87. Secrets She Left Behind by Diane Chamberlain

I was recommended Secrets She Left Behind by Amazon based on the previous books I had searched. I am glad I was. This was a great book and a fast read, despite being close to 500 pages long. I give it a B+.

From Amazon:
One afternoon, single mother Sara Weston says that she's going to the store- and never returns. In her absence she leaves her teenage son alone with his damaged past and a legacy of secrets.
Keith Weston nearly lost his life in an act of arson. He survived- but with devasting physcial and emotional scars. Without his mother, he has no one to help him heal, no money, nothing to live for but the medications that numb his pain. Isolated and angry, his hatred has one tight focus: his half-sister, Maggie Lockwood.
Nineteen-year-old Maggie Lockwood spent a year in prison for the acts that led up to the fire. Now she's back home. But her release cannot free her from the burden of guilt she carries. She grew up with Keith Weston, played with him as a child... and recently learned that they shared a father.
Now the person Keith despises the most is closest thing he has to family, until Sara returns... if Sara returns.

While I was reading, there felt like I was missing a ton of backstory, but I assumed it was just the authors way of telling it. I discovered with about 50 pages left that there was a previous book. I was really bummed because I hate reading out of order, but I thought the author did a good job of filling me in. I probably won't go back and read the other book because I got the basic idea of what happened. I love the way the author gave his the perspective of several of the characters and allowed us to get inside their heads. That is probably one of my favorite types of styles. The was a bit of suspense in the book, but I would have to classify the genre more of contemporary style. I know I have some more of Ms. Chamberlain's previous books on my own TBR shelves and I will definitely be reading those!