Guilty Until Proven Innocent? Damaged by Lisa Scottoline

Mary DiNunzio, South Philly born and bred, has risen to partnership in Bennie Rosato's legendary Center City law firm. If Bennie is the strong and sure leader of her practice, Mary is all heart--and lots of righteous indignation.

Mary was the Neighborhood Girl Who Made Good, so she got her self-esteem from being universally beloved.

Mary has a big case and a wedding weeks away when an elderly grandfather comes into the office. His orphaned grandson, an engaging ten-year-old with Dyslexia, is accused of attacking a school aide and they are being sued. Patrick reveales that the aide molested him. Mary takes the case. Discovering the school has failed to offer Patrick the help he needs to learn to read and become successful she arranges for his admission into a private school.

That evening Mary stops by their house to find the grandfather has died and Patrick is in denial. Stepping in to help, Mary becomes emotionally attached and can't let go. She decides to become Patrick's foster parent to ensure he gets the help he needs.

But is Patrick as innocent as he appears? When a fraught Patrick holds a gun on the Department of Human Services case worker who wants to separate him from Mary he is classified as a threat. The police even suspect Patrick of causing his grandfather's death by an overdose of insulin.

Damaged is the newest Lisa Scottoline book in the best selling Rosato & DiNunzio series. It is geared to shed light on the complexities of child welfare, the intricacies of the foster system, and the challenges facing special needs children. Most of the novel revolves around Mary's fight to become Patrick's foster mom.

The subplot offers suspense and thrills after Mary starts piecing things together. Meanwhile, her fiancée is out of town and unaware of Mary's decisions. What will Anthony think when he returns to find Mary is committing to parenting a child without his input? Will their relationship end as they realize they are not operating as 'married', but as individuals make decisions alone, not jointly?

The issues Scottoline address in the novel are important and readers learn along with Mary. This does slow the book down, but the tension of what will happen--and what did happen--drives the reader's interest. Mary's delightful family and neighborhood friends are always fun and add lighthearted comic moments.

Read the first chapter at http://scottoline.com/book/damaged/

Read my review on Scottline's previous book Corrupted here

I received a free book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

Damaged
Lisa Scottoline
St Martin's Press
$27.99 hard cover, $14.99 ebook
Publication August 16, 2016

The Language of Hoofbeats by Catherine Hyde Ryan

Early after I got my Kindle I downloaded several books by Catherine Hyde Ryan. She has been a happy discovery and I have read five of her books in the last few years. Hyde's books always leaves one feeling elevated and optimistic about the human race. Her characters are flawed and damaged but grow into a more healthy version of themselves. Her publisher Lake Union Publishing pre-approved me to read any of their NetGalley offerings and it included The Language of Hoofbeats. They also published The Banks of Certain Rivers which I read and reviewed last month.

The Language of Hoofbeats is a well written book with great characters, socially relevant issues, and a realistic but sanguine outcome to the central crisis.

We encounter a Modern Family of the 21st century: two moms with an adopted son and two foster kids. The adopted eight year old son is a lovable and sweet child. Their foster son Mandy is aloof but no trouble. He misses his mom who is wrongfully imprisoned. The newest addition is Star, a difficult and unlikeable girl whose mother is mentally ill.  

The family has moved and their new neighbor is a sixty year old woman who literally scares folk away she is that mean. He husband has left her after she could not tell him one thing that makes her happy. She can't bear to take care of her deceased daughter's horse, but also can't bear to lose the one thing her daughter loved.

Star secretly takes on the horse's care and under threat of separation the girl runs away with the horse. The two families are forced to work together creating a domino effect of changes in all their lives.  

I enjoyed this book as much as the others I have read. Don't Let Me Go was about a little girl who enlists the help of her apartment neighbors, creating  a surrogate family while her mother struggles with addiction. When You Were Older deals with racial profiling after 9-11. The main character narrowly missed dying in a Twin Tower office and has returned to his small home town. He meets an Egyptian woman whose father becomes a target of violence. Electric God is about a tormented  man full of anger that dates back to the death of his brother. When I Found You concerns a man who finds a baby in the woods and wants to keep him. But the baby has a grandmother. Fifteen years later the grandmother returns the boy, now with a police record, to him.

The author is most well known for Pay It  Forward upon which the movie starring Haley Joel Osment was based and  became the motivation for the social movement and foundation of paying it forward.