All the Numbers
Judy Merrill Larsen
Ballantine, Jul 2006, $13.95
ISBN 034548536X

Divorcee Ellen Banks raises her two sons James and Danny when tragedy strikes. At the annual family summer gala, a Jet Ski driver runs down eleven years old James. He is rushed to the emergency room, but dies. Despondent Ellen is attentive with her other child though she struggles with her loss culminating in the funeral of her son.

Once James is buried, however Ellen ignores Danny as her lawsuit against the Jet Ski pilot consumes her. Ellen becomes a crusader insuring that James' senseless but accidental death is avenged. However, the cost of her obsession to her is great as she fails to move on; the cost to the pilot is as great as he lives with guilt; but paying the greatest price is Danny who grieves and has no one to help him adjust.

ALL THE NUMBERS is a powerful drama up until and including the funeral, but spins into a crusader legal thriller that is interesting but takes away from the insightful look at the survivors (from both families) whose lives will never be the same. Readers will understand Ellen's fixation, Danny confusion, and to a lesser degree the guilt eating the driver and the despondency of his distraught mom. However, the courtroom hysteria somewhat pulls the audience away from the deep emotional aftermath rather than that serving as a minor springboard to dive deeper into the psyche of each of the living. Still this is a compelling tale of how a tragedy impacts loved ones.

Harriet Klausner

All the Numbers
Judy Merrill Larsen
Ballantine, Jul 2006, $13.95
ISBN 034548536X

Divorcee Ellen Banks raises her two sons James and Danny when tragedy strikes. At the annual family summer gala, a Jet Ski driver runs down eleven years old James. He is rushed to the emergency room, but dies. Despondent Ellen is attentive with her other child though she struggles with her loss culminating in the funeral of her son.

Once James is buried, however Ellen ignores Danny as her lawsuit against the Jet Ski pilot consumes her. Ellen becomes a crusader insuring that James' senseless but accidental death is avenged. However, the cost of her obsession to her is great as she fails to move on; the cost to the pilot is as great as he lives with guilt; but paying the greatest price is Danny who grieves and has no one to help him adjust.

ALL THE NUMBERS is a powerful drama up until and including the funeral, but spins into a crusader legal thriller that is interesting but takes away from the insightful look at the survivors (from both families) whose lives will never be the same. Readers will understand Ellen's fixation, Danny confusion, and to a lesser degree the guilt eating the driver and the despondency of his distraught mom. However, the courtroom hysteria somewhat pulls the audience away from the deep emotional aftermath rather than that serving as a minor springboard to dive deeper into the psyche of each of the living. Still this is a compelling tale of how a tragedy impacts loved ones.

Harriet Klausner