Anna Bailey (1)Recensioni

Read this for my bookclub and I went into it thinking I wouldn't really like it - not my style of mystery. However, it kept my interest and I thought the characters were well drawn. It does hit on several tough topics (domestic violence, homosexuality, incest), have not had the bookclub meeting yet and I am curious to see how our discussion will go.½

Where the Truth Lies by Anna Bailey is a recommended murder mystery set in an insular small Colorado town. Considering I love a good thriller this was just up my alley. I have somehow fallen a rabbit hole that is mysteries this year that will continue into 2022. I think because my best friend loves anything to do with a crime that I enjoy these even more.

Emma's best friend Abigail is missing after a party held in the woods outside the small Colorado town of Whistling Ridge. The last time she saw her friend, Abi was going to meet a boy in the woods... and then she disappeared. She does not believe Abi ran away without telling her first, but when evidence is discovered that something happened to her friend, Emma sets out to uncover the truth. The trouble is that this is a town full of secrets and prejudices that everyone is hiding and violence always seems just behind every turn.

The plot moves along at a swift pace and the tension keeps you reading. I felt that every word had its place on the page making it a joy to read.

Cuando Emma se separa de su amiga Abigail durante una fiesta nocturna en el bosque, en la que todos han bebido más de la cuenta, todavía cree que sus vidas están a punto de empezar. Pero Emma no volverá a ver nunca más a su amiga. Sin embargo, lo que ocurre a partir de este momento en Whistling Ridge, un remoto y claustrofóbico pueblo de Colorado, es mucho más que la historia de una chica desaparecida.

Es una historia de rencores y secretos, resentimientos y rabia, amor y mentiras. La desaparición de Abigail hará que la fachada de hipocresía y fervor religioso, que domina a los habitantes del pueblo, se desmorone y que la lucha de Emma por descubrir la verdad convierta a todos los vecinos del pueblo en sospechosos y cómplices de la tragedia...½

While reading Anna Bailey’s Tall Bones I was reminded of Philip Larkin’s This be the Verse. Yes, it’s the one which notoriously starts with an F-word and then, in a startlingly lyrical shift, tells us that “man hands on misery to man/it deepens like a coastal shelf”. At one point, one of the novel’s characters almost paraphrases this same thought: “Even if they live…we all end up with our children’s blood on our hands, one way or another”.

Whistling Ridge, the predominantly white, predominantly Baptist town in the Colorado Rocky Mountains where Tall Bones is set, has a particularly high incidence of problematic parents. The worst dad accolade, however, must surely go to Samuel Blake, Vietnam War veteran, alcoholic and Bible-basher. His wife Dolly and children Noah, 17-year old Abi and young Jude bear the physical and emotional scars of his righteous wrath. But Samuel is not the only bad guy in the vicinity. Pastor Lewis uses the pulpit to incite hatred against anyone who is different, whether gay or outsider (imagine what he does to Romanian immigrant Rat, who is both). Landowner Jerry Maddox is a racist with a penchant for young girls.

As one can imagine, Whistling Ridge is hardly the most entertaining place on earth and so when Abi Blake disappears after a party in the woods, there is some hope that she might have simply escaped its suffocating small-town atmosphere. But her best friend Emma, guilty at having gone home without Abi, is afraid of worse. Sheriff Gains seems to share her opinion, even while seemingly hiding dark secrets of his own.

Tall Bones develops into a riveting thriller with plenty of dark, Gothic tropes – a missing girl, cabins in the woods, car chases, night-time escapades, fiery preachers, shady sheriffs. Bailey certainly knows how to build atmosphere and how to delay the revelation of the mysteries at the heart of the book. At the end of a horrific ride we are even regaled with some emotionally cathartic scenes.

I found Tall Bones to be great fun (although “fun” is hardly a suitable word to use for a novel featuring graphic violence and multiple stories of abuse). Only time will tell whether it will also be a memorable read for me – I doubt it though, since I felt it did not do anything particularly new with the tropes it relies on. Part of the problem is, perhaps, that the novel’s villains are almost irremediably flawed. Characters such as Samuel and the pastor have few positive traits if at all, and no serious attempt is made to understand how their characters have been shaped - in the case of Samuel there is a reference to a possessive mother and a disturbing event in Vietnam but even these traumatic events hardly explain the monster portrayed. As an atmospheric thriller, Tall Bones works perfectly. As a character study, it is less successful.

https://endsoftheword.blogspot.com/2022/02/tall-bones-by-anna-bailey.html

Reader beware: Where The Truth Lies by Anna Bailey features themes of physical and emotional abuse as well as violence, drinking, drugs, and more. In a world becoming more and more polarized along stereotypes, a book that pulls on the ideas creating that divide, for me, is a challenge to get through. This is a depressing and dark story, and it is nothing of what I expect from the title or the description. I walk away, completely not the reader for this book.

Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2022/12/where-truth-lies.html

Reviewed for NetGalley.

This story alternates between before Abigail Blake goes missing to after she is missing.
On Whistling Ridge, Abigail Blake, 17, goes into the forest to party with other teens at a bonfire.
Emma Alvarez and Abigail Blake had gone to the bonfire together but against her better judgment, Emma left Abi behind when she insists on staying after she sees Hunter, her crush. When Abigail goes missing after not coming home from the bonfire, Emma is overwhelmed with guilt and grief. Unfortunately, Emma begins to spiral out of control when she begins spending time with Rat Lãcustã, a Romanian who sells cocaine and supplies Emma with alcohol in his trailer home.

Like most stories, life is rarely what is portrayed to others. Dolly Blake mother asks son, Noah, 22 yo, where he was when Abigail doesn’t come home. Samuel Blake is an abusive, judgmental father who believes this tragedy is a result of the “sins of the family” referring to Noah being gay. His reaction is a result of his own childhood experiences with an overbearing religious mother. Their young emotional son, Jude, responds by kneeling in gravel driveway to pray. Of course, Hunter becomes a person of suspicion being the last person to have seen Abigail before she went missing. Unfortunately, Sheriff Gaines believe she is just a runaway who will return.

This story has an interesting cast of characters each with their own motives for concealing secrets which may be able to help find Abigail. It’s a challenge finding out “where the truth lies” among the many controversial stories which begin to unravel exposing dark truths. Unburying the wicked sins of the past is the only solution to discovering the truths which could help find Abigail.

There were so many suspects! Great book.

While reading Anna Bailey’s Tall Bones I was reminded of Philip Larkin’s This be the Verse. Yes, it’s the one which notoriously starts with an F-word and then, in a startlingly lyrical shift, tells us that “man hands on misery to man/it deepens like a coastal shelf”. At one point, one of the novel’s characters almost paraphrases this same thought: “Even if they live…we all end up with our children’s blood on our hands, one way or another”.

Whistling Ridge, the predominantly white, predominantly Baptist town in the Colorado Rocky Mountains where Tall Bones is set, has a particularly high incidence of problematic parents. The worst dad accolade, however, must surely go to Samuel Blake, Vietnam War veteran, alcoholic and Bible-basher. His wife Dolly and children Noah, 17-year old Abi and young Jude bear the physical and emotional scars of his righteous wrath. But Samuel is not the only bad guy in the vicinity. Pastor Lewis uses the pulpit to incite hatred against anyone who is different, whether gay or outsider (imagine what he does to Romanian immigrant Rat, who is both). Landowner Jerry Maddox is a racist with a penchant for young girls.

As one can imagine, Whistling Ridge is hardly the most entertaining place on earth and so when Abi Blake disappears after a party in the woods, there is some hope that she might have simply escaped its suffocating small-town atmosphere. But her best friend Emma, guilty at having gone home without Abi, is afraid of worse. Sheriff Gains seems to share her opinion, even while seemingly hiding dark secrets of his own.

Tall Bones develops into a riveting thriller with plenty of dark, Gothic tropes – a missing girl, cabins in the woods, car chases, night-time escapades, fiery preachers, shady sheriffs. Bailey certainly knows how to build atmosphere and how to delay the revelation of the mysteries at the heart of the book. At the end of a horrific ride we are even regaled with some emotionally cathartic scenes.

I found Tall Bones to be great fun (although “fun” is hardly a suitable word to use for a novel featuring graphic violence and multiple stories of abuse). Only time will tell whether it will also be a memorable read for me – I doubt it though, since I felt it did not do anything particularly new with the tropes it relies on. Part of the problem is, perhaps, that the novel’s villains are almost irremediably flawed. Characters such as Samuel and the pastor have few positive traits if at all, and no serious attempt is made to understand how their characters have been shaped - in the case of Samuel there is a reference to a possessive mother and a disturbing event in Vietnam but even these traumatic events hardly explain the monster portrayed. As an atmospheric thriller, Tall Bones works perfectly. As a character study, it is less successful.

