Saving Max by Antoinette van Heugten | NOOK Book (eBook) | Barnes & Noble® B&N Top 100 NY Times Bestsellers
by Antoinette van HeugtenAntoinette van Heugten
Max Parkmanautistic and whip-smart, emotionally fragile and aggressiveis perfect in his mother's eyes. Until he's accused of murder.
Attorney Danielle Parkman can't deny her son's behavior has been getting worsedrugs and violent outbursts have become a frightening routine. But the diagnosis she receives from a top-notch adolescent psychiatric facility that Max is deeply disturbedand dangerousis too devastating to accept.
Danielle falls gratefully into the leather chair in Dr. Leonard's waiting room. She has just raced from her law firm's conference room, where she spent the entire morning with a priggish Brit who couldn't imagine that his business dealings across the pond could possibly have subjected him to the indignities of a New York lawsuit. Max, her son, sits in his customary place in the corner of the psychiatrist's waiting roomas far away from her as possible. He is hunched over his new iPhone, thumbs punching furiously. It's as if he's grown a new appendage, so rarely does she see him without it. At his insistence, Danielle also has an identical one in her purse. The faintest shadow of a moustache stains his upper lip, his handsome face marred by a cruel, silver piercing on his eyebrow. His scowl is that of an adult, not a child. He seems to feel her stare. He looks up and then averts his lovely, tenebrous eyes.
She thinks of all the doctors, the myriad of medications, the countless dead ends, and the dark, seemingly irreversible changes in Max. Yet somehow the ghost of her boy wraps his thin, tanned arms around her neckhis mouth cinnamon-sweet with Red Hotsand plants a sticky kiss on her cheek. He rests there a moment, his small body breathing rapidly, his heart her metronome. She shakes her head. To her, there is still only one Max. And in the center of this boy lies the tenderest, sweetest middleher baby, the part she can never give up.
When he was very young, Max discovered computers. His teachers were stunned at his aptitude. Now sixteen, Danielle still has no idea of the extent of Max's abilities, but she knows that he is a virtual geniusa true savant. While this initially made him fascinating to his peers, none of them could possibly maintain interest in the minutiae Max droned on about. People with Asperger's often wax rhapsodic about their specific obsessionswhether or not the listener is even vaguely interested in the topic. Max's quirky behavior and learning disabilities have made him the object of further ridicule. His response has been to act out or retaliate, although lately it seems that he has just withdrawn further into himself, cinching thicker and tighter coils around his heart.
Sonya, his first real girlfriend, broke up with him a few months ago. Max was devastated. He finally had a relationshiplike everybody elseand she dumped him in front of all his classmates. Max became so depressed that he refused to go to school; cut off contact with the few friends he had; and started using drugs. The latter she discovered when she walked into his room unannounced to find Max staring at her coollya joint in his hand; a blue, redolent cloud over his head; and a rainbow assortment of pills scattered carelessly on his desk. She didn't say a word, but waited until he took a shower a few hours later and then confiscated the bag of dope and every pill she could find. That afternoon she dragged himcursing and screamingto Dr. Leonard's office. The visits seemed to help. At least he had gone back to school and, in an odd way, seemed happier. He was tender and loving toward Daniellea young Max, eager to please. As far as the drugs went, her secret forays into his room turned up nothing. That wasn't to say, of course, that he hadn't simply moved them to school or a friend's house.
The door opens and Georgia walks in. A tiny blonde, she sits next to Danielle and gives her a brief, strong hug. Danielle smiles. Georgia is not only her best friendshe is family. As an only child with both parents gone, Danielle has come to rely upon Georgia's unflagging loyalty and support, not to mention her deep love for Max. Despite her sweet expression, Georgia has the quick mind of a tough lawyer. Their law firm is Blackwood & Price, a multinational firm with four hundred lawyers and offices in New York, Oslo and London. She is typically in her office by nowseated behind a perfectly ordered desk, a pile of finished work at her elbow. Danielle can't remember when she has been so glad to see someone. Georgia gives Max a wave and a smile. "Hi, you."
Danielle clenches her hands as the tears come hard and fast. She glances at Max, but he is still asleep. Georgia pulls a handkerchief from her purse. Danielle wipes her eyes and returns it. Without warning, Georgia reaches over and pushes up the sleeve of Danielle's blouseall the way to the elbow. Danielle jerks her arm back, but Georgia grabs her wrist and pulls her arm toward her. Long, red slashes stretch from pulse to elbow.
"Don't!" Danielle yanks her sleeve down, her voice a fierce whisper. "He didn't mean it. It was just that one timewhen I found his drugs."
Georgia's face is full of alarm. "This can't go onnot for him and not for you."
"Ms. Parkman?" The bland, smooth voice is straight from central casting. The short haircut and black glasses that frame Dr. Leonard's boyish face are cookie-cutter perfecta walking advertisement for the American Psychiatric Association.
Max shoves her so hard that she slams her head against the wall and slides to the floor. "Maxno!" she cries. His eyes widen in alarm, and for a moment, he reaches out to her, but then lurches back; grabs the journal; and bolts out of the room. The slamming of the door splits the air.
