House Rules by Jodi Picoult - Book 6

You can probably tell I like Jodi Picoult's novels - after all I'm only on book 6 and this is the second one I've read. House Rules turned up as a birthday present and after Danielle McGaw's great review, I rushed to read it. The book tells the story of a young man, Jacob, with Asperger's Syndrome (which affects the whole family) who finds himself accused of murder.

Here's Amazon's description:

Jacob Hunt is a teenage boy with Asperger's syndrome. He's hopeless at reading social cues or expressing himself well to others, and like many kids with AS, Jacob has a special focus on one subject--in his case, forensic analysis. He's always showing up at crime scenes, thanks to the police scanner he keeps in his room, and telling the cops what they need to do...and he's usually right. But then his town is rocked by a terrible murder and, for a change, the police come to Jacob with questions. All of the hallmark behaviors of Asperger's--not looking someone in the eye, stimulatory tics and twitches, flat affect--can look a lot like guilt to law enforcement personnel. Suddenly, Jacob and his family, who only want to fit in, feel the spotlight shining directly on them. For his mother, Emma, it's a brutal reminder of the intolerance and misunderstanding that always threaten her family. For his brother, Theo, it's another indication of why nothing is normal because of Jacob. And over this small family the soul-searing question looms: Did Jacob commit murder?

I've had a couple of students with Asperger's and it was fascinating to get further insight into some of the hallmarks of the syndrome. The story is told from multiple viewpoints (Jacob's, his mother's, his brother's, his lawyer's and that of the cop who arrests him). It is riveting and the characters are richly drawn. As usual, Jodi Picoult sucks you into her world - and it's a thrilling ride. I could not put the book down, blasting through it in less than two days. I worked out the sequence of events half way through, but that didn't spoil the book - it was just as interesting waiting to see how the other characters would find out. I loved it!