Publication Date : 9th March 2017 from Penguin MJ
Source: ARC
It all started with the email.
It came through to her boyfriend’s iPad in the middle of the night. Rachel didn’t even mean to look. She loves Jack, and she’s pregnant with their child. She trusts him. But now she’s seen it, she can’t undo that moment, or the chain of events it has set in motion.
Why has Jack been lying about his past? Just what exactly is he hiding? And doesn’t Rachel have a right to know the truth at any cost?
Everything But the Truth is a bang on target domestic noir, a page turner of the highest order and, thank the book Gods, manages to avoid all the dull as ditch water standard cliches of the genre whilst playing brilliantly into all the reasons why we readers love this stuff.
Jack and Rachel have not been together that long, but for Rachel it has been one of those “this is right” life moments – so an early in the relationship pregnancy does not seem as daunting as it might have done. Preparing to settle down to domestic bliss, one night Rachel catches a glimpse of an email, one that suggests there may be horrific hidden secrets in Jack’s past.
Now here’s what I loved – we all have secrets and that is true – Gillian McAllister uses that to great affect, Jack may be hiding something but so is Rachel and the yin yang of how much honesty is actually required for a successful relationship was at the heart of this for me. Rachel becomes obsessed, perhaps even going slightly mad in her quest for the truth but her own truth lies hidden in the mire also. Everything But the Truth is a beautifully drawn character study, a love story with a twisted path and an occasionally haunting glimpse into human psyche.
There is real depth to the plotting, exploring all the layers underneath that one thing we are waiting to find out, this is not a novel that sets out to shock with THAT moment (the one that, lets face it, most of us see coming a mile off these days) but more a slow unwinding of the personalities involved until they face themselves head on. It is that gentle yet utterly gripping unravelling that will keep you reading this long into the night. Cleverly done, genuinely compelling.
Excellent. Really excellent. Highly Recommended.
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Happy Reading!
