Eye Contact

by Cammie McGovern

Adam, a nine-year-old autistic boy, is discovered hiding near to the body of his murdered classmate. Now the police are relying on Adam as the only witness to an appalling crime. But he can't tell the police what he saw—or what he heard. Barely verbal on the best of days, Adam has retreated into a silent world that Cara, his mother, knows only too well.

A young girl has been murdered and the only witness is a child who cannot tell what he saw.

In the woods of a small town, Adam, a nine-year-old autistic boy, is discovered hiding near to the body of his classmate. They both wandered off from the school playground several hours earlier, and now the police are relying on Adam as the only witness to an appalling crime. But he can't tell the police what he saw—or what he heard. Barely verbal on the best of days, Adam has retreated into a silent world that Cara, his mother, knows only too well.

With her community in shock and her son unable to help with the police investigation, Cara tries to decode the puzzling events. Adam has never broken the rules before, so why did he disappear with the little girl during recess? As a single mother, Cara has devoted her life to opening paths of communication between her son and the outside world. Now, she must interpret the changes in Adam's behavior not only to help him through the trauma, but to help the police catch a killer. Cammie McGovern brings her own experience as the mother of an autistic child to articulate the struggles—and the victories—that consume the lives of parents raising children with special needs. A powerful story of the tangled emotional bond between mother and son, and a thrilling novel of psychological suspense, Eye Contact won't let you go. Lovers of Mystic River will be captivated by this fresh and fascinating journey into the world of a child in crisis and a mother who longs to bring him through unscathed.

Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Autistic Spectrum Disorder, Thriller, Suspense, Mystery Thriller, Contemporary

290 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Cammie McGovern was a Stegner Fellow at Stanford and received the Nelson Algren Award in short fiction. Her work has been published in Redbook, Seventeen, Glimmer Train, TriQuarterly, and other publications.

Reviews

[William · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eye Contact wants to be two books. The better book follows the path of acceptance and eventual, albeit limited, understanding between Adam, a nine-year-old autistic boy, and his mother Cara. The novel starts strongly with these two, especially in illuminating Adam’s thought processes, and in describing the mother’s difficult work of encouraging Adam to develop both within and beyond her expectations. But the half of Eye Contact that wants to be an engaging thriller is the half whose genes dominate the rest of story, creating a confusing, unfocused, quasi-mystery full of too many false leads, too many late revelations, and too many last minute characters to sustain interest and believability.

The book’s turn from focusing on a youth group for developmentally challenged children to constructing a larger world in which so many characters are physically and mentally damaged is unnecessary, exaggerated, and potentially offensive. The point of Adam’s particular way of thinking is lost in a crowd of less interesting secondaries whose flaws seem manufactured and insincerely characterized.

With so much of autism a mystery, and with an author whose own family experiences feed the very best and truest passages of this book, McGovern could have written a simple story of family to great benefit. In playing for a wider audience, the author's readers suffer, her plot is lost, and the topic in which McGovern so eagerly wishes us to engage is all but forgotten for a passing thrill.

[Ainsley · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was all right, but kind of frustrating. I had pretty significant issues with the plot. Her knowledge of autism and ability to incorporate that into fiction is excellent, and her writing for Adam is the highlight of the book by far. The book is interesting and emotional and creepy at times.

I also appreciate the "strain of being a caregiver" theme that is present throughout the book through Cara, Suzette, Teddy, Kevin's mom, Morgan's mom, Olivia, Chris's mom, Harrison's mom, even Cara's parents to an extent.

However: the plot. The author tries to make it suspenseful by introducing one suspect after another, only to discount them and move onto someone else. It was Morgan! No, it was Chris! It was Bob Busker, Kevin, Kevin's mom. And then it turns out to be... some random bully? Who didn't even know Amelia? And who ends up confessing because he's sick of his mom defending him? What? And how many different people were in the freaking woods during the 45 minutes that Adam and Amelia were missing?

