Publication: June 23, 2015
Publisher: Atria Books
Source: Publisher
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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Henry Hayden is a con artist and a pathological liar. His whole life seems to be filled with lies and half truths.
Henry and his wife Martha have a strange marriage at first appearance. Martha may seem a little eccentric, but very talented. And I do believe she loves Henry. Unlike Henry, she isn’t concerned with fame or other material things. It’s him who likes the attention he gets from adoring fans, the money, fast cars, and expensive clothing.
He’s a fraud and he knows it. He claims that he want wants his wife to see him for the insignificant fraud that he is, but who is he kidding? Henry has absolutely no qualms spending the money from the profits of ‘his’ books even though he has no part in writing them.
I’m sure lying and pretending to be something you are not all the time can be quite exhausting, but he is about to have his skills put to the test in a major way. Out of all the things he has done, I think the biggest mistake he might end up paying for will be the after affects of him having an affair with Betty, the editor at the publishing company he works with. Or is there something else from his past that could bite him in the butt?
From the onset, I was intrigued by this story. I love a good mystery/thriller and this one seemed to be a unique one. It wasn’t exactly what I was expecting, but I don’t consider that to be a bad thing. Forget what you think you know going into the story because there are surprises and twists that you won’t see coming. I love it when a story can take me by surprise and get the wheels in my mind turning.
The Truth And Other Lies is a dark and rich atmospheric tale that kept me turning the pages trying to figure out how it would all end. Readers who like twisty stories with unreliable narrators should definitely check this book out.
RATING: 3½ out of 5.
About the Author
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.
THE TRUTH AND OTHER LIES by Sascha Arango
Atria Books | 256 pages | ISBN: 978-1-4767-9555-3 | June 23, 2015 | $24.99
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