A surprising reincarnation of thrilling criminal fiction, the novel "The Eighth Child" brings together many aspects of classic literature and modern drama in a winning combination.

Alan Brading’s wife, Suzanne, is maliciously murdered in front of his eyes. Now he must set himself against everyone around him who believes that the death was merely a devastating accident. Armed with a clear mental image of her killer, Alan begins to suspect that evidence has been hastily covered up. He cannot ignore his suspicions but, without knowing who is behind these events and without the support of the police, he must work to find the murderer on his own.

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102 Minutes from the time the first plane struck the first tower and the second tower collapsed. 102 Minutes ...

The events of 911 was almost too much for the mind to comprehend - even now I find it so hard to believe that this actually happened. Dwyer & Flynn, New York Times reporters have invested a great deal of time researching the events of that morning and reconstructing all the bits and pieces into this heart-wrenching, but absolutely essential read. Gritty, honest and unflinching, Dwyer and Flynn tackled this with the fervor, conviction and passion necessary to bring this novel to the public.

Some 12000+ were able to safely escape the inferno that erupted in the WTC, the facts, presented make it abundantly clear that many more "should have" been able to escape...but instead were trapped and therefore sentenced to death on a crystal clear September morning. Many were told to "wait" for help to arrive, others were redirected back up the stairs by folks coming up saying it was impassable - when in fact there was a stairwell, intact and relatively clean, clear and smoke free, and the roof had been locked after the 93 bombing, but the employees did not know that.
As we watched that morning, in sheer horror, I couldn't help but wonder what these people must be feeling or thinking. I had to avert my eyes when people began to make their own final choice, rather than allow the terrorist to decide --
This book is not easy to read - but everyone should read it. I have read many books covering the 911 attacks and each is heart breaking, maddening and filled with strong, palpable emotion - 102 Minutes presents eye opening information, from the special exemptions given to the WTC for less stairways/elevators thus allowing for more office space - the result, of course, more revenue. Also, the continued communication problems with the WTC complex for the NYPD & NYFD --these had been glaringly revealed during the 93 attack, yet had not be rectified.

We met the worst of humanity with the best of America - the good, the bad and the sad and the maddening - it's all here in 102 Minutes, be prepared to feel strong emotions while reading this exceptionally well written novel -

-RJ

I found the young characters in this novel a bit unlike (okay, a lot unlike) actually teenagers. There's lots of philosophizing about the nature of rebellion and counter culture, what that means today and how it's changed over time. I didn't feel like I gained a lot of ground on that point.
However, this book was very interesting to read, I cared about the characters and more or less couldn't put it down.