A familiar stranger

A. R. Torre

Book - 2022

"Lillian Smith leads an unexceptional life, writing obituaries and killing time with her inattentive husband and disconnected son. Then she meets David, a handsome stranger, in a coffee shop. Lured into an affair, she invents a new persona, one without strings, deadlines, or brooding husbands. Lillian has never felt so reckless, unpredictable, or wanted. But as her affair with David intensifies, she withdraws from everything that's real, even her closest friend. When evidence of her life as a secret lover finds its way onto her son's social media, she risks ruining much more than her marriage or reputation. As lies beget lies, Lillian's two worlds spiral dangerously out of control. And betrayals run deeper than she imagi...nes. Because Lillian isn't the only one leading a double life"--

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FICTION/Torre, A. R.
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Subjects
Genres
Thrillers (Fiction)
Domestic fiction
Published
Seattle, WA : Thomas & Mercer [2022]
Language
English
Main Author
A. R. Torre (author)
Item Description
Includes book club questions.
Physical Description
268 pages ; 21 cm
ISBN
9781662500121
Contents unavailable.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Lillian Smith, the principal narrator of this gripping psychological thriller from bestseller Torre (The Good Lie), has a lot to worry about: her husband, Mike, is cheating on her; her high school junior son, Jacob, is becoming extremely alienated and uncommunicative; and she's fired from her job as an obituary writer for the Los Angeles Times. Doubting that Mike will end his affair, Lillian decides to embark on an affair of her own after meeting David Laurent, the owner of a screen-printing T-shirt company who lives in Nevada but regularly visits L.A.--and to adopt the identity of a recently deceased woman with an exciting life. The trouble begins when a video of Lillian--specifically identifying her as "Jacob's mama"--appears on TikTok showing her scantily clad and kissing David. The tension grows as flashbacks over a period of two months, amid many twists and turns, build up to the death of an unknown person. Along the way, the author skillfully reveals the characters' many lies and secrets. Torre knows how to keep the reader guessing. Agent: Maura Kye-Casella, Don Congdon Assoc. (Sept.)

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Review by Kirkus Book Review

A Los Angeles Times obituary writer who likes to tweet riddles asking which of three imaginary characters will die becomes the center of a triple-twisted riddle of her own. Two months before the death of a woman the author doesn't initially identify, Lillian Smith accidentally learns that her husband, financial manager Mike Smith, has spent the weekend at a posh Santa Barbara hotel with someone who wasn't her. So she's less inclined than usual to resist the advances of T-shirt printer David Laurent when he flirts with her. From that point on, as Lillian confesses alternately to her best friend, Sam Knight, and Lenny Thompson, a retired LAPD detective who tends the grounds at the cemetery where his 7-year-old daughter is buried, things go rapidly downhill. Fired from her job at the Times, Lillian starts a serious affair with David, who's gotten her work at the marina where his boat is docked. Someone posts PG--rated but still damning video evidence of her affair online, where it's watched by everyone she knows, including the high school classmates of her son, Jacob, who proceed to make his life miserable. And that's all before the death of one of the principals. Torre is hoarding so many surprises that readers are bound to see one or two of them coming, but since everyone involved has secrets to hide from the other characters whose secrets they're sure they know, the unwary, and maybe even the wary, should buckle up and prepare for a wild ride whose perfectly timed shocks won't end till the last page. A whiplash suspenser that's a model of its kind. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.