Every morning, as her husband Mike straps on his SIG Sauer and pulls on his heavy Magnum boots, Jamie Anderson tenses up. Then comes the call she has always dreaded: there's been a shooting at police headquarters. Mike isn't hurt but his long-time partner is grievously injured. As weeks pass and her husband's insomnia and disconnectedness mount, Jamie realizes he is an invisible casualty of the attack. Then the phone rings again. Another shooting but this time Mike has pulled the trigger.
But the shooting does more than just alter Jamie's world. It's about to change everything for two other women. Christie Simmons, Mike's flamboyant ex, sees the tragedy as an opportunity for a second chance with Mike. And Jamie's younger sister, Lou, must face her own losses to help the big sister who raised her. As the press descends and public cries of police brutality swell, Jamie tries desperately to hold together her family, no matter what it takes.
Mike is a cop whose partner, Ricky, was shot. Ricky has a long road to recovery and will never be a cop again. Mike carries around the guilt that it could have been him and distances himself from his family. Declining therapy and mediation, he goes back to work even though his wife, Jamie, doesn't think he's ready. While out on patrol, Mike shoots a teenager while trying to break up a gang fight. Needless to say, this makes things worse as there is an investigation.
Jamie is mom to their three young children and stepmom to Mike's son, Henry. It's all she can do to take care of the household on her own while trying to reconnect with Mike.
Lou is Jamie's sister. She works at a zoo and is especially attached to a pregnant elephant, Tabitha. She tries to give Jamie as much support as she can.
Christie is Henry's mother. She quits her job in a hair salon when she is approached to work for a private investigator to catch cheating husbands.
This is the second book I've read by this author. While I enjoyed The Best of Us, I wasn't crazy about this one. I found it a bit draggy and thought the writing could have been a bit tighter. It is written from third person perspective with the focus shifting between the various characters. There is some mature language and adult activity.
I can't say I liked any of the characters. I wish the story had started before the shooting of Ricky when things were good between Jamie and Mike when they were likable ... I might have developed a connection with them. When the story begins, Ricky has just been shot and Mike is dealing with it ... and Jamie is trying to deal with Mike dealing with it. Mike had shut her out and Jamie was always trying to work her way back into his affections and attention. Things got worse when Mike shot the teenager. I thought it was good that Jamie had her younger sister, Lou, around to help her but I found her odd. There was way too much focus on Lou and her love of animals, especially Tabitha. I found it took away the focus from what I thought was the real story of Jamie and Mike. Christie was good to have in the story as she caused more tension between Mike and Jamie but her character was ridiculous and there was a lot of unnecessary focus on her too.
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