Sliver of Truth

There's a lot of mystery but not a sliver of excitement in this story. It's apparent that Ann Marie Lee tries to bring vivacity to her job here, but the task is too great for her winsome and passionate voice. This story needs a well-developed character and some highs and lows--qualities a reader can't make up by herself. But here, with a plot that's unfathomable and a heroine measured until almost the end, one soon loses interest. In this story, Ridley Jones is searching for a secret that involves her fugitive parents, her real father, her brother, a boyfriend, a sinister organization, and an ever present FBI agent. After a while, you wonder why. A.L.H. (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine

Starred review from October 23, 2006
Bestseller Unger's sensational second thriller (after Beautiful Lies
) puts her in the same league as such genre masters as Peter Straub and Peter Abrahams. From the cryptic opening section, which ends with a New York Times
reporter finding her husband bleeding to death, Unger grabs the reader by the throat and doesn't let go. Meanwhile, the FBI informs Ridley Jones, a magazine writer, that her late uncle, Max Smiley (who's really her biological father), is still alive and being sought by assorted international players on all sides of the law. Rapidly finding that little in her life is what it seems, Jones is horrified to be confronted with evidence indicating that Smiley is a misogynistic monster of the first order, who may have played a role in the murder of the reporter's husband. Unger's gifts for dialogue and pacing set this far above the standard novel of suspense and will leave many anxiously awaiting her third book. 10-city author tour.

Jenna Lamia guides listeners through young freelance writer Ridley Jones's quest to uncover her biological parentage. Adopted from Project Rescue, an organization rumored to be linked to organized crime, Ridley discovers that her beloved Uncle Max is not her darling old uncle, but her father--and he's dangerous. Jenna Lamia's softly pitched, reedy voice solidly molds Ridley into a troubled heroine, but she paces the story with a speed that lacks the power to sustain itself and sometimes crashes at the end of sentences. Lamia's ability to paint minor characters, such as Ridley's boyfriends, is off the mark, with little to differentiate their voices from Ridley's. This is a good thriller, but it's difficult to follow. M.T.B. (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine