Finding Jake audiobook

Life is kind of like that, picking the memories you want to frame. We all have an idea of how it should be, all smiles and swing sets. There are the more unsavory moments that we leave in the box stashed up in the darker parts of our psyche. We know they exist but we don’t go flaunting them in front of the dinner guests. There are three main elements in Finding Jake, the parent/child relationship, the way the world treats those who are different, and the mystery of what happened leading up to, during and after the central event of the story.Simon Connolly is a former political operative. He works as a writer, but took on the additional, stay-at-home, role when he and his wife, Rachel, had their first child. He is pretty good at it, if a bit of a worrier. When he gets a text from his kids’ school he is rocked to his core. There has been a shooting. Bryan Reardon - image from Penguin/Random HouseFor the first two thirds, the story is divided fairly equally between following the events, post-shooting, as they emerge, Simon and Rachel’s torment in trying to find out what happened to their son and what he might have done or suffered, and Simon recalling the years from Jake’s birth. The final third is about the post-shooting events, searching for Jake and the truth. We see everything through Simon’s eyes.Ever wonder if you screwed up your kid? Allowed too much? Too little? Encouraged too much? Too little? Spent enough time with them? Maybe too much? Encouraged them to experience the world too much, not enough? What if they followed your advice and it all went wrong? What if they ignored you and it went right? Where is that Goldilocks perfect middle? We can probably all look back over the lives of our children and second-guess our parenting decisions, our approaches. Will our kids turn out ok? Could they have turned out better? Are we good parents or did we mess it up? Another element in this vein is wondering how well you know your own child. How well can you? Welcome to Simon’s head. I do not want to give the impression that Simon is a sort of Woody Allen neurotic. He is not. He is a regular guy, a loving father, but when he learns that a troubled friend of his son is implicated in the shooting, there is plenty of self-questioning to be done.How responsible are we for the behavior of our children, for their fate? How much is nurture and how much nature? As the father of three grown children I could certainly relate to Simon’s concerns. While I was only a stay-at-home dad for a fairly brief time, I could certainly appreciate the awkwardness he feels being a male homemaker. It is one of many elements in this book that is convincingly and accurately portrayed. I can also report, from personal experience, that my three arrived with very definite personalities. Not a blank slate in the bunch. We parents certainly can have an impact, but our progeny arrive with their own capacities and predilections. And they most definitely keep their own secrets. Simon not knowing everything about Jake’s life is 100% believable.Reardon shows us snapshots of Jake’s life over the 18 years from in vitro to missing teen. Not exactly the most social kid, on the quiet side, but not to an extreme degree. Simon is concerned about Jake having a dodgy friend at age 8. Later, he encourages Jake to spend time with other kids. In this family photo album we see Simon and Rachel’s relationship change over time as well. Tensions, and some bright moments for them, too.The back third of the book offers what seemed to me a pretty accurate look at how one’s neighbors are likely to respond in a pressured situation, (so many throwers, so few buses) and how the voracious media feeds on and produces fear. How many times have you seen a neighbor interviewed on the tube report that so-and-so, a known or suspected shooter, was a “quiet” person. We have acquired a sense, as a culture, that there is something wrong with people who are “quiet,” introspective, not party animals. Was Jake responsible for the shooting? Well, he was quiet, not particularly social, so what do you expect? Whether he is or isn’t, it is his social distance that is considered the tell. And what of Jake’s dad? He did not exactly fit in either. Maybe the quiet apple does not fall far from the tree.To a large extent humans are pack animals. Queen bees and bullies do their best to cull pack members who look or act differently. Our media is more than happy to pile on, as professional practitioners of the blame game, and our institutions seem unable to control predatory behavior by the ins. Maybe they are not really all that interested in controlling it. Sometimes there is blowback. they need to be able to explain it away. That’s what all this is about. If they can’t categorize what happened, put it in a nice, neat box, they can’t sleep at night…I’ve done it before. Now I see how awful it can be, though. It’s like they want to pick at us until we are bare, exposed, just to make themselves feel better. They dissect our pain just so they can convince themselves they are immune to it. It is like someone suffering a horrible disease and finding someone who is worse off than they are and asking them, Why? Why are you worse off than me? How is your situation different from mine? Tell me, so I can go home feeling better as you stay here and die. Reardon does not offer in-depth analysis of Columbine-type child shooter(s). That is not what this is about. But Finding Jake does cover a range of subjects, parental responsibility, the social environment, signs of trouble, making moral choices, media amorality, police presumptuousness, neighborly selfishness. You will not find dazzling poetic prose here. The language is straightforward and entirely effective. It is about the story and underlying content, and not the form. You will definitely feel for Simon as a sort of everyman caught in a bad situation. He is honorable, intelligent and analytical, but is still fraught with the fears and doubts that anyone in his position might experience. If you are a parent, Finding Jake will touch a very deep place inside you. If you are not a parent, it will give you at least a taste of what it means to be one. The author writes from experience about Simon’s life, and his fretting. I've spent the last decade working from home while caring for my kids. I worry about them every day. Much of that angst fueled the writing of this book. Like Simon (the name of the Reardon family pooch, btw) Reardon is also a writer and former political worker. He specializes in medical communications. I had a couple of gripes about the book. Simon’s wife behaves on two occasions in a way that I found difficult to accept. And the final chapter seemed unnecessary. Too much leading readers by the hand.Other than that, though, this is both a moving and a riveting novel. Once you begin reading you will not want to stop. Finding Jake is most definitely a book that is worth looking for. Pub date – 2/24/15=============================EXTRA STUFFThe author's FB and GRHis previous work includes Ready, Set, Play!, a collection of essays on parent-child bonding through sports, and Cruel Harvest, a memoir about a battered childhood.For an excellent look at the Ur school shooting or our age, I heartily recommend Dave Cullen’s Columbine. His new book (2019), Parkland, offers a different approach, and some hope for change ahead. 11/14/14 - A New York Times article about Stay-At-Home dads

