For eighteen years the Hartes and the Golds have lived next door to each other, sharing everything from Chinese food to chicken pox to carpool duty. Parents and children alike are best friends – so it’s no surprise that in high school Chris and Emily’s friendship blossoms into something more. They’ve been soul mates since they were born.
When the midnight calls come in from the hospital, no one is prepared for the appalling truth: Emily is dead at seventeen from a gunshot wound to the head as part of an apparent suicide pact. The gun holds a single unspent bullet that Chris tells police he intended for himself, but a local detective has doubts. And the Hartes and Golds, in a single terrifying moment, must face every parent’s worst fear: do we ever really know our children at all?
When the midnight calls come in from the hospital, no one is prepared for the appalling truth: Emily is dead at seventeen from a gunshot wound to the head as part of an apparent suicide pact. The gun holds a single unspent bullet that Chris tells police he intended for himself, but a local detective has doubts. And the Hartes and Golds, in a single terrifying moment, must face every parent’s worst fear: do we ever really know our children at all?
Newsletter Signup
By clicking ‘Sign Up,’ I acknowledge that I have read and agree to Hachette Book Group’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Use
Reviews
'Picoult has become a master . . . It is impossible not to be held spellbound by the way she forces us to think, hard, about right and wrong.' WASHINGTON POST
'Jodi Picoult's fifth novel, THE PACT, is so good that we can't put it down . . . It is suspenseful, intelligently written, topical.' - Detroit Free Press
'Picoult is a writer of high energy and conviction, who has, in [THE PACT], brought to life a cast of subtly drawn characters caught up in a tragedy as timeless and resonant as those of the Greeks or Shakespeare . . . She forges a finely honed, commanding, and cathartic drama.' - BOOKLIST
You will find this novel impossible to put down - and if you take it on holiday with you, just don't plan on doing any sightseeing until you've finished it!
The novelist displays an almost uncanny ability to enter the skins of her troubled young protagonists.
It's riveting . . . This is a brilliant read, filled with twists and turns
Engrossing . . . Picoult has a remarkable ability to make us share her characters' feelings of confusion and horror . . . THE PACT is compelling reading
Impossible to put down