And there were all these dramatic references to Cara's past, and some terrible thing that happened between her and Suzette and Kevin that left them all isolated and messed up. Except in the end, not that much actually happened. And Kevin's wacky mom not only falsely confesses to the murder because she thinks that Kevin is guilty, but also suggests that he's responsible for the car accident that killed Cara's parents. Only he isn't, he was just driving behind them? What the hell?

[Mariah Roze · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book went in waves of being good and confusing. Also, a little unrealistic at parts.

Throughout the whole book I struggled because the chapters were extremely long and the book is from multiple point of views. That's not a great combination. I had a hard time keeping everyone straight. Eventually, I did learn the characters and they became very captivating.

I am a special education teacher, so this book was fascinating to me. It was written 10 years ago, so it was cool seeing the difference and similarities. Also, the growth and perspective that autism has given and the understanding of it.

Fascinating read with an interesting mystery attached.

[Alaina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eye Contact was a pretty good book but it’s also kind of hard to write a review for. I’m just kind of hesitant to write this because it’s another book I’ve read that deals with a kid having autism and I’m very picky about those kind of books.

Okay so this book is about two kids who go missing in the woods by school. One kid comes back after witnessing their playmates murder. Of course the kid, Adam, is autistic so he’s a silent witness. Which of course leads to his mother Cara helping out with the investigation since she’s the only person on this forsaken planet that can decode his behaviors.

So my brother is autistic and I know that not every form of autism is the same for every autistic person. After knowing this about Adam I was actually hesitant to dive into this book. I didn’t want the author to give this kid every characteristic of his certain autism. Mostly because it would be realistic to me. I also didn’t think I would end up liking the characters while reading.

Now I did give this book 3 stars. That doesn’t mean I hated the book or the characters. No I liked them and the story enough to finish it. I guess I was just kind of bored throughout it? I guess I just expected more from this book even though I was hesitant? I have no idea - I’m a conundrum people!!

[Rachel (TheShadesofOrange) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.0 Stars
This was such a compelling story that more about the mother son relationship than the murder mystery. Although I cannot comment on the representation, I found the exploration of the Autism spectrum to be fascinating. I would recommend this one to readers who enjoy mysteries with well drawn characters.

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've waited a while to write my review giving myself a chance to really digest what I thought of this book. I think it's because I wanted to give it a high rating and my initial reaction was not to do so. However, it's been a week and I'm still feeling like it was an "eh" kind of book.

It felt like this book wasn't exactly sure what to be. There's a portion devoted to a family dealing with Autism. There's a portion dealing with broken relationships, and then there is the murder mystery. I think the whole thing could have been handled a lot differently, for the better. The relationships never fully develop to a satisfying point, and, honestly, there are just too many people to keep track of. I think, conceptually, she might have been trying to show the connections we all have with people and the complexity of relationships, but it came across as confusing and unconvincing. There were bright points in the observations and actions of the autistic main character and his relationships. However, the leaps made in how his behavior were clues to this murder seemed forced and unrealistic. However, I was mostly going along with it and enjoying the book until it reached it's peak and we had the whole solving of the crime. Good Lord, it was convoluted. It was like some cheap paperback mystery was dropped in as the ending of the book, and the real ending was removed.

Whoever wrote the review that's on the book comparing it to "The Curious Incident of a Dog in the Night Time" was delusional. There is not one single thing to draw comparison to, from a literary perspective. They both have autistic characters, and that was it.

Unfortunately, this wasn't a highlight book for me.

[Ryann · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was all over the place. It has potential if it had been more focused. The bits about autism were interesting, there were too many characters so that none could be fully developed. It tried to be murder mystery, informative autistic book, love story, and drama. None of it was pulled off well. It wasn't terrible, but it really wasn't very good.

[Elizabeth C · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was amazing, the very description of a thriller. Little clues were in the entire body of the book, and putting them together on the journey through the book was simultaneously exhilarating and chilling. The characters felt incredibly real and the revelation on the last page was genuinely sweet enough to bring tears to my eyes. I'm so glad I read this.

