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Friday, April 13, 2018

The Good Liar - Catherine McKenzie

The Good Liar by Catherine McKenzie

First Paragraph(s):

I was late.  That's why I wasn't there when it happened.
     Not in the building, not even that close.
     I lost track of time that morning trying to get the kids organized and out the door.  It happens sometimes.  I'll have everything under control and then--poof!--an hour will have gone by and we've missed whatever deadline we were supposed to hit.  School drop-off, a kid's birthday party, even an airplane once, despite the fact that we were in the terminal with plenty of time to get to our gate before pushback.

My Thoughts:

Catherine McKenzie is an author that I've enjoyed in the past.  Her books Smoke and also Fractured were suspenseful reads for me.  The Good Liar is her latest book and I liked it as well.  Three women are connected by an event that happened a year ago - a tragic explosion in downtown Chicago.  Each of them reveals their story a bit at a time.  A documentary is being made about some the families affected and so part of the tale is told in interviews with the filmmaker.  As the title indicates, there are lies and secrets.  All the women are hiding something and, eventually, all is known.

As I said, I've liked Catherine McKenzie's books and struggle a bit with how to relate my thoughts.  This book has great reviews and they are deserved, to a certain extent, in my opinion.  I do think that I am maybe a bit too savvy about 'twists' in the story.  I normally don't mind when I guess all secrets, but I found this one a bit too predicable for me.  It may have just been my mood or, as I've shared lately, I'm needing to slightly limit my 'domestic thriller' books.  I've gotten a little burned out.  So, all this means - please don't let me discourage you from trying this one.  However, I'm off to find a something different - at least for now. 

Blurb:

When an explosion rips apart a Chicago building, the lives of three women are forever altered.

A year later, Cecily is in mourning. She was supposed to be in the building that day. Instead, she stood on the street and witnessed it going down, with her husband and best friend inside. Kate, now living thousands of miles away, fled the disaster and is hoping that her past won’t catch up with her. And Franny, a young woman in search of her birth mother, watched the horror unfold on the morning news, knowing that the woman she was so desperate to reconnect with was in the building.

Now, despite the marks left by the tragedy, they all seem safe. But as its anniversary dominates the media, the memories of that terrifying morning become dangerous triggers. All these women are guarding important secrets. Just how far will they go to keep them?

27 comments:

  1. That's been one of my problems lately: not only did I "oversubscribe" to ARCs, too many of them were domestic thrillers, and I can stand only so many of those at any one given time. A little breathing space arrived, and the first thing I did was pick up a cozy. What a nice change of pace!

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    1. Yes, we all have to find our own 'burnout' remedy.

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  2. I liked Fractured so would probably give this one a try even though it didn't knock your socks off.

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    1. I did like Fractured and also the book she wrote as Julie Apple, the character in Fractured. It may have just been my mood.

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  3. I've never heard of this author, but her books sound like ones I would like. I'm pretty gullible -- no matter how many domestic thrillers I read, I don't usually manage to guess all the twists. We'll see how I do with this one :)

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    1. I'll be curious to hear. As Kathy said above, Fractured was good too.

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  4. I read several of Ms McKenzie's earlier novels and enjoyed them until I didn't. I do think her stories are very formulaic, which is not necessarily a bad thing. However, it does increase the predictability of them which I feel is not a good thing in any thriller. I have one of her older novels still hanging out on my shelf waiting to be read, so I imagine I will give her one more try. So far, in spite of the positive reviews, no one has convinced me that she is an author I absolutely need to start reading again.

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    1. Like you, I think formulaic isn't necessarily bad. Sometimes I want to know what I'm getting. I think it was just my mood right now.

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  5. I read Fractured and liked it enough but until I looked it up just now I could not remember if I had read this author or not. I guess not very memorable. The premise sounds interesting but perhaps nothing groundbreaking.

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    1. Yes, I think these themes have been visited before, but honestly, I can't imagine coming up with completely new and different stories as an author.

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  6. I love the Annie Dillard quote!

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    1. Thanks, Teresa! It pretty much describes how I feel about books and reading.

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  7. I read and liked The Murder Game with Catherine McKenzie writing as Julie Apple!

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    1. Yes, I liked that one a lot too. It was clever of her to actually write the book by the character in Fractured.

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  8. I picked this one up at the library last week. It will be my first to read from the author, but based on your comments, not my last.

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    1. If you like this one, you should try Fractured.

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  9. Sometimes different is exactly what you need! I'm planning on reading this one at some point but I do know what you mean about being weary of the twists that are in so many thrillers. I think I'm diving into an Elizabeth Peter's book for a change of pace :) I hope you are having a great week!

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    1. Elizabeth Peters sounds perfect. I might go back and reread an old favorite after I finish my current book. It's for a book group this week and is good, but fairly depressing.

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  10. I have a copy of this one to read too. Like you, I am pretty good at figuring out what will happen--and sometimes it doesn't matter, but other times it does. I really like the premise of this one and that's too bad it wasn't less predictable.

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    1. I hope you do like it, Wendy. It may have just been my mood at the time.

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  11. I enjoyed reading two of her previous books and I'm excited to see that she has a new book out. Will be adding this to my wishlist.

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    1. I'll watch for your thoughts on it, Melody.

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  12. This looks good! Thanks for your great reviews. I am not a review writer and am really impressed by writers like you who do such a good job with them. I'm looking forward to checking out this book.

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    1. Thank you so much for your kind words! I appreciate it. I've finally found a format for sharing my thoughts that seems to work well. For me anyway.

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  13. I haven't read her before, though I do have this one on my TBR. I'm glad it was still enjoyable, even if a bit predictable.

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    1. You should try it because so many did like it a lot.

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Thanks for stopping by! I am so happy to hear your thoughts and will respond as soon as I can. Happy Reading!