George is a popular teacher, considered a hero as he stopped a gunman who had come into the school to kill a staff member. The entire community is shocked when George is arrested for sexual misconduct with a number of female students. His family are confused, do not know what to make of the allegations but it impacts on all their lives. George insists he is innocent and is being set up. HIs wife, Joan, is not sure of his innocence or guilt. His daughter Sadie becomes rebellious, experiments with drugs and sex. His son Andrew lives in New York with his partner Jared and wants to believe his father is innocent. An enthralling story, which seems to build up suspense but then falls a bit flat at the ending, but still a great read!

The Best Kind of People is Zoe Whittal’s fourth novel though the first I have read. It’s a story of a family fractured by crisis and how they deal with it. It begins on Sadie’s seventeenth birthday when her father is arrested and charged with four counts of sexual misconduct and assault. George is the Teacher of the Year every year, a local hero who tackled a potential mass murderer who came to the school with a rifle ten years earlier, but he is arrested, indicted, and held without bail. His wife, Joan, loves him and finds herself at a loss. Andrew, the oldest, takes time from his work in New York to come home and support the family.

We follow Joan, Andrew, and Sadie throughout the year until the trial. George is mostly off-screen, in jail, and denying everything. We have no insight into his mind, of course, because then we might know if he’s guilty or innocent. Ironically, they all subscribe to the view that people should believe women and girls who accuse others of sexual assault. Sadie is a fount of statistics arguing in favor of believing the girls, but of course, they don’t want to believe them. Also, they know George and the idea seems preposterous.



The Best Kind of People will not make readers happy. There is no happy ending possible. If the girls are lying, Whittal reinforces the Men’s Rights Activist myth that most rape allegations are false, expressions of morning-after regret, though how twelve-year-olds could be accused of such is appalling, but then MRAs are appalling. If George is guilty and convicted, then Joan, Sadie, and Andrew will be heartbroken and we have come to care about them and understand their love holds George in their hearts no matter what. If he’s guilty and gets away with it, well, that is the American way – see Brock Turner and Donald Trump. But it won’t make anyone happy.

Of course, George is the least interesting character, out of the way as he is. Instead, there is the evolution of Joan from a happy, loving wife and mother to a more independent, cynical woman. Sadie is quicker to doubt her father and struggles with bullying at school. Andrew is solid in supporting his dad but recalls his teen affair with his coach, though that should not complicate the issue since he was seventeen and these accusers are twelve, but it does. People are emotional, not rational.

This story is also very much about social class. These are the Woodbury’s whose family founded the elite gated community in which they live. Their lives are privileged and now they wait in lines and attend group therapy with people they would never know in their earlier lives. You see their class judgments and their liberal guilt with the judgments they make. There’s also skewering of the MRA’s whose ignorance is embodied by a school employee who organizers rallies in support of George.

This is one of those books that will incite a lot of emotions, sorrow, anger, and empathy. It would be great for book groups as it will provoke discussion. There’s no right way to feel about the book. There were times I felt angry with Whittal and then there were times I was nodding in agreement. There is no neutral in this story.

The Best Kind of People will be released on September 19th in the U.S. I received an e-galley from the publisher through NetGalley.

The Best Kind of People at Penguin Random House
Zoe Whittal author site

★★★★

This is one of those books that I wanted to love. And I did love the prologue. I was absolutely captivated and kept thinking, "This is amazing!"

And then ... meh.

The Woodburys are one of those Chamber of Commerce families who ought to adorn brochures to lure people to move to Avalon Hills. George, who stopped a school shooting, is a respected high school teacher, beloved by one and all. His wife Joan is a nurse. His son Andrew is an attorney living in New York, and his 17-year-old daughter Sadie is a popular, gorgeous, college-bound high school senior. They are perfect.

Well, they were perfect, up until George gets handcuffed and accused of sexual impropriety with at least one student.

From the time of his arrest, George sort of exits stage left. You don't see or hear much from him, but you do learn quite a bit about him. I think Zoe Whittall did this to keep us guessing about George's culpability, as well as to hammer home the message that you don't know everything about the people you love. Like all of us, George has his secrets, and he is not the pristine hero his community has anointed him as being. Does this mean he's guilty, though?

The story is told from the perspectives of Joan, Andrew, and Sadie. None of them wants to believe that George committed those crimes, yet they can't be entirely sure. Joan is angry, even as she can't quite wrap her head around George doing that for which he has been accused. Andrew fashions himself a knight, charging back home to defend his father. And then there's Sadie, who has to suffer through her classmates' ridicule and bullying.

