Book Review - All the Numbers by Judy Larsen

All the Numbers
Judy Larsen
Ballantine Books
ISBN # 978-0345485366


Things are terrific in Ellen’s life until the day a relaxing vacation at a lake cabin sends her life into a nightmarish tailspin. Living each day, one day at a time, she tries to maintain some semblance of sanity for her oldest son as she grieves for her youngest. She can’t let go, but she can’t give up, seeking justice for a life cut short much too soon.

All the Numbers is a “what if” book. What if one of my children was killed? What if I was faced with the choice to donate my child’s organs so that another child might live? What if it was up to me to make my child’s killer pay, especially if the murderer was not much more than a child himself?

Judy Larsen artfully and accurately conveys the stages of grief no parent ever wants to experience. All the Numbers will make you think, cry and laugh. It’s been a long time since a book has brought me to tears, but this one did. When a child is killed, a parent may eventually forgive, but will never forget.
(July 25, 2006, pp 304, $13.95)