https://endsoftheword.blogspot.com/2022/02/tall-bones-by-anna-bailey.html

Après la disparition de son amie Abigael, Emma essaie de trouver ce qu’il lui est arrivé. Finalement, on découvre que c’est le père d’Abigael qui a tué sa fille, un homme qui bat ses enfants et sa femme. À la fin, sa femme décide de le tuer

between 3.5 and 4 stars. i thought this was pretty great. the writing is excellent and really kept me super engaged. but the story, too, was really good - i felt like i never knew who to trust or where to find the truth. i had a little trouble keeping it all straight, but i think had i read it instead of listened that that wouldn't have been an issue. (the book goes back and forth between "then" and "now" and because the "then" is all over the place - last year, decades ago, and everything in between - and because each "then" or "now" part has many sections with different snippets of stories and points of view - emma's, noah's, jude's, dolly's, hunter's, rat's, even abigail's - it was just a little hard to keep track of it all.) but i really liked this.

i always like when the "righteous" in the community are the evil doers and that was so true here, both in the pastor and in samuel, but also in the entire congregation more generally. i thought that even though these people were evil, they were more complicated than that, they had histories and pasts that informed their terrible behavior now. or at least samuel did, as awful as he was.

this book is so much more than that, though. there's family drama, racism, classism, domestic violence, child abuse, xenophobia, and small town mentality throughout this book. as well as friends trying to stand up for each other and do their best, and people wanting to be better but failing. there is survival and desperation. but it never felt like too much to me. it felt really well drawn, and terrible for these people living through these things. but sadly realistic and just so well written.

The story is told with frequent, short now and then segments, as well as from the point of view of numerous characters. The changes from one time and person to another is very confusing at times, since the “then” parts can be anywhere from days ago to 20 years ago. I was enjoying the story to begin with, despite the sudden changes...then we soon learn that this entire small town is a living, breathing, cesspool. There is no one that doesn’t have a secret or two or three. The entire town is filled with prejudices, hatred, lies, cruelty, and debauchery. It doesn’t take long for the story to become overwhelmed with corruption without anything to add any semblance of balance to the people. I trudged through the middle of the story, learning more and more about these disgusting people and not understanding why more kids and adults hadn't run away from this place as fast as they can. The last part of the story seems to pull itself together. This would have been more believable if we hadn't seen so much vileness in the main part of the story.½

The instant Sunday Times bestseller; ‘one of the most exciting debuts of 2021’

Readers of “Where the Truth Lies” intuitively suspect what happens without it explicitly being said, however, that perception is not always accurate. The narrative also hints that everyone in this small town knows what others do not; that is absolutely not correct.
Abigail Blake, seventeen, went to a party. Emma Alvarez left her there; Abigail did not make it home. The police question everyone, and by the end of the week, Abigail’s face grins emptily from a hundred flyers tacked to telephone poles and church billboards, flapping in the Rocky Mountain breeze. She still does not come home.
This is the story of people, both adults and children, and a town. It points out the things that people take for granted and the things they should not. The narrative goes back and forth in time, before all “this” happened, setting the scene for what actually did happen. Everything appeared to be ordinary, usual, blissful, and not dangerous at all, but once people started down that path, the situation proved to be none of those things.
“Where the Truth Lies” is a thought-provoking look at how things can go so wrong for so many so quickly. No one wins in this scenario. The story is focused and evenly paced. Details are important because one small modification along the way could have changed things. But in the end, there are just too many secrets in this town for anything but a self-imploding tragedy.
I received a review copy of “Where the Truth Lies” from Anna Bailey, Simon & Schuster, and Atria Books. It is a story of viciousness and exploitation by evil-minded people. It is thought provoking, but perhaps not for every reader.

Anna Bailey's debut novel Where the Truth Lies has just released.
From Atria Books: "When seventeen-year-old Abigail goes missing, her best friend Emma, compelled by the guilt of leaving her alone at a party in the woods, sets out to discover the truth about what happened. The police initially believe Abi ran away, but Emma doesn’t believe that her friend would leave without her, and when officers find disturbing evidence in the nearby woods, the festering secrets and longstanding resentment of both Abigail’s family and the people of Whistling Ridge, Colorado begin to surface with devastating consequences."

Where the Truth Lies is a simmering cesspool of a tale. Bailey gives us multiple points of view through a number of characters. Within those points of view, the time frame moves from past to present, allowing the reader access to the background of the players as well as the how and why of what's happening now. While the mystery of Abigail's disappearance or murder is always there, it isn't the driving force of the plot. Instead it serves as a catalyst for an inevitable final reckoning amongst townsfolk and within families.

