Miracle Creek is a thriller/drama that deals with different aspects of autism, caregiving, parenthood and immigration. It is a story about a crime told from the viewpoints of the various people who may have been the culprit. The story hones in on the trial after Young and Pak's privately owned medical treatment center blows up with people trapped inside. The story is exceptional, and the subject of Autism is handled very well. I found this novel hard to put down. I’m usually not a fan of courtroom dramas, but this one is exceptional. My thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for an advance copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

What a BRILLIANT debut. This book was absolutely stunning! Filled with so many different aspects, it’s a book that will appeal to a wide variety of readers. At the heart of the book is a murder mystery, a case that looks open and shut, but is it? After a devastating accident takes the lives of two people in Hyperbaric Oxgen Therapy (something I knew nothing about), it quickly becomes clear that it wasn’t an accident at all. So many lives are destroyed, while many live with guilt and regret. Told in several voices, we find that there are many secrets and as they unfold, it leaves us questioning everything right up until the perfect conclusion. With an array of complex issues, every character rings true. The open honesty of the special needs moms was both heartbreaking and uplifting. With an edge of your seat courtroom drama, this book is impossible to put down. It’s about doing the right thing no matter what the consequences. “Unintended consequences of a good persons mistakes”.

This book is described as a “literary courtroom drama”, and it is, but it is so much more than that. This book tackles issues including autism, immigration. Infertility, motherhood, and death. The story is complex, but told from multiple perspectives it weaves together beautifully and allows the reader to put themselves in each character’s shoes. Don’t skip this book. You won’t want to put it down.

A hyperbaric chamber named the “Miracle Submarine” sits in the barn of a family that has recently immigrated to the US from South Korea. The chamber is used to “treat” a number of ailments, including autism. One day, the chamber explodes. The culprit appears to be on trial, but is it the correct culprit? Each piece of evidence is examined and examined again, and each character reveals how they play into the puzzle, and how they’ve interacted with the evidence. Sometimes, it felt a bit redundant to go over the same pieces of the story, even if the reader is being provided a new take on what happened. However, it does come together nicely in the end, and it is clear that Kim has made each move with intention, like a chess player who knows how she can win.

Besides presenting an interesting story, Kim presents themes that were both thought-provoking and to at least to me, novel. I had never heard of using a hyperbaric chamber for treatment (other than for infections), especially in the context of autism. Apparently, hyperbaric chambers are ubiquitous, and athletes and Justin Bieber use them.  On top of that, it was eye-opening to see what a parent of a child with special needs sometimes does to help their child: taking them to therapeutic appointments, monitoring their diet, ensuring their education meets their needs, and so on. There was also an examination of an immigrant family, including the struggles to stay connected when members are split between two countries and the hopes to obtain the “American Dream.”

There were some mildly repetitive, slower points, but Kim has written a well-written story.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for providing an ARC copy of Miracle Creek in exchange for an honest review.

Miracle Creek is the definition of an explosion drama, no pun intended. I love stories that broaden my horizons and help me learn culture other than my own and this book definitely does just that! However, this book is not for everyone. You have to be ready to read about dark thoughts and cover topics that may be difficult for some.

This was my first book by Angie Kim that I read and I am so happy that I requested a copy! This book starts out with the mystery of a fire which killed a young boy and injured many others, altering their lives in huge ways. The court room all gathers to hear the story of Elizabeth and her struggles with being a mother to a son with autism. We venture through real life experiences for those who struggle in her shoes. It is the harsh and yet sad reality that perhaps all care givers and parents experience doubt and dark thoughts when caring for a dependent child. Angie handles this reality in a very lovely way that made my heart ache for those who experience these emotions on a day to day basis.

All in all I was very pleased with this read even though it is not my typical genre and will keep an eye out from Kim's books in the future!

“That was the thing about lies: they demanded commitment. Once you lied, you had to stick to your story.” What a great line!

Miracle Creek is described as a “literary courtroom drama”, and it is, but it is so much more than that. There is enough medical and legal drama in this to feel a bit like John Grisham, yet better constructed for suspense. Immigration, insurance fraud, interracial families, and infertility are themes. But, the theme that runs throughout the book is one of “autistic moms”, and their quest for a “cure” for autism.

As a speech language pathologist, I understand and have witnessed many families who literally mortgaged homes running after the next big thing in autism “therapies”. Miracle Creek addresses one, hyperbaric chambers and pure oxygen treatment. Initially created for healing wounds and treating the bends in divers, this treatment is supposed to help children, on the spectrum , “heal”.

This book starts with an explosion of the chamber, which kills several people who were inside at the time of the “dive”. We, as readers, are given several points of view and attempt to figure out who set the fire to blow up the chamber.

