Things You Won’t Say by Sarah Pekkanen

Every morning, as her husband Mike straps on his SIG Sauer and pulls on his heavy Magnum boots, Jamie Anderson tenses up. Then comes the call she has always dreaded: There’s been a shooting at police headquarters. Mike isn’t hurt, but his long-time partner is grievously injured. As weeks pass and her husband’s insomnia and disconnectedness mount, Jamie realizes he is an invisible casualty of the attack. Then the phone rings again. Another shooting but this time Mike has pulled the trigger.

But the shooting does more than just alter Jamie’s world. It’s about to change everything for two other women. Christie Simmons, Mike’s flamboyant ex, sees the tragedy as an opportunity for a second chance with Mike. And Jamie’s younger sister, Lou, must face her own losses to help the big sister who raised her. As the press descends and public cries of police brutality swell, Jamie tries desperately to hold together her family, no matter what it takes.

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I’m trying to find a novel of Pekkanen’s that I enjoyed as much as her other novels –  The Perfect Neighbors and The Wife Between Us, but sadly no luck so far. This novel was similar to her latest The Ever After, but not in a good way. An event happens and then not much happens after that.

Things You Won’t Say follow 3 women – Jamie (Mike’s wife), Lou (Jamie’s sister) and Christie (Mike’s ex and his son’s mother). Jamie has just found out that Mike shot and killed a teenage boy during the line of duty, which then impacts Lou and Christie. I didn’t like Jamie, Lou was unnecessary and I really liked Christie, but she was also not needed.

It was interesting seeing how Mike’s actions impacted all 3 women in different ways and how they handled it in their own ways. I found it refreshing that Christie and Mike had such a good relationship and arrangement when it came to their son. They put him above everything else and you don’t see that with many novels or real life situations. It was an ideal custody arrangement!

There were some minor storylines that I found weren’t necessary. There were a lot of pages dedicated to Lou’s profession as a zookeeper as one of her elephants gives birth and Christie’s new career as a decoy for a private investigator. These storylines (as refreshing as they were) weren’t needed and it seemed like they were to add more pages to the novel.

3 calculators out of a potential 5. I liked it because it was a quick read, but it’s not very memorable. Would be good for as a beach read!

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