His Last Lie
Erik Therme
231 pages
published October 15, 2024
About the book
Everyone has secrets …
When Ryan’s dying father gives him a sealed shoebox with instructions to open once he’s passed, Ryan can only speculate on what’s inside. The last thing he expects is for his father to shoot himself immediately afterward, or for the shoebox to contain ten thousand dollars cash.
But the money isn’t for Ryan; it’s for someone named Jamie Norton. When Ryan learns Jamie is an old friend of the family with a shady past, he looks to his mother for answers.
But he isn’t the only one looking.
Ryan thought he knew his parents. But the deeper he digs, the more he learns that some families will do whatever it takes to keep their secrets buried—no matter what the cost.
My Review
It reads a little more like a family drama wrapped around a mystery than a thriller, but I was in from the start. Ryan’s father commits suicide with a box full of money left for his son to give to someone else. Hello, I wanted to know all there was to know. Good thing as there was a lot of characters that it was hard to decide if I liked. The more I read the more surprised I was by who the characters actually are.
Everyone is harboring secrets and a few of them surprised me. As the facts changed the narrative, so did my thoughts and connections with the characters. Everyone isn’t always what they seem or even what they appear to be. It lulled me into a complacency with the story and then surprised me with a few twists based on those previously mentioned secrets.
Relationships are also a big part of the mystery. Family, parents, significant others. All of these complicate Ryan’s life as he plans to marry and tries to be the best person he could be.
This isn’t a twisty thriller, but a character driven story with a good pace and a compelling mystery that kept me wanting to know more.
Erik Therme has thrashed in garage bands, inadvertently harbored runaways, and met Darth Vader. When he’s not at his computer, he can be found cheering on his youngest daughter’s volleyball team, or watching horror movies with his oldest. He currently resides in Iowa City, Iowa—one of only twenty-eight places in the world that UNESCO has certified as a City of Literature.
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Zoé
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