Simon Connolly's world is about to be turned upside down when he learns about a shooting at the school his kids Jake and Laney attend. With no time to spare Simon races to where the nightmare is unfolding. Simon is fearing the worst, but he never imagined to be confronted with what he was about to see. Finding Jake was a page turner and one in which I really enjoyed. Not only was it a psychological thriller, it was also a tale about courage, love and strength. I have no hesitation in HIGHLY recommending this book to anyone who enjoys a good read.

Simon Connolly is a stay-at-home dad, raising two children, while his wife who is an attorney, works. Not the ideal situation for everyone. but this has been the norm for the Connolly family for 17 years ... when Jake first came home from the hospital.Simon is starting to feel the empty nest syndrome ... both kids are in high school. He's a dedicated father, and fears for his children. He listens to the news, reads the newspapers, knows that danger is out there.And then comes the phone call that every parent fears ... shots have been fired at the high school. He rushes to the rendezvous building and waits. Why did this happen? Are his kids okay? Are all the kids okay? Who was shooting? Why, Why, Why.One by one the detectives take the parents out .. until Simon is the very last parent. Jake is the only child missing. Was he a shooter? Has anyone seen him?This begins a nightmare journey for Simon. Has he missed a sign? Could his son possibly have done this? If not, where is he?This was such an emotional read for me. I absolutely could not put this book down. It's scary if you're a parent. It's guilt if you're the parent. It's love because no matter what you are going to love your child. The book is told in back and forth fashion. The chapters alternate beginning with Jake as an infant. It's told from Simon's viewpoint. And then it changes to present time .... why isn't anyone searching for his son? It's bad enough the media has swarmed, but the victims' parents and the neighbors and even law enforcement are so sure that Jake has had a hand in this shooting.This was a mystery, full of love, hope, faith, conviction. It begs to ask the question ... how well does any parent know their children?A solid 5 star rating. I was riveted to the story ... my heart hurt for everyone ... and the tears flowed. Any book so well written that I get lost in its pages deserves the highest marks.

