Book Review: Someone Knows

Book Review: Someone Knows by Lisa Scottoline

SPOILER ALERT:

Allie Garvey, Sascha Barrow, Julian Brown, Kyle Gallagher and David Habrinski were fifteen years old, they participated in a prank that ended with one of them dead. The other teens hid the secret, stopped being friends and now twenty years later another one of them is dead.

Allie Garvey – Her older sister Jill died at 17 years old from Cystic Fibrosis (a disease where mucus clogs the lungs making it hard to breath). At 15 years old, Allie was overweight, missing her sister and had a huge crush on David. Twenty years later, Allie is married to Larry Luchey and Larry wants a divorce.

Sascha Barrow – At 15 years old, Sascha was the captain of the running team, had great grades, beautiful and rich. Twenty years later, Sascha did not finish college, she travels the world using her trust fund and writing PR pieces about fashion.

Julian Brown – At 15 years old, Julian’s parents are divorced, he is a peeping Tom, rich and likes Sascha. His best friend is David. Twenty years later, Julian runs part of the family business with his dad, Scott Brown (who owns Brown Land Management).

Kyle Gallagher – At 15 years old, Kyle just moved from Ohio with his mom (Barb) to get away from the scandal that happened involving his dad. Kyle’s dad is in prison for molesting children with cancer at the hospital that he worked as a pediatric oncologist. Barb changed Kyle and her name from Hammond to her maiden name Gallagher. Kyle is great at basketball and has a dog named Buddy. Twenty years later, Kyle is still dead and his mother misses him every day.

David Habrinski – At 15 years old, David has an abusive dad who called him a “faggot” and pushed him into the pool. David secretly questions his sexuality – is he gay or not? David kisses Allie to see if he is attracted to her. David’s best friend is Julian. David has three younger siblings – Jason and the twins (girls). Twenty years later, David is married with a pregnant wife and a boyfriend on the side.

Themes I saw:

Wanting to fit in – Allie wanted to fit in so she did not walk away when she felt that playing with a gun was wrong. Kyle put a gun to his own head as a dare to get in with the cool kids because he wanted to fit in.

Keeping secrets and punishing yourself – Allie felt so guilty over Kyle’s death that she stopped overeating, developed Colitis (stomach issues) and became skinny as an adult. She got married but was always distant from her loving husband (Larry) and continued to take birth control after telling her husband that she wanted children too but she felt that she did not deserve it. Sascha did not end up going to law school nor did she become a fashion designer. As an adult she would take Ambien to sleep, other medications for anxiety, alcohol, and fluttering from country to country. David did not live his truth which was he is gay, instead he married a woman and then had a secret boyfriend on the side.

It was a good book and made me think about the fact that not telling because you fear getting into trouble but then punishing yourself so much worse and in the end you don’t live your life so you should have just told in the first place.