Sliver of Truth: A Novel
By Lisa Unger
3.5/5
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Currently unavailable
About this ebook
Charged with relentless intensity and kinetic action, and playing out with unnerving suspense on the streets of New York and London, Sliver of Truth delves deep into the shadowy world of Ridley Jones, a terrified but determined young woman at once hunting down a ghost from her past and running for her life.
Lisa Unger
LISA UNGER, guest editor, is the New York Times and internationally bestselling author of twenty novels, including her latest, Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six. She has been nominated for or won numerous awards, including the Strand Critics, Audie, Macavity, ITW Thriller, and Goodreads Choice Awards as well as the Hammett Prize. In 2019, she received two Edgar Award nominations, an honor held by only a few authors, including Agatha Christie. Lisa is currently copresident of the International Thriller Writers organization.
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Reviews for Sliver of Truth
176 ratings13 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5SLIVER OF TRUTH is Lisa Unger’s second novel. It is a continuation of her first novel, BEAUTIFUL LIES. You’ll understand and enjoy SLIVER OF TRUTH more if you read BEAUTIFUL LIES first.This continuation begins, probably, a year or two after BEAUTIFUL LIES ends. Ridley Jones thought all her troubles were over, but they get even worse now. Not only are there more secrets and lies but one, in particular, sure is a surprise.Who is Ridley’s "Uncle" Max? How important is he and to whom? Did he really die? Plenty of people don’t think so and hope Ridley can help them find him.Again, SLIVER OF TRUTH Is both plot- and character-driven. And, again, Lisa Unger writes in first person and in a conversational manner, as if Ridley is talking just to you.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/53.5 starsRidley Jones is still seeking answers about her biological father, who has died. I won't go into any more summary, as there would likely be spoilers for the first book, Beautiful Lies. I liked it, but not as much as Beautiful Lies. It didn't grab me and pull me in as much as the first one, but it did pick up in the last third or so.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5This is the second book about Ridley Jones, it is a continuation of the Beautiful Lies and while I enjoyed it, I am pretty much done with Ridley Jones. All the way through this novel we get a rehash of the first novel, she repeats herself constantly. We learn her dislike for cell phones and why she is a terrible driver, both facts that were covered in the first novel and didn’t really need to be re-explored here. She also jumps forward in time and and then explains her actions and conversations in a memory tense.
There were some things that were downright implausible, she does some rather stupid things, apparently she didn’t learn anything from the first book, and despite saying she loved New York, she had some rather unfavorable and untrue things to say about it.
As in the first book, she is carrying on with her life and suddenly everything turns upside down. She ends up being chased by bad guys and good guys, can’t trust anyone and falls in love/lust with a new guy, the same way she fell in love/lust with the last guy and that relationship went south. At the end of the book, she doesn’t know who to trust but ends up free and with the guy and although the ending leaves room for another book (please God no), if there is I won’t be reading it, I can’t see this series coming up with anything new. - Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Here there be spoilers.Another couple of thrillers with one, long story. A bit more uneven than the last two like these I read and also a bit outside the bounds of reality. Sure, they’re thrillers, but the protagonist is a flake and makes some pretty stupid decisions. Also, the conspiracy and criminal activity goes pretty deep and wide, but of course never too close to home. Unlikely enemies and unlikely friends abound. I stuck with her for two books, but probably won’t read a third if one ever gets published.Ridley Jones has had a pretty idyllic life. Well-loved by her parents she’s grown up to be a self-sufficient person making a career in freelance journalism. Part of the reason she can do this is the chuck of money left to her by millionaire Uncle Max who died in a car accident not long before the story opens. The only thorn in her side is her addict/street-person brother, Ace, and the fact that things didn’t work out with her fiance. He doesn’t seem to know that he’s been kicked to the curb though.When her instincts kick in and she saves a little kid from being squashed by a beer truck, she gets her 15 minutes of fame and as a result receives a mysterious communication from a stranger that causes her whole world to implode. She’s not really the child she thought she was and her parents have knowledge of a secret world where kids are “rescued” by well-meaning adults and “sold” to rich white people. Of course in her case, it is more complicated than that.Uncle Max is the big villain here, but I didn’t really buy it. He never showed himself until the end, and a cold smile wasn’t enough to do it. All the evidence against him was contained in little reports and files and because none of it was ever on stage, so to speak, it seemed remote and open for doubt. That Ridley came to believe it is clear, but nothing like that was conveyed to me as a reader. Esme and Zack took the stage with their evil deeds, but Max never did and so he remains distant and not much of a threat.Ridley is one of those leading characters designed, I think, to make the reader feel smart. I found her immature with very little control of her emotions. She flew into rages or sulks or the sack with no pause for thought about how these things might affect her. She was by turns paranoid and so trusting that you could hardly feel bad for the consequences because damn, she deserved to get fucked up, lied to and screwed over. Her first person style was also assumptive and sometimes featured stilted language. No one would talk like that or write like that, but after a while I let it go and chalked it up to Ridley’s being a writer. Eh, it got me through.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Just when you thought Ridley Jones might find happiness....wham!! Unger gets you again! This follow up to Beautiful LIes keeps you reeling with suspense and action! What a great story! Thanks Lisa!!
