High School Friends ...

NEVER TELL A LIE By: Hallie Nephron ISBN: 9780061567155, Recorded from:, New York, NY : William Morrow, c2009 This is the first book I’ve read by this author, and, while she hasn’t sailed right on to my personal A list, I’d certainly be willing to read more of her work, although I won’t hunt it down. This is the type of tight little mystery/suspense novel that is perfect for a rainy (or snowy) afternoon, accompanied by appropriate food and drink. Cocoa and gingerbread come to mind, but that is a highly personal consideration. A warm afghan or quilt to burrow into would be appropriate, as would a kitty ensconced in lap. The story is part mystery, part suspense novel, and part psychological study, and all are nicely balanced. The author knows how to build suspense, how to gradually increase it, until the final scenes, which defy interruption by just about anything. The characters are nicely drawn, particularly the main characters, and the writing is brisk, spare but entirely effective. There are some extremely unusual twists, though once they occur, they make perfect sense, and the reader realizes things almost *had* to be the way they were, because one of the problems with living in the town where one grows up is that, eventually, past foolishness can come back to haunt, occasionally in extremely lethal and twisted ways.