Elizabeth, who has been a “find the cure” mom for autism, is on trial for the arson and murder of her own child who perished in the fire. The author describes very well the feelings and desperation of those who buy into all the treatments. Pak Yoo, the owner of the business, is also suspected, and we find out just who is behind this vicious crime.

For a debut novel, this is simply a fantastic start to this author’s career. You will not be disappointed in the roller coaster of the book.

Release date is 4/16/19
Thank you to #NetGalley and the publisher for an electronic ARC to review in exchange for an honest review.

“That was the thing about lies: they demanded commitment. Once you lied, you had to stick to your story.”

This story was FULL of lies, secrets, and heartbreak, and gahhhh I LOVED IT! No question this was 5 gut-wrenching, who did this Stars!

The book starts with a bang, literally, an explosion, and we the reader do not learn much about the crime. We know there are adults and children together in a pressurized oxygen chamber, on a therapeutic “dive”, receiving treatment for various ailments, most hoping for a cure. Issues can range anywhere from infertility to autism. This device, known as a Miracle Submarine, is located at the home of the Pak Yoo, in Miracle Creek, Virginia. Pak is the only member of his family certified in the use of the oxygen chamber, and therefore is the only one that can turn it on and off and let everyone out.

Then the book fast forwards to the trial, where a mother is being accused of setting the fire and killing her 8 yr old autistic son, who was in the chamber at the time of the explosion. The defense attorney introduces other suspects, for example, perhaps the fire was set by Pak, who might have collected an insurance payout and then could have put his daughter through college. There are still others that were there with secrets of their own, and as the story progresses, we learn they have been lying due to their own irrational fears.

The narrative is told through several POV’s, so we get to see what each of the characters are thinking, although least of these is the mother, we do not get her viewpoint until close to the end, and that is intentional.

I cannot say enough about how well done this book is. On top of all the above, Kim winds in relevant themes that occur today — themes surrounding how mothers with special needs children are treated if they don’t do things exactly how others think they should, how they are apparently never allowed to have a bad day. Themes surrounding Korean culture, interracial marriages, pressures to have children, affairs, oh and losing a child. I have not covered everything here, there simply is not enough time.

Release date is 4/16/19 - I highly suggest you pre-order this one if you cannot make it to the store that day. Thank you to NetGalley for an electronic ARC to review. All opinions above are my own.

Absolutely loved this book! Kept me on the edge of my seat and felt like a story I haven't heard before. The medical device was intriguing and interesting in and of itself....the courtroom drama was fantastic. Look forward to seeing more from this author.

Remarkable, riveting, and engaging are the words that came to mind when I finished.Miracle Creek.

What a stunning masterfully plotted debut novel!

I was not sure how I would react to this book as I am not a fan for courtroom drama storylines but this book had me from the first page.

Each of the realistically drawn characters had their own degree of "suffering" from being an immigrant, parenting, and/or mother of a special needs child.

This is a DEBUT??? UNBELIEVABLE!!! I was not sure about this one going in. I read a lot of details about it beforehand, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy, immigration, autism, but mystery/legal thriller stood out so I gave it a shot. WOW!!! I can't say enough! This is all of the above and SO much more! I am still thinking about it. I'm so happy that I went out of my comfort zone and gave this a shot! Thank you to #NetGalley, Angie Kim and Sarah Crichton Books for this Digital ARC!!!

I am still rolling this one around in my mind. What an intense debut novel! There was controversy and suspense at every turn. I thought I knew from the very beginning what happened, and then I changed my mind about 30 times between pages. Miracle Creek is a book that shows we are all flawed, but for the most part we can all sympathize with these flaws. I enjoyed that the story was from several different viewpoints, because we did get to see more than one side to each story and then we got to see the side to most of those stories that came out in court and were not necessarily exactly what happened. It is a reminder that the justice system doesn't always work the way it is supposed to. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys Literary Fiction. I will warn that there are some triggers in the book, so be cautious if reading about extreme depression might be a trigger for you. Otherwise, it was an excellent novel that I enjoyed and I can't wait to discuss with my book club.

Amazing, heartbreaking book. A phenomenal debut. I would recommend this one to everyone. Such a wide range of emotions as I read this - would make an excellent book club book. A must-read for 2019.

Boom!

The buzz around this mystery started early, and it started loud. If it hadn’t I am not sure I’d have asked to read it. When I saw the premise—the use of a hyperbaric oxygen tank to murder an autistic child—I thought wow, this author is reaching. But a quick web crawl taught me that though controversial, hyperbaric oxygen therapy is actually used to treat autism. The treatment is controversial but the basis of the story is a sound one, so I have learned something already, and now that I’ve read it, I am glad I didn’t let it pass me by. Big thanks go to Net Galley and Sarah Crichton Books for the review copy. Miracle Creek will be available to the public April 16, 2019.