"I mentioned this option earlier, and now I'm afraid we have no choice." His usually kind eyes are obsidian. "Max needs a complete psychiatric assessmentincluding his medication protocol."
Parents of children with serious behavior problems will find their worst nightmares come alive in Texas attorney van Heugten's debut, a murder thriller. The worries of single mother and Manhattan attorney Danielle Parkman about her son, Max, a high-functioning 16-year-old with Asperger's, escalate when she discovers he's using drugs and keeps a journal filled with violent suicidal writings and drawings. Max's outbursts have also left Danielle with more than a few bruises and scrapes. When the boy's doctor recommends Maitland Psychiatric Asylum in Plano, Iowa, Danielle reluctantly agrees. Danielle soon has her doubts about Maitland, especially after staff members diagnose Max with "an extreme form of psychosis" and refuse to let her be a part of her son's care. Her misgivings intensify after Max is accused of killing a fellow patient and she's arrested as an accessory. More than one harrowing twist toward the end compensate for the "stiffened spines" and "horrified glances." (Oct.)
Saving Max 4 out of 5 based on 0 ratings. 208 reviews.
Max is autistic, suffering from Asperger's syndrome. His lawyer Mom, Danielle Parkman, discovers, after a horrific scene in which he physically assaults her, that his journal clearly shows suicidal thoughts and reveals his use of drugs. Her career is on the line right now as she is being considered for a partnership in a prestigious legal firm, but that all goes down the drain for now as she receives the recommendation that Max needs more specialized psychiatric help. So off she goes with him to Maitland Psychiatric Center . The hell is only just beginning! After having his medications changed, Max begins to physically attack another teen patient, Jonas. Very quickly, Max's diagnosis is revealed as schizoaffective disorder, a discovery that shocks Danielle to her core. A mother's instincts are never off; but before she can do anything more, a violent incident occurs that lands Max in jail and then on trial for murder, with Danielle charged as an accessory to the crime and guilty of obstructing justice. Danielle is a fighting spirit who refuses to accept this and so with the help of a few other formidable characters begins an investigation that is riveting in its relentlessness. The outcome will stun every reader, who in no way can anticipate the real killer and accomplice. It's an outcome that makes one question the world of psychiatric diagnosis and treatment, a world where human beings are exposed as the flawed and just as mentally ill individuals as the patients they treat! Saving Max is an amazing story that horrifies, grips and electrifies the reader, who will be rooting for Danielle through every rapidly turned page. At times it's hard to believe this is just a story as it seems so very real! But author, Antoinette van Heugten clearly knows what she's talking about and tells it oh so very, very well! Reviewed by Viviane Crystal on May 24, 2010
Sixteen years old Max Parkmans suffers from Asperger's Syndrome though he is rather high functioning. His single mom, Manhattan attorney Danielle, worries 24/7 about her son. However, her concern goes viral when he turns violent towards her and she learns he is using drugs; her fears go stratospheric when she reads his journal as his writings and musings are violent and suicidal while the accompanying art is fiercely worse. He has turned increasingly aggressive even hitting and bruising his mom. Max's doctor suggests Danielle enroll her teen in the Maitland Psychiatric Asylum in Plano, Iowa. She has doubts, but her qualms for her son overrides all else. However, after he is welcomed, the staff informs her Max suffers from horrific schizophrenic psychosis and that to help him she must stay away. Soon afterward, Max is arrested and treated as a competent adult standing trial in the murder of another patient, and his mom also arrested as an accessory to the homicide. Saving Max will hook readers, especially the parents of a child on the Autism Spectrum. The story line is fast-paced from the moment the mother and her son arrive in Iowa and never slows down with several incredible realistic twists until the final courtroom denouement. Readers will understand how far Danielle will go to protect Max, but Antoinette Van Heugten's medical-legal thriller is his story as he struggles with his relationships with others. Harriet Klausner
Loved reading saving max........I'm getting ready to read THe Tulip EAters.....can't wait your next book.
I couldn't put it down and have read it several times since I bought it about 4 years ago. It is easily one of my favorite books.
Leaves you always wanting to read just one more chapter before putting it down.
Graet read. I couldn't wait to read the next page. Sickingly amazing
The book transformed with each page and ended with a gripping twist.
adcamper92 More than 1 year ago
I'll be the first to say that I don't usually read for pleasure, but something about this book caught my attention. I found it impossible to put this book down. It's written with plenty of medical and judicial jargon, but it's an easy read and I feel there's an element that most people could relate to. Danielle I found is a risk taker, and will fight hell over water to protect her son. I recommend this book to any person who needs a good read.
What a read! I hated to have to put this one down. I found the content of Antoinette's book eerily familiar but at the same time foreign. It would have been nice to find out more about Max in the early part of the book but, that didn't take away from the storyline for me. The lengths that Danielle went to in order to save her son were extraordinary. The second part of the book kept me turning pages to find out what was going to happen next. And some of the twists, well, they were totally unexpected.