Review: Eye Contact

Title: Eye Contact
Author: Cammie McGovern
Pages: 288
Rating: 4.5/5

Two children disappear into the woods behind Woodside Elementary School. Hours later one of them, nine year old Adam, is found alive, the sole witness to his playmate's murder. But Adam is autistic and can say nothing about what he saw. Only his mother, Cara, has the power to penetrate his silence. When another child goes missing and Cara's unsettling past emerges from the shadows, she has to ask herself whether her efforts to protect her son have exposed him to unimaginable danger. Eye Contact is a thriller of hypnotic suspense and a powerful story of the bond between a mother and a very special child (Cover Blurb).

I've been cleaning out my bookshelves, accessing the books I have and deciding if I want to keep them or pass them on to someone else. My shelves are overflowing with books I wanted to read and just had to have. Eye Contact is one of those books. I'm not even sure where I heard about this novel or when and where I inquired it, but I really wish I would have read it sooner. It was an absolutely amazing read.

I read this book practically in one sitting because it was just too good to put down. There is a mystery to this story, but the even bigger plot is the mystery of relationships. Adam's mother Cara has let so many relationships go over the years, and isolated herself from her friends, that we get to see a re-awakening in her as she realizes the power of a good relationship and friendship. Furthermore, I really liked that autism was front and center in this book. I often feel that people push this aside, and McGovern faces it head on. Her understanding of the disease was right on, much to do with the fact that McGovern's own son is autistic. However, the reader must understand that this is not a book about autism, but rather a book about the relationship between mother and child.

I finished this book over five days ago, and still cannot stop thinking about it. It's a novel that will stick with you, make you think, and make you want to hug your children and friends.