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From Publishers Weekly
Teenage suicide is the provocative topic that Picoult plumbs, with mixed results, in her fifth novel. Popular high-school swimming star Chris Harte and talented artist Em Gold bonded as infants; their parents have been next-door neighbors and best friends for 18 years. When they fall in love, everyone is ecstatic. Everyone, it turns out, except for Em, who finds that sex with Chris feels almost incestuous. Her emotional turmoil, compounded by pregnancy, which she keeps secret, leads to depression, despair and a desire for suicide, and she insists that Chris prove his love by pulling the trigger. The gun is fired in the first paragraph, and so the book opens with a jolt of adrenaline. But Picoult stumbles in delineating both sets of parents' responses to the tragedy. Unconvincing behavior and dialogue inappropriate to the situation (plus, most importantly, the fact that the parents fail to discuss crucial topics) never touch the essence of bereavement and thus destroy credibility. Picoult redeems herself in flashbacks that reveal the two marital relationships and the personalities of both couples; and she sensitively explores the question of how well parents can ever know their children. After Chris is accused of murder and jailed, the narrative acquires impressive authenticity and suspense, with even the minor characters evoked with Picoult's keen eye for telling detail. The courtroom scenes (reminiscent of Picoult's 1996 novel, Mercy), are taut and well paced. Readers may remain unconvinced, however, that an intelligent young man like Chris would not have sought some help rather than respond to his lover's desperate request. Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club selections; foreign rights sold in Germany, France, Poland and Norway.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Booklist
Picoult is a writer of high energy and conviction who has, in her fifth novel, 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. That is not to say that Picoult is anything but accessible; in fact, this psychologically shrewd tale is as suspenseful as any best-selling legal thriller. The Hartes and the Golds, professional folk living next door in an affluent New Hampshire town, are close friends, and their children, the Hartes' son, Chris, and Emily Gold, were born just weeks apart. Inseparable all through childhood, they slipped from the haven of intimate friendship into the tempestuous realm of love in high school, a transition their parents fully expected and welcomed. But Emily is secretly appalled by the incestuous nature of her relationship with Chris, and when she discovers that she is pregnant, she can imagine only one solution: suicide. Chris is with her when she dies and is consequently charged with her murder. As Picoult takes us through the nightmare that follows, examining each character's struggle with guilt and sorrow, she forges a finely honed, commanding, and cathartic drama. Donna Seaman
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent Book,
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This review is from: The Pact: A Love Story (Mass Market Paperback)
When I bought this book I wasn't sure how it was going to be. A book like this could either be tacky, or very real and impacting.I was hooked the moment I opened it. It was very real and eye opening. This kind of thing happens every where and it opens up a dialogue for it. Excellent book by Jodi Picoult once again.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars
Not For The Serious Reader,
This review is from: The Pact (Paperback)
The Pact resembles nothing so much as a puchero, the Spanish stew made of leftovers and highly spiced in an attempt to marry and mask the component ingredients. Picoult pulled stock characters out of her refrigerator--gorgeous weepy teens and upset mothers (one capable, one dizzy)--and put them into the old cast iron love story. She then spiced it up with a suicide pact and attempts to serve it in the context of a criminal prosecution. Completely missing are (1) character development; (2) acute observations of love, loss and commitment; and (3) cleverness. By the way, doesn't New Hampsire penal law embrace lesser included offenses? Someone needs to do a little homework. But not me, I am busy reading more serious stuff.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars
Very shallow,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Pact (Paperback)
Because this book is so 'readable', people are claiming it's art. But try and look a little below the surface (and this book is all surface) and see that it's really unbelievable and very shallow. The characters are so thinly drawn, that they have only one characteristic each (Gus is forthright, James is reserved. And what about Kate? Was she anything more than a plot device that popped in and out as needed to forward the story?) The telling monents, such as Emily grabbing Chris's hand immediately after she is born is so contrived it's cringe-inducing.I know a lot of pople will tell me I'm heartless for not being affected by this story. But when something is this blatantly manipulative without offering any genuine insight, I can't fall for it. But obviously, there are plenty of people who like to be emotionally manipulated. Is it entertaining? Yes. Is it well written? Absolutely not.
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