Thursday, June 11, 2015

The Truth and Other Lies by Sascha Arango

He's told lies for so long that even the truth sounds like a lie...

Atria Books sent me an ARC of the book to review (thank you).  It will be published June 23rd, and you can grab a copy then.

Henry is a happily married man with a wife who writes.  She pens the novels and he sells them as his own work.  She doesn't want the attention.  He goes to the signings and is comfortable in the limelight.  She stays home and walks and swims and writes and life is good.  But Henry has a bad habit.  He sleeps with other women.

When his current lover informs him she's pregnant, he's torn.  Betty is younger, beautiful, and he feels he should do the right thing and tell his wife it's over.  But who will write his books?

Henry has secrets in his past.  He created a fictional home life and lied about his schooling and past life to everyone.  He comes across as a strong man who goes after what he wants.  But he can't decide which woman he wants.  He attempts to tell his wife and she tells him she doesn't want to know.  So then he decides he'll get rid of Betty.  She's strong and can survive without him.  When she wants to meet him, he says OK.  Then he comes up with a plan to get rid of her permanently.

He hits Betty's car with his and shoves it off the cliff down into the water below.  He comes home thinking life can go back to normal now, but he can't find his wife.  When her car shows up at home again, he goes out to meet her.  Imagine his shock when he finds out Betty was driving it...

This is really a character study of Henry.  He's a wicked man who manipulates people.  He came from a bad background and he never got better.  But he has charm, he has money, and he has friends.  The few he has he treats well.  However, the lost child he was is still at the center of his personality and he'll be on the run again.  I just hope I never run into him...

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