Leaving Time - Picoult

Title: Leaving Time, A Novel

Author: Jodi Picoult

Published: 2014
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 4/5- Great. Push it on your friends and family.

Book Source:  I received this book from the publisher, Ballantine Books, free of cost, in exchange for an honest review.


Recommended if you like: Picoult, Fiction, Elephants/Animals, Mysticism

What Its About:  
Jenna Metcalf was abandoned as a child. Her father, the director of an elephant sanctuary, was admitted to a mental institution.  Her mother, a researcher of grief in elephants, disappeared one night after a terrible accident in which a fellow employee was trampled to death.  For most of her thirteen years, Jenna has dreamed of finding her mother, who surely would never have left her willingly. Finally, she is able to utilize the information that she has been gathering from the internet and from her mother's research journals to aid in her search.

Understanding, however, that a thirteen year old can only do so much, Jenna draws Serenity Jones, a washed-up psychic, and Virgil Stanhope, a worn-out detective, into her search efforts. Both are drawn to assist in the venture due to previous failures in their own careers.  Jones seems to have lost her previous psychic abilities after an embarrassingly public mistake where she assured a prominent family a child was living when he was not.  Stanhope was the detective who investigated the trampling death, who finds himself haunted by the case and his doubts as to whether it was correctly resolved.

With the help of Jenna's childhood memories, Jones' sixth sense, and Stanhope's keen officer's eye and sensibility, the three struggle to rediscover and understand decade old clues to Alice Metcalf's disappearance. It is only by assisting one another that they can answer the questions that lead up to an exciting and fascinating finish.

The Bottom Line:
Pure Picoult, this book is a terrific read that readers, fans or not, will love! More mystery, no court battle, this novel grips you from the get-go and hangs on until the last second. You cannot help but become enthralled by the Jenna, Jones, and Stanhope characters. Their stories are so enticing.

Furthermore, this book offers a wonderful educational feel as well, offering much information as to the plight of elephants, whether in captivity or the wild. After reading, you will certainly think twice about visiting your local zoo or circus event.

I enjoyed this book very much!