You Will Know Me by Megan Abbott

What They Say.....Katie and Eric Knox have dedicated their lives to their fifteen-year-old daughter Devon, a gymnastics prodigy and Olympic hopeful. But when a violent death rocks their close-knit gymnastics community just weeks before an all-important competition, everything the Knoxes have worked so hard for feels suddenly at risk. As rumors swirl among the other parents, revealing hidden plots and allegiances, Katie tries frantically to hold her family together while also finding herself drawn, irresistibly, to the crime itself, and the dark corners it threatens to illuminate. From a writer with "exceptional gifts for making nerves jangle and skin crawl," (Janet Maslin) You Will Know Me is a breathless rollercoaster of a novel about the desperate limits of desire, jealousy, and ambition.

What I Say....Wowzer!  Megan Abbott never disappoints and this was a one day read.  

I had a daughter who played club volleyball and I saw parents who were converting garages into practice areas with padded floors or families who hadn't taken a vacation in years because they were spending all of their money on volleyball and the traveling tournaments.  But no matter how much money people spent, you could see which kids were naturally talented and which were there because of their parents dedication to making them good.  And there was always some (semi) natural jealousy amongst the girls and even the grown ups.

So the setup of all of these young girls wanting to be at the gym where the predicted Olympian is working out, receiving coaching by the same teachers as Devon was eerily familiar to me.  I'm telling you, as parents - we are nuts.  There is nothing most of us won't do to help our child succeed.  But sometimes you see the situation morphing into something the parent wants more than the child.

But I digress.  Katie and Eric have devoted themselves to their daughter's  passion for gymnastics ever since she lost part of her foot in a terrible accident at home - an accident that they both still think about frequently.  Gymnastics started out as a way to help Devon regain her balance, but ends up taking over their family's life.

While they are all working up to a pre-Olympic qualifier, a sudden death of one of the hot gym assistant via hit and run shakes up everyone's world.  His girlfriend, a coach at the gym and the owner's niece quickly has a mental breakdown, Devon seems to be off her game and shutting down emotionally.

The parents are quickly turning against the coach and his family since their tragedy is interrupting their daughter's training schedules.

I thought I knew who did it, but my mind was twisted at the end - like all of her books.  This is a definite must read.