Everyone Here is Lying
Grade : A

My shoulders tensed the moment I began reading Everyone Here is Lying and they didn’t relax until I turned the very last page. A gripping whodunit, this story will have you reading into the wee hours of the night, unable to put it down until you reach its startling conclusion.

Their affair was meant to be a fling. William Wooler, the handsome, affable doctor, and Nora, a hospital volunteer and literally the girl next door, had not planned on falling in love. Then one day, Nora ends things moments after their afternoon tryst in a motel. That’s when William realizes he has let his emotions get the best of him; he loves her, and her ditching him leaves him shaken and deeply hurt. He returns to the family home for some quiet time to mourn, only to find the supposedly empty house occupied. Nine-year-old Avery has been sent home from school - again. She has been disruptive and belligerent with a teacher - again. And she’s not finished. The moment she sees her father, she begins to misbehave with him as well. But William is in no mood for it and before he knows it, he’s lashing out to finally, finally teach her the lesson she deserves. Then he leaves the house, taking a long drive to a quiet, isolated location to pull himself together.

Hours later, he receives a call from his wife, Erin, telling him that Avery is missing. Erin and Avery’s brother Michael have searched their home, the woods surrounding their property, checked with friends, and double-checked with the school - Avery seems to have vanished into thin air. The police are called. And as the stalwart officers begin to question the inhabitants of the house, the neighborhood, and everyone else who has had contact with the girl, they quickly realize they have landed in the middle of a very sticky situation. Everyone claims to want her found - but this place is a den of secrets and everyone is more anxious to lie and protect their privacy than to find a difficult, missing elementary-schooler.

This is a stellar domestic thriller that encapsulates everything that makes Ms. LaPena’s work extraordinary. Her ability to craft believable villains out of ordinary humans is exceptional and it is easy to find yourself wondering just how far anyone will go to hold on to their secrets. The author also does a fantastic job of showing how ordinary lives can be filled with extraordinarily complex and violent undertones. She weaves interesting, intricate personas out of typical American suburban characters and convinces the reader that with just a bit of bad luck, the horrific events unfurling on the page could happen to you.

Something that I always find surprising is that LaPena can make these folks so sympathetic. Even as we peel back the layers and discover that they are not who we initially think they are, we recognize that we could easily turn into them, given the proper incentive. William, Nora, Erin, Nora’s husband Al - all of them are just average people with a few dark quirks, trying to hold on to their mundane, middle-class lives, who find themselves thrust into a situation that brings out their worst instincts.

Ms. LaPena also does a fantastic job of capturing the underlying fear of this generation’s professionals - that sense that everything we have is one wrong decision away from being gone forever. The fantastic job the author does of evoking these emotions makes it very understandable that the characters would go to great lengths to protect themselves.

Michael and the other children in the story capture perfectly how, as we age, the innocent belief that telling the truth will get you out of trouble leads to an understanding that protecting ourselves may often require keeping secrets. I loved how the wholesomeness and purity of the children is juxtaposed against the jaded wisdom of the parents.

The pacing of this novel is quick, and the last quarter of the book contains numerous surprises. I appreciated the way, as the police move forward with their investigation, more and more lives begin to unravel. This felt very realistic to me - the police will search every corner when looking for a child, and some of those corners inevitably contain hidden emotional bombs. The author does a superb job of showcasing how those little foibles can be devastating when held up to the light of day. And I have to say the conclusion is extremely satisfying - the punishments all fit the crime, so to speak.

If you enjoy domestic thrillers, Everyone Here is Lying is a must-read. I was absorbed while reading it and invested enough in the puzzle of what was happening that I finished it quickly just so I could have the satisfaction of knowing the ending. Fans of the author won’t be disappointed and this should make her plenty of new ones.

Note: There are several acts of violence against a child on the page, and there is mention of child sexual assault, although that is referenced rather than shown.

Reviewed by Maggie Boyd
Grade : A
Book Type: Mystery

Sensuality: Subtle

Review Date : July 29, 2023

Publication Date: 07/2023

Review Tags: Domestic Thriller

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Maggie Boyd

I've been an avid reader since 2nd grade and discovered romance when my cousin lent me Lord of La Pampa by Kay Thorpe in 7th grade. I currently read approximately 150 books a year, comprised of a mix of Young Adult, romance, mystery, women's fiction, and science fiction/fantasy.
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