[Alana Bullock · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had a real problem with the storyline of Kevin and how it was resolved. With the intention to manipulate and hurt Cara, he actually forges a plan which involves lying about a relationship with her best friend, doesn't come forward about the murder of a little girl or the (utterly pointless) fact that he was with Caras parents before their car crash. His mother tries to STAB Cara and yet ... 'sure Kevin, lets go play happy families. Whatevs!' I realised I didn't give two hoots about any of the oh so many characters in this book, Cara especially, she was unrealistic and her personality improbable. The knowledge about autism was defiantly the only thing giving this book any stability, plus the fact that I was intrigued to find out the murderer - only to be let completely let down. ALL THOSE CHARACTERS and it ends up being some random kid from the school?! Yikes.

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have no clue why I wasted my time and finished this book. It was all over the place and I was almost to the point where I don't even think the author knew who the killer was going to be until the last second. The book just did not fit for me. It was like a stew was mixed together and whatever was in the fridge was added to the story.

[C. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eye Contact (Paperback)
by Cammie McGovern

What a great story! McGorvern touches our heart, inspires us and entertains us with a great psychological mystery. The author has an excellent insight into the topic and builds up the story cleverly. Cara is Adam's mother, a 9 year old child on the autism spectrum. She is a very good single mother and is devoted to his development and happiness. A tragedy happens in his school. A little girl has been found dead and Adam is the only witness; but his ability to communicate is very limited. We also visit Cara as a younger girl who had two good friends, Suzette and Kevin. Each one of them with psychological and health issues. The plot is outstanding and the characters are so well developed you feel a closeness to them.
I highly recommend this book for everyone, especially to those interested in the autism spectrum, as parents, relatives, friends, teachers and for anyone in the community to gain more awareness of this epidemic in today's world.

[Lindsey · Rating 2 out of 5]

There was a lot going on in this book. It started out promising. I really liked the insight into families with special needs--there is an array of them in this book. But by the end there were just too many characters and twists and turns and it felt sloppy.

[Aleathia Drehmer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This afternoon I finished reading "Eye Contact" by Cammie McGovern. The only thing I knew about this book was that it was a pyschological thriller. I liked the cover of the book as it was a blurry and eerie picture of a girl standing in the woods.

This quick reading novel seems to be about a young girl, new to town, that gets murdered in the woods near her elementary school. This could be any parents nightmare and I must confess, it has altered my own sleeping patterns and made me stand guard a bit more vigilantly with my own child than I am used to. This folks, is the sign of a good book. When a book somehow takes over your subconscious enough to alter the way you live your life, the writer has done something right. It was not an overly scary book in the sense that it contained gore, but what made it interesting was the several points of view from which it was told.

It was told from the view of a single mother whose entire life is caring for her autistic son Adam. It is told from the point of view of a middle school child struggling to be invisible and visible at the same time. It is told from the point of view of the autistic child. The common thread throughout this book is the need for friendship or for rekindling lost bonds. It is also about letting people have the freedom to map their own world out and how by making things easy for someone only allows them to never make the effort for themselves. It is about will and strength of character in the face of something tragic. And in some ways, it is about hope.

The author has an autistic child, so the description of mannerisms and how strange a life a child like this has, were very accurate. I think it was interesting to be able to see into this world a bit more deeply. The brain of an autistic is a complex rewiring that many of us will never understand. They have super gifts in some areas, but often never take pleasure in the simple things our life has to offer like friendship, physical closeness, or being able to follow the abstract. We take these things for granted, I believe.

This book was what I would call an "easy read" in the sense that I did not feel like I would have a mental meltdown after it was done. It isn't hard hitting in a cerebral sense, but a good 300 pages of brain candy to curl up with on a string of rainy days

[Jeanette · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book was on the table at the domicile for $1 for cancer awareness fundraising. it was worth a TON more. it is definitely in my top 10 favorite books. a beautiful, sad, horrifying story of an autistic boy who witnesses the murder of a schoolmate. half of the characters in the story are children/adults with special needs. the story reads from different perspectives and the murderer isnt revealed into far into the book. the story is not so much about the murderer, but about trying to figure out how to communicate with those who dont have language or a limited ability, and how we all struggle through life with our different demons. there was so much i could relate to, as my niece has special needs and my sister is raising her on her own, as was the mother in this story. the author of the novel has a son with autism so it reads as non-fiction. she is extremely educated on dealing with a child with autism and the story is so believable. the characters struggles, her sons struggles, and the struggles of everyone in the novel are so real. a great great read.

