A review by jacki_f
Saving Max by Antoinette van Heugten

2.0

Danielle is a successful lawyer and the single mother of a bright teenage boy called Max. Max has Asperger's Syndrome as well as some other behavioral issues. Danielle takes Max to a highly regarded psychiatric facility for assessment, where they meet another mother and son called Marianne and Jonas. The experts conclude that Max has severe issues and is uncontrollably violent, which Danielle disagrees with. However before she can remove Max from the facility, she discovers Jonas stabbed to death and Max cowering in the corner of the room, covered in blood and clutching the murder weapon. Danielle's first impulse is to protect Max by trying to cover up his part in the murder, which leads to them both being charged (she is charged as an accessory to murder). Danielle remains convinced that Max is innocent and she is prepared to do whatever it takes to get him off.

The book starts slowly but once the murder takes place, it tears along from that point. I felt that a few sections were over-written but generally it was easy to read and quite engrossing. I had two main problems with it, hence the 3 star rating. One was that we never really get to know Max at the beginning, so I didn't particularly care about him or have any reason to doubt the official line about what had happened. Therefore Danielle's behaviour felt totally irrational and unlikely, particularly given that she was a lawyer. I felt like the story lost believability.

Be aware that Max's autism is not a key element in the story and it's not the book to read if you want to find out more about Asperger's Syndrome.