Catherine McKenzie

Can you hide a secret with the whole world watching? When an explosion rips apart a Chicago building, the lives of three women are forever altered. A year later, Cecily is in mourning. She was supposed to be in the building that day. Instead, she stood on the street and witnessed it going down, with her husband and best friend inside. Kate, now living thousands of miles away, fled the disaster and is hoping that her past won't catch up with her. And Franny, a young woman in search of her birth mother, watched the horror unfold on the morning news, knowing that the woman she was so desperate to reconnect with was in the building. Now, despite the marks left by the tragedy, they all seem safe. But as its anniversary dominates the media, the memories of that terrifying morning become dangerous triggers. All these women are guarding important secrets. Just how far will they go to keep them?

The Good Liar

An instant national bestseller from author Catherine McKenzie about what lurks in the wake of tragedy. One explosion. Three women. Countless secrets. When Cecily sets off to meet her husband, Tom, in downtown Chicago, she’s unaware of the drastic turn her life is about to take. Before the morning is over, Tom is killed when a building explodes. In the months that follow, a photo of Cecily watching the horrifying scene brings her unwanted attention as the poster child of the tragic event—and she is desperately trying to hide something. Franny lost her birth mother—Cecily’s best friend—in the destruction shortly after the two met. A year later, she and Cecily team up to help families obtain financial compensation for their losses, but their budding friendship is derailed when it starts to become clear that Franny’s story doesn’t quite add up. How did Franny track down her mother? And why did her mother keep their reunion a secret? A thousand miles away in Montreal, Kate is trying to create a new life. But why did she leave Chicago in the first place? Can she move on from her mistakes—or will she be pulled back into her old life? With surprising twists and turns, The Good Liar is a suspenseful read that will make you wonder how far you’d go to hide your own secrets.

Toyah Blackburn

One year on from an explosion in an office building in the centre of Chicago, the lives of three women affected by the tragedy have been altered.

Cecily's husband died in the incident and she is now left to raise their two children alone. She co-chairs a committee set up to assess compensation claims from the survivors and families of the victims of the explosion. She is also taking part in a documentary shot by Teo; the photographer who pulled her to safety when the building exploded. Her story is told in the first person narrative.

Kate ran away on that fateful day, leaving behind her family. Now she's living in Montreal under her maiden name and is Nanny to two young boys. They know nothing of her past. Why did she leave it all behind? Who is she really? And will her secret be found out? Her story is told in the third person.

Franny is adopted. She's recently been looking for her birth mother, but believes that she died in the explosion. She also sits on the compensation committee. Her story is revealed through interviews she undertakes with Teo, also for the documentary. 

Through each story, the events and truth surrounding 10th October are slowly revealed, with little clues and big bombshells being dropped along the way, leaving the reader speculating right up until the end. 

The different narrative styles really work well to keep you reading, ensuring that information is gradually pieced together to form the whole story, ending on a bombshell.

I wasn't entirely surprised by some of the revelations and events throughout, however despite some elements of predictability the story was told really well and kept pages turning. A good read that makes me curious about more of the author's writing.

Karen Shimek

Sahi K

It’s been a year since an explosion rocked a Chicago building killing more than 500 people on Oct 10 at 10 AM. Now, Teo is working on a documentary to bring to light the affect the explosion had on the lives of the family members of the victims. Cecelia lost her husband Tom but barely survived herself. She is trying to do what’s best for her family but is thrown into the limelight because of a picture of her taken by Teo on the day of explosion that went viral. She is trying to use this fame to bring positivity to other people’s lives and help them get compensation. Kaitlin is trying to build a new life for herself in Canada but is unable to escape the memories of her last. Franny is trying to reconcile finally meeting her biological mom with the fact that she died soon after in the explosion. The story follows these three women in how they are handling the aftermath of the tragedy and slowly, we begin to see the secrets unfold.

None of the three women are your typical heroines. They have their flaws which got on my nerves quite a bit but they also have their redeeming qualities. That’s why these women seem quite real. The writing is very fast paced and I almost finished the book in a single setting. It was kinda easy to guess the ending (or the beginning), which I did halfway through the book, but the why of it was very unexpected. I really couldn’t believe the events that unfolded in the last third of the book. And what can I say about the epilogue; it was EXPLOSIVE!!!! And then the book was over….. I really longed for a little bit more; just enough to know what happened to the characters next. This is a wonderful mystery for all like-minded readers and I can assure you, it will not disappoint you.

PS – Thank you to Lake Union Publishing and Netgalley for providing me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Good Liar

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