Emily Carpenter

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this great suspense novel.

Wow. Seriously. I was a nervous wreck those last few dozen pages (before the wrap-up.) Daphne is a much braver person that I am and such a colorful, strong main character.

Her secret, painful, past anchors Daphne from thinking she will ever click with someone like her. Until she meets Heath. They "get" each other and are planning to marry without ever revealing their past to each other. Daphne is okay with that, other than Heath's horrifying nightmares which are a sign they can no longer ignore.

I won't get into the story after that other than to say I literally checked my fingernails at one point because I felt like I was out on the edge of a cliff, hanging on for dear life, my heart racing like a jackrabbit! I'm impressed with the research the author did to bring these twisted, haunted characters to life!… (mais)

Frances Ashley has written the story of a girl named “Kitten” who murdered her childhood best friend. It’s a smash hit, inspires a cult following, and on the fortieth anniversary of it’s release, has her daughter, Meg Ashley, thinking about the effect it has had on her childhood and on her strained relationship with her mother. Presented with the opportunity to write a (maybe vindictive) tell-all by her mother’s new literary agent, Meg decides to seize her freedom and cut ties with Frances once and for all. But not without a bit of investigation. She returns to the island that inspired “Kitten” to meet with the woman who, in the court of public opinion, is Kitten, herself. The murderous girl who let the victim’s mother take the fall for her crime.

“The Weight of Lies” is wholly original, which is a pleasant surprise for someone like me who probably reads too much in one genre. This one is a standout. Emily Carpenter seamlessly weaves both the fictional “Kitten” and the “factual” investigation in alternating chapters, pulling off writing two books at once. It takes some amount of skill to pull that off and Emily does so deftly.

She tells the history of the island, both from its fictionalized version and its “real-life” one, in a way that each chapter, whether written from the persona of Frances Ashley or from the author’s, moves the plot forward. Pacing is excellent, and every time I put the book down, I wanted to pick it right back up again. I loved Meg and Koa, the creepy atmosphere of the island, the Native American history that is the backbone of “Kitten’s” story, and the undercurrent of possible lies and betrayal. At no point did I know who to trust. The surprises, and there were several, are well thought out and linear. The book gives just enough without giving too much. It’s a page-turning read that I recommend highly.
… (mais)