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The Truth and Other Lies: Book summary and reviews of The Truth and Other Lies by Sascha Arango

The Truth and Other Lies

by Sascha Arango

The Truth and Other Lies by Sascha Arango X
The Truth and Other Lies by Sascha Arango
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  • Published Jun 2015
    256 pages
    Genre: Literary Fiction

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Book Summary

Dark, witty, and suspenseful, this literary crime thriller reminiscent of The Dinner and The Silent Wife follows a famous author whose wife - the brains behind his success - meets an untimely death, leaving him to deal with the consequences.

"Evil is a matter of opinion…"

On the surface, Henry Hayden seems like someone you could like, or even admire. A famous bestselling author who appears a modest everyman. A loving, devoted husband even though he could have any woman he desires. A generous friend and coworker. But Henry Hayden is a construction, a mask. His past is a secret, his methods more so. No one besides him and his wife know that she is the actual writer of the novels that made him famous.

For most of Henry's life, it hasn't been a problem. But when his hidden-in-plain-sight mistress becomes pregnant and his carefully constructed facade is about to crumble, he tries to find a permanent solution, only to make a terrible mistake.

Now not only are the police after Henry, but his past - which he has painstakingly kept hidden - threatens to catch up with him as well. Henry is an ingenious man and he works out an ingenious plan. He weaves lies, truths, and half-truths into a story that might help him survive. But bit by bit the noose still tightens.

Smart, sardonic, and compulsively readable, here is the story of a man whose cunning allows him to evade the consequences of his every action, even when he's standing on the edge of the abyss.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Starred Review. Exceptional...Wry humor punctuates this insightful look at a soulless man." - Publishers Weekly

"Starred Review. German screenwriter Arango's first novel is superior pulp, with schemers all around and plenty to say about fame, identity, and mortality." - Kirkus

"Fans of psychological thrillers will be eager to see whether Henry's increasingly detailed spin job will protect him or if the chaos he has created will blow his own cover." - Booklist

"Witty, elegant, lethal: these describe equally well The Truth and Other Lies and its irresistible protagonist, Henry Hayden. Evil has never been so much fun." - Joseph Kanon, New York Times bestselling author of Leaving Berlin

This information about The Truth and Other Lies was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

Reader Reviews

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Jan Thomas

The Truth and Other Lies
The most original book I have read this year - completely engaging! A creepy psychological thriller with a narcissistic sociopath protagonist so well paced amid plot twists and turns. I highly recommend this book and look forward to many more from this author!

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Author Information

Sascha Arango

Sascha Arango is one of Germany's most prominent screenplay writers and a two-time winner of the Grimme Prize, a prestigious award for German television, for his work on the long-running detective series Tatort. His first novel, The Truth and Other Lies, will be published in more than thirteen countries in 2015. He lives in Germany.

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