As I read Lynn McLaughlin’s book “Jackson” I found myself wondering at times if I was reading excerpts of someone’s diary, so personal and intimate were the thoughts written there.

McLaughlin painstakingly and meticulously builds a scenario that is a parent’s worst nightmare. Or worse than that perhaps. She has shone a stark light on the dark and terrifying possibilities we parents push to the back of our thoughts, too horrible to be considered for our children, for our families, for ourselves.

Until for some of us, these possibilities land on us in real life. And then what? Well, McLaughlin tells us. She describes what led up to the tragic events for Jackson and his family, and how they ricocheted off each other in a downward trajectory of chaos and breakdown.

How does one rebuild after these kinds of losses? Once again, McLaughlin tells us. Each life has suffered damage and each person must take painful steps to rise up from it all.

McLaughlin has done her research both clinical and in human terms. She conducted interviews and learned from others. Ultimately though she makes this story her own and what you see on the pages of “Jackson” came straight from her heart.