Some US states give people more jail time if they kick their dog than if they kick their wife, according to Rachel Louise Snyder's new, incredibly thorough investigation of domestic violence in America, No Visible Bruises. Interviews with scores of victims and reviews of the most recent studies on the issue reveal that we've been framing the discussion on domestic violence all wrong. Snyder's book sets us straight and tells us what we need to do to really address the problem. The stories are excruciating. The fixes are slow and require large investments. But the need to end this scourge affects the entire country in myriad ways (personally, economically, politically), and we have to stop it. by Rich Smith