WITH MALICE Meets the Amanda Knox Case

Description

Eighteen-year-old Jill Charron wakes up in a hospital room, leg in a cast, stitches in her face and a big blank canvas where the last 6 weeks should be. She comes to discover she was involved in a fatal accident while on a school trip in Italy three days previous but was jetted home by her affluent father in order to receive quality care. Care that includes a lawyer. And a press team. Because maybe the accident...wasn't an accident. Wondering not just what happened but what she did, Jill tries to piece together the events of the past six weeks before she loses her thin hold on her once-perfect life.

PURCHASE

ON AMAZON

MY REVIEW

From the start, the premise of WITH MALICE hooked me. I liked the mystery and intrigue behind the main characters' accident, memory loss, and her time in Italy that the reader had to wait to unravel as they read.

The book brings us face-to-face with the main character, Jill who wakes up in the hospital with severe injuries but no recollection of the accident that caused them. We come to find out rather quickly that she sustained them on a academic trip to Italy that she went on with a group of students, including her best friend, who also happened to be in the accident but tragically died. Soon, Jill finds herself smack-dab in the middle of a fight to stay out of jail and remain in the US, as Italy tries to extradite her and looks at her as a prime suspect for what they believe was the murder of her best friend. 

WITH MALICE brought to mind the Amanda Knox case that was splashed all over the media years ago. As I read, her case was very much in the forefront of my thoughts and so I really enjoyed the book and the premise even more so because of that.

This book was a tad dark, and full of mystery that I really clung to. I liked how the author took us through Jill's mind as it tried to heal and started puzzling tiny pieces of the picture together for us through Jill's memory. Without giving any spoilers away, the ending throws the reader for a loop with a twist, when Jill finally has a memory of the day of her accident. Or is it really a memory at all? As Jill's therapist tells her throughout the story, she may have glimpses of what she believes to be memories but is really just her brain's way of trying to fill in the gaps with suggestion from things she has been told. So, the reader's left questioning, did it really happen that way? Did she actually remember? Or was it just some sort of dream?

Where some readers might want a concrete answer, I thought the ambiguity only lent to the general mystery and intrigue of the book. The ending had the perfect tone to go with the story.

I would be really interested to see what other books Eileen Cook writes in the future.

4 of 5 stars

* I was given a copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review