This brings me to a question I found myself asking out loud: why did she stay at the school? I assume it was because of her boyfriend, but seriously. Why? Why didn't Joan pull her out and separate her from the people tormenting her? (Not that Joan is all that aware, mind you. Sadie makes some decisions that effectively diminish Joan's maternal power.) Sadie goes to the same school where her father worked, the same school as the girls accusing him of these deeds. So why not remove Sadie from this? Whittall never provides a satisfactory answer for that. Nor, frankly, does she justify Sadie's preternatural maturity. Despite all of the emotional trauma, Sadie manages to almost float through everything. I thought at the least she'd take a gap year, but, no. She heads right on to college. That was another head-scratcher for me.

Perhaps I'm irked by Sadie's short shrift as a character because I liked her so much. I felt for her as she tried to manage her feelings and reactions to her father. I loved getting to know her in the first parts of the book. She seemed so real in her relationships with her boyfriend, her friends, and her parents. I guess that's why I was disappointed in how she developed over the course of the second half of the book.

I found Andrew to be utterly predictable. Nothing about him surprised me, even though I think I was supposed to be surprised by a thing or two.

The biggest irritant in the book was the conveniences and shortcuts Whittall took. She uses an organization of men's rights activists to manipulate some of the plot points, which became just flat out irritating. There is also some surprising testimony (my eyes rolled) that seemed waaaaay too neat and tidy.

I don't know, Dear Readers. I wanted to like this book - and I did, for a while. But then I didn't.

I did not want to put this book down. The Best Kind of People deals with the difficult, complex issue of sexual assault. The actual case against George Woodbury is mostly in the background. Instead, the book focuses on the family.

How would you react if the person you love, raised children with, and are looking forward to spending retirement with was suddenly arrested for sexual misconduct? That is what wife Joan is trying to figure out. What if the man who saved you and the rest of school from a crazed gunman was suddenly accused by your classmates as a sexual predator? That is what daughter Sadie is dealing with.

George Woodbury is a popular and prominent member of the Avalon Hills community. He teaches at the local private school where girls from a class skip trip have accused him of being inappropriate. The town is naturally divided between supporting Teacher of the Year and the girls. To bring this closer to home, Joan's sister Clara is on the side of the girls while son Andrew, at least initially, is on George's side.

I felt divided throughout the novel on whether George did it or if the girls are lying. What I was sure of is that I felt bad for Joan and Sadie as they had to deal with the fallout of the accusations. Whittall did a great job of creating sympathetic characters.

The story is subtly multi-layered. The subplots with Sadie almost feel like foils to what might have happened on the ski trip. First, there is the attraction she develops to an older man after misinterpreting his interest in her. And then there is the party with the "townies". She gets so drunk that she can't remember what happened. Yet, while there is evidence of her having sex she doesn't cry rape.

Andrew, while a member of the immediate family, I felt was more of a peripheral character. His subplots seem to bit disconnected from the main plot. I wondered if there was something I was missing, or if the author was just trying to give more life to the character. When his father is first arrested Andrew is staunchly in his corner even though there is a suggestion of a strained relationship between them. Is their strained relationship because Andrew is gay? Then there is the revelation that Andrew had a relationship with his gym teacher while a student at the private school. And finally his rocky relationship with current boyfriend Jared. It felt like Andrew felt the most removed of the fallout from George's arrest, though it may have brought to light his issues. He and Clara are neck and neck on the character I lest cared for.

As it is mentioned several times in the book, this issue isn't black and white. I thought Whittall did a great job exploring the complexities of the issue and not shying away from the gray areas.

Overall this is a great, thought-provoking book. If you are in a book club, definitely put it on your schedule. I hate calling books timely, but this is definitely a topic that needs to be talked about today.

A man who is trusted, a husband who is cherished, a father who is loved, a teacher who saved the school, and then imagine this very same hero being accused of being a sexual predator.

George Woodbury is a denizen of his community. He is wealthy, charming, and someone who is looked up to as a pillar of society. That all seems to be crashing down when George is arrested on charges of sexual impropriety with girls he had taken on an overnight ski trip. George's family is devastated and each member goes through the stages of disbelief, acceptance, and knowledge that their family will never be the same. George has disrupted their lives in untold ways, making the young daughter, Sadie, previously a model student into a pariah. Sadie starts exhibiting behaviors that are risky to say the least all while be allowed to live in her boyfriend's home so she will be shielded from those people who torment her mother and wreck havoc on their home life.