I found I had to pick up and put down the book numerous times. I can only take so much ugliness, cruelty, bigotry, abuse of power, brutality and intolerance in one sitting. Gentle readers, this is most def not a book for you.

There are 'good' characters and others that are downright despicable. Those who still have goodness in them struggle mightily to exist in this town. I shouted out loud more than once for them to run, leave, get away and leave this godforsaken place behind.

My visceral reaction to Bailey's novel speaks to the strength of her prose, character development and descriptions of time and place. That being said, I did find overall that while well written, it was also overwrought in terms of the depravity in this town and it's inhabitants.

Bailey was born in England and raised in England but moved to Colorado after university. In 2018, she returned to the UK Where the Truth Lies, Tall Bones, inspired by her time in the US. Which is a little scary....

The Short of It:

This story keeps you guessing.

The Rest of It:

At a party in the woods, seventeen-year-old Abigail leaves her friend Emma to hang out with a boy. The next day, she turns up missing. Emma keeps revisiting the last moments she had with her. The moment where she pleaded for Abigail not to go but Abigail always had a mind of her own and now, she’s gone. Emma’s only friend.

The community is rocked by her disappearance but small communities, ones that know everyone, also know their business and Abigail’s family left a lot to be desired. A father who drinks too much, beats his wife and children, a mother who is powerless to protect them, it’s no wonder the girl went missing. She probably ran away the first chance she got.

Emma knows better though. And as the police come up short again and again and don’t seem to care whether she is found or not, Emma begins to investigate on her own and secrets begin to reveal themselves. Did she even know Abigail? Can you ever really know a person?

There are a lot of stories out there about missing people. Especially, young girls. What I liked about Where The Truth Lies is that it’s more than just a missing person story. The level of abuse that Abigail’s family is forced to endure and the relationships they seek as a means to survive, really carried this story for me. You will care about these characters even though they don’t always make the best choices. They are flawed and damaged but I felt that the story came together beautifully given how many characters the author chose to focus on.

Well done. Recommend. Trigger warning for sexual abuse.

For more reviews, visit my blog: Book Chatter.

I don’t really consider myself a sensitive reader that needs trigger warnings, but this book may be the exception. There is quite a bit of abuse going around in the small town of Whistling Ridge. To add to that, the residents follow an overzealous preacher and seem unable to think for themselves.

I liked the mystery of the story. Abigail goes missing and there were plenty of possibilities as to what could have happened to her and who was involved. Many believed she simply ran away to flee her horrible family life.

It seems the only person who really cared about Abigail was her little brother Jude and her best friend Emma. I believe Emma and Jude may have been the only characters I cared about in the story.

I liked how the author gave readers the point of view from numerous characters. This has quite a bit of scandalous tidbits to offer readers. I think the only reason I can’t rate it higher was because it was just such a dark world for some of the characters in the story and I must not have been in the right mood to read something of this nature.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Atria books for allowing me to read an advance copy and offer my honest review.

Where the Truth Lies by Anna Bailey is a recommended murder mystery set in an insular small Colorado town.

Emma's best friend Abigail is missing after a party held in the woods outside the small Colorado town of Whistling Ridge. The last time she saw her friend, Abi was going to meet a boy in the woods... and then she disappeared. She does not believe Abi ran away without telling her first, but when evidence is discovered that something happened to her friend, Emma sets out to uncover the truth. The trouble is that this is a town full of secrets and prejudices that everyone is hiding and violence always seems just behind every turn.

The plot moves along at a swift pace and the tension keeps you reading. The story is told through present day activities and flashback to the past. While this is a dynamic, intense narrative with many characters and pieces composing the overall structure of the mystery, it is also a novel of stereotypical characters composed of shopworn descriptions and dialogue. No spoilers, but these small town stereotypes are just that, typecasts of a kind of person, but the thing is that all these people with their secrets and prejudices in this town is just too much and highly unlikely to occur. The key to appreciate this novel is to focus on the quality of the writing, which is good and descriptive for a debut novelist, and set aside all your disbelief that this is a little too soap opera-ish and melodramatic.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Atria Books.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2021/07/where-truth-lies-by-anna-bailey-8321.html
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4144525976

Full review here: http://girlwellread.blogspot.com/2021/07/where-truth-lies-by-anna-bailey.html

Where the Truth Lies operates on two levels. On the surface, it is a suspenseful mystery about the disappearance of a high school girl, her family’s trauma, and the determined efforts of her best friend to find out what happened to her. On another level, it explores the pathology of secrets and expectations that make small-town life so oppressive.