The HBOT therapy device is owned by Pak and Young Yoo. A lot of hard work and financial struggle went into procuring this device; there were years when they had to live apart, with Young and their daughter Mary in Baltimore, Young working round the clock for room, board, and her daughter’s private school tuition while Pak worked two jobs in Korea, squirreling away resources. Now the unthinkable has occurred—the chamber has gone up in flames with patients inside it. Two people are dead and others are horribly injured, and there’s an intensive investigation that leads to an arrest. Elizabeth, a single mother, is charged with starting the fire in order to murder her little boy and free herself from the difficult caregiver role. On the surface, the facts are damning indeed, but what the cops don’t know, at least in the beginning, is that every single person that was there that day is lying about it.

Elizabeth, Kitt, and Teresa are mothers of autistic children, digging deep and running up their credit cards hoping for miraculous transformations. The seventh patient is Matt, whose wife has pressured him into trying this treatment to raise his sperm count. The other characters in this story are the Yoo family that own and operate the chamber, and the legal teams assembled for the trial.

Most legal thrillers and courtroom mysteries hinge heavily upon what happens in the courtroom. In contrast, although what plays out in court is not unimportant, the real meat of this story has to do with the actions, thoughts, and memories of the townspeople that are involved, primarily when court is not in session. Although our point of view is the third person omniscient, specific critical details are revealed to us in stages, and what we learn at the end differs greatly from the conclusions most of us will have drawn at the outset, when we had less information.

Why do people lie, and in particular, why would anyone lie to the authorities investigating a deadly disaster like this one? Make a list of the possibilities, and as you read, you’ll see them all, a veritable potpourri of bald-faced lies and critical omissions of facts. At the end of it, we find just one (lying) person that has integrity and pure motives, and everyone else has crossed a line, not only legally but ethically. And although there’s just one character here that I’d describe as dynamic, the others are developed to an extent as their layers of rationalization, anger, fear, resentment, and greed are revealed to us.

This is an explosive debut, and Angie Kim is a force to be reckoned with. You want to read this book, and happily, you won’t have to wait long. Highly recommended.

I received an Advanced Review Copy of Miracle Creek by Angie Kim from the Publisher Sarah Crichton Books through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

What It’s About: There is a hyperbaric oxygen treatment center outside of D.C.. One night there is an explosion that is caused by arson and leads to the death of a young autistic boy and a mother of an autistic boy. The book covers the criminal trial, where the boy's mother is on trial but things are not what they seem and so unravels this legal saga.

What I Loved: File this book under 'unputdownable.' You will get lost in this book and you will be up all night trying to piece together what happened that night the chamber grew up. This book also has very important insight into several situations: autism, parenthood, and the immigrant experience. This book is about people who love each other and fight to protect each other, in whatever misguided way. This book is layered and addicting and I thoroughly enjoyed reading this one. The book is both plot and character driven which is really unique.

What I didn’t like so much: I honestly cannot think of much that I didn't like this book was addictive the whole time. There were some storylines that were hard to read.

Who Should Read It: People who love legal thrillers. People who love character driven novels. People who love stories about parenthood. People who love great plot. Anyone.

General Summary: A legal thriller with layers that will keep you up at night.

“That was the thing about lies: they demanded commitment.”

This was an absolutely amazing book. There are so many characters, themes, and stories contained within that I hardly know where to start. It feels like it would be a huge injustice to overlook any of the themes, but this book is absolutely full of amazing concepts. It's being marketed for fans of Celeste Ng and while I don't normally like these sorts of comparisons I can confidently say that if you loved either of Celeste Ng's books, you will enjoy Miracle Creek.

First off, the summary. A Korean immigrant family settled in a small Virginia town start an HBOT tank in their yard - that is, a medical chamber that employs hyperbaric oxygen therapy, thought by many to cure all sorts of injuries and maladies. Families in the book are there seeking treatment for infertility, autism, and cerebral palsy. The first point of real interest for me with this is that Kim has personal experience with HBOT, and a lot of the stories that she experienced while in the tank with her son were adapted into characters in the book. (See: https://www.vogue.com/article/angie-kim-hbot-treatment) The instigating event to the drama of the story is when the tank catches fire in an oxygen explosion, and people are hurt.

