my original copy but picked up another one recently and I can’t wait to carve out some time to read it again.

Highly recommended!