Saving Meghan is a riveting new thriller full of secrets and lies from author D.J. Palmer. Can you love someone to death? Some would say Becky Gerard is a devoted mother and would do anything for her only child. Others, including her husband Carl, claim she’s obsessed and can’t stop the vicious circle of finding a cure at her daughter’s expense. Fifteen-year-old Meghan has been in and out of … Fifteen-year-old Meghan has been in and out of hospitals with a plague of unexplained illnesses. But when the ailments take a sharp turn, clashing medical opinions begin to raise questions about the puzzling nature of Meghan’s illness. Doctors suspect Munchausen syndrome by proxy, a rare behavioral disorder where the primary caretaker seeks medical help for made-up symptoms of a child. Is this what’s going on? Or is there something even more sinister at hand?
As the Gerards grow more and more suspicious of each other and their medical team, Becky must race against time to prove her daughter has a deadly disease. But first, she must confront her darkest fears and family secrets that threaten to not only upend her once-ordered life…but to destroy it.
Praise for Saving Meghan:
“Plenty of twists…will keep you turning the pages as you guess…and guess again.” –Lisa Scottoline, New York Times bestselling author of After Anna
“An acute, sensitive portrayal of family love under extreme stress...[with] a touch of Hitchcock.” –William Landay, New York Times bestselling author of Defending Jacob
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We are often bound to repeat our parents’ mistakes….
Becky grew up as a pawn, used by her mother to help deceive officials and Doctors so she could continue to claim her disability checks. A grown woman now, mother to her own sick child, she is constantly searching out answers to solve her daughter, Meghan’s mysterious and unnamed disease. But to what lengths would a mother go to save her child? How far would she go to protect her? And at what point does it come into question?
This book will keep you teetering from one side to the other… #ProtectMeghan or #BelieveBecky. I was clueless from page one… never wanting to believe a mother could hurt her child, yet the unanswered questions and odd timing kept me guessing until the final pages. Love, betrayal, and secrets… I couldn’t put this one down- Highly recommended!!
i am reading this now
A good read, a little predictable after awhile, but you’re not quite sure of outcome till the very end.
A mother’s love can run deep but how deep does it take to save a child who quite possibly has a life threatening illness? Or does she? Family devotion and love overshadowed by obsessive care will lead the reader on an unforgettable tangle of sinister proportions.
I received an Electronic Advance Reader Copy of the fantastic book! I could not put it down, and was on the edge of my seat from start to finish. I loved that this is a medical thriller AND a family drama. I highly recommend that everyone read this book!
This book had many twists and turns. It was hard to figure out what was really going on. Kept your interest but perhaps took a little too long to get to the conclusion.
This looks like a book that’s going to be entirely reliant on plot, but I think it’s actually the characters that really shine here, a rich and varied cast of fully realized characters thrust into conflict, the sort of book that can make you forget that what you’re doing is reading fiction.
Saving Meghan
By D.J. Palmer
374 pages
3
This is the first book I have read about Munchausen. The story is a combination of domestic thriller and a medical mystery and it was full of secrets and lies. The book is told from the point of view of three characters – Becky, the mother of Meghan, Zach, one of the doctors,and Meghan herself. I found the characters to be fully developed, realistic, and relatable however they are unlikeable. Meghan and Zach were the only ones I somewhat liked. It would have been nice to have the dad’s point of view. Becky Gerard is a devoted mother and would do anything for her only child.Becky fears Meghan will die, making her the second child she’s lost . Others, including her husband Carl, claim she’s obsessed and can’t stop the vicious circle of finding a cure at her daughter’s expense. Fifteen-year-old Meghan has been in and out of hospitals with a plague of unexplained illnesses. But when the ailments take a sharp turn, clashing medical opinions begin to raise questions about the puzzling nature of Meghan’s illness. Doctors suspect Munchausen syndrome by proxy, a rare behavioral disorder where the primary caretaker seeks medical help for made-up symptoms of a child.Then dss steps in and removes Meghan from her loving home. Is this what’s going on? The beginning and the end of the book were gripping. Once I reached the last 10 chapters i could not turn the pages fast enough. There was parts in the middle of the book that were slow and seemed to drag. But the questions that kelpt me reading was just how far would Becky Gerard go to save the daughter she believes is very sick ? Is Meghan physically sick ? Or was it in her head? Did her mother have anything to do with it? Or is Meghan faking her symptoms for attention? Is her Dad making her sick and placing blame her Mother ? If so why ? In order to stick to my “NO SPOILERS EVER” rule, I’m not going to say anything else about the plot. Except for the ending. Wow what an ending. It totally blew me away ! Loved the ending !
