Beautiful Lies

Ridley Jones is a freelance writer whose life is on track until she is forced to reevaluate all she has ever held to be true. Dark secrets about her past haunt her, including her lack of resemblance to anyone in her family and the absence of photos of her before the age of two. The puzzle grows deeper when she receives an anonymous note asking, "Are you my daughter?" Ann Marie Lee has a pretty voice, but in Lisa Unger's thriller it simply doesn't fit. Her Ridley is too sweet, secondary characters lack depth, and there's no differentiation between moments of passion or calm. Unfortunately, this is a mismatch between story and narrator. S.J.H. (c) AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine

Starred review from January 2, 2006
After an act of heroism garners instant fame for 30-something New York freelancer Ridley Jones, she receives a faded photo of a man, a familiar-looking woman and a little girl along with a note asking, "Are you my daughter?" Shaken, she confronts her parents, who affirm she is theirs by birth; that same day, however, hot new neighbor Jake enters her life, and he's less sure. With breathless speed, Unger is off on an action-packed journey of treachery and intrigue—and sex and romance. Jake turns out to have just as much at stake in discovering Ridley's past as she, but in the way are Ridley's controlling parents; her drug-addicted brother, Ace; her intrusive former boyfriend, pediatrician Zack; and the people protecting the legacy of her Uncle Max, a real estate mogul who used his influence to fund rescue houses for abused women and children. Following leads garnered from scrutinizing the operations of places Max's foundation supports, Ridley and Jake uncover a chilling scheme for taking infants and toddlers from violent homes; their relationship heats up, and Ridley's family gets very edgy. The premise—that there is a dark side to the safe haven law—is deep as well as clever, and Unger plays it out thrillingly. $150,000 ad/promo; 10-city tour
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