Laura Lippman To the Power of Three

To the Power of Three

Laura Lippman

Morrow, July 2005, $24.95, 448 pp.

ISBN 006078492x

Since they were in third grade Kat Hartigan, Josie Patel and Perri Kahn were the best of friends doing everything together and letting nobody in their magic circle. Josie was the follower glad that she had these two friends; everyone loved Kat and was willing to do whatever she wanted and Peri lived her life by her own principles. They were inseparable until their last year in high school when it became obvious that Perri snubbed Kat.

One day the three girls met in the bathroom and by the time their encounter ended, Kat was dead, Perri was injured and lapsed into a coma, Josie was shot in the foot. Josie tells police that Perri brought the gun to school and killed Kat and shot her when she tried to take the gun away from her and then shot herself. The students, teachers and the town are affected by the tragedy but the police assigned to the case don't believe Josie is telling all she knows because the evidence doesn't quite match the story. With Kat dead and Perri near death, only Josie knows the truth and she isn't talking.

Laura Lippman's latest work is exceptional not only because it is a fantastic crime thriller told from the viewpoints of the surviving victim, the police, and the parents of the three seniors but because she makes a strong case for responsible gun control. The whole tragedy could have been averted if the owner of the gun showed some responsibility with a teenager in the house. Believable characters starring in a conceivable scenario make TO THE POWER OF THREE a powerful reading experience.

Harriet Klausner