Overall I think this book was much longer than it needed to be.It took me 2 weeks to read this book and I never take that long to read a book. It was good but to me it did not have that “WOW” factor that kelpt me turning the pages.
Although this is billed as a thriller, I personally saw it as more of a family/medical drama/mystery. That said, it was still an excellent read, and all I wanted to know was WHAT IS WRONG WITH MEGHAN?
**WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD**
If you don’t want certain things ruined for you, please read no further.
First things first: I figured out pretty early on that, if indeed Meghan was being poisoned – though I wasn’t yet convinced of that – the poison was obviously in the chicken soup. Every time the soup was mentioned, I’d say out loud “It’s in the soup!” and not once did I doubt myself. It’s not revealed until very close to the end of the story, but it was definitely my “I knew it!” moment.
As for whether or not I chose to #BelieveBecky or #ProtectMeghan, I’d say it was equal parts both throughout the story. I pretty much believed Becky right from the beginning, while simultaneously wanting to protect Meghan. I honestly thought Becky’s father Carl was the one poisoning her. Aside from the fact that he’s a total dick, he just seemed to jump on the “her mother must be hurting her” train pretty quickly for someone who’s Becky’s HUSBAND. We find out later that he was cheating on her anyway – and with one of Meghan’s doctors – so, douchebaggery confirmed.
What did surprise me was who the perpetrator turned out to be: Dr. Amanda Nash, the GI doctor who began the whole process of removing Meghan from her home because she suspected “medical child abuse,” or Munchausen Syndrome by proxy. I mean, I knew something was off about her, but I couldn’t figure out what. Turns out she was banging Carl and wanted both Becky and Meghan out of the way. I was not sad when Carl got what he absolutely deserved, nor when Dr. Nash got hers.
Saving Meghan kept me engaged, and was topped off with a pretty satisfying ending, which is something that has been missing from some of my more recent reads.
Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for the ARE, and the awesome holographic bookmark!
Meet Becky Gerard, wife, mother, and extreme medical researcher. Becky Gerard’s life revolves around doctors and medical research in the hope of finding the mysterious ailment plaguing her teenage daughter, Meghan. As Becky becomes more obsessed with finding Meghan’s ailment, her husband becomes more distant and aloof.
This suspenseful, twisting story revolves around Meghan’s illness and her mother’s obsession. The tale becomes complex and dark when Meghan becomes a ward of the state as a result of her continuing symptoms and lack of concrete diagnosis. As Becky, her husband, and Meghan get further drawn into the workings of the mysterious illness, new doctors get brought into the picture with agendas of their own.
Unexplained deaths, mysterious, sudden illnesses, and shadowy secrets keep the reader turning the pages in this dark, sinister story. I enjoyed the mystery, suspense, and drama woven through this novel. This is my first novel by D.J. Palmer, but certainly won’t be my last.
This ARC copy was received from St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley.com. The above thoughts and opinions are wholly my own.
This was a fantastic read couldn’t wait to get to end so many twists didn’t see that coming and loved all the characters
I agree with other readers who said this book was slow to start…but stay with it. Great writing and a very good ending.
What’s a mother to do when doctors can’t figure out what’s making her daughter sick? In “Saving Meghan” the mother never gives up. Just when she might have an answer, a doctor points the finger in her direction. Told from multiple points of view, this book makes you wonder who to believe. It was a suspenseful novel that made a long car trip go fast.
Becky Gerard appears to have the perfect life with her husband Carl and 15-year-old daughter Meghan. However, Meghan lives with a series of medical issues, none of which can be diagnosed. Becky’s obsession with finding what is causing Meghan’s symptoms has begun to put a strain on her marriage. Eventually Becky crosses paths with Dr. Zach Fisher who believes that Meghan has the same illusive illness that his son died from.
While Dr. Fisher is adamant that Meghan has this illusive condition, the rest of the medical community begins to suspect Becky may be exhibiting Munchausen syndrome by proxy, a psychological disorder marked by attention-seeking behavior by a caregiver through those who are in their care. The tension ratchets up leading to whatever it takes to save Meghan. With numerous twists and turns, secrets and lies are exposed and you are kept guessing until the very end.
The story drags at the beginning as it gives the reader Becky’s backstory. The idea that a mother could deliberately put her child through unending needless medical tests in order to gain attention is quite disturbing. But her backstory sets the stage for Becky’s relationship with her daughter. About halfway through the book the story takes off and you are on a wild ride. The story is told from the alternating perspectives of Becky, Meghan, and Zack. That worked well as it reveals Meghan’s fear and confusion, but also her steadfast love for her mother and Zack’s self-inflicted guilt in his son’s death.
