Not Guilty

by Patricia MacDonald

Book Overview

When Keely Bennett's world is shattered by the suicide of her beloved husband, Richard, she and her nine-year-old son Dylan have to start over. Her late husband's childhood friend, Mark Weaver, helps... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0743423550
• ISBN13: 9780743423557
• Release Date: April 2002
• Publisher: Atria Books
• Length: 357 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.4" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Awesome suspense thriller that kept my attention....

I have read some of Patricia MacDonald's books previously and have always found them to be well written, with unexpected twists and turns. Ms. MacDonald writes in the same genre as Mary Higgins Clark - the everyday world surrounding an attractive and sympathetic heroine becomes a place of horror. This tale, which involves both a woman's relationship with her troubled son and her loss of two husbands who were also childhood friends under suspicious circumstances(one to suicide, one to an "accidental" drowning) is loaded with well drawn characters and that "turn of the screw" type of suspense that makes you keep reading. Yes, some will say it's predictable - but that's the beauty of it - you start one of Ms. MacDonald's books and you do know exactly what you're going to get. And, in today's crazy world, that's a wonderful thing. I highly recommend "Not Guilty" to those of us who love women in jeopardy novels and Lifetime Movie Network movies and aren't ashamed to admit it. I loved this book and now want to read all of this author's books!

I anxiously await her next book....

Patricia Macdonald has done it again... I couldn't put this book down. She writes in such a believable way and keeps the reader guessing the entire time. A great book to take on vacation!

Class-A Writer

Not ever having read anything by Mrs. MacDonald, I wasn't sure I'd like this book. Was I ever surprised! Mrs. MacDonald is a Class-A writer. She kept me guessing, right up to the end. And the "villain" was someone I never would have suspected. The plot twists were just fabulous; they kept me right on the edge of my chair. Every time I thought I knew who the "villain" was, Mrs. MacDonald inserted a clever plot twist and shot my clever theory down. I read this book in two settings. And the ONLY reason I didn't read it in one, was because I had things I just had to do. It was THAT great. I have never given my opinion about a book before. But felt that THIS book was well worth the effort.I've already gotten the titles of some of Mrs. MacDonald's previous books, and fully intend to read them.

An absolute MUST READ!

Keely Bennett has a wonderful husband, and a loving nine year-old son when her life shatters.Her husband Richard has been suffering from migraine headaches and as a result of the excruciating pain he decides to take his own life, leaving his young son victim to finding the body. This devastating blow pushes Keely to the limits of what her mental, and emotional state can handle, but with the help of Richard's best friend Mark Weaver she can get over this horrible tragedy and put back the pieces of her life.What started as a friendship with Mark turned to love, and several years later the two are married with a beautiful baby girl, but what on the surface seems perfect is not...Keely's son Dylan, now a teenager, has become distant, and his dislike for his step-father and baby sister has become more apparent, forcing Keely to reach out to help her son before it's too late, but another shocking tragedy will plunge her back into the depths of darkness she so fought so hard to escape.While out one night, Keely returns home to find Mark dead, a victim of drowning, and her infant daughter soaking wet, the police rule this as an accident, obviously the baby fell into the pool and Mark jumped in to save her, even though he couldn't swim, but the pool gate is always locked, how did it get unlocked? The further the police look they come up with their prime suspect...Keely's son, Dylan. Refusing to believe her son is a murderer, Keely begins questioning everything she thought she knew about her second husband Mark, the answers she will find will be beyond anything she could have imagined, and worse still are the connections to the death of her first husband.Keely realizes she must find her answers quickly, for tracking her every move is a killer who will stop at nothing to keep the secrets of the dead buried.`Not Guilty' is an up-all-night, adrenaline fueled, thriller that can't be set aside until all the secrets are revealed. Twist after twist you will be held spellbound trying to figure out where the book is going, and just when you think you have it figured out another twist comes in and throws you off track.Patricia MacDonald has crafted a masterpiece of suspense, very similar to the early works of Joy Fielding, she grabs her reader early on and hurtles them through one of the most enjoyable thrillers I have read in years.I can't recommend this book highly enough, anyone looking for a suspenseful thriller should run out and buy this for it is that good, it deserves to be bestseller!An absolute MUST read!...

exciting suspense thriller

Keely is happily married to Richard Bennett and living in Ann Arbor with him and their nine-year-old son Dylan. The only problem is Mark's crippling migraines, which come with increasing frequency and cause Kelly and Dylan to remain absolutely silent when he's in the throes of one. One day, when Keely comes home from work, she sees Mark dead, the victim of suicide and her son hiding in the closet. Four years later, she is happily married to Mark Weaver and has a one-year-old daughter by him. Mark and Richard were best of friends in high school and from the moment he saw Keely at the funeral, he claimed to have known she was the one for him. History repeats itself when Keely comes home from shopping to find Mark dead in the pool, his wet daughter at the side of the pool. At first the police treat it like an accidental death but an ambitious District Attorney, who once was Mark's lover, tries to blame Dylan for his death. As a result of her actions a tragedy occurs and Keely goes to extraordinary lengths to exonerate her son and flush out the real killer. Patricia MacDonald is the mistress of suspense, an author who writes such an exciting tale that readers immediately become interested in the story line. NOT GUILTY stars a strong and dynamic heroine but the character that steals the spotlight is Dylan, a fourteen old teenager who has known much tragedy in his life but goes on fighting even though the odds are against him.Harriet Klausner