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Content snapshot
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Violence
A lot
Graphic violence — a family massacre; violence targeting children; the psych unit's history of violent patients
Language
Some
Moderate profanity
Sexual Content
None
No sexual content
Substance Use
Barely any
Mild — some substance references in the psych setting
Emotional Intensity
A lot
Children as victims and perpetrators — the pediatric psych unit; what turns children violent; the surviving child's psychological state
What this book is about
A family is found dead in their home — four members of the Laraquette-Skaggs family killed. The only survivor is their eight-year-old son. Simultaneously, a killer is targeting former patients of a pediatric psych unit. D.D. Warren investigates both cases. Live to Tell is the fourth D.D. Warren novel — one of Gardner's darkest; the psych unit setting allows her to explore what violence does to children.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
Children as victims — a family massacre; children in the psych unit
Graphic violence — dark even by Gardner standards
Pediatric psych unit setting — what violence does to children
Fourth in the D.D. Warren series
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