After getting the events of the fire, we immediately jump ahead a year where someone associated with the HBOT treatments is on trial for the murder of two, and causing injury to many others who were wounded in the explosion. The rest of the book plays out as a courtroom drama, which is not something I thought I would be interested in. However, Kim uses the courtroom as the perfect setting to slowly reveal secrets that change everything about the case - and it is not a spoiler at all to say that literally EVERYONE has been keeping secrets as they relate to the events of that day. This was my favorite part of the book, watching new information come to light as people desperately try to cover up any guilt in the fire and hold tight to their secrets. This keeps us as the reader in constant suspense, as we never really know who is guilty. I will say that I guessed one major twist but there were tons of other things exposed and decisions made that I was definitely not expecting.

The last thing I'll say about this book is that I think it makes a powerful statement about the lives of people who care for those with disability. Several of the major players in this story are young children living with autism and cerebral palsy and their mothers. Perhaps due to her own experience as a caretaker to a child with chronic illness, Kim spends a lot of time examining the lives and feelings of these mothers whose entire lives have been taken over by their child's illness, treatments, and everything that comes along with that. This is not something that I have personally experienced but I felt like I grew in empathy for those in this situation.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Sarah Crichton Books, and Angie Kim for the opportunity to read this amazing debut novel - nothing less than 5 stars for this fabulous read!

Young and Pak Yoo run the Miracle Submarine - a pressurized oxygen chamber that patients enter for "dives." This treatment is said to help autistic children, infertility, and a host of other issues. However, an explosion occurs and kills 2 people inside the chamber as well as injures Pak and their daughter, Mary.

The book takes the reader through the trial - one of the mothers of an autistic boy is charged with setting the fire that killed her son as well as another mother. Told in various viewpoints, we see that all of the characters are telling lies - to others and to themselves - as the story unfolds. Figuring out the mystery of who is guilty is just part of this book. These characters will stay in your heart - they are all so very human. Parenting is a big theme, as is cultural differences, integrity and disability. This would be an incredible book club pick because there is so very much to discuss. But the mystery part kept me changing my mind until the end!

Bravo to all involved for this incredible debut - everyone must read this book! And I can only hope for more from this talented author.

This is a novel guaranteed to haunt the reader. It opens the door to the immigrant experience, revealing its pitfalls, deceptions, ambitions, and betrayals. These characters are wonderfully rendered--A poignant, surprising, ambitious novel.

Pak, Young and Mary Yoo emigrate from South Korea to live their version of the American Dream. Better opportunities for work and education for their daughter. The choice of Pak and Young (mostly Pak) was not one carried out easily. Their family was split up for years, while Pak remained behind in Korea and his wife Young worked so many hours at a grocery store for her "host" family that she usually slept their. Mary, their daughter, felt forgotten. Her family in separate countries, only seeing her father via Skype. Her mother practically living at work. Not fitting in at school, no longer the bubbly teenager she was before the move. Their dream, not off to a great start.

Things eventually got better for the Yoos. Pak finally made it to America. Together they opened Miracle Submarine from a barn. It was the experimental treatment for a plethora of medical conditions, from autism to infertility. Until the oxygen chamber caught on fire, two patients were left dead and a parent stood trial for murder. Unraveling the who and why though? It's a bit difficult when everyone is hiding something.

The way the plot unfolds, this almost seems like a true story. There are not real huge plot twists that make you say "no one would really do that." Every action feels very authentic. Even if you don't usually read court room dramas (like myself) I would definitely recommend giving this a try.

I couldn’t put this book down after I got about halfway through. Overall I enjoyed this book but while I enjoyed it some of the characters actions I found troubling and they didn’t sit right with me. It gave part of the book a creepy, unsettled feeling. I don’t want to give anything away so I won’t say more than that. This is why I deducted a star. The author does an amazing job of creating a picture with the characters. I took me a little bit to remember who everyone was but once I did each character had a wonderful description that included their history. I like how the book was broken down into dates Nd by different characters point of view. Thanks for sharing this book with me!

Pak Yoo runs a pressurized oxygen chamber out of a barn behind his house. The MIracle Submarine, as they call it, is considered an experimental treatment, used in hopes of curing things such as autism and infertility. One evening, at the end of one of the sessions, something goes horribly wrong. There is an explosion and some of the patients get trapped in the fire. It is discovered that arson was to blame, and they charge one of the parents with murder. As the trial progresses, white lies are uncovered and alibis fall through. Everyone has a motive or a secret to hide.
This book kept me guessing until the end. Every time I thought I knew who set the fire, a new secret would come to light. The first chapter (which covered the explosion in great detail) was hard to read, and a little gruesome. The rest of the book covered the trail, though, and was much more enjoyable. This would be a good fit for fans of Jodi Piccoult and Carla Buckley.