Second Glance by Jodi Picoult

Title: Second Glance
Author: Jodi Picoult
ISBN-13:9781416549192
Publisher: Atria Books/2003
Pages: 506
Genre: Fiction

Second Glance was a book beyond my imagination. It took me into an entirely different world. Jodi Picoult makes such a world possible with her words.

Ross Wakeman has a death wish since Aimee, his fiancée died. He tries to kill himself in every way conceivable but always comes back alive. He tries desperately to connect with Aimee in some way thus becoming a ghost hunter. Strange things start to happen in tiny Comtosook, Vermont as a developer wants to build a strip mall in an ancient Abenaki Indian burial ground. The inhabitants talk of supernatural forces at work and Ross tries to explain the paranormal phenomena and meets Lia, who reawakens love in him. When he tries to follow his heart, next thing he sees is beyond anything he can comprehend.

The lives of Az Thompson, Spencer Pike, Ruby Weber, Lia Beamont, Meredith Oliver, Eli Rochert, Ross Wakeman and his sister Shelby are all linked although they are not aware of it. The story goes back 70 years; Ross and Eli try to find out a murder unsolved for as long. What journey they have to traverse to reach there is what the novel is all about. Shelby’s son Ethan suffers from XP, where he cannot be exposed to sun and Meredith’s daughter, Lucy can see ghosts.

Second Glance covers a lot about Eugenics where a few so-called scientists decide who should propagate and who should undergo sterilizations. The Abenaki Indians are the biggest losers. They cannot own land in the same place, which really belongs to them by virtue of their birth.

Jodi Picoult has the ability to mesmerize the reader. Her word has power. This is a story about love beyond time, ghosts and paranormal forces. One does not have believe in ghosts to be spellbound by this book. Ross Wakeman ultimately finds the meaning of his life, his living….