Every Last Lie

Clara Solberg is tired, but happy. She has it all: a handsome, clever husband who loves her, their adorable four-year old daughter Maisie and a new healthy baby boy. Life is perfect. Until one afternoon, when a policeman knocks on her door to inform her that her husband Nick has been fatally injured in a car crash. Apparently, he was speeding around a tight bend when he lost control of the car and collided head-first with a tree. Miraculously Maisie, who was in the backseat, escaped without injuries. In the days and weeks that follow, Clara’s life goes from dream to nightmare as she tries to come to terms with Nick’s death and Maisie’s increasingly odd behaviour. The girl, who is still unaware that her father is never coming home, is having nightmares, talking of a “bad man” who is after them in a black car. The police are convinced that it was Nick’s speeding that caused the accident, but what if there was another car involved? What if someone wanted her husband dead? As Clara looks more deeply into her husband’s last days before the accident, she uncovers some inconsistencies. Is it possible that Nick has been keeping secrets from her?

“Nick was driving too fast. He took the turn too quickly. It's Nick's fault that he's dead.”

But was it?

Now this is what I call a real psychological thriller! With her new novel, Every Last Lie, Mary Kubica once again proves what a great writer she is. Using just the right bait, she widely casts out her seeds of doubt, inevitably hooking you, slowly reeling you in until you get totally trapped in her net of intrigue and there is no escape – you are captivated without any hope of escape and have to keep reading to the end. I bet she is a great fisherwoman!

I loved everything about this book, and was grateful that I started reading it on a rainy day off, when I could devour it in one sitting. Told from alternate viewpoints – Clara’s life in the present and Nick’s telling of the events leading up to the crash – I was absolutely riveted as the book slowly but inevitably broke my heart. With an eye for the small details that make up life, Kubica delivers characters that are so real they could be stepping out of the pages any moment and you would feel as if you had known them forever. I loved Clara as the new mother and grieving widow, and felt her pain as she is trying to adjust to her new reality. Her slow unravelling is so well depicted here, it is impossible not to feel her pain and confusion. Kubica also masters one of the most difficult arts – that of delivering a realistic child character. Maisie is a wonderful addition to the story, and I never once doubted her age – yep, here is a four-year old all right, tantrums and all.

After reading – and loving – all of Mary Kubica’s book, this is an author who is firmly embedded on my favourites list, and my happy dance on receiving her latest novel through Netgalley was fully warranted. Every Last Lie is a must-read for lovers of psychological suspense who like a slow-burning, character driven mystery where doubt is ever present and images shape-shift like colourful reflections of oil on water, distorting reality until it really messes with your mind. I was instantly hooked and loved the whole journey. Thank you for a full rainy day of reading pleasure. Highly recommended!