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5eThe most striking thing about this is the very conversational style of writing. It is as if the main character and first person narrator is sitting with you in your living room and telling you all about what happened to her. This can be very engaging, but can also be a little bit jarring, particularly when her asides take you out of the story and her endless analysis of her choices in a specific moment. Foreshadowing is also a little heavy-handed as well as frequent. ("If I had known what was going to happen, I might not have done what I did next.") That being said, everything else about this book was just fabulous. The plot twists, secrets and revlations were riveting, and heart-pounding. The main theme of whether (and how much) who a person is is influenced by who her parents are was quite philosophical and pulled the book together, lifted it slightly above your average mystery/thriller. As this is the sequel to "Beautiful Lies" in which Ridley finds out that her parents are not her parents and that she is actually the biological child of her "Uncle" Max and a woman who was murdered when Ridley was little, as well as the fact that Max was an associate of organized crime, I would really recommend one read that first. I hadn't read it in a while, and my memory was refreshed quite expertly, without a lot of boring exposition, but I don't know that one would be able to follow along well if they hadn't read it at all. Go get the pair of them and read them now. Thanks.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This is an average to good thriller. While the tension is maintained, the plot is sometimes too vague to pose a real intellectual challenge. Still, it is an entertaining read.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This book is the sequel to Lisa Unger's "Beautiful Lies" and I believe that to maximize the enjoyment of the storyline you need to read the books back to back (without a span of several months in between). Sliver picks up where Lies left off and the heroine, Ridley Smith is beset with a whole new set of dilemmas, intrigue, and drama. The story is fast-paced and I really enjoy the author's quirky technique of addressing the reader directly in conversation as she discovers information or reflects on the past or expresses comments that foreshadow the future. Quick and enjoyable for lovers of mystery and thrill.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Although well written and full of intrigue 'Sliver of Truth' doesn't have the edge of your seat, suspense and enthralling drama that 'Beautiful Lies' has. The continuing story of Ridley Jones is one of discovery, the search for truth and the often heart wrenching pain that comes from digging too deep. Unger has a gift for writing, for creating a strong voice and presence of character that makes them come to life on the page. While immersed in this book, and in her last, you loose yourself in the story and in the character's lives. Even though this novel wasn't as suspenseful or intense as the last plot wise, these storyteller's gifts make the book no less an adventure. Whether you've spent time in Ridley's world before or not 'Sliver of Truth' is not to be missed.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Sequel to Beautiful Lies -- Ridley is being used as bait by the FBI, CIA, Mob and other secret operations to lure her biological father out of hiding. No one is whom they seem to be and she discovers that even her adopted father cannot be trusted. Boyfriend Jake has been working undercover all along but she has met Dylan another covert operative. Fast read.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A Literary Thriller, according to the Dutch edition that I read. Thriller, I agree. However, some of the writing I found pretty bad, especially in the beginning. It could well be the translation that is to blame. Later on, I did not notice this anymore. I really got into the book, and read it within 24 hours. Nothing wrong with the story! The main character is a woman journalist, who finds out that her biological father might still be alive, even though his funeral was some years ago. She's then being chased by the FBI, CIA, criminals. No-one is who he seems (there is a lack of female characters in the book), no-one can be trusted. Interesting: she is being chased by some baddies in New York (I think), then wakes up in a hotel room in London (UK). How did she get there? Slowly her memory comes back (partially).Unfortunately, the main character, although being female, never showed much femininity, in her thinking or her actions. This made that I never really warmed to her. [I read the Dutch translation]
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I really enjoyed this! Just like Beautiful Lies it was full of twists and turns and surprises. I love that in a novel of suspense!
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Another good book by Lisa Unger. I heard this book was a disappointment after her first novel, and I partly agree. Unger's first novel is her best, but her second is still better than most thrillers. In this novel, it turns out that Ridley's uncle is still alive and a lot of people (good ánd bad people) are hunting him down, using Ridley as bait.Of course she doesn't know whom to trust and she makes good and bad decisions.What I like about the character Ridley, is that she acts and reacts in the same way any normal person would. She is not extremely gifted of heroic. She is a very real person, and this is the force of the novel. Because the story itself is farfetched. No one gets kidnapped that many times and survives it!