Thank you St. Martins Press and Net-Galley for the copy of this book.
I am so glad I took the chance on this author. I loved the suspense of this story.
Meghan is sick but the doctors can’t seem to figure out what is going on. Her mom takes her from one doctor to another. Knowing that something is really wrong with her or she believes something is wrong. There is strain on Meghans’ parents marriage, her father having enough of her seeing doctor after doctor.
Once they finally think they might have a diagnosis, things start changing, everything gets turned upside down and Meghan is left to suffer. It wasn’t easy to figure out who the bad person was, it was a guessing game the entire time.
Will Meghan ever truly know what is wrong with her? Will her parents over come all the stress brought on. One click this book today to find out!!
Is it Munchhausen By Proxy? Is it Munchhausen Syndrome? Is Meghan really sick? Is there something else going on? These are the questions that swirled around in my head as I read this book.
The characters are both sympathetic and at times unlikeable. I found myself angry, sad and supportive of the characters at different points during the story, but always invested. The story is well written and the flashbacks influenced my view of the characters as I read. This is not a straightforward tale. It has twists and turns and kept me involved to the very end.
I truly enjoy enjoyed this book and recommend to all readers and especially mystery and suspense readers. I look forward to reading more by D.J. Palmer.
Thank you to #StMartinsPress for proving me with and advance copy of #SavingMeghan. The opinions expressed in this review are solely my own.
Saving Meghan will have you, as the reader, questioning each character’s motive and wondering who you can believe. And then, when you least expect it, you’ll get hit from left field.
I knew when I started this book that there were going to be twists and unexpected turns so as I was reading it, I kept looking for the holes in peoples’ stories, doubting everyone’s actions. Reading like that, expecting the worst in everyone, had me on the edge of my seat through the whole book. What a tense, but exciting journey!
I loved this page-turning, extraordinary story and can’t wait to see what else D. J. has in store for his readers.
Saving Meghan is an ultimate portrayal of the affliction of the heart. Can you love someone so much that it blinds you?
As many reviewers have already stated, the book does start off slow. I was tempted, as many were, to put it down. However, the story does pick up and reward the reader. Palmer lays out a riveting narrative in which every character has something to hide. The twists that reveal themselves by the conclusion of the book are superlative.
Fifteen-year-old Meghan Gerard, has become chronically ill over the course of the last couple of years. Even though her mother, Becky, has taken her see multiple doctors and she’s had an egregious amount of testing, nobody can find anything wrong with Meghan. When Meghan’s symptoms suddenly become worse, a medical team intervenes and Gerard’s find themselves at the center of an abuse investigation. Nobody seems to believe that Becky has Meghan’s best interest at heart. She sets out to prove that Meghan has a real medical condition with the help of the one physician that believes her. Will this be enough or is there yet another explanation for Meghan’s symptoms?
I feel that this novel being labeled as a “thriller” has lent to some of the unfortunate reviews. The level of expectation going into a book of that genre is that fast-paced, excitement, and anticipation where this is not any of that. This book moves at a slower pace and builds the suspense, the audience needs to keep that in mind when starting out. It is a great read, highly recommended. 4 stars.
Saving Meghan was a terrific suspenseful novel! I enjoyed how it felt as if most of the characters could maybe possibly be hiding something and shouldn’t be trusted. Becky and Carl’s daughter Meghan has been sick for some time. She’s been feeling weak and has less energy. Becky is determined to find out what is wrong with Meghan and is not afraid to push people to help her get results. As Meghan’s sickess seems to be getting worse, she is seen by a psychiatrist and taken away from her parents by the doctors of the hospital. Her mother is accused of Munchausen syndrome by proxy. The characters are presented where they all seem to be “hiding something.” It becomes more and more difficult to know what the truth is. The plot twists and turns as the pages go on. building the suspense until the truth is finally revealed.
Meghan was a normal active teenager until a couple years ago when she started getting sick, and no matter how many times she ends up in the hospital or how many tests she undergoes, there is no diagnosis. Meghan’s Mom, Becky is bound and determined to figure out what is wrong with her daughter. Unfortunately, her husband has his doubts, so she is surprised when he suggests a new doctor who thinks he might have the answer to Meghan’s symptoms. When new symptoms appear, another doctor starts to question whether Meghan is sick or if Becky may have something to do with her symptoms. What follows are a series of twists and turns that make everyone question what they know or think they know. Becky’s past will make you question her motives, but she isn’t the only one with secrets. So is Becky protecting her daughter or making her sick?
I enjoyed this intense thriller that kept me on my toes trying to figure out what was going to happen next.
#SavingMeghan #ProtectMeghan #BelieveBecky @djpalmerauthor @stmartinspress