[Laya Mccoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I totally love this book. It's one of my favorite recent reads. I loved how the author, Cammie McGovern, sort of went deeper into the mind of autistic children. She showed that most of the time, they do know what they see, but they can't find the words to describe it, or they don't know the words to decribe it.
I really liked the relationship between Cara and Adam. You can tell how much she loved her son and how determined she was to making sure that she could teach him, and she was so happy when she found that he might make friends and have someone to play with.
It really is a good read, and anyone that is into the sort of killer mystery books should really look this one up. Yes, I know, it's not really a mystery, but it is in its own way, because here these people are, trying to solve a murder when they have only one witness who doesn't even really know what's going on. I thought it was just amazing, how Adams mind and his understanding start to unfold throughout the book, and this really is one of my all time favorite books. Keep on writing, Cammie!!

[B · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of the best books I have read this year! I literally could not put it down! Well, really, I put it down twice because, much to my chagrin, I had to go to bed. Aside from that, it never left my hands! The narration of this book is what makes it so interesting; it is told from several different characters’ points of view and they all seem to have something to hide. I found it very interesting to read the narration told from Adam’s P.O.V., as a nine year old autistic child. This story focused a lot on the struggles the parents of autistic children face, which was very insightful for me since I had very little knowledge of this subject. This book is full of surprises and unexpected twists; the great thing is everything is revealed in the end so you don’t feel like you have any unanswered questions. I just finished this book yesterday and I’ve recommended it to 4 people already! Must read!

[Karol · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is amazing! Great insights on every page, but it's a bit difficult to read because it involves IEP's and teacher documentation that I am trying to escape on this, my summer break! The author messed up a bit with introducing too many characters, and if Hedder hadn't made a sticky note cheat sheet in the front cover, I'd be lost. :)

[Jane Shayer · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW. I grabbed this book off a goodwill shelf for $1 not thinking it would soon become one of my favorite books I read this year. I was completely engrossed in this story and made me look forward to every opportunity I had to read! There were a lot of characters to keep track of but all were integral to the story. Highly recommend!

[Jeff Fernandes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very intriguing story, however the author's style can be quite exhausting. Very long chapters and a lot of jumping around between characters and thoughts that I found myself having to reread some parts to make sure I was still following along. 3/5

[Brandy Franklin · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Angelina Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a pleasant surprise. I got it as part of a mystery box from my library and didn’t expect to enjoy it so much. It was easy to fly through and kept me guessing the entire time.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

The students of Woodside Elementary School often spend their recesses playing games as children will do. As the innocent youngsters spend their time waging mock battles on the playground, they are blissfully unaware that soon the real world will intrude into their sheltered world and shatter their childhood happiness forever. And the consequences of such a vicious crime will shake this tiny, close knit community to its very core.

During one particular recess, a little girl and boy - two students - seem to vanish without a trace. Upon further investigation, it soon comes to light that both children were last seen heading across the soccer field toward the woods behind the school. They were last seen together, but witnesses claim not to know what could have happened to them.

Hours pass before only one of them, a nine-year-old autistic boy named Adam, is found alive. Discovered several yards away from the little girl's body, hiding in the sheltering undergrowth, Adam is apparently the sole witness to an incomprehensible killing. Barely verbal on the best of days, Adam has since retreated into his own silent world, unable to tell anyone else what he witnessed.

Adam's mother Cara has an intimate knowledge of her son's mannerisms and attitude, and she knows of Adam's secret, silent, insulated world only too well. With her community still reeling from the shock and her son unable to help the police in their investigation, it falls to Cara to become Adam's voice as she tries to decode the puzzling events. Yet in her desperate desire to protect her son from the various cruelties of life - both inadvertent and deliberate - has Cara somehow made his world a much more dangerous place?

