Save Me

On Rose McKenna's first day as "lunch mom" at Reesburgh Elementary School, there's an explosion. After she pulls her daughter, along with another 8-year-old, from the fire, everything continues to go wrong. Cynthia Nixon reads this dramatic story with an even pace and varied tones. She portrays the women with a mix of sharp and soft voices, the men with gruff and often curt tones. The all-too-real story is about the choices we make when family members are in danger. As the plot unfolds and the drama heightens, Nixon's voice crackles with the tension of mothers, lawyers, and newscasters fighting to uncover the truth. M.B.K. (c) AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine

January 31, 2011
At the start of this gut-wrenching stand-alone from bestseller Scottoline (Think Twice), an explosion rips through the nearly empty cafeteria of Reesburgh (Pa.) Elementary School. Lunch mother Rose McKenna leads two girls to safety before racing to rescue her own daughter, Melly, but Rose soon learns that she may face both civil and criminal charges for her heroics because one of the girls she saved was seriously injured in the resulting fire that killed three school staff members. The tension rises as the united front presented by Rose and her lawyer husband, Leo Ingrassia, begins to disintegrate in the face of media demands, legal maneuverings, and social pressures. Rose must also deal with school bullying (Melly has a noticeable facial blemish), difficult legal problems, and her husband's reaction when a secret from her past is revealed. Scottoline melds it all into a satisfying nail-biting thriller sure to please her growing audience. 400,000 first printing; author tour.