Okay, I fully admit the main reason I sprang this book from its nice, warm home on the library shelf was because the author's name caught my eye. Rupert Holmes? Surely not the same Rupert Holmes who wrote one of most iconic soft rock hits of the '70's, and, incidentally, one of my favorite songs from my childhood, even though it surely must have pained my mother to hear her nine year old sing about "making love at midnight in the dunes of a cape?" Yes, the same Rupert Holmes, and, yes, based on his name (and song) alone I checked out this book. Well, this is a great story! I was hooked from the first page. Well, maybe the second. O'Conner, a young, female journalist, is the narrator of this tale, and her voice is so strong that she jumps off the page, and I can envision her as my pal chatting with me over cocktails. Set in the '70's, hers is the story of a smart woman who gets a little overly involved with two "rat-pack"-esque stars past their prime, one of whom she is interviewing for a biography that she's hoping will include details about a shady episode in his past. I was more than pleasantly surprised by this novel's complexity of plot and the fullness of its characters. The word duplicitious can be applied to both, and I found myself at once both loving and loathing O'Conner and the men she investigates.A page turner until the very end, this book is very fun to read has twists and turns to make one giddy, and amazingly Holmes is able to wrap them all up tightly at the end. Wonderful read!
This book is not of the sort that I usually read, in that it was far more graphic in language and sexual content than my tolerance level usually permits. That said, I am otherwise a fan of Rupert Holmes, and there was so much else in the book that was fascinating-- character, story and well written descriptions-- that I kept coming back to it for more. My favorite parts were the notable 1970s descriptions, both of Hollywood and New York, styles and mannerisms, but especially the descriptions of Disneyland. It was also a curious way to write a mystery because you don't even find out what the crime is until well into the novel, although our protagonist starts sorting out the "truth" from the beginning.
Do You like book Where The Truth Lies: A Novel (2004)?
positives: images of 70s were quite vivid. very absorbing plot and enjoyable to read.negatives: ending was forced. a very agatha christie like scene where all is solved. though the book is handled in no way reminiscent of christie, the consecutive deaths and the unravelling of plot is like those not unlike many before. the scene where she cuffes herself to the faucet is almost done for the movie, which i haven't yet watched but think might use some of the almost cinematographic scenes in the boo
—Ezgi
The heroine was a little too slutty for my taste but she made up for that by being plucky and ever the optimist. Just when I thought I had the plot figured out the author would throw in a twist that I never expected so the last few pages were real page-turners. My favorite thing about the book was the nostalgia of hearing the names of all those old TV and radio announcers, memories of LA in the 50's and 60's, and especially Disneyland in the old days. His descriptions of The Magic Kingdom really brought back a lot of memories for me. A few of his details of the times made me wonder "How could he possibly know about that?"
—Chris
