Come Home

By: Lisa Scottoline

Narrated by: Maggi-Meg Reed

Length: 12 hrs and 25 mins

Publisher's summary

Lisa Scottoline has delivered taut thrillers with a powerful emotional wallop in her New York Times best-sellers Save Me, Think Twice, and Look Again. Now, with her new novel, Come Home, she ratchets up the suspense with the riveting story of a mother who sacrifices her future for a child from her past.

Jill Farrow is a typical suburban mom who has finally gotten her and her daughter's lives back on track after a divorce. She is about to remarry, her job as a pediatrician fulfills her - though it is stressful - and her daughter, Megan, is a happily overscheduled thirteen-year-old juggling homework and the swim team. But Jill’s life is turned upside down when her ex-stepdaughter, Abby, shows up on her doorstep late one night and delivers shocking news: Jill’s ex-husband is dead. Abby insists that he was murdered and pleads with Jill to help find his killer. Jill reluctantly agrees to make a few inquiries and discovers that things don’t add up. As she digs deeper, her actions threaten to rip apart her new family, destroy their hardearned happiness, and even endanger her own life. Yet Jill can’t turn her back on a child she loves and once called her own.Come Home reads with the breakneck pacing of a thriller while also exploring the definition of motherhood, asking the questions: Do you ever stop being a mother? Can you ever have an exchild? What are the limits to love of family?

©2012 Lisa Scottoline (P)2012 Macmillan Audio

Hard to Get Started

What did you like best about Come Home? What did you like least?

I had a hard time getting through the first couple of chapters. To much crying and sobbing. I love Scottoline books up to this point but this one I didn't like the reader or the way the book started off. I just about gave up but the story kept me listening and liked how it all came together

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

It was a good plot

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Maggi-Meg Reed?

Emily Sutton-Smith

the narrator's voice was very annoying...

I usually enjoy Lisa Scottoline's book's but the narrator's performance took away from my enjoying this book. The whining was especially annoying. I would definetly think twice before purchasing another book read by Maggi-Meg Reed.

One of my favorite authors but:

I’m a big fan of Lisa Scottoline and typically like all her main characters. In this book I find the main character, Jill, extremely annoying. I like the story but not a fan of that character

Obnoxious teenagers!

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The voice of the teenagers, especially Meghan. Her voice was so overdone with the "braces lisp" and the "over-the-top" drama, I almost clicked this off and moved it to "archived". I know how dramatic teens can be, I had two, but the narration was just so repulsive to me. Also, the character of Jill was too unbelievable. There is no mother on earth that would not love and protect her children, but she was just "too much".

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

Tone down the voice of Meghan. Jill needed to be more realistic.

Would you be willing to try another one of Maggi-Meg Reed’s performances?

Yes.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

No!

Any additional comments?

I love Lisa Scottoline, but, this one left me unsatisfied. The basic storyline was great and initially stimulated my interest, but it left me cold. I barely listened to the last few chapters.

Really Great Listening

Would you listen to Come Home again? Why?

At some point I would listen to this book again. The story was great and the reader brought the story to life.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Favorite character was Jill. You felt her feelings.

What does Maggi-Meg Reed bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Maggi-Meg really gives tone to the book. You heard the different characters as in a play not just reading.

Meh...

The story started off well but by the end, it’s like the author just wanted to wrap it up. Perhaps the performance adds to this feeling - it was incredibly sappy and overly-dramatic when the action started. Not my favorite Scottoline book.

Enjoyable

When Jill's former stepdaughter Abby arrives during the night, claiming her father was been murdered and begging Jill to help solve the mystery, Jill's life is turned upside down. Her relationship with her fiancé is in peril, her daughter is having panic attacks and her job as a pediatrician in jeopardy. And she may be a target for murders.
Part family drama, part thrilled, I couldn't help but to be pulled into this fast paced story. Jill is a complex character, guided by her heart more than her head, but likable and easy to root for. I just love Lisa Scottoline's writing. She has a way of using the right amount of description to stage a scene, though bogging the reader down with excess fluff that slows the pace of the story. She balances realistic dialogue with action to move the plot forward. While some of the characters behaved in what I consider to be extreme measures, most were balanced with the right about of flaws and positive traits to be believable.
I enjoyed the first two-thirds of the book more than the latter, which had me suspending my disbelief of the likelihood something like this could ever occur. Nonetheless, COME HOME was a thoroughly pleasurable, satisfying read.

great

Any additional comments?

A great mystery with Scottolines tone and cadence that keeps you glued to the book. Scottoline is a master story teller!

lots of cliche's and kind of silly

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Probably wouldn't recommend to a friend. I finished it, but I was annoyed by the lazy writing.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

Meh. It was ok. Everything got resolved about as you'd expect.

What about Maggi-Meg Reed’s performance did you like?

She had a good voice for the part.

Was Come Home worth the listening time?

Probably not.

Great Book!!

If you never read a Lisa Scottoline book, I suggest to read this one. Even though it's a suspense book, it's about family, love, and perverseness. Jill's ex-husband suspiciously dies. And his daughter Abby is the only one who thinks he was murdered. Abby turns to Jill for help. But Abby sister has become distant with her ex-step-mom, (for many reasons). Maggi Meg Reed the narrator does a great job.