The son, Andrew, wrestling with his memories of being tormented because he is gay, so wants to help his father, but is tortured by anger so contained within in himself. The wife, Joan, walks a tightrope between belief in her husband and anger after things in George's past become apparent. Added to this, is an author who has not had a successful novel in years capitalizing on his closeness to the Sadie since he is the boyfriend of Sadie's mother and lives in the house where Sadie has decided to stay.

Will this family collapse or will they ultimately come to accept doubt within their own mind as to George's innocence? While this was a thought provoking novel, it also was one that seemed to exonerate someone because of where they came from. Perhaps the prisons are filled with some people who are innocent but to this reader, George was not one of them.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for providing an advanced copy of this novel.

THE BEST KIND OF PEOPLE BY ZOE WHITTALL

George Woodbury was known as the hero whose surprised attack disarming the man with a rifle who had entered the school with intentions of shooting the school's secretary and then killing himself. George had said to the newspaper that his instinct kicked in when the gunman came upon his daughter Sadie. George ambushed the crazed gunman and saved the lives of the children. That was who George Woodbury was ten years ago. Now he was accused by four minor teens of sexual misconduct and attempted rape on a ski trip he chaperoned.

The novel explores the effects of George's arrest and being held without bail on his wife Joan and his two children. His son Andrew is a lawyer who lives in New York City. His daughter Sadie who is a senior in the same prep school where George taught. They all are ostracized by the people who live in the affluent Connecticut suburb. I could feel the angst and unravelling of Joan, Sadie and Andrew as they await the months before George's trial.

Not knowing if George was innocent or guilty kept me turning the pages. The isolation that Joan, Andrew and Sadie felt was palpable and eery. Sadie and her crush on Kevin who is a novelist living with Jimmy and his mother Elaine was almost a parallel to George's allegations, but not quite. Jimmy is Sadie's boyfriend who she moves in with and is openly sleeping with Jimmy in his bed having sexual relations. There is a lot of smoking marijuana with Sadie and Kevin who is exploiting Sadie as Kevin makes Sadie and her family situation fictionalized character's in his novel.

There is much discussion that could be had about the many themes and lifestyles that make up this multi contextualized novel. The book has a promising premise and the characters all seemed realistic in the present day setting. The grittiness and emotions of the character's resounded and felt about as real as you could get. Living with the media and not knowing who your husband or father really is or what he is capable of doing is a waking nightmare for George's family. While I thought the author has a firm grasp of the subject matter I was very disappointed by the ending of this story.

The depression that Joan lives with and the mean spirited high school student's towards Sadie all felt compelling and raw. The character's all came alive to me and I could feel the sense of doom as week's after George's arrest turn into month's more is revealed about George. The arc of this novel and the question of George's culpability seemed to take me in the direction of guessing incorrectly of the novel's ending. There is tension building and reveals that was promising. The ending was the weakest and most unpredictable part of the novel and made it fall very flat.

Thank you to Net Galley, Zoe Whittall and Ballantine-Random House publishing for providing me with a digital copy in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Haven't been able to finish this book. Nothing wrong with the writing, it just isn't holding my attention. I've put it aside twice already. Halfway thru. Perhaps I'll try again in a month or so.

I thought the premise behind this book sounded interesting, a hero or a villain? Can one be both? That said, the book did not at all flow at all the way I imagined it would. I thought it would be more about the charges against George, and his impending trial. I did think it was an interesting look into the behind the scenes of what a family goes through when their loved one is accused of a heinous crime that becomes high profile. I didn't at all mind the insight into the family's struggle, I was just disappointed to not get the trial or thoughts of George, it seemed almost like an afterthought. If you go into reading the book realizing it is more about the family than about the crime and procedure, then you will probably enjoy the book.

Stereotypical characters; conflicting messages

I liked the way this story started off. It is a family drama built around the father being arrested for sexual misconduct and attempted rape involving several young girls.

George, the father, is a beloved science teacher at the local prep school in Connecticut and also a hero that thwarted a killing a few years back. His wife, Joan, is a nurse; his daughter, Sadie, is an honors student at the prep school; and his son, Andrew, is an attorney in NYC.

I liked the beginning, as I mentioned (thus a two star rating rather than one), but never felt any type of resolution with the story. There were all kinds of conflicting messages being sent, especially involving Sadie and Andrew, and I just felt the author never had control over the story. There were many stereotypical characters - rich girl, poor girl, boyfriend - just to name a few. And there weren't any of the characters that I had any positive feelings for.

