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By:  Gilly MacMillan 

ISBN:  0062697838

Publisher:  William Morrow 

Publication Date: 10/3/2017 

Format: Hardcover

My Rating: 4 Stars

Gilly Macmillan returns following What She Knew and The Perfect Girl with her latest, ODD CHILD OUT —her third highly-charged compelling psychological (literary fiction) suspense.

Set in Bristol, meet two teen boys from different backgrounds: Noah Sadler— a native-born British boy, and Abdi Mahad —refugee from Somalia. 

An opening scene. One boy jumps near a canal at the edge of the water . . . He lands, gets up and begins running. One pleading with the other. 

A suicide attempt? What happened? Did someone fall? Foul play involved?

Two friends. As thick as thieves. They made friends of the first day and became inseparable at the college. One boy winds up in the hospital. An accident?

Detective Jim Clemo (we met in Book #1) returns and is assigned to the case with colleague DC Justin Woodley.

Things become complicated. Social tensions arise of fear and fury. Both parents want to learn the truth. 

Noah is dying. Cancer. Terminally ill. 

He has a bucket list. Thirteen items. His #1 item. “Don’t tell anybody else I’m dying. Not even Abdi.”

They need Abdi to speak. 

A photo exhibit. Images from war and disaster zones. A racially motivated attack?

Neither boy can provide a version of what happened. Noah is in a coma and Adbi remains mute. Emma, a reporter stirs up emotions.

Both Noah’s and Abdi’s families are forced to confront emotions and secrets. 

Covering the course of 5 days of the investigation and the day after, the author covers media frenzy and social tensions, as well as emotions of diverse families, in this highly-charged third book. 

A story of family, love, loss, illness, and friendship. A realistic and timely storyline, with similar critical issues we are faced with today in our own society.

A special thank you to LibraryThing Early Reviewers and Harper Collins for an early reading copy. 

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