Save Me

By: Lisa Scottoline

Narrated by: Cynthia Nixon

Length: 10 hrs and 57 mins

Publisher's summary

From the New York Times bestselling author of Think Twice and Look Again comes an emotionally powerful novel about a split-second choice, agonizing consequences, and the need for justice

Rose McKenna volunteers as a lunch mom in her daughter Melly's school in order to keep an eye on Amanda, a mean girl who's been bullying her daughter. Her fears come true when the bullying begins, sending Melly to the bathroom in tears. Just as Rose is about to follow after her daughter, a massive explosion goes off in the kitchen, sending the room into chaos. Rose finds herself faced with the horrifying decision of whether or not to run to the bathroom to rescue her daughter or usher Amanda to safety. She believes she has accomplished both, only to discover that Amanda, for an unknown reason, ran back into the school once out of Rose's sight. In an instance, Rose goes from hero to villain as the small community blames Amanda's injuries on her. In the days that follow, Rose's life starts to fall to pieces, Amanda's mother decides to sue, her marriage is put to the test, and worse, when her daughter returns to school, the bullying only intensifies. Rose must take matters into her own hands and get down to the truth of what really happened that fateful day in order to save herself, her marriage and her family.

In the way that Look Again had listeners questioning everything they thought they knew about family, Save Me will have listeners wondering just how far they would go to save the ones they love. Lisa Scottoline is writing about real issues that resonate with real women, and the results are emotional, heartbreaking and honest.

©2011 Lisa Scottoline (P)2011 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

“Are you a good mother if you save your child from disaster? What if it means sacrificing another's child? In SAVE ME, Lisa Scottoline walks readers into this charged moral dilemma and then takes them on an intense, breathless ride. You won't be able to put this one down.” —Jodi Picoult, New York Times bestselling author of SING YOU HOME and HOUSE RULES

“Heart-pounding! Scottoline provides the perfect combination of explosive action, twisting turns, and genuine emotion in this exciting novel of an ordinary mom going to extraordinary lengths for her daughter. Open up SAVE ME, and save yourself with a great book.” —Lisa Gardner, New York Times bestselling author of Love You More

“At the quick pace of a thriller, Scottoline masterfully fits every detail into a tight plot chock-full of real characters, real issues, and real thrills. A story anchored by the impenetrable power of a mother's love, it begs the question, just how far would you go to save your child?” —Booklist

Save your credit

While the story has an interesting premise, it goes awry toward the middle and never gets back on track. The characters are unbelievable (too extreme), and it feels like the author struggled to come up with an ending. Cynthia Nixon does a very good job narrating- she is quite talented, but that wasn't enough to save this book for me.

A good story.

What did you love best about Save Me?

As always, Lisa Scottoline is able to take random things and weave them into a great story.

How could the performance have been better?

I found the performance too dainty. Lisa's characters seem grittier than what was portrayed. A lot of that was lot in the performance.

The Protagonist Was Shallow and Unbelievable

It is hard to write a fair review of this book because I honestly couldn't stand the main character. All her decisions were annoying, her thought process was flawed and shallow and she was not the least bit sympathetic. I found myself wanting to climb into the book and shake her for being such an idiot. Without a spoiler, I can't get more specific, but from the very beginning I was not fond of the protagonist and she never grew on me at all. I found myself not caring what happened to her.

Loved it!

I have just finished the first book, and I thought it was great! I had never heard of L. Scottoline before, so I checked out her site. Looks like I have a lot to catch up on...

Fantastic !!!

I give this book a straight rating of 5 stars. The book was very well written. I would recommend this to anyone who likes murder mysteries. And since I listen to most books the narrator was a easy listen.

OK

Sometimes an author goes too far and too long to make a "surprise" ending and it is enough to make it a bit unbelievable. The narrator was good with adults, but the baby sounds were weird, and the child sounded like an old woman. Since the child had a big part, it was annoying. The good parts were the legal discussions, and factory descriptions.

Lisa Scottoline ...another winner!!!!

As with all her books I loved it!! I was presently surprised with the narrator Cynthia nixon..she was amazing!

Not my favourite

This is probably the 7th or 8th Lisa Scottolini book I've listened to and likely my least favourite. It lacked much of the extreme suspense for which she is famous as well as the multiple plot twists that usually keep me on the edge of my seat. Overall I enjoyed the story and the narration was mostly good EXCEPT the voice of Melly, Rose's daughter. The voice the narrator used was different all the time and fluctuated between sounding like a Marg Simpson impersonation to a drunk teenager. It was almost unbearable to listen to the parts that had her talking.

Well-written, well-read, enjoyable

I enjoyed this audiobook. While the plot does become less than plausible near the end, I found the main characters relatable, and some of the social themes--fickleness of social opinion, difficult choices, unanticipated legal vulnerability, and so on--relatable. This book succeeds as entertainment. It is also well-written in the sense that the prose flows, the presentation is generally well-paced, and common grammatical errors are mercifully absent.

Cynthia Nixon does a fine job of reading this book, her voice generally pleasing, characters' voices distinct enough that it was always apparent who was speaking, and their inflection and pacing plausible.

"the center does not hold" - Yeats

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I wanted to like this book. it had potential it really did but in the end it didn't meet expectations.

my reason for this somewhat harsh opinion of Save Me by Lisa Scottloline is because Scottoline tried to metaphorically combine oil with water then pour it into a blender and hit frapppe and the end result was a lava lamp of oppistees meaning the book tried to solve a good strong thought provoiking chaotic situation by giving it a unrealistic fairy tale ending that didn't fit.

What did you like best about this story?

CONTAINS A SPOILERS.

despite dislike to the ending the story of Save Me. there were some strong points and my favorite one one had to do with a ghost of the MC's subconscious repeatedly saying the word "mommy" throughout most of the story. and whatever guess may be as to why this is happening you are unlikely to hit the nail on the head unitl Scottaline spells it out for you. which i found to be quite refreshing. not many books can pull of that kind of a curve ball for me.

Have you listened to any of Cynthia Nixon’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Cynthia Nixion's audio production added a more positive note to the story. I found her to be one of the better performers for audible. and I wouldn't mind hearing listening other audio performances by her. I was able to multi task while listening. which i cannot always do unless the voice holds strong to the story and she was able to do that.

Do you think Save Me needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

due to how the ending was tied up. I don't feel that would be the best choice.