"The Long Deception" by Mary McCluskey was an interesting and surprising novel, as very dark secrets and tangles are revealed, following a friend's suicide, as family and friends explore the past. Compelling and suspenseful. Thank you NetGalley, the author and publisher for the review copy, all opinions are my own.

The sudden death by overdose of Sophie, who a few years earlier was the golden girl, the most beloved of the company, brings Alison back to England and puts her in touch with Matt, Sophie's brother, himself the best-looking guy around, with whom she was in love. In the few days before and after Sophie's funeral, Alison is forced to come to terms with her feelings for Matt and her relationship with her American husband. This will lead her to uncover a monumental manipulation, begun in their teenage years and created to protect a sordid secret.
An excellent story about distorted family relationships and how they can poison everyone involved.

The Long Deception by Mary McCluskey was an interesting read! I thought the writing was compelling and the story was a unique one.

A great story that i enjoyed reading. The book is well written and the flow of the story you can follow. The book plot maybe taboo for some people but the characters are great to the whole book. A great page turner that has some surprises that you did not expect. A must read for any and all book lovers everywhere.

Sometimes the worst lies are the ones we tell ourselves. Sophie's death sends Alison back to her hometown in the UK from Los Angeles. Sophie, her brother Matt, and Alison were so close as kids but time and space separated them less than the secrets they held. Alison's return and her longing for positives from the past lead her to make decisions you likely will not agree with but that doesn't mean you won't understand what she's thinking. This is well written and plotted and not really what I expected. It can seem a bit slow in spots, especially if you're thinking this is a thriller. It's not. It's a portrait of a woman struggling with past and present. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

Mary McCluskey’s new novel, The Long Deception poses a compelling question: Are our memories of youth a photographic album of our innocence, of emotions and experiences long past which make us on occasion step back from our everyday adult lives with a gripping nostalgia for the past? Or are some memories more like a kaleidoscope, showing mismatched bits that we ultimately assemble together as we choose, in a vain attempt to recreate a time in our lives when we were, at least in our view, undeniably happy?

McCluskey’s main character Alison Eastlake is caught between her past and present when a childhood friend commits suicide, and Alison must go back home to deal with the questions that arise. She is no longer the person she used to be, a wild child, part of a tribe of unruly youths nicknamed “The Savages,” which her friend Sophie, dead from a drug overdose, was the unspoken leader.

But Sophie’s death awakens things that Alison believed long gone, one of them being her feelings for Sophie’s brother Matt. Unwillingly, has Alison stepped in the threshold of a choice: Is the past worth reliving? Or is it better left alone?

In an email interview, I asked Mary McCluskey about what makes us long for the past, even when it puts our present at risk and what makes The Long Deception different than her previous works.

The title of this novel is fitting, “deception” being the key word. Don’t we all deceive each other in some way or another?

Yes, I think we do. And we deceive ourselves. The novel explores deception in its obvious forms – secrets, lies, infidelity – but also touches on some of its more devious disguises, even to the professions of the central characters. Alison works in advertising, which she is beginning to see as an exercise in deceptive manipulation while her husband works in the pharmaceutical industry which Alison calls Big Pharma and does not trust. There’s also a degree of self deception in the novel.

What was different about writing this novel compared to previous works you’ve published?

The Long Deception has a larger cast of characters, with tricky and complex relationships and it’s a bit darker than my previous writing. I’ve published a number of fairly dark short stories but the short story form can be restrictive in terms of how many characters will work together in a limited space. My first novel, Intrusion, focused mainly on the interaction of three central characters. This story goes wider, is a bit darker, and has a different tone.

Alison seems to be permanently pining for a past that is partly a fantasy of her own making, particularly events involving Sophie’s brother Matt. Has this longing in a way prevented her from having a more fulfilling marriage?

Yes. I believe that when we hold back a part of ourselves from our partners, even a small part, we’re not engaging fully in the relationship. Alison comes to this realization late in the novel, of course.

Sophie’s death turns out to be a catalyst for the reveal of heavily guarded secrets. What is interesting, is that Sophie feels like a very solid character in the story even though she’s absent in most of it. Would you agree?

