"All The Beautiful Lies"

“All The Beautiful Lies”

Written by Peter Swanson

Review written by Diana Iozzia

I have found a new favorite author in the psychological thriller and mystery genre. Peter Swanson’s books and I have a new friendship. I recently read his newest book, “Before She Knew Him” and really liked it until the last twist. However, I was still very excited to read “All the Beautiful Lies”, and it really won in my favor.

This book follows many different characters and time jumps. Swanson tells the narratives by separating them in “Now” and “Then” labels for each chapter. We meet our present day, Harry, as he comes back to town after his father’s suspicious death, greeted by his ever enigmatic and attractive stepmother. We also meet that stepmother, Alice, as a teenager, living with her alcoholic mother and her seductive (but welcomed) stepfather. We can see why Alice is strange as an adult, and we see her grow older throughout the story, in a “Lolita” / Mrs. Robinson-like fashion. An interesting age of Alice was as a younger adult in her twenties, fully fledged in her sexual and romantic relationship with her stepfather, Jack. Near the end of the story, we also see a bit through Jack’s younger perspective, as a teen, until we reach the present-day perspective. I imagine if you pick this book up after a few days, it may be hard to remember exactly where you are and who every character is, but I read this in one day, so I found it easy.

In addition, we have a small cast of side characters who still play an enormous part in each aspect of the story. We have Caitlin, Grace, John Richards, Gina, Paul, and more. This is a very cohesive story, although there is so much to remember.

I believe that the time jumps and the backstories help enhance this character. I felt that in “Before She Knew Him”, I noticed how Swanson has a small length for the main plot, but we receive copious amounts of exposition, flashbacks, and insight into each character. This does not feel monotonous, but it does mean that the main plot is short and less of a focus. The main plot twist behind the murder was not my favorite choice, but it led every character receive what was coming to them. Either relief, happiness, or just desserts. I still enjoyed every step of the way and found this to be a very absorbing book with many interesting events. I love Peter Swanson’s dialogue, because it is just enough to get the words across, but they feel realistic and still suspenseful. His prose follows that same fashion; there is enough description but enough lacking that it leads to foreshadowing and eager anticipation.

I also have to explain about sympathy and the ability to relate to Peter Swanson’s characters. 

Although the morals and actions are very questionable for most of these characters, the characters are not unlikeable. We see small facets of ourselves in each character, whether we want to or not. I think this reminds us of our humanity in quite a frightening way, similar to Vladimir Nabokov’s style as well. Now, I do not mean to psychoanalyze and assume that everyone who reads this will have daddy issues or psychosexual tendencies. However, I feel we can all see a little loneliness in at least one character. We can recognize their longing or their sadness. Their desperation. I really enjoyed this story, much more than “Before She Knew Him”, but you bet I plan to read all of Peter Swanson’s past and future books.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for reading and reviewing purposes. Thank you to William Morrow and Harper Collins.