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BOOKLIST

McGovern, Cammie. Eye Contact. June 2006. 290p. Viking, $24.95 (0-670-03765-6).

McGovern's follow-up to her 2002 debut, The Art of Seeing , centers on a nine-year-old autistic boy, Adam, who witnesses the murder of a classmate. Disturbed by what he saw, Adam retreats into himself, frustrating the police and worrying his mother, Cara, who has watched Adam's development with a nervous eye since he was diagnosed with autism. Cara is fearful of the effect the murder and the subsequent investigation will have on her son, but she's also surprised to find the murder investigation dredging up her own past: the officer assigned to the case is the younger brother of her former best friend, whom she hasn't spoken to in almost a decade. And another old friend, who might just be Adam's father, has come back into her life. Tightly woven and gripping, this literary mystery takes several unexpected twists and turns as it builds to the resolution. — Kristine Huntley