This was a gripping read. As soon as I started I just had to finish it.Simon is a stay at home dad to his two kids Jake and Laney. When he gets a text saying there is a shooting at his kids school his world is torn apart. We read this story through Simons point of view with alternating chapters going back and forth from past to present. We read of the turmoil Simon goes through with his insecurities about rearing his son.There is so much more to this story. I'm really glad I didn't read any spoilers so the twists weren't predictable. If I had one complaint it would be that I didn't really connect with Rachel. Having said that this was a really great well written psychological suspenseful story. Well done to the author on his debut novel.

I finished this book in one day, which, given my busy schedule, says a lot for the story. It had me hooked from the first page. There will be many people who compare this book to other books about school shootings, but I honestly don't see how a comparison can be made. This is a unique story about a stay at home dad, Simon, and his deep thoughts, astute observations and never-ending concerns surrounding the upbringing of his children, his marriage, and his inner battle about the parental role he has chosen to take. Most importantly, the book is about his fierce love for his family, specifically focusing on his son. It is realistic and honest. It is both heart wrenching and heart warming. This book left me in tears and the story has been on my mind since I finished it two days ago. Bravo to Bryan Reardon on his debut novel! I will be waiting first in line to read the next!

'Finding Jake' is mostly a wonderful old-fashioned Disney-style family movie where middle-class values and adorable characters are yet completely derailed by a dramatic crisis. All types of human responses spill like an acid (although only briefly terrible) across the social landscape after a school shooting. Scapegoating fears shred the fabric of family and friendship (view spoiler)[but despite the crippling losses, everything is surmounted by the enduring love of a family built on what is a solid foundation after all (hide spoiler)]. However, while the story is realistic, Bryon Reardon, the author, tones down anything which could cause readers to breathe harder.The chapters alternate current events with past memories.Doug Martin Klein and Jake Connelly meet when both are 7-years-old at school. Simon Connelly, a stay-at-home dad, married to a corporate lawyer, at first feels good that his quiet, shy, uncommunicative son Jake is at last finding friends in the neighborhood like Doug. But after meeting Doug’s father, Dr. Francis Martin Klein, at a birthday party, he is uncertain about Doug’s upbringing. Doug -cruelly?- stepped on a toad - maybe on purpose? - at Doug's birthday party. Worse, Simon learns that his son and a Klein cousin were the only guests at the party. This is not how things are done, as Simon knows from the few years he has been the primary caretaker of his children, Jake and 5-year-old Laney, in the middle-class family neighborhood. Simon feels much better when Jake meets another boy, Max, who seems a great deal more normalized. However, since Jake is a bit socially backward, Simon encourages Jake to help the somehow weird and wrong kids like Doug, who are ostracized by all of the other kids. Simon knows he needs to overcome his own social backwardness and inarticulate tendencies to help his kids. He makes half-hearted attempts to converse with the mostly stay-at-home moms in the neighborhood, but unless the conversation turns to sports, Simon struggles at finding something to say. Simon is more than a little insecure about how people perceive him as a stay-at-home man, but otherwise, he has created a normal happy kid-safe and appropriate home. His wife is acting more distant, but maybe appropriately so given her career. Fortunately Laney is a bubbly outgoing youngster who needs no assistance in making friends!The years pass, and Jake is 17 when the terrible news begins to spread - an armed teen, maybe two teens (Doug and Jake!!!???) are attacking the teachers and kids at the local high school! The terror and misinformation mounts. Simon realizes the shooter IS Doug, but Jake is missing. It isn't long before the police and neighbors, along with an avalanche of media reporters, are descending on Simon, asking, "Where is your son Jake? Was he involved in the shooting?" Even Simon's wife seems to be blaming him.Tension slowly intensifies in alternating chapters between current time and Simon's suddenly poignant remembrances of his children growing up. Did Simon mess something up in Jake? While his heart is breaking over his missing son, he is beset with doubts. He loves Jake more than his own life, but he feels as if everyone is blaming him for Jake going wrong., if he has gone wrong. Is this all his fault? Was he a bad father?The story leaves out or briefly mentions in passing anything that is truly horrific (view spoiler)[such as any specifics on the attack at the school, or how the murder of the thirteen kids occurred, or detailed family reactions of the killed kids, and many other dark scenes which normally would have been included in this type of event (hide spoiler)]. The author chose to concentrate on Simon's perceptions and internal agonies in a seamless flow of process and confusion for two days. For many readers, especially those who are sensitive or filled with happy-holiday family spirit, I suspect this book will be very pleasing. For me, this novel slowly turned into a 'meh' by the last chapter. But I can find few faults with it, other than it is too PG for me. It is a perfectly good read for many, and I can think of a number of my relatives and friends to whom I would have no trouble recommending this book, especially those nostalgic about their happy childhoods.As this family-friendly tone-downed novel is not exactly my kind of read, perhaps some who are familiar with my reviews on GR may be shocked at the number of stars I feel this book deserves. The writing is excellent and the family-oriented plot is one I know will wring tears. It feels absolutely genuine (if VERY PG), with almost no missteps in pace or family dynamics - thus, my rating.

