Whistling Ridge is “the kind of town where coyotes chew on stray cigarette butts and packs of boys go howling at the moon.” How can you not like writing like that?
Abi stays behind at an outdoor party when her friend Emma leaves. She’s getting ready to go into the woods with some boy. And that’s the last time she’s seen. She comes from a dysfunctional family, and the police are ready to put her going missing down to her running away.
Bailey delivers up lots of different characters, all with their own secrets and issues. You’ve got homophobia, PTSD, misogyny, spousal and child abuse, drug and alcohol abuse, and prejudices. It’s a bit of a too worn trope that Abi’s parents are fanatical evangelical Christians that punish their children for the slightest infraction and that the punishment for larger transgressions is actual torture. Also that the minister always sides with the abusing parent/spouse. Are these folks reading the same Bible I do?
It’s an extremely sad, gut wrenching story and I found it deeply depressing. That said, it’s also a very moving story and I just wanted to reach out to the children being so abused. The young people were all well developed characters, but the adults all tended to be cliches.
Bailey does a great job writing so that you picture the scenes taking place. The POV changes between the various characters which helps to move the plot along. It’s not a fast paced story until the climax, when it really flies at you.
At the heart this is a mystery and Bailey did a great job of keeping me off balance as to what might have happened to Abi. There were numerous possible suspects and my mind jumped from one to the other.
There are numerous triggers here so be aware of what you’re signing up for if you choose to read it.
My thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for an advance copy of this book.

Suspenseful slow burn with book will keep you on the edge of your seat. If your looking for a thriller this isn’t it. The premise was good and kept me engaged. I was hoping for more thrills than just suspense. I will be recommending to other readers.

This is a pretty dark and heavy read about a small Colorado logging town full of secrets. The story centers around the Blake family whose patriarch is haunted by his time in Vietnam. His wife and children suffer at his hands and when their daughter goes missing, many secrets are revealed while friends and law enforcement work to find her. It’s is a well-written story that while sad was a good read.

I really enjoyed this book and look forward to more from this author in the future. If you are looking for a gripping, page turner thriller, this isn’t for you. This is more of a suspense novel, with a very slow burn, dark atmospheric feel. It felt literary- beautifully written. Although it felt somewhat slow in the middle, the tension picks up again toward the end. While it’s not always an easy book to read, the overall message is powerful and important. I will recommend this to friends in the future.

Something is seriously amiss in Whistling Ridge, CO, a small Western town where everyone knows everyone and almost everyone is hiding secrets. Teenager Abigail disappears into the woods one night and her best friend Emma is desperate to find answers as to what happened to her. The more questions she asks, the more terrible things she discovers and soon her life is in danger from those who will go to any length to hide their secrets.

Anna Bailey is an excellent writer and there was a lot going on in this. The POV alternated between several different characters but it wasn’t always clear who was narrating since the chapters were not broken up by narrator. A lot of major issues were explored throughout this and several characters faced some very heartbreakingly serious issues. At times it was almost too much for me as I was trying to keep everything straight and my mind bounced from one terrible situation to the next. Maybe if I had been able to read this in one or two sittings it would have been easier for me to follow. It took more concentration to read this than the average book that I read. Despite these misgivings, I believe that this book will be appealing to many, as it is well-written, interesting and explores some difficult topics in-depth.

I really struggled with this book. I just did not care what happened to the characters and that says a lot when a character goes missing.

I think there was just way too much detail and way to build up. 2.5 rounded up to 3 because I want able to predict who was involved in Abigail’s disappearance

Thank you NetGalley and Atria books for a digital ARC of this book. All opinions in this review are my own.

Dark, disturbing and sinister. There is so much going on here, far more than just a girl who disappears. Everyone seems to have something to hide and this small town's darkness runs deep. While I very much enjoyed this story, there were so many characters to follow and I found myself confused with what was happening when and I had to go so far as to write out a character list at one point so I could remember names and keep each person straight.

Talk about a dysfunctional town! There are secrets galore in this multi-generational story about the people in a small town after a girl goes missing. There isn't a single person with their head on straight in this book.

It's told from the past and the present, and there are a lot of characters, so it's one to sit down and focus on. The good news is, it's easy to get into and even easier to get lost in. You'll find yourself rooting for some of the characters and wishing for the downfall of others.

My thanks to Atria Books and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

After reading the synopsis for this book it sounded exactly like my type of book, but unfortunately I didn't love this as much as I hoped.

17 year old Abi goes missing one night after a party and few people from the town seem to care that she is gone. Her best friend Emma keeps looking for her, and slowly uncovers what happened as well as many dark secrets from the town.

The cast of characters in this book was large, and it took awhile for me to determine which were the important ones and which were just periphery. Many of these characters are small minded adults, who are mostly both homophobic and racist. These adults have raised a group of teenagers of which there are a few who could be considered better people than the older generation, but many of them are not. I only really liked three or four of them, one of which was Abi who was absent through the book.

I read a few chapters of this book, and then put it down for more than a week before I picked it back up again, but once I was most of the way through, I wanted to know what happened to Abi, so i finished the book in no time at all.

I did like the authors writing style, and will come back to read anything she has in the future, but the storyline, and my dislike of the majority of the characters dropped my rating of this book to 2.5 (rounded to 2).

