Perfect Match
A Novel of Suspense
Jodi Picoult

Atria Books
04/30/2002

Hardcover/353 pages
ISBN: 0-7434-1872-7

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…a darkly complex tale

…paints a vivid picture

Nina Frost: District Attorney, colleague, neighbor, friend, wife, mother–

 

 

 

 

Cold-blooded killer.

Author Jodi Picoult weaves a darkly complex tale of morality around a very complex character in her ninth novel, Perfect Match. Nina has tackled many ugly child abuse cases over the years in her duties as DA in Biddeford, Maine. But when she discovers her own little boy, Nathaniel, has been molested, suddenly things aren’t quite black and white anymore. Can she risk letting the alleged perpetrator, a well-loved Catholic priest, go free? Could she live with herself knowing how devastating it could be for Nathaniel to take the witness stand and face his abuser? Can anyone justify murder in the name of love?

Conventional suspense readers may be disappointed in the novel’s long and obvious set-up but will find their efforts worthwhile when the true heart of the story unfolds as Nina finds herself on trial for her life and for the happiness and mental well-being of her family. Picoult paints a vivid picture of the extensive emotional entanglements inherent in small town New England life. Strong dialogue and description catapult the characters off the page–her resilient, yet doubting husband, her hurting, yet indomitable son, her once hated, now admired defense attorney, her dear childhood friend, a cop, witness to her most heinous deed… Perfect Match forces the reader to grapple with the fact that not all criminal acts involve a criminal, that possibly a synonym for the word insanity might simply be motherhood.
Reviewer: Cindy Appel