Where They Lie…and lie

Where They Lie by Joe Hart

When a private plane carrying the family of Kaylee Volk, vlogger* and social media influencer, plummets into the ocean, Nora McTavish is the one trying to figure out how it all happened. The only survivor of the crash has a story to tell, but Nora isn’t so sure she’s getting the whole truth.

*vlogger: one who blogs via video

Nora is a case worker with the state child protective services agency and she’s familiar with the Volk family: Kaylee and her husband Justin, along with their three foster children. Nora has even had occasion to investigate the family—someone at school has reported that one of the siblings has bruising around the neck, and that child has confirmed that another sibling is responsible.

Nora is devasted by the loss of the three foster children in the plane crash. Her compulsion to continue investigating the case after the children’s deaths has as much to do with her feeling of unease about the whole situation as it does with her personal history of familial abuse and the foster care system. She is a survivor, and it’s her mission to help other kids survive, too.

What I liked most about this book was Nora’s tenacity. She continues to look for answers on behalf of the three kids despite being suspended from her job, a violent personal assault, and a horrifying attack on her home.

The book is told from Nora’s point of view, though occasionally chapters are interspersed with snippets of Kaylee’s vlog, both on-screen and off. There have been reviewers who believe the snippets are extraneous, but I think they serve an important purpose—they show Kaylee’s family as the rest of the world sees them, but they also show a bit of behind-the-scenes tension between family members as Kaylee shoots her videos.

This book is a thriller, no doubt about it. It moves at a rapid pace, unfurling twist after twist as Nora rushes to find answers in the face of increasing risks and soaring stakes.

Where They Lie isn’t just a thriller—it also offers a commentary on the foster care system and the positives and significant negatives of child protective service laws and related state agencies. There’s also a dark, albeit fictional, look at the culture of social media influencers and how society interacts with them.

One thing that’s important to note: if you’re triggered by child abuse, this might not be the book for you. It deals with some pretty heavy topics. But it’s a good read, and one that I recommend if you’re looking for a thriller to keep you up at night.

***

A Traitor Among Us: A Mystery of Revolutionary America, is on sale for 99¢/99p this week only! The sale ends at midnight EST on Friday, 2/16/24, so if you haven’t read it, grab your copy now! Click HERE to go to my website, where you can be redirected to your favorite online bookseller.

See you next time!

Amy