Gilly Macmillan

"One of the most unsettling--and unforgettable--heroines I've ever met." --Shari Lapena The acclaimed author of The Nanny, I Know What You Know, and Odd Child Out--"a writer to watch" (Publishers Weekly)--returns with another serpentine thriller that is a potent blend of atmosphere, tarnished memories, mystery, and twisty secrets from the past Everybody lies . . . Bestselling mystery writer Lucy Harper's talent for invention has given her fame, fortune, and an army of adoring readers. It has also saddled her with dependents, namely her fawning husband Dan. When Dan suddenly goes missing, his disappearance evokes dark memories that take Lucy back more than thirty years--to the day her brother vanished without a trace. That's when Lucy began conjuring stories. The police investigation revealed few confirmed details, so she created tales to fill in the gaps, to explain what happened that day her brother disappeared--and young Lucy was the only witness. Now decades later, with the whole watching, Lucy's past and present are colliding, and this bestselling author skilled in telling stories is losing control her own narrative. Where is Dan? What happened to Lucy's brother? And is the brilliant mystery writer--an expert in devising red herrings and hidden clues--revealing all she knows about both disappearances? With twists and turns that lead all the way back to World War II, Gilly Macmillan reveals the answers in this clever and compulsively readable mystery sure to thrill fans of Liv Constantine and Shari LaPena.

To Tell You the Truth

Janice Hopper

I don't normally care for unreliable narrators myself. But this isn't a bad way to use an unreliable narrator in a novel, I guess. 

Said narrator, novelist Lucy Harper, finishes a novel, and suddenly discovers that her life is not what she thought it was. Then her husband disappears. And she's confronted by memories of her brother Teddy, who disappeared after going out into the woods with her when he was 3 and she was 9.

Hard to say much else without spoilers. Lucy can be a really annoying character. She has Issues. I occasionally caught myself thinking "For God's sake, Lucy, SPEAK UP FOR YOURSELF." But I listened to the entire book in less than 2 days.

The audiobook narrator has a low, defeated sort of voice, which I didn't like at first. But as the story went on, I realized it really captured what the story narrator, Lucy, seemed to feel. Good work, audiobook narrator.

Cheri McElroy

Lucy’s brother disappeared when she was a child. She moved away, changed her name, married, and became a bestselling author. 

But the past never left her. And when her husband disappears, it comes roaring back.

This book was suspenseful, evenly paced, and well-written. The author created a claustrophobic atmosphere that kept me reading to get to the reveal. I definitely recommend this book.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced reader copy,

Lynn Braden

Lucy Harper is a successful author of crime mystery books. She is married to Dan, who is her assistant, and they live a quiet life in the city, but Lucy is haunted by a secret. When she was young, she took her younger brother, Teddy with her on an adventure in the woods near their house. She returned home, but Teddy didn't and was never found. Suspicion that she was responsible followed her throughout her young life. When Lucy discovers that Dan bought a house near the woods where her brother went missing, she isn't sure how she will survive it, especially with the constant presence of her life-long imaginary friend, Eliza, who has been taking control more and more often. When Dan turns up dead, Lucy isn't completely sure she didn't kill him.
In To Tell You the Truth, Lucy, the protagonist, is a very unreliable narrator. She clearly suffers from an untreated mental illness that seems to have been a part of her life since she was a child. Several chapters of the book written in italics, tell the story of the night Lucy's brother disappeared. The rest of the chapters detail the struggles Lucy has had to maintain a bad marriage, as she then tries to find out who murdered Dan. This kind of book brings with it the expectation of a twist, and this book is no exception, however, there is so much conflicting information that the twist seems a bit anticlimactic. Overall, a decent suspense thriller including the inner monologue of someone who doubts reality.

Marisa

Kathy Allatt

Named a New York Times Best Thriller of the Year and Best Book to Gift! "An unsettling and atmospheric thriller that's almost impossible to put down . . . Will keep you guessing right up until its satisfying but unexpected conclusion." -- Buzzfeed "Riveting." -- The New York Times Book Review The acclaimed author of The Nanny and What She Knew--hailed by stalwarts including Ruth Ware, Liane Moriarty, Tess Gerritsen, and Shari Lapena--returns with another serpentine thriller that cleverly blends atmosphere, tarnished memories, mystery, and twisty secrets from the past into a potent, intense read that will leave you questioning everything you believe. To tell you the truth . . . everybody lies. Lucy Harper's talent for writing bestselling novels has given her fame, fortune and millions of fans. It's also given her Dan, her needy, jealous husband whose own writing career has gone precisely nowhere. Now Dan has vanished. But this isn't the first time that someone has disappeared from Lucy's life. Three decades ago, her little brother Teddy also went missing and was never found. Lucy, the only witness, helplessly spun fantasy after fantasy about Teddy's disappearance, to the detectives' fury and her parents' despair. That was the start of her ability to tell a story--a talent she has profited from greatly. But now Lucy's a grown woman who can't hide behind fiction any longer. The world is watching, and her whole life is under intense scrutiny. A life full of stories, some more believable than others. Could she have hurt Teddy? Did she kill Dan? Finally, now, Lucy Harper's going to tell the truth. Cross her heart. And hope to die. "Spellbinding . . . Bold, suspenseful, and impossible to put down. This one will stay with me for a long time." -- Samantha Downing, #1 internationally bestselling author of My Lovely Wife

To Tell You the Truth

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