Sliver of Truth is fueled with fast-paced dialogue and non-stop action that will seduce adrenaline junkies, but frustrate those who prefer a cohesive narrative with a semblance of logic. She spends a great deal of time on the run, and later in disguise. In desperation, Ridley does turn to a variety of people for help. Should she confide everything that she knows to Dylan? How does she feel about her lover, Jake, who has become increasingly distant lately? Can she reconcile her memories of Max as a kind and compassionate man with the psychotic monster that others have declared him to be? Should she keep moving and investigating on her own, or turn herself over to the authorities? Is there anyone out there she can trust? One day, a handsome FBI agent named Dylan Grace accosts Ridley, hoping that she will lead him to Max. Ridley is chagrined to learn that Max may be alive, since she saw him in his casket and later scattered what she thought were his ashes. After her photograph appeared in the paper, Ridley informs us, the publicity "led to a series of events that would force me to question virtually everything about my former perfect life." She finds out that her parents and her beloved Uncle Max Smiley (a name fraught with irony) are frauds and that Max may be a criminal mastermind who is wanted by some very powerful, violent, and determined people. Ridley originally became famous as a result of an act of heroism, but her fame brought her more punishment than reward. This is strange, since as a freelance writer, she should probably be more savvy and sophisticated. Ridley is impulsive, gullible, and unworldly.
Ridley is an overwrought individual who frequently cries and blacks out under stress the supercharged plot provides plenty of opportunities for her to fall apart and zone out. The heroine and narrator is Ridley Jones, who speaks directly to her audience in a breezy and conversational style, as if she were a teenager writing in her diary. It really does not work as a stand-alone mystery, despite what some may claim. Unger throws us into the middle of the action with only tidbits of the back-story to provide a frame of reference for the bewildered reader. The author introduces the story with a violent prologue, and then segues into a chapter that foreshadows the book's dramatic conclusion. If you haven't read Lisa Unger's first novel, Beautiful Lies, you will likely find her sequel, Sliver of Truth, extremely confusing. But sometimes turning away just isn’t an option.” I had been guilty of putting myself in the path of harm when I could have easily crossed the street.
(Reviewed by Eleanor Bukowsky JAN 20, 2007)
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