This book tries to be a suspenseful mystery as well as general fiction that sheds light on autism. The mystery fails but the author succeeds in creating a fascinating character and, by telling the story from various points of view, gives the reader a well-developed picture of autism and related issues of childhood and development. ( )

Autism is a topic that seems to be something touched on in many novels these days. Each I've read is more interesting than the last. Eye Contact by Cammie McGovern does not disappoint in the slightest.

Cara is a single mother to Adam, a nine year old boy with autism. Several years of working with Adam has helped acclimate him into the world around him rather than the world within him. He's enrolled in the special education class within the school systems and seems to have developed a bond with a girl in his class. One day he and the little girl leave the playground and go into the woods. Several hours later, Adam is drawn back into his own shell, and the little girl is dead. They find Adam rocking back and forth repeating words over and over again. As the only witness to the crime, the police need Adam to help them, and Cara is willing to help, but not at the expense of losing her son to his disease again.

I first read this book a couple of years ago, and was blown away. I think I've read it no less than five times now. I bought another novel by McGovern, The Art of Seeing, but it just did not appeal and draw me in as well as Eye Contact did. The topic was obviously well researched and the book was meticulously executed. I realize this is an incredibly short review, but I can't think of a bad thing to say about this. ( )

may want to finish reading at another time

This book was an interesting read--the dialogue was in a great narrative voice and the characters were all sufficiently complex to warrant your attention. The mystery aspect of the novel was more of an after-thought, a plot device to tell the story of relationships (parent/child, friendships, male/female). The story left you wondering about the loss of childhood innocence and if any relationships are really as stable as they may seem on the surface. ( )

I wasn't sure what to expect from this thriller 'whodunnit' story. I knew that it involved a murder and an autistic boy but not much more. Although I had an idea that it would not be anything like "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time" which has the same (from top-level) plot. This book was well written and easy to read. I felt that the various relationships of the characters intertwined quite well and I was only mildly confused a couple of times working out who was who. The twists were quite good and kept me guessing until the end. Although I felt the ending wasn't particularly exciting. Still, a fairly good read. ( )