Yes, I do agree! Sophie was very much alive to me during the writing of this novel even though, from the very first line, we are aware that she is dead. She influences all of the other characters and without her, well, there would be no story.

Alison can never completely shake the influence Sophie and Matt have over her. Why is that?

She remembers herself in the years she spent with them as her real self, her ‘best self’ if you like. She recalls that time, when the charismatic siblings were leaders of her little circle of friends, as one of intensity and excitement.

For me, the book is a statement on childhood friendships and how w e sometimes idolize them to the point of stubbornly fooling ourselves into thinking they are something they’re not. What do you think? Is this accurate?

Yes, that’s exactly right. Many of us can recall a time, sometimes in childhood, often in high school or college, when we were exceptionally close to the people around us. We felt that we were understood, we felt that we belonged. Memory can distort the truth, however. The reality may have been quite different from what we remember.

Which character presented the biggest challenge for you?

Matt, without question. He’s complicated and hides a lot from his wife, from his friends, and even from himself.

The ending is quite unexpected. How do you think readers will react to it?

I hope readers will be surprised, while also feeling that the ending is inevitable and true, offering answers to the questions raised in the novel. I imagine some readers might be shocked, some feel sympathy or empathy. I hope readers won’t be offended.

Do you have any advice for aspiring writers who are struggling to get their novels out there, specially now that the publishing industry is going through so many changes?

I can only offer well worn advice – don’t give up! Keep working on that novel or story or memoir. Enjoy the process. Writing can be demanding and it’s time consuming but it’s also enormously rewarding. The rest – finding an agent, getting published – is tough. It takes persistence and it can take a long time. But do the best work you can and publication, though never certain, is more likely to happen.

Tell me a bit about your future projects. Another novel in the works maybe?

I’m working on a quirky novel at present with a rather disturbed and difficult protagonist. Its current title is All the Mad Music. It’s proving a bit of a challenge. If it works it should be an interesting novel. If not – ah, not the end of the world. I’m having fun with it!

A childhood friend is found dead in a hotel in the UK so Alison flies back from LA to attend the funeral and establish what had gone wrong. The group of friends meet up again; apparently united in their grief, they help the bereaved brother and his wife apply for custody of the dead woman's twin daughters. A teen romance is ill advisedly rekindled and as the plot unfolds it appears that their childhood was not as idyllic as they all thought.

I enjoyed the story however I found some of the details unbelievable. Would a woman's refuge really let a complete stranger in to chat to the clients? Would those traumatised clients just relate their whole story to some woman who is in the kitchen for no apparent reason? Would a custody court really want the witness statement of someone who lived in another country and had not met the person in question for many years? Anyway nitty gritty aside, as an easy to read thriller it does the job.

The Long Deception is an interesting novel. When I got this from Netgalley I was under the impression it was a thriller, but it's not. I'm not disappointed by this at all because the novel works as literary fiction, or women's fiction which just sounds like a weird genre. I'm a guy and I loved this book, so why would you alienate men from reading this? That puzzles me a little and I hope men see this review and read the book. This a novel where the focus is on characters more than action. McCluskey is a talented author who tells a story with a huge twist at the end. Sophie's death changes things for Alison and you get to see her evolve and finally realize that the life she has isn't the life she wanted. We can all relate to that, and sometimes we have to make a choice that's terrible for others, but exactly what we need.


Matt seems to be the catalyst for all of this. It's a chance to reconnect and rekindle something she felt as a girl, but here's where everything goes a bit left. Nothing is how we see it, and Deception lives up to its title. I like the writing style, and the characters though older, never seem to lose sight of who they were. While a lot of novels would become stale without action, it's a novel that relishes in discovery. There's a bit of mystery here, but I don't think it would be enough to hold the attention span of a fan of white knuckled suspense which is unfortunate. It's easily one of my favorite novels and I couldn't put it down. There should be a warning here telling you that once you begin reading this there's no way to stop. I would close my Kindle app only to open it two seconds later. Highly addicting and the perfect novel to read when you want something that grabs you from the opening pages, and holds on until the final page is read.