Interesting yet unremarkable read. The teenager goes missing and as we learn more about her disfuncional family we started to realize that the danger came from much closer than expected. It was an okay read, but like one week later I had to read the book description again to remember what the book was about in order to write this review.

I was initially super intrigued by the synopsis of Anna Bailey's Where the Truth Lies. A missing girl and a town with secrets sounds like the perfect setup for a great thriller. However, I am sad to say that this book was a rather disturbing and lackluster reading experience for me. The entire book from beginning to end is DARK. Almost every single character is entirely unlikable and some are downright despicable. Trigger warnings abound in this book, namely physical abuse, sexual abuse, incest, offensive depictions of the Christian church, and I could go on.

The most offensive depiction in this book in my opinion, is the egregiously offensive portrayal of the Christian life. NOTHING about the Christian faith is depicted accurately here and I'm seeing this more and more in books lately. It is so discouraging as a follower of Jesus to see this grotesque portrayal of Christianity in books and know that some people will read this nonsense and think it's reality. It's simply not ok. I do not recommend this book. Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Where the Truth Lies is the story of a missing girl and its ripple effect on the small town community. This one was not for me, and I did not finish. Though atmospheric, it read a little too slow and dark for me.

Got to love books full of secrets and lies, and the small town of Whistling Ridge is full of them. It is also full of bigotry, racism, and gossip. The story focuses on the the Blake family when Abigail Blake goes missing after a party with friends at the Tall Bones (a circle of tall, white rocks that is a local geographic feature). No one seems to know what happened to her. Did she run away? No one would be surprised if she did. Was she kidnapped? Killed? Speculation runs through the town. Abigail is from a dysfunctional, abusive family ruled by a father who was deeply haunted from experiences he had in the military, drank heavily, and was physically and mentally abusive.

The book is character driven and populated with vivid and absorbing people surrounding Abigail's life. The plot was dark and atmospheric. The suspense well-paced. This is an emotional, engrossing read.

Thanks to Atria Books through Netgalley for an advance copy.

This one failed to catch my interest, though I think it will tick a lot of boxes for lots of readers. Definitely in the trendy thriller category.

Thank you to the author, publisher and Net Galley for providing a free ebook ARC copy of this book in exchange for my review.

Sadly, this just wasn't the book for me. It felt like several other books I've read over the years and just didn't really enjoy. I didn't care for any of the characters and really just wanted it to all be over and done with so I could move on.

Unfortunately, this is 1 star for me for 'did not like'.

Anna Bailey spins a dramatically tragic web with her debut novel, Where The Truth Lies. Told from various view points of the residents of a small town in Colorado, we slowly uncover what happened to missing Abi --- in addition to many other decades-old secrets. Each of the characters have their burdens to carry, culminating in a dramatic finish.

I was in the mood for a suspense novel when I picked this up, and this book did not disappoint. If you enjoy Liane Moriarty or Jodi Picoult, you will enjoy this book!

Where the Truth Lies by Anna Bailey, I had a hard time getting through this novel. (I'd say I would rate this at 2.5 stars), I feel like it was every small town bigoted stereotype thrown together. Not enough background on any of the characters to truly feel for any of them, in any type of way, like or dislike, except maybe Jude, who I felt pity towards. Thank you to Netgalley for the complimentary e-book.

What a sad, sad story that I could not put down. I don’t know how a story with such unhappy people and one tragedy after another could feel uplifting at the end.

I always enjoy stories where it follows multiple perspectives that all intertwine to tell different parts of the same story. Some miss the mark but this was done perfectly. It should have felt like a lot with the flashbacks in addition to shifting perspectives but it wasn’t, it worked. You really get a feel for each and every character, even the ones you maybe don’t want to know better.

Excellent writing skills...I fell behind on then and now referencing between chapters, but overall it was an interesting, disturbing book. There were some troubling issues in the little town of Whistling Ridge, Co. Some of the issues dealt with racism, bigotry and a preacher advocating love but with the weapon of violence towards outsiders or people who did not fit into his realm of cookie cutting.

I thought it would be just another missing person book, but it was cleverly entwined with people emanating a different take than most. Abi, 17 years old, as a typical teen ventures to a party being held in the woods and never to be seen again. Her best friend Emma tries to persuade her not to go and feels guilty after she doesn't show up the next day.

The townspeople were quick to turn their back on outsiders, such as Rat, an interesting character living on his own in a RV. They were quick to judge him due to his gypsy qualities and their homophobic instincts. Abi's father, another unlikeable character, had some very unsettling qualities such as his uncontrollable rage and her quiet mom who held a lot of secret inside. Overall, even with so many unlikeable characters, the book ranks high on real life situations that makes you stop and look at the judgements and tension that are mostly in small towns.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

The disappearance of a teenage girl in a small town unleashes a chain of events which propels Where The Truth Lies, a harsh and unforgiving look at life in a deeply racist and homophobic town. This was a difficult book to read due to the subject nature and a host of brutal, despicable characters that use religious beliefs as an excuse for their behavior and criminality. Well written but slow moving, it’s a harsh narrative of life in a secular community, where outsiders are shunned and too many secrets abound, with tragic consequences. I received an ARC of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.