Miracle Creek

'Miracle Creek': A twisty legal thriller that shows how far parents will go for their kids. One page into Angie Kim's debut novel, “Miracle Creek,” and I was already reaching for my phone to Google “hyperbaric oxygen therapy” (also known as HBOT).

This was a pretty disturbing story.  It was hard to read all the descriptions and details but I was able to read through to the end and find out the twisty ending.  I was reading it because I heard the author speak and she made it sound really interesting.  So there you go, author promotions and discussions really work.  Otherwise I would never had picked this book up.

Also I do think it would make a great discussion for a book group.  There are the issues of how far would you go for your child, your spouse.  

This is the story of an immigrant family here from Korea.  They start a business based on the HBOT tank which you take your child in for treatments for Autism.  So there is the topic of can these unusual treatments work, and should you even put your child through them.  There is a mother who is so frustrated with her child she thinks of how life could be better without him, or how life would be better if he were "normal".  What is normal for a child? Would she love him more if he were different?

There is a plot line around infertility and what that does to a couple.  How it either pulls you together or drives you apart.  Which is also about the family dynamics of marriage and how husbands and wives interact in different cultures.

There is also a plot line around a young teens coming of age and fitting in with the people at school, especially when you are from a different culture or country.  Then there is also the parent child relationships.  Do parents always know what their child is thinking and or feeling? Are they paying enough attention or are they caught up in their own issues?

It was a good read and held my attention but as I have mentioned it was at times uncomfortable to read.