In Where the Truth Lies, Bailey explores racism, bigotry, family abuse, the cycle of abuse carried down through generations, homophobia, the toxicity of conversion therapy, and so much more. At the center of this town is the church, with a twisted pastor who uses the congregation to fuel his hatred using his rigid beliefs, living out the old testament in the bible.
So much comes to light after Abigail disappears. Unfortunately, the townspeople have spent so much time looking down on her family that they aren’t all that interested in her disappearance, including most of the police force. There are too many people carrying secrets that need to come to light.
Where the Truth Lies is a book that addresses so many real-world issues in such a small town. It’s an impactful, slow-creeping thriller that is sometimes a difficult read that will sit with you long after you’ve finished the last page. Thank you, Atria Books, for sending this along!
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Where the Truth Lies is available on Amazon for $12.99.
About the Book
The town of Whistling Ridge guards its secrets.
When seventeen-year-old Abigail goes missing, her best friend Emma, compelled by the guilt of leaving her alone at a party in the woods, sets out to discover the truth about what happened. The police initially believe Abi ran away, but Emma doesn’t believe that her friend would leave without her, and when officers find disturbing evidence in the nearby woods, the festering secrets and longstanding resentment of both Abigail’s family and the people of Whistling Ridge, Colorado begin to surface with devastating consequences.
Among those secrets: Abi’s older brother Noah’s passionate, dangerous love for the handsome Rat, a recently arrived Romanian immigrant who has recently made his home in the trailer park in town; her younger brother Jude’s feeling that he knows information he should tell the police, if only he could put it into words; Abi’s father’s mercurial, unpredictable rages and her mother’s silence. Then there is the rest of Whistling Ridge, where a charismatic preacher advocates for God’s love in language that mirrors violence, under the sway of the powerful businessman who rules the town, insular and wary of outsiders.
But Abi had secrets, too, and the closer Emma grows to unraveling the past, the farther she feels from her friend. And in a tinder box of small-town rage, and all it will take is just one spark—the truth of what really happened that night—to change their community forever.
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