Look Again [Paperback]

Lisa Scottoline (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 9, 2010

When reporter Ellen Gleeson gets a “Have You Seen This Child?” flyer in the mail, she almost throws it away. But something about it makes her look again, and her heart stops—the child in the photo is identical to her adopted son, Will. Her every instinct tells her to deny the similarity between the boys, because she knows her adoption was lawful. But she’s a journalist and won’t be able to stop thinking about the photo until she figures out the truth. And she can’t shake the question: if Will rightfully belongs to someone else, should she keep him or give him up? She investigates, uncovering clues no one was meant to discover, and when she digs too deep, she risks losing her own life—and that of the son she loves.

 

Lisa Scottoline breaks new ground in Look Again, a thriller that’s both heart-stopping and heart-breaking, and sure to have new fans and book clubs buzzing.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Bestseller Scottoline (Lady Killer) scores another bull's-eye with this terrifying thriller about an adoptive parent's worst fear—the threat of an undisclosed illegality overturning an adoption. The age-progressed picture of an abducted Florida boy, Timothy Braverman, on a have you seen this child? flyer looks alarmingly like Philadelphia journalist Ellen Gleeson's three-year-old son, Will, whom she adopted after working on a feature about a pediatric cardiac care unit. Ellen, who jeopardizes her newspaper job by secretly researching the Braverman case, becomes suspicious when she discovers the lawyer who handled her adoption of Will has committed suicide. Meanwhile, Will's supposed birth mother, Amy Martin, dies of a heroin overdose, and Amy's old boyfriend turns out to look like the man who kidnapped Timothy. Scottoline expertly ratchets up the tension as the desperate Ellen flies to Miami to get DNA samples from Timothy's biological parents. More shocks await her back home. Author tour. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Ellen Gleeson was balancing life as a single mother and a feature reporter as well as could be expected. She had taken on single parenthood voluntarily, having fallen in love with her adopted son, Will, now three, when he was a very sick infant. A have-you-seen-this-child postcard featuring a child who could be Will’s twin catches Ellen’s attention, and while she should be pursuing her assigned story about the emotional effect of Philadelphia’s high teenage murder rate, she instead becomes obsessed with the missing child and with pursuing more details about Will’s background. Her questions multiply when she learns that, just three weeks after she adopted Will, the attorney who handled the proceedings killed herself. Where is the birth mother, and why doesn’t her family seem to know that she was pregnant? The answer only leads to danger, but Ellen, her reporter’s instincts on high alert, is hell-bent on finding the truth, no matter the cost. In a departure from her wildly popular Rosato & Associates series, Scottoline still sticks to what she knows in this taut stand-alone: female drama, family ties, legal intrigue, and fast-paced action. A sure-fire winner. --Mary Frances Wilkens --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 385 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; First Edition edition (February 9, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312380739
• ISBN-13: 978-0312380731
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (224 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #54,805 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Lisa Scottoline is the New York Times bestselling author of seventeen novels including her most recent, THINK TWICE, and also writes a weekly column, called Chick Wit, for The Philadelphia Inquirer. Lisa has won many honors and awards, notably the Edgar Award, given for excellence in crime fiction, and the Fun Fearless Female Award from Cosmopolitan Magazine. She also teaches a course she created, called Justice and Fiction at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, and regularly does speaking engagements. There are twenty-five million copies of her books in print, and she is published in over thirty other countries.Lisa graduated magna cum laude in three years from the University of Pennsylvania, with a B.A. degree in English, and her concentration was Contemporary American Fiction, taught by Philip Roth and others. She graduated cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. She remains a lifelong resident of the Philadelphia area, where she lives with her array of disobedient pets.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful page turner, a great look at a Mother's love!, March 20, 2010

By 

Sarah Oltrogge "hair product junkie" (Austin, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Look Again (Paperback)

I absolutely loved this book and disagree with other reviews that suggest Ellen should have simply called the birth parents and tried to work something out with them. That would likely never happened with the exception of a brief period of transition. This book portrayed a mother's love regardless of how you became a parent. Not only that, it had you asking yourself, would you, could you, make that call? There is a real emotional pull between doing what is right and NEVER wanting to give away your own child. I think that the way she goes about finding out the truth is a very real look at not wanting to show all your cards until you absolutely have to. Her reasons weren't completely selfish either, she clearly had the best interest of her child at heart or else she would have taken the advice of those telling her to just forget it. She knew it would haunt her always. Then you have to consider the fiction angle of a great writer. We wouldn't read the book if the story was sweet and simple and it wouldn't be a page turner without the drama and suspense of Ellen working the story through to find the truth and even when you think the truth is not in her favor, you are surprised to find you can't put this book down until you know the "truth". To me this book was so good, it stayed with me. I found I couldn't simply finish the book and move on to my next book. It was an emotional journey that had me just needing to take it all in and ask myself what I would do in the characters position's. My husband wouldn't even have to conversation with me when I tried to ask him what he or we would do. Just an impossible situation to ever have to consider. Loved it! Loved it!

