Publication Date: Available Now from Zaffre
Source: Review Copy
Dan Forrester, piecing his life back together after the tragic death of his son, is approached in a supermarket by a woman who tells him everything he remembers about his life – and his son – is a lie. Grace Reavey, stricken by grief, is accosted at her mother’s funeral. The threat is simple: pay the staggering sum her mother allegedly owed, or lose everything. Lucy Davies has been forced from the Met by her own maverick behaviour. Desperate to prove herself in her new rural post, she’s on the hunt for a killer – but this is no small town criminal. Plunged into a conspiracy that will test each of them to their limits, these three strangers are brought together in their hunt for the truth, whatever it costs. And as their respective investigations become further and further entwined, it becomes clear that at the centre of this tangled web is a threat more explosive than any of them could have imagined.
Spare Me the Truth is a fast and addictive thriller, an intelligently woven plot with multiple layers all coming together in bang on fashion right at the end. Just what I like. Beautifully written to be entirely engaging (and exciting) throughout with pitch perfect characters, a healthy dose of reality in amongst the fictional shenanigans and overall a stonking good read all round.
Spooks and spies, always a good time – I was genuinely absorbed by the huge issues facing Dan as he realised everyone around him was lying and that his gaps in memory had not been filled with truth by those closest to him. In a wonderful mix up of family drama and underground political plot C J Carver builds the tension using a group dynamic that is highly intriguing, throwing different people from different backgrounds into the same boiling pot and then letting them simmer.
Loved Lucy – struggling with her own personality and Grace, like Dan, realising her life has been full of lies. The story has some wonderful twists and turns, also adding some twisted murders, a half serial killer vibe that causes a shiver – although in Spare Me The Truth nothing is as it seems. I always have a great time with a book when I have no flaming clue what is going on, just that I MUST know so therefore I’m desperate to pick it up again. It helps when the writing is full of depth and beautifully descriptive as it is here, when it has characters you can root for and relate to, the emotional connection between reader and story is achieved in clever fashion.
Overall loved it. More like this one would be good. Please. And bring Dan back. You know you want to.
Highly Recommended.
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Happy Reading Folks!
I read somewhere “Dan Forrester book” after the title, which suggests there may be more, methinks! Didn’t like the wife; with you on Lucy and Grace. Pity we didn’t see more of Stella. And I liked the Sirius/handbag touch, and what he said to Grace, I think it was? A likeable serial killer (almost!), or cleaner, as they call them! Great review, had v similar sentiments as you.