And the ending sucked. Talk about mixed messages - about teen sex, about drug use, about drinking, and about non-consensual sex. By the end of the book, I felt rather tainted, like I needed to wash my hands.

I received this book from Penguin Random House through Net Galley in exchange for my unbiased review.

The Woodburys cherish life in the affluent, bucolic suburb of Avalon Hills, Connecticut. George is a beloved science teacher at the local prep school, a hero who once thwarted a gunman, and his wife, Joan, is a hardworking ER nurse. They have brought up their children in this thriving town of wooded yards and sprawling lakes.

Then one night a police car pulls up to the Woodbury home and George is charged with sexual misconduct with students from his daughter’s school. As he sits in prison awaiting trial and claiming innocence, Joan vaults between denial and rage as friends and neighbors turn cold. Their daughter, seventeen-year-old Sadie, is a popular high school senior who becomes a social outcast—and finds refuge in an unexpected place. Her brother, Andrew, a lawyer in New York, returns home to support the family, only to confront unhappy memories from his past. A writer tries to exploit their story, while an unlikely men’s rights activist group attempts to recruit Sadie for their cause.

My Thoughts: From the very beginning of The Best Kind of People, I felt drawn into the lives of the Woodburys, especially Sadie and Joan. Their reactions to the events that unfolded felt real and spoke to how one might experience being blindsided in such a way.

Multiple narrators, including Joan, Sadie, Andrew, and Kevin brought out the way a community and a family are impacted by an arrest of a beloved individual. How should any of them feel? Should the family give unwavering support to a man who might be guilty? Should all who knew him for years be immediately on his side? Would the media presence affect how they reacted?

Visiting George in prison was another shock to reality for those whose previous experiences did not prepare them for this new normal.

How does Kevin’s new novel change how others view him? Can Sadie find a way to interpret the betrayals she sees all around her? Will she find a way to deal with those who believe that her family is somehow tainted by her father?

The activists were the most disturbing aspect for me, as the tendency to blame feminism for the allegations of the girls struck a wrong chord with me. While I did not necessarily believe the girls, since, despite what the proponents of victims’ rights might claim, teenage girls do occasionally lie, I could not align myself with those who slapped such a label on their cause.

In the end, the trial seemed to happen off stage, just as much of George’s experiences seemed separate from what everyone else was going through. As a result, the outcome felt flat and tepid. I was no longer at all sure about what was true or how to feel. 4.5 stars.

***My e-ARC came from the publisher via NetGalley.

See goodreads link

The Best Kind of People by Zoe Whittall is the story of one family’s journey after their seemingly idyllic life is torn apart. George Woodbury saved the life of his daughter and countless other kids at the Avalon Hills Prep school when he tackled an armed man whose goal was to kill. He became the school’s hero and the town’s favorite son. A few years later, that image would be stained when he is arrested for sexual misconduct with a minor. He is sent to jail pending trial. Meanwhile his wife, Joan, his son, Andrew and his daughter, Sadie, must deal with the aftermath of his arrest. The town becomes split in two as one half vilifies George and the other half supports and refuses to believe such charges. Each tries to do their best to move on with their lives and support their husband and father. But as more and more information comes out, they each have their doubts about his guilt or innocence. As the family moves closer and closer to the trial, the ties that bind them together are getting frayed. Is George innocent? Is he being set up? Is he guilty? How will they get on with their lives?
The Best Kind of People is an interesting book with an in-depth, no-holds-bar look into what happens to a family when serious accusations are made. When we hear about someone being arrested for sexual crimes such as the ones portrayed in the book, we often forget about the family. The wife who may or may not have known what was going on. His children who must consider the fact that their father could be guilty. The story is told from the perspective of Joan, Andrew and Sadie as the days past and the reader gets insight into each character and their thoughts, feelings and reactions to the events going on around them. I highly recommend The Best Kind of People. It will make you stop and think about how adults interact with teens and what can be seen as inappropriate or simply innocent.