Simon Connely has a supporting wife and two loving children. Jake his son is a introverted child who always took care of the ones around him, caring and sensitive are one of his many unique traits. When Simon agreed to become a stay at home Father, He did not know how much he would enjoy it. Laney his daughter is a bright girl who has grown accustomed to her brother playful teasing, together as siblings they are inseparable. Simon's relationship with his wife is suffering due to the lack of affection and attention. Jake as a child often came between them as a couple, but all for the "right reasons." Jake was simply a young kid that wanted to please his parents in every area, thus making it extremely hard for him to ever be disciplined. Yet when he befriends a boy name Doug, his life is put at risk when a shooting at a school leaves many missing or dead. Now Simon must question his loyalty to his wife and most importantly to his child, Jake.The story shifts from Past to Present, all leading up to Jake disappearance. Simon blames himself for not taking care of Jake when he was little. Startling questions start to whirl around in his head such as: Was Jake too quiet growing up? Why did he always want to hang out with Doug? Was he a good sibling to his sister? Did he overlook some things about his erratic behavior for the sake of pleasing his son? Is his son a murderer as some starts to believe? These and many other questions consumes his thoughts and mind. Simon's marriage is put in jeopardy when the two share different perspective about what really happened on the day Jake disappeared.Taking from his own personal diary, notes from friends, and the advice of strangers:Simon's life is not worth living, not for his attached daughter Laney or his distant wife. The only person he wants to find alive and well is Jake, the child that has put a wedge between his marriage but also the same child that is the glue that holds his life together.This is by far the best book I ever read this year! The characters was so emotionally charged that I deeply sympathized with all of them: I share similarities to Jake shyness, Laney attachment and Simon doubts of fear and anxiety. Perfect characterization, splendid consistency and an unforgettable novel that exceeded my expectations.It has now become one of my favorite books,kudos to Bryan Reardon, I will look forward to reading more of your work!

There's no way for this not to be compared to "We Need To Talk About Kevin". I think the author knew that would be the case, and the development of the story and "creative" ending was designed to lessen the "knock off" accusations just a bit. If imitation is the highest form of flattery, Lionel Shriver is beaming. To Me, however, this is a much better novel. This felt more authentic, and less pretentious than "Kevin" did. The writing is solid enough to lend forgiveness to areas of the story that started to come across as contrived. Worth reading. I started it at 4p, and finished just after midnight, so it won't have you bogged down or slogging through. I'm impressed enough to put this author's name on my list of "Authors To Watch".

Perfect for Father's day!