Whistling Ridge is one of those hollowed-out tourist towns dominated by one powerful employer and a powerful church pastor. When Abigail disappears, the police assume she ran away and the investigation seems haphazard and desultory. Her best friend, Emma, is certain Abi would never leave without saying goodbye and tries hard to find out what happened. As the frequent target of bullies, this requires her to go far out of her comfort zone.

Abi’s family seems broken by her loss, but it becomes clear that the family has been broken for a long time. Her father is abusive to his wife and sons, though he adored his daughter. The abuse they suffer is an open secret, but so long as they don’t talk about it, the rest of the town can ignore it, can’t they? Besides, when Abi’s mom asked for help after her husband broke her son’s nose and crippled her younger son in a rage, his response was to ask her what she did to provoke him. Abi’s older brother is in love with a Romanian immigrant living at the trailer park. But being gay is not an option in this insular town.

Where the Truth Lies succeeds on both levels. As a mystery, it is fair and we have what we need to know what happened to Abi. As social commentary, it is heartbreaking and very real. The misogyny that is the foundation of this town’s social structure is realistic. There is a communal act of violence that may seem outrageous and unlikely, but that’s only if you ignore our history of communal violence.

This was a slow book for me to get through because it was often painful, there was just too much heartbreak and pain and I had to stop for air. The writing, though, is beautiful and melancholy. At times it felt like poetry, but grievous and sorrowful poetry.

Where the Truth Lies will be released on August 3rd. I received an e-galley from the publisher through NetGalley.

Where the Truth Lies at Atria Books | Simon & Schuster
Anna Bailey on InstaGram

https://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpress.com/2021/07/28/9781982157166/

He is a bullet that has entered the town and not yet left an exit wound. from Where the Truth Lies by Anna Bailey

Riveting and dark, this story grabs you with razor teeth and won’t let go. The writing is sharp and the characters heartbreakingly real. The suspense builds beautifully.

Small towns. I lived in a few, briefly. I never understood any of them. But I learned about the gossip, the rumors, how information passes in hushed tones. The way folk could live there decades and still be outsiders. The conformity. How anger gathers in church halls and lashes out, splitting communities. Tourists come into the resort towns to enjoy the beauty, then depart, never knowing the pain and poverty behind the souvenir shops and ice cream parlors.

Anna Bailey has imagined a small town of small minded people and those wracked with guilt, broken people hiding their shame and those who believe they are meant to deal out divine justice.

There is the Vietnam veteran broken by war and a rash act committed when nineteen, driven to God and alcohol to cope, whose anger terrorizes his family. And the pastor and police chief and mill owner who run the town, believing they are the law of man and of God.

And the victims are outsiders, women, and children.

Guilt is a hard body to bury, no matter how many times you might claim God forgives you. You let some things fester long enough, they grow teeth and claws and crawl their way back to the surface again. from Where the Truth Lies by Anna Bailey

But it is also the women and the children who finally break the cycle, the least who become the moral leaders. The abused children, the rejected gay boys, the son who seeks his own path, the crippled child who sees what he does not understand. The woman whose husband was driven away and the woman whose husband beats her.

The story is dark because we do deal such darkness out to each other. The racism, the hate, the fear. Children are trapped and self-immolate or escape.

But at the end, there is a glimmer of redemption. Damage is done, but it is never too late to change your life.

I received a free galley from the publisher through Edelweiss. My review is fair and unbiased.

This was a haunting yet beautiful debut thriller that I couldn’t get enough of. I hated putting this book down and needed to know what happened next. I became invested in the mystery surrounding Abby but also in the lives of the residents of Whistling Ridge. Every resident has a story to tell and these stories are heartbreaking, disturbing, and human. There were some characters I wished I could reach through the pages and hug, and others I wanted to throttle.
As someone who grew up in a small town, the author was spot on with her depictions of that life, and some of the behaviors I read about triggered memories of my own experiences. The author doesn’t hold anything back with her often brutally realistic depictions of xenophobia, racism, abuse, and evangelical religion.
But despite the dark depictions of humanity, the author balances it well with poetic imagery. Reading, you can almost imagine for yourself the cool mountain breeze at your back, or see the majestic snowy peaks in the distance.
I will be recommending this book to everyone I know, and I am looking forward to Anna Bailey’s next book.

Such a hard book for me to get into. We have some seriously dysfunctional families with a lot of secrets which do nothing more than feed the rot that grows in them. This writing was a bit convoluted but I did manage to enjoy most of this.