I read a lot of mysteries - it's my favorite genre. This one has a uniqueness about it that made it a very appealing read. Family secrets, a death that may or may not have been a suicide, a schoolgirl crush that threatens to destroy a marriage - - - lots of different plot threads to make this book interesting.

The writing is very good and the characters are believable. Some of the storyline is a bit shocking and unexpected but there were clues all along.

A very satisfying read.

Thank you Netgalley and LittleA for the ARC.
I'm not sure what to make of this book. The dialogue is well written, the characters are believable, it has the right pace. It just didn't do anything for me. Almost halfway and still nothing more than a trip down memory lane. I gave up at 43%.

We all have memories of different times in our lives, some happy and others are sad. Mary McCluskey's new novel is about a memory that Alison Eastlake has of her childhood in a little town in England. Alison remembers her feelings for her friends, Matt, and his sister, Sophie. Liz, another neighbor, was part of a group who called themselves the Savages. They knew each other from the time they were seven years old. They were a tightly knit group of kids who grew up together and shared all kinds of experiences. They were inseparable.

Now, all the characters are grown up and have scattered to other places. Alison lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Jake, who is a pharmaceutical executive. He oversees funding of drug trials. Alison works at an advertising firm, making presentations to clients for commercials. They have both climbed the career ladder and have a good life, a bountiful life in material terms. When Alison gets a call that Sophie, one of her closest friends, has died, she gets on a plane and returns home.

Alison's visit back to the place that meant everything to her jogs her memories and the feelings she had for that boy next door, Matt. She inexplicably delays her return back to L.A. and seems to be on a quest to answer questions that have been bothering her. Does she have to return to a job she didn't really love when art was her first passion? Is her marriage to Jake as happy as it appears or has it become a habit that automatically keeps going without any nurturing to keep it alive? Alison's first glimpse of Matt sends her reeling, and the novel becomes that page turner that kept me going to the end.

<b>The Long Deception</b> holds many surprises for the reader, most of which I couldn't guess were coming. The secrets people keep make the world a treacherous place. Mary McCluskey deftly wove a terrific novel with secrets running through a family and a community that made my heart ache. I loved the book and want to thank NetGalley, the author, and Little A for the opportunity to read and review this e-ARC which will be published in January.

I don’t know what to say, I could look past the infidelity and keep on but the weird twist at the end was more than I could work with. Well written, mostley good story, very odd twist.

I have literally read dozens of mysteries and thrillers during the past year and without a doubt this was the best. McCluskey kept my interest by drawing an amazing cast of friends joined together for the funeral of one of their own. Yet, there is nothing trite or old about this book that deals with topics such as abuse and incest with sensitivity and understanding.

The story is propelled through the character of Allison Eastlake who returns to England for the funeral of her friend Sophie. She remains in the small Shropshire village where she fulfills her long term fantasy and gets reacquainted with Sophie’s brother Matt. She fails to understand who he is and what he wants from her.

This is not a story of physical danger, but of emotional danger. sadly, Allison falls prey to it. She almost lost everything because of the cruel and unnatural man she believed she loved. As the story unfolds, so do the terrible secrets of Sophie and her brother.

This is a great read, sink into to it and enjoy.

Thank you Netgalley and Little A for the eARC.
Living in LA with her successful husband Jake, Alison Eastlake is an advertising executive, attending back tie dinners and selling ads for products nobody needs or even wants. She's living the good life...or is she?
Getting a call from an old friend in the UK, telling her of the overdose death of her best friend Sophie, promote her to hop on a plane home to England. Her husband is not too pleased, but Alison wants to attend the funeral and also try to find what on earth happened to Sophie. Her brother Matt and his elegant wife fly in from France and start proceedings to adopt the little twin girls Sophie left behind. They enlist the help of the 'gang' of old friends who were once so close - all of them in thrall to the effervescent Sophie and leader Matt.
Alison rents a house, confused about her future. Matt was the love of her teenage life and all the old feelings have resurfaced. She quits her job and a very worried Jake flies into London.
During the legal adoption proceedings, a shocking secret is revealed which will change Alison's life forever.
This is a lovely book, well written, intelligent and very entertaining; I had a hard time putting it down. Highly recommended.