Beautiful Lies by Lisa Unger

Unlike most of the residents of New York City, Ridley Jones can't think of anything she'd do differently with her life. She is completely content. She loves her small apartment over a pizzeria, she grew up in a home with two loving parents and was well taken care of, and she's doing what she loves writing freelance articles for magazines like Vanity Fair. Ridley's life isn't perfect. She does have a brother whom she loves whole heartedly but he's addicted to drugs and difficult to find most of the time. But despite this one thing, she is happy.

Ridley's life quickly changes one morning as she's leaving to meet her ex-boyfriend for coffee. She sees a toddler wondering unnoticed into oncoming traffic. Without thinking, she dives into traffic and saves the little boy. It just so happens that a photographer was nearby having breakfast and caught everything on film. Needless to say, Ridley's photograph was plastered on every news station and in every newspaper.

Ridley soon receives an envelope containing a note asking "Are you my daughter?" along with a picture of a man, a woman who looks eerily like Ridley, and a little girl about two years old. There's a headline included explaining that the mother was found murdered and the little girl was missing.

That, coupled with the good looking stranger in Ridley's apartment building that is ever so mysterious and eager to help her, turns her life upside down. Could Ridley's loving family possibly be capable of keeping secrets this big? If so, who exactly can she trust? If she is the little girl in the picture, who killed her mother and kidnapped her and how did she end up with her family? Ridley's search for answers uncovers a truth so frightening for her, she doesn't know who she can trust anymore. As if that isn't bad enough, someone is trying to stop her from finding out the answers she needs even if it means killing her.

"Beautiful Lies" is a wonderfully suspenseful tale that will keep you guessing until the end. Every time I thought I knew who the bad guys and good guys were, I was quickly sent right back to questioning myself. I highly recommend this book if you're a fan of suspense or thrillers and I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

Questions for the author:

1. Is "Sliver of Truth" a continuation of "Beautiful Lies" or is it a seperate story that has the same main character?

SLIVER OF TRUTH is a sequel to BEAUTIFUL LIES. When I finished BEAUTIFUL LIES, I thought the story was done. I knew the ending wasn't an easy one, and that there were still some "beautiful lies" floating around. But I thought Ridley would be okay. But I just kept hearing her voice and I knew there was a lot more to say. So buckle up; Ridley has a bumpy road ahead of her.

2. To me, this book ranks right up there with the books written by the big names in the suspense/thriller genre. Which of these authors are your favorites or your inspirations to write books in this genre?

Thanks for the kind words. Like most writers, I have been an avid
reader all my life. And I have been inspired by a diverse range of
authors both in and outside of the genre -- from Truman Capote to Patricia Highsmith, from Daphne DeMaurier to Stephen King. I think some of the best people writing today are writing crime fiction. Some of my currentf avorites: Ruth Rendell, Dennis Lehane, John Connelly, Lee Child, Tess Gerritsen, Lisa Gardner ... the list goes on and on. Visit me at www.lisaunger.com or at www.myspace.com/authorlisaunger for a blog on books that changed me, or to see my Shelfari widget, which offers a fairly complete list of the books I have loved.

3. What other projects do you have in the works and how many of them will include Ridley Jones?

My next book releases in May 2008 and is entitled BLACK OUT. It features all new characters, and maybe my darkest, most complicated heroine yet. I have been promising to blog about BLACK OUT for a while now, so I'll be doing that soon on my website.

I know Ridley will have more to say ... but I'm not sure when. I am at
work on my next novel, which will release in 2009.

As an added bonus, a copy of Beautiful Lies is to be raffled off to a reader. Enter by signing the guestbook below. To view other comments you just need to click on the View Guestbook tab.


	Enter supporting content here