20 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars (3.5 stars) Baby Mama Drama, April 14, 2009

By 

Luan Gaines "luansos" (Dana Point, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Look Again (Hardcover)

Most people throw away fliers that say "Have you seen this child?" Features writer Ellen Gleeson doesn't- she stares at the image of Timothy Braverman wondering if her adopted son has a twin. As a reporter, it is in Ellen's DNA to question, so it isn't remarkable that the picture of the child continues to trouble her. And even though her newspaper is instigating cutbacks as a response to hard economic realities, Ellen remains obsessed with the face of the missing child. Juggling a jealous coworker, an intriguing boss who looks like Antonio Banderas and an important newspaper deadline, Ellen finds it impossible to turn away from the fear that has invaded every aspect of her life. As wound up and anxious as an overly-stimulated three-year-old, Ellen spends her off hours researching her adoption and tracking persons involved. No matter the answer, Ellen can't stop asking the questions.

"Ellen spent the afternoon in Quality Time Frenzy." Whatever else, Scottoline can write circles around her contemporaries on the pandemonium created by small children. Much of the energy in the book is frantic, at least a third of the books eighty-one chapters devoted to Ellen's interaction with her son. Whether it's a screaming tantrum or a mother-son conversation, Will literally jumps off the page (he has the right name). I desperately wanted this kid to take a long nap. A nap wouldn't have hurt his mother, either. In the context of the story, I found this hopping from intimate child care to serious issues disconcerting. Add in Ellen's crush on her boss and the story gets a bit off balance. I don't know when to be anxious or amused. Then there are the throwaway lines, like, "Time to start stalking."

The thriller is energetic and entertaining, but the uneven emotional tenor keeps the reader off balance until Ellen finally faces the wrong end of a loaded gun, a criminal's plan gone awry. If you are a fan of James Patterson, this novel will please; for anyone wanting more nuanced treatment of character and plot, this author's flashy prose and impulsive quips may not satisfy. Scottoline has an impressive list of thrillers and a loyal fan base. Look Again, for all its scattered energy is a tale of an adoptive mother's worst nightmare come true, morphing into a particular threat with lots of mama-drama. New mother Ellen Gleeson is faced with an uncommon dilemma. At least she has an Antonio Banderas look-alike for comfort. Luan Gaines/2009.

25 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars I Hated This Novel So Much!!, May 7, 2009

By 

Graboidz (Westminster, Maryland) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Look Again (Audio CD)

(What's this?)

I don't even know where to begin with this thing! First, let me say I'm basing my review on the audio book version of "Look Again", while I don't think it would make much of a difference, Mary Stuart Masterson's monotone narration sure didn't help the tale at all.

I was going to compare this story to one of those lousy, awful Lifetime Network Movies, one of those flicks starring Victoria Principal or Loni Anderson, but "Look Again" even makes those stories seem like high art.

The basic storyline as outlined in every other review posted, is that a reporter gets one of those "Have You Seen Me?" postcards that feature missing kids on them. She thinks the boy on the postcard looks like her adopted son and begins to investigate. Fair enough, a basic idea that could be interesting.

Unfortunately Lisa Scottoline populates her novel with the most unappealing and unlikable characters imaginable. I can't remember the last time I've read a novel where I actually came to loathe the protagonist of the story as much as I hated Ellen. Her character was astoundingly stupid.She is supposed to be a "working Mom" and yet fails utterly in both catagories. She is a working reporter, that is sent by her editor to work a specific story, which she blows off, lies about and just generally disregards. She is a "loving Mom" supposedly, but seems to leave the kid with a babysitter at the drop of a hat, seeing him briefly in the morning, usually arriving home after the kid is asleep? She has no problem running down to Florida for a few days, again leaving her "son" in the care of a nanny, and worst of all, when she suspects that she and her son's life may be in danger, she rushes right home.....well make that, she rushes right home after deciding it would be a good idea to stop off and have a quickie with boss first?! Wow, what a mom.

To top it off, Scottoline just continues to introduce one vile character after another. The jealous co-worker, the un-involved father, the angry ghetto resident. Evey male in the novel is either mean, vindictive, dumber than a bag of hammers, easily manipulated or one-dimensional heels.

I could go on and on, but to be honest, it's not worth the time. Just avoid this thing, and instead look for a Torrie Spelling movie instead.