Second Glance: A Novel

Additional Second Glance: A Novel Information

"Sometimes I wonder....Can a ghost find you, if she wants to?"

An intricate tale of love, haunting memories, and renewal, Second Glance begins in current-day Vermont, where an old man puts a piece of land up for sale and unintentionally raises protest from the local Abenaki Indian tribe, who insist it's a burial ground. When odd, supernatural events plague the town of Comtosook, a ghost hunter is hired by the developer to help convince the residents that there's nothing spiritual about the property.

Enter Ross Wakeman, a suicidal drifter who has put himself in mortal danger time and again. He's driven his car off a bridge into a lake. He's been mugged in New York City and struck by lightning in a calm country field. Yet despite his best efforts, life clings to him and pulls him ever deeper into the empty existence he cannot bear since his fianc‚e's death in a car crash eight years ago. Ross now lives only for the moment he might once again encounter the woman he loves. But in Comtosook, the only discovery Ross can lay claim to is that of Lia Beaumont, a skittish, mysterious woman who, like Ross, is on a search for something beyond the boundary separating life and death. Thus begins Jodi Picoult's enthralling and ultimately astonishing story of love, fate, and a crime of passion.

Hailed by critics as a "master" storyteller (Washington Post), Picoult once again "pushes herself, and consequently the reader, to think about the unthinkable" (Denver Post). Second Glance, her eeriest and most engrossing work yet, delves into a virtually unknown chapter of American history -- Vermont's eugenics project of the 1920s and 30s -- to provide a compelling study of the things that come back to haunt us -- literally and figuratively. Do we love across time, or in spite of it?

What Customers Say About Second Glance: A Novel:

This wonderful book arrived in perfect condition from the seller. Second Glance: A Novel The story is exciting and full of suspense with twists and turns that keep the reader enthralled.

All in all however, this book kept me at the edge of my chair and I enjoyed reading it. There are a lot of characters; I needed to write them down to keep track of who was who and how they began to intertwine. I've read several of Jodi's books but I didn't know she wrote a ghost story until I picked this one up. Maybe if anything, it was a little too long and could have ended sooner - I could have felt that way because there was just so much that happens that I couldn't imagine where it would go next. You get to know each of the characters somewhat - and there is a slight mystery around each them that keeps the book moving. I did get a little tired of Ross Wakeman desire to commit suicide throughout the book (come one now.). Recommended.

Without spoiling the novel, I can tell you that this is the story of lonely people finding something worth living for. Written in three parts, present-past-present, Picoult works her magic in weaving the stories of many characters into one tale. The book was long, and bordered on the fine line between overboard and tying up the loose ends. This story spans over a hundred years of one family's hidden history while tackling the issues of eugenics and genetics. I'm a sucker for books, movies, anything where I get to make the connections and put together the details into a completed puzzle. After finishing it, I did appreciate Picoult's attention to detail and the fact that no questions were left unanswered. I would recommend this book to someone who wants to curl up with a blanket on a cold weekend and enjoy reading something a little magical, a little sad, and a lot about love.

"Second Glance" contains romance, ghosts and a mystery and kept me reading right up to the end. I really enjoyed this book. This was my first Picoult read and I was very impressed with the amount of research that must have gone into this book as well as the skillful intertwining of plots. I finished the book in a week because I couldn't put it down. After reading this one, I'm really looking forward to checking out more of Picoult's books.

Maybe if I had read this book of hers first I would have a better opinion of it. But I thought it droned on and on.