He is sprawled like a starfish in front of the fireplace. Blood covers his temple and his hands. For a moment, I can’t move; can’t breathe. Suddenly, he sits up. “Mom,” Jacob says, “you’re not even trying.”.... “Um, there was a fight,” I say. Jacob’s mouth barely moves. “And…?” “You were hit in the head.” I get down on my knees, like he’s told me to do a hundred times, and notice the crystal clock that usually sits on the mantel now peeking out from beneath the couch. I gingerly pick it up and see blood on the corner. With my pinky, I touch the liquid and then taste it. “Oh, Jacob, don’t tell me you used up all my corn syrup again –“ “Mom! Focus!” I sink down on the couch, cradling the clock in my hands. “Robbers came in and you fought them off.”
Jacob sits up and sighs. ... He unfolds a fist and for the first time I see a tuft of cornsilk hair. ... “Theo killed you?” “Seriously, mom, a kindergartner could have solved this case,” Jacob says, jumping to his feet.
― Jodi Picoult, House Rules
Jacob, I agree with you.
Why, why do I keep doing this to myself? I haven't thought well of any of the Picoult books I have read, and yet I keep buying them. I don't remember why I got this one, but it was most probably in an effort to maximize my credits through a 2-for-1 or 3-for-2 sale, which suck me in every time. It is a weakness of spirit, and this book reminded me once again that I should not think that her books are audible.com credit-worthy.
As with all books that I end up not liking, I can't explain why without spoilers, so proceed forewarned.
The reasons I don't like Picoult really don't have to do with her story-telling abilities. For instance, I don't mind that she leaves us hanging at the end of the story, leaving us to decide some things for ourselves. That bothers some people, but I like having the book stay around in my mind after I'm done, like a clinging fragrance. Picoult poses good questions for us to ponder.
There are, however, lots of loose threads throughout. Since I read Picoult, if at all, for sheer entertainment, I have certain expectations. When I see a thread dangling in front of me, such as Rick Matson's love for Aunt Em's column, Jess Ogilvy's previous weight problem, or powerful parents of a murder victim, I expect that thread to be woven in with the story. But these three items are dropped. Nothing came of the evidence that the clothes found in Jess's backpack were much too large for her, the powerful parents make a single scene at the police station but then fade from view, and Matson never learns that his favorite columnist is the mother of his murder suspect.
I find most of the characters realistically multi-dimensional. I enjoyed the interplay between Jacob's mother, Emma, and his lawyer, Oliver. Oliver is the type of character I'd like to see in more novels, but Picoult lacks the ability of Grisham to explain how an inexperienced lawyer, who isn't even a criminal lawyer, can tackle such a complicated case. I felt Rich Matson was modeled after the detectives from Tana French's series, but that may be simply that Matson was the current cliche for police detectives. The prosecuting attorney was flat, but we only got to see her through a small lens, and if she had been a more prominent character she would have been flushed out more fully.
It might be that multi-dimensionality, though, that was a problem for me in this book. Picoult plays Jacob up to be fragile in his Aspergian world - he melts down when the sample lady is absent one day at the store and he fights tooth and nail not to have to wear a button down shirt. Yet, he adapts quickly in the latter case and dresses himself in a shirt and tie the very next day. She can't have it both ways. If Jacob's Asperger's is such that he can't handle a small change in his schedule, how does he adjust to house arrest and the rigors of a trial.
I don't know that much about Asperger's, and do not have the syndrome myself, so I can't just whether Picoult's depiction of Jacob is accurate or not. On the other hand, I would like for her to be consistent, but she fails there as the description of how Jacob interacts with others and the story that Emma tells about working with Jacob for the past 15 years do not match the story when Jacob is the narrator. Emma tells Matson that Jacob cannot understand idiom, and yet Jacob uses it repeatedly. Jacob also tells his side of Asperger's through one analogy after another, which is inconsistent both with what Emma says Jacob can do and what Jacob himself describes. Jacob goes into detail about how he reacts to Jess's lack of interest in going on a date with him, i.e., with on empathy whatsoever. Emma explains in many places in the book that Jacob has never gotten her a birthday card or present for her without being prompted to do it, and even then it is empty. So, what compels Jacob to get something for his brother, Theo, for his sixteenth birthday?
The setup for the twist at the end was too obvious. (So, can it really be a twist?) If Jacob was such a good forensic investigator, how did he miss the true nature of Jess's murder? If he ended up telling his mother how each of his crime scene reenactments were created, why doesn't he tell Matson about his latest one? If he has an eidetic memory, why does it still take him 20 minutes to solve a Crime Busters episode after seeing it a dozen times already?
Probably what I like least about this book is the image it might leave in many people's minds about the possibility that someone with Asperger's might commit murder because of a total lack of empathy. A discussion on Wrong Planet brought out some points that I thought but didn't know how to put into words. Some on that site thought that Jacob's behavior made him appear to be much less high functioning that those with Asperger's, that he was portrayed as a collection of symptoms, and that he was not helped by Emma's coddling of him. I appreciated one person's answer to how to write about someone with Asperger's: show, don't tell. That is, that by describing thoughts and experiences, the Asperger's would be apparent without naming it so blatantly.
A friend of mine, who also thought "House Rules" was not a good book, said that Picoult's "Storyteller" was excellent. Am I going to slip into the hole again and buy another of her books? Probably not, because if "Storyteller" is truly a good book, it won't show up on any of audible.com's sale lists.
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