This is Shari Lapena at her finest, weaving a masterful psychological thriller that this reader scarfed down in two days. Everyone Here Is Lying has Shari Lapena's signature concise, straightforward writing and a linear storyline that unfolds with precision. The tension is palpable and mounts with each turn of the page.
William Wooler is having an affair. When he takes the afternoon off from his medical practice to meet his lover Nora Blanchard at the motel they frequent, Nora breaks things off with him. William goes home to process this and have some time to himself; but he finds his nine-year-old daughter Avery unexpectedly there, sent home from choir practice early for misbehavior. Avery is oppositional and difficult, both at home and at school. She sasses her dad and William hits her upside the head - hard. He leaves the house and later, Avery goes missing.
The police are summoned, and William lies to the detectives about being at the house with Avery both to hide his adultery and out of shame for hitting her. William's wife Erin is beside herself and their teen son Michael blames himself for not walking Avery home. Members of the Wooler family, the Blanchard family, and everyone else in the neighborhood are put under a microscope as the race against the clock to find the little girl is under way.
People point fingers at other people and the small community becomes more and more unhinged. As accusations fly, one of the detectives has the thought that it's not necessarily the ones who seem different that you need to be afraid of- it's the ones who can carry off normal without anyone suspecting a thing.
There's a pivotal point in the novel when everyone is desperately hoping for some news about Avery. William ponders that kids are going to turn out the way they're going to turn out, despite their parent's best intentions. Love is unconditional in spite of that, and the novel reaches its crescendo in a most shocking way. This is an excellent, quick read and I give it a 5/5!
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