The Best Kind of People
will be available September 19, 2017
in hardcover and eBook

George, a beloved high school teacher and old money family in a small New England town, is accused of sexual misconduct with a minor. Like his wife and daughter, I kept vacillating between his innocence and guilt. At one point I decided I just didn't care about the rest of the story. I just wanted to know! The next second I realized that his innocence or guilt wasn't the point and that just perhaps Ms. Whittall would never tell us. The story really is about how the family and town deal with this man falling from his well entrenched pedestal. It was about everyone around George, not George himself. Yet, somehow I always felt that the specter of George was too great a shadow for me to really get lost in their individual stories. I really wish we had gotten more of Andrew's story. He wasn't quite involved enough to be fleshed out and I think he had a lot to offer. Sadie's character was the biggest draw for me as I cheered for her successes and cringed when I felt she was on the wrong path. Overall this was a great book looking at the horrible things humans are capable of and how the victims aren't just those who the crime is perpetrated against.

I just finished this book. I loved it. Although it is about George-- a teacher, father, and husband-- charged with the sexual assault of some students while on a ski trip, the reader never hears directly from George. The story is told from the perspective of his wife, his high school aged daughter, and his adult son. From them, the story weaves in and out for us to discover whether George is guilty of his charges. And we also learn how each of his family members copes with his arrest. It made me wonder how I would react in this situation, given that George seems to have led a perfectly moral life-even saving his daughter from a would-be terrorist at her school when she was young. The author makes you think about the possibilities of a beloved family member being charged with a heinous crime and how you would react to such a situation.

George Woodbury, science teacher extraordinaire, lives in Woodbury Lake in one of twelve lakefront properties developed by his father. George is well respected, a pillar of the community. The neighborhood is idyllic and scandal free. Son Andrew has graduated from Avalon Hills Prep. School, the school his younger sister Sadie now attends. George has attained superhero status. A recently disinherited son of a wealthy businessman entered the school welding a shotgun. George tackled him to the ground. Every year thereafter, George had been named teacher of the year. His cushy life style abruptly changes, ten years later, as he is handcuffed and taken into police custody accused of sexual misconduct and rape of a minor stemming from a school ski trip he chaperoned.

Joan Woodbury, head trauma room nurse and George's wife, was now in crisis mode. She remained calm but wavered in her thoughts and feelings. Even if the allegations proved to be false, the stories could not be "unheard". Was it possible her life partner has led a double life and was a predator?
Sadie Woodbury, honor student, student council president and track star was no longer able to attend classes. She needed to escape. She is in denial...but...could the allegations be true? Marijuana and shady friends become the coping mechanisms for a girl who carries a lucky koala bear eraser in her pocket. Andrew Woodbury, now a New York City lawyer living with significant other Jared, supports his father and insists upon his innocence.

The small Connecticut town was turned upside down. Reporters camped out at the gates of the Woodbury estate. Joan, Sadie and Andrew experienced verbal threats and their vehicles were egged. A police presence and movie-set like atmosphere existed. A down and out writer, intent on producing a new bestseller gathered data to present in his novel, his story "based upon true events".

"The Best Kind of People" by Zoe Whittall is a novel focusing on the fallout from the arrest of George Woodbury for alleged criminal acts. How will the Woodbury family navigate their crumbling foundation and stormy waters of life? Whittall had written a timely and unsettling tome. I highly recommend it!

Thank you Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine and Net Galley for the opportunity to read and review "The Best Kind of People"

Funny how things can change in an instant. The police show up at midnight on Sadie’s 17th birthday and arrest her father for sexual impropriety with three high school girls while on a ski trip. This book drew me in immediately. It tackles how each member of the family grapples with the situation and how the community deals with them.

I immediately bonded with the family. The author does a great job of capturing the confusion, that whole back and forth about what to believe. What is a good person? They all wrestle with that. Is he guilty? If so, Could it be because he's ill? Also, seeing the reactions of their family, friends and town made me realize how casual and cruel we can be when talking of others. Who hasn't questioned whether a wife knew when a husband is accused of sexual impropriety? Of course, a lot of the cruelty of the community goes beyond casual. The family is all deemed guilty by association. But Whittail also captures the confusion of those that want to help and still bungle it.

There is an unnerving tension throughout the book. Like the family, you are left wondering if you will ever know the truth.

Kevin, a writer who is the boyfriend of the the daughter’s boyfriend’s mother, brings a creepiness factor to the novel.

The book falls apart somewhat towards the end. It seems a bit of a muddled mess and whatever point the author was trying to make was lost on me. This is a real shame because it was so strong up until the point.

My thanks to netgalley and Ballantine Books for an advance copy of this book.