A school shooting.13 dead.One suspect dead.One missing.How well do we really know our kids? Stay-at-home dad Simon Connolly never liked his son Jake's friend Doug. Simon always taught his kids to be kind, but when quiet, introverted Jake takes his dad's words to heart, befriending the unlikable, bullied boy Doug, Simon actively tries to dissuade the relationship. His perfect marriage to Rachel begins to show cracks as Jake and younger sister Laney hit grade school. Rachel wishes she were home more. Simon wishes she'd come home on time, or at least call. Social butterfly Laney thrives among groups, Jake keeps to himself. Laney is popular, Jake weird,Then parents are called to a church across from the high school following a school shooting. Children are reunited with parents. Laney runs into her mother's arms. Jake is no where to be found. Word leaks out, Doug is the shooter and Jake his accomplice. Rachel and Simon alternate from disbelief, to denial, to acceptance. Perhaps they never knew their son at all.FINDING JAKE is a nail biting page turner. Much like Simon, coming to the realization of who his son may be, I experienced Elizabeth Kübler-Ross's stages of grief, realizing amazing dad Simon may not be who I think. But grief and realization are not linear, and my theories and sympathies jumped through ranges of emotion and and alliances.Bryan Reardon writing grabbed me by the throat and hasn't let go yet, even after I finished. I thoroughly enjoyed all aspects of the story from plot to execution to complex characters to writing to pace to tension to the entire reading experience. FINDING JAKE reminded me of another favorite, William Landry's DEFENDING JACOB. They are similar but different stories.Readers who enjoy mysteries, thrillers and family stories will love FINDING JAKE.

4.5 stars. I did not want to book this book down. As expected, it was tragic, suspenseful, heartbreaking, and made you question so many of your own parenting decisions. Although the Dad got on my nerves at times, I was fascinated by the husband/wife role reversal in this story. Our book club could probably discuss this one for hours! Must read.

This was so good I couldn’t stop listening. Finished in one day. This is every parents nightmare. So sad to see that these events are happening way to much!

FINDING JAKE by Bryan Reardon is a compelling and heartfelt tragedy; A psychological intense suspense, keeping you page-turning to learn the fate of a teenage son.Simon Connelly is a freelance writer, and a devoted upper-middle-class suburban stay at home dad to his son, Jake and his daughter Laney, while his wife, Rachel is busy with her legal career. Presently, the kids are teens. Laney, outgoing and Jake, introverted. They have weathered the storms of typical teenagers, until one day a text comes – A school shooting, which changes this family’s entire world.A high school shooting, leaving thirteen people dead, and a gunman, Doug taking his own life, and a second student, Jake who happened to be friends with the gunman. Jake has disappeared, so the question is where is, Jake; did he have anything to do with the shooting? Flashing back and forth from the present, the six days aftermath of the shooting, and the past bringing insights into the raw emotions and intimate feelings of this frantic family. Do we know our children and their friends and can a parent control their every move?Typical after a school shooting or tragedy, the media and community begin pointing blame, the victims – they must find Jake. A nightmare, and a parent second-guessing his abilities as a parent. What happened the day of the shooting and what led up to this event? Told from an insecure and second-guessing father Simon, he continues to agonize and search for answers; he fears for his son and his choice of friends. His wife is more of a colder personality and somewhat removed and not a likable character. The daughter, on the other hand, was a softer personality, and Jake more removed and introverted. FINDING JAKE a short, thought-provoking and absorbing book about parenting and an excellent book club choice to explore different perspectives. An intense and suspenseful read; an up close and personal look into the world of parenting—of love, fear, pain, courage, and healing; a surprising shattering conclusion. For me, the best part was in the storytelling about the child rearing and the earlier days, a time when there is innocence before children are subjected to the peer pressure and evils of this world. The most pressing issues facing parents today. Look forward to reading more from this author. Huffington Post Article JDCMustReadBooks Highly Anticipated, Coming June 12, 2018: In a new novel from New York Times bestselling author Bryan Reardon, a suburban family is rocked in the wake of a terrorist attack on American soil. The Real Michael Swann.MAJOR FILM ADAPTATION: The Real Michael Swann has been picked up for feature film, with Jason Blum (Get Out and Split) producing and Julia Roberts to co-produce and star.