Review: Every Last Lie by Mary Kubica

Title: Every Last Lie by Mary Kubica
Publisher: Park Row Books
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery
Length: 336 pages
Book Rating: C+

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through NetGalley

Summary:

New York Times bestselling author of THE GOOD GIRL Mary Kubica is back with another exhilarating thriller as a widow’s pursuit of the truth leads her to the darkest corners of the psyche. 

Clara Solberg’s world shatters when her husband and their four-year-old daughter are in a car crash, killing Nick while Maisie is remarkably unharmed. The crash is ruled an accident…until the coming days, when Maisie starts having night terrors that make Clara question what really happened on that fateful afternoon.

Tormented by grief and her obsession that Nick’s death was far more than just an accident, Clara is plunged into a desperate hunt for the truth. Who would have wanted Nick dead? And, more important, why? Clara will stop at nothing to find out—and the truth is only the beginning of this twisted tale of secrets and deceit.

Told in the alternating perspectives of Clara’s investigation and Nick’s last months leading up to the crash, master of suspense Mary Kubica weaves her most chilling thriller to date—one that explores the dark recesses of a mind plagued by grief and shows that some secrets might be better left buried.

Review:

In Every Last Lie by Mary Kubica, a widow becomes convinced her husband’s car accident was murder but will she find the answers she is searching for when she begins digging into his life?

Clara and Nick Solberg are sleep-deprived parents to four day old son Felix when Nick and 4 year old daughter Maisie are involved in a car accident. Maisie emerges from the wreckage with barely a scratch while Nick suffers catastrophic traumatic brain injury that is impossible to survive. Police quickly rule the car wreck an accident but Clara, unable to accept their conclusion, is certain her husband was murdered after Maisie begins suffering nightmares and telling her mother a “bad man” is after them.  Grief stricken and exhausted, Clara starts an investigation to find evidence to support her theory that Nick was murdered, but will she find the proof she is searching for?

Clara is overwhelmed with grief and barely able to function after Nick’s death. Between the demands of caring for a newborn and trying to make sense of her husband’s unbelievable death, she is not eating or sleeping when she becomes obsessed with trying to find proof Nick was murdered. As she begins delving into Nick’s life, she uncovers information that leaves her reeling and wondering if she really knew her husband. Her behavior is increasingly erratic as she makes mindboggling decisions in her quest for answers.  Clara becomes somewhat unhinged as she begins making crazed accusations after she uncovers evidence that seemingly supports her somewhat wild theories about what happened to Nick.

Chapters from Nick’s perspective in the months leading up to his death which focus on the events occurring in the present are interspersed with Clara’s chapters in the present. These glimpses of his life outside of the home offer an unflattering portrait of secrets, lies and omissions as events slowly snowball out of his control. Desperate to fix the things that are going wrong, Nick makes questionable decisions that jeopardize everything he holds dear. After his death, Clara stumbles onto some of his activities which contribute to her growing conviction that his death is the result of foul play.

Every Last Lie is a slow-paced novel with an unusual premise and an increasingly unreliable narrator. Clara is initially a sympathetic character but her out of control behavior, suspicions, outrageous accusations and dangerous choices quickly wear thin. Mary Kubica brings the novel to a somewhat unconventional conclusion that is quite unexpected. While a few loose ends remain, there is an unequivocal resolution to Clara’s quest for the truth about Nick’s death.