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Critics' Opinion:
Readers' Opinion:
First Published:
Apr 2006, 384 pages
Paperback:
Dec 2006, 384 pages
Book Reviewed by:
BookBrowse Review Team
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Ridley Jones sets out on a quest to unlock the secrets of her murky past after the faded picture of a man, woman, and baby girl is delivered to her door with a note asking "Are you my daughter?".
If Ridley
Jones had slept ten minutes later or had taken the subway instead of
waiting for a cab, she would still be living the beautiful lie she used
to call her life. She would still be the privileged daughter of a doting
father and a loving mother. Her life would still be perfect — with only
the tiny cracks of an angry junkie for a brother and a charming drunk
with shady underworld connections for an uncle to mar the otherwise
flawless whole.
But that’s not what happened. Instead, those inconsequential decisions
lead her to perform a good deed that puts her in the right place at the
right time to unleash a chain of events that brings a mysterious package
to her door — a package which informs her that her entire world is a lie.
Suddenly forced to question everything she knows about herself and her
family, Ridley wanders into dark territory she never knew existed, where
everyone in her life seems like a stranger. She has no idea who’s on her
side and who has something to hide—even, and maybe especially, her new
lover, Jake, who appears to have secrets of his own.
Sexy and fast-paced, Beautiful Lies is a true literary thriller
with one of the freshest voices and heroines to arrive in years. Lisa
Unger takes us on a breathtaking ride in which every choice Ridley makes
creates a whirlwind of consequences that are impossible to imagine . . .
.
Chapter One
It’s dark in that awful way that allows you to make out objects but not the
black spaces behind them. My breathing comes ragged from exertion and fear. The
only person I trust in the world lies on the floor beside me. I lean into him
and hear that he’s still breathing but it’s shallow and hard won. He’s hurt, I
know. But I can’t see how badly. I whisper his name in his ear but he doesn’t
respond. I feel his body but there’s no blood that I can tell. The sound of his
body hitting the floor minutes before was the worst thing I’ve ever heard.
I feel the floor around him, looking for his gun. After a few seconds I feel the
cool metal beneath my fingertips and I almost weep with relief. But there’s no
time for that now.
I can hear the rain falling outside the burned-out building, its loud, heavy
drops smacking on canvas. It’s falling inside, too, trickling in through gaping
holes in the roof down ...
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(Reviewed by BookBrowse Review Team).
John Connolly, author of The Black Angel
A tense exploration of what lies beneath the white picket fence of ordinary life. Harlan Coben has a new rival for his thriller crown. Lee Child, author of One Shot
Suspenseful, sensitive, sexy, subtle . . . The best nail-biter I have read for ages. Highly recommended. Lisa Gardner, author of Alone
A stunning, powerful novel! Lisa Unger’s taut prose grabs the reader from word one and never lets go. In this tantalizing tale of family suspense, beware of who you trust and be forewarned about what might happen next.Lisa Unger says that for a long time she didn't believe it was possible to make
a living as a writer, "mainly because that's what people always told me", so she
went into the profession that brought her closest to her dream - publishing.
A few years later she met her future husband in Key West and after a
whirlwind romance they sold their homes, quit their corporate jobs and moved to
Florida. She says that only once
she had some distance from New York, could she start appreciating the city and it naturally became the setting for Beautiful Lies.
When asked what elements of the story come from her own experience she
answers, "For me and for most fiction writers, I think, it is true to say that
...
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