George Woodbury is a local teacher in at Avalon Prep School and local hero. He would be Teacher of the Year for the next ten years for stopping a shooter at the school, saving hundreds of children. But when he starts to receive cryptic notes, no one can foresee the whirlwind which will determine his ultimate fate. George Woodbury, accused of sexual impropriety of four high school students, is on trial. Not only in the courts but in his family and community of Avalon Hills. A place not used to scandal.

Many people would agree that the storyline is familiar.
A portrayal of privilege in the setting of a sexual allegation. It is a common theme in the news, film, and books. You do not have to search far to find this type of story, but Zoe Whittall gives it a new look through her talented writing.

The Best Kind of People is a lyrically written novel, words that describe all senses in poetic phrases. Whittall makes writing a dark subject an art form. The opening prologue held me captive; a perfect flirt to the dramatic story that will unfold. When the author creates a scene, it feels present, meshing emotions with sensory abundance. I enjoyed the words, but some details are perhaps not essential to the story's ambiance; a black coat placed on a chair, slipping from the chair to the floor and then picked up by Sadie. Although this creates a vivid realism, the abundance of words can be unwieldy. Similarly, the character development by Whittall is elaborate with detail history but often dwells more on the past lives of the family leading to slow movement of the story. But this may be a reflection of my need for a faster pace story.

The story is much more than a man facing sexual allegation, but also a family's life in the balance. The story unfolds from the points of view of Joan, Sadie, and Andrew. Joan is a wife who knows her husband is innocent. After all, he is a beloved professor of science and family man. But as the family life falls under scrutiny, a shadow of doubt starts to creep into Joan's mind and all around her. Soon she unravels in a way that brings you to emotion. Saide, a popular student at Avalon Prep school, has everything a girl could want. She is an honor student and has the promise of an ivy league future. Once rallying by her father's side, she is conflicted by her need to be loyal and the need for the truth. She unleashes her teenage rage and sadness, as we see her trying to make sense of her place in her relationships in her family and at school. The cruelty of quick judgments of the young high schoolers is cringe-worthy. Andrew, the son helps his father through the legal battle wearing a badge of loyalty while having an internal breakdown. We see him grappling with his past in the face of the future.

With all the devastation left behind, the reader has doubts about George's innocence and also his guilt. As the story progresses, the presumption of guilt before innocence takes over all the scenes. The small town ostracises the entire family. But boundaries crossed everywhere, and the hypocritical blind eye turns. And you realize their secrets are everywhere.

Overall, I enjoyed the writing of the novel, but it would be brilliant with prudent choice of details and an audit of words. The story at the 75% mark was captivating, and I could not put the story down. I would recommend The Best Kind of People.

Thank you, NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

3.5

I would like to thank Netgalley and House of Anansi Pr for gifting me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I have to say that I am having a hard time reviewing this story. I really feel like I will give too many spoilers away. I have mixed feelings about this story… I feel like it was well written but I did not like the ending so I think that is biasing me on my rating and review.

This story is about an affluent, upstanding family whose lives get thrown into turmoil through the alleged actions of the husband and father in this story, George. I sincerely feel bad for his family who become ostracized because of the allegations against him. Yet again I can see how they were treated by the community and friends as what would happen in a real life scenario. Haven’t we all judged the family of those who have committed a crime? I know for myself I have said that they must have known what was happening. I like the way this story brought out the prejudices in people and makes you take a look at how you view others in these situations.

The story mainly follows the high school daughter, Sadie and George’s wife Joan but it also touches on their grown son Andrew. I could feel the internal debate that they had with themselves over the love they feel for this man and yet facing that he may have done the horrible things that he is accused of. Where one child supports George the other child backs off and doesn’t want to see him in jail. As a wife and to find secrets from a man you have spent years with and thought you knew must have been devastating.

I don’t want to say why I did not care for the ending except for the fact that it did not turn out how I thought it should end. But it’s not my story to tell and respect the author.

This book is great. At first I thought it was a little much to start with George stopping a shooter at the school to George being accused by girls that he sexually assaulted them a few years down the road. Then I realized this was needed to give George a little extra something to make him special. He won teacher of the year every year after the shooting incident & everyone thought he was practically perfect, including his wife & children. The way the story plays out after this incident is a twisty ride that keeps you wanting to read to find out what happens next. Highly recommend this book.

I received this from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I'm not sure how I feel about this book. It wasn't great, but it wasn't awful either. George is the pillar of this community. Then he gets accused of sexually assaulting some students. The story plays out watching his family totally fall apart. You second guess many times if he is guilty of innocent. Personally, Sadie got on my nerves and the ending disappointed me. I'm just blah after reading this.