When another child suddenly goes missing, Adam's mother redoubles her efforts to interpret the potential clues. Cara realizes that only she can unlock her son's silence to provide the police with the clues that they need to catch a killer. She knows that when she is finally able to interpret the changes in Adam's behavior, she will not only understand how to better help him deal with the trauma of having witnessed his best friend's murder, she will also have helped the police to solve an horrendous crime. Yet as Cara moves closer to exposing the truth of what happened, her own unsettling past begins to emerge from the shadows.

I thought this was really an excellent book. In my opinion, this was an intriguing and well-written story with a well-developed and fast-paced plot. I found that there was a vibrant poignancy to Ms. McGovern's writing, and I found myself learning and understanding more about the hardships and struggles faced by the parents of autistic children. I could really empathize with Cara and the various difficulties that she had raising her son. I would certainly give this book an A! and definitely will be on the lookout for more books by Cammie McGovern.

[Sheena · Rating 1 out of 5]

When I read the back of the book I was really interested. I was still interested when I started it but as I went on it was just getting harder to enjoy. First let me begin by saying I hated that there weren't really any chapters. There are multiple points of view from different characters and at times it was hard to keep track of who was speaking because it wasn't broken up by chapters. There would be one point of view that would go on and then all of a sudden it switches to someone else and it has nothing to do with what was just said. I get that it was happening at that exact moment but it threw off the flow of the story. There were a lot of unanswered questions and b/c it was hard to follow each character's story through b/c of all the jumps I felt like even with there was a question answered there were 5 more that weren't answered. I get leaving some mystery for the reader to figure out but I couldn't relate to any of the characters b/c I kept asking myself why would they do that? I felt like the author wanted to lead the reader down one path so she could switch up things and be like surprise it wasn't who you were thinking but again it was like an unfinished maze. You have all these paths to lead you down a way to think who could have killed the little girl and the author had someone in mind at the end but where the different paths lead, it doesn't conclude each path so its like so uh what happened to this one person who was accused? Then the main character I hated b/c of how she treated anyone. You want to sympathize with her b/c of her situation but at the same time its like you got yourself into this mess and you continue to make stupid decisions. Especially at the end when its like you just spent half the book talking bad about this person and then at the end you let them around your child?! Maybe if I read this before I had a kid I could understand but I'm a mom now and I know if I didn't trust a person for a long time I wouldn't have easily let them be around my kid.

Bottom line this book had a lot of potential for a great story but it just wasn't well written and then if you open up information about a character then follow through with it otherwise don't add it. Because again that just leaves more questions. Especially when you explain a character and have the reader thinking they are the guilty one and come to find out they not only are but they aren't even important to the story. And when you do find out who the killer is you're like why this person? You give a reason why it would be all these other people but the person who it is isn't even a big part of the story. Not worth recommending.

[Cheewai Lai · Rating 4 out of 5]

Refreshing backdrop and good twists in plot

[Desiree · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book had the potential to be really great. The first half of the book was fantastic. The second half was not as good, although it was decent. I hated the "grown-up" Kevin and his mother... they pretty much ruined the greatness of the book. The trick Kevin and Suzette played on Cara was immature and ridiculous... I would hope most adults wouldn't come up with a plan like this.

Some of the events in the second half were too unrealistic... what kind of adult would lure two elementary school children into the woods (one being his autistic son that doesn't know him), decide he doesn't want his son to know who he is, and then just leave them there knowing they should be in the playground under adult supervision???

Also, a few events could have been left out without lowering the ratings (leaving them out would have actually improved the ratings)... I didn't need to read about a middle school student exposing himself to a young girl... completely unneccesary. Then to make him the "accidental killer" didn't really seem believable. Also, Kevin's mom trying to kill Cara? Unneccessary.

On the other hand, the characters Cara and Adam were enjoyable, along with a few others. Their story was SO interesting... so interesting, that I read the book in one day because I couldn't put it down. Their story, combined with the rest of the characters is what had me hooked.

[Nishita Sinha · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a book I started a while ago but could never remember the name of. From the start, I thought it was an insightful read, but I just didn't see how the title related that much. But after finishing it, I think I understand.

A firsthand witness is defined as someone who was at an event or observed it, and therefore knows exactly what happened. Everyone believes their account for the most part, and they provide the strongest evidence. But in this book, the reader was shown that even if someone was at an event, they don't necessarily have to be right about what happened. Sometimes the people at the events have a mental or physical condition and therefore cannot tell what occurred. Other times, people aren't even sure of what they saw or make up/exaggerate what happened to show themselves in a better light.

Rarely is there just one truth of an event. Most times, there are multiple truths, all from different perspectives. None of them are necessarily wrong, but they all are different based on the person giving the account.

This book made me think about not only if what other people say is the exact truth, but also it made me realize that I also exaggerate truths, or leave out certain details.

The challenge becomes, using all these skewed and varying perspectives, how can you determine the truth?

[Pages and Papercuts · Rating 5 out of 5]

FULL REVIEW: http://thebookfairyy.wordpress.com/20...

*5 STARS

One of the best adult books I have read in ages. Touching and suspenseful- I loved everything about it.

Character-wise this book was very strong. All the characters were extremely well developed, and we spent time getting to know every single one of them. I felt a bond between the little boy, and I thought he was so precious. Cara was the perfect protagonist. She was strong and well-intended, yet she’d had a past… something that didn’t make her perfect. The fact that she doesn’t know who the father of the child she loves so much is, makes her the perfect mix of good and bad.

The plot, although extremely slow-paced,was enjoyable. I loved how we jump from character to character- and how each are in some way connected. The writing was beautiful and smooth.

The actual mystery part of the book was so well done, I was on the edge of my seat for most of the book. The way information was given out in small portions was amazing and worked well with the storyline. I loved how every single character contributes something to solving the mystery.

So if you haven’t gathered yet from my rave, I loved loved loved this book so much. Reminds me why I love stand-alones.

*5 STARS

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

The plot is every mother's, teacher's and community's nightmare. 2 kids disappear off of a school playground and when they are found a little girl is dead and the other is a boy with Autism who has retreated into himself which in turn makes the characters have to look into their pasts and unearth secrets that will change all of there lives. It starts of fairly linear but then it delves into a variety of storylines including a group of middle schoolers in a social skills group for "kids without friends" and the bullying they have endured and seen, and Adam's (the boy with autism) mother's past including a best friend who is now does not leave her house and Kevin a boy who she knew in high school that has physical limitations of his own. Lots and twists and turns and overall great mystery that was a fun ride.
I do bid warning, if you have a child going into middle school or in Special Ed, it may be a hard read.
I also have to give credit to the author, being a mom to a child with Autism she did a nice job depicting the mom's struggle through her son's life.

[Maria (Ri) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This literary mystery feels like a cross between Jennifer McMahon's _I Promise Not to Tell_ and Mark Haddon's _Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time._ It is a compelling look at autism, both from the child's and the parent's perspective. Adam, a 9 year old austic boy finds himself witness to a murder. While the novel is about the mystery of the murder, it is more about the relationship of Adam and Cara, his mother. The story is told from several people's perspectives. While some ring truer than others, the thoughts of Morgan, a middle school boy with social difficulties, and Adam are especially interesting. I would love to read a future book more in depth about Morgan. He was a great reminder to me that often the motivations of people is unseen and totally unknown except to that person. This book gave me a greater sense of compassion both for people with autism and their families.

[Coleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

(4.5 stars) I really enjoyed this one. At first I was reminded of Jodi Picoult's House Rules, which like this one, centers around a murder & an autistic child. But I actually found this more compelling. Not only did McGovern do a good job portraying the subject matter of autism & family members & friends living with it, but it also touched on several aspects of children with various special needs, both on & off the spectrum. Additionally, this was a story that kept me guessing up until near the end. My only criticism would maybe be that the author also tried to get into the brain of a fairly severe autistic child, and I'm not sure how accurate that may have been. It could have been spot-on, but who's to know? Regardless, I highly recommend this one & will look forward to more from this author.