Julie Compton

The sequel to Tell Me No Lies picks up 4 years later. Jack is still the DA and he and Claire are still picking up the pieces of Jack's affair. Keep No Secrets involves Jack in another scandal, this time involving his eldest son's girlfriend. I think the biggest issue I had was the pacing. In both of Compton's books in this series, I have felt like the book was fairly slow until the last quarter and then BAM action action action. I thought the ending was a little cheesy but overall I'm glad to see Jack's story have some resolve.… (more)

Lies of Omission Are What Keep This Story Going
I want to start off by saying that I did not read the book before this one. This book did give enough information so that I could understand the story and it read well on its own. I was so involved in it, I didn't want to put it down. It is obvious the author has a deep knowledge of the legal system. I was engrossed with the story. There are many layers to the book: the marital relationship, the parent/child relationships, and the relationship Jack wants - but doesn't have - with Jenny. Jack made a mistake in the first book and cheated on his wife with Jenny, who was involved in the murder case of her father's mistress. This mistress was believed to be the reason Jenny's mother, father, and little sister were executed. Another man went to jail and Jenny walked away free. Jack is never sure if her feelings for him were real or if she used their one night together as an alibi for the crime. In this book, Jenny comes back, but Jack fights his impulses and his desires. Jenny says she needs his help because someone has been sending her threatening letters that look like they refer to the murder of her family. He doesn't know if he can trust her, but he agrees to help her anyway because he wants to know the truth about her once and for all.
His son, Michael, makes poor choices with his girlfriend, and in Jack's eagerness to repair some of the damage he caused their father/son relationship when he had the affair, he covers for Michael with Claire. This eventually bites Jack in the backside when Michael's girlfriend accuses him of sexual assault in a case where it is her word against his.
The way I read it, this story was of redemption. Jack tries to do the right thing for his marraige and his family while battling for his legal life against charges made by his son's girlfriend that he sexually assaulted her. Since being tried by the press previously for his adultery, it makes it an even bigger deal to be accused of assault by someone who looks so much like the woman he cheated with. Can he stay within the law, tell Claire no lies, and keep himself out of Jenny's bed while he proves his innocence and regains his son's respect?
I was hoping for a happy ending...but happy depends on your point of view. I'll let you form your own opinion.
I was given this book for free in exchange for an honest review.… (more)

This is a seriously addictive book. I was on the edge of my seat reading this. I was reminded of Presumed Innocent for the parallels are uncanny.

Claire- at first I felt bad for her Jack betrayed her over 4 years ago and she forgave and took him back. She forgave and that was just a beautiful sentiment. As I got into the book though I began to doubt she ever forgave and started wondering what was up with her and the brother in law? I even thought that whatever was in the secret deposit box that Jenny has was evidence of something going on between her and Mark the brother in law. In the end I didn’t feel bad for her and you see that she was not a forgiving woman in some ways her actions during the events that were unfolding were cruel towards Jack. She brought about the unraveling of the bonds that held Jack to her.

Jack- I wasn’t on board with him at first. You could see he was a idealist though. Always tried to do what’s right even if it ended in disaster or heartache. And it usually did. when he brought Celeste home and all that continued to happen happened the song from Nightmare before Christmas came to mind something’s up with Jack Somethings up with Jack Don’t know where hes at. I felt this way with his decisions especially about Jenny. He was being honest about her and that is to be admired but again Don’t know where he’s at. Something innocent ends up blowing up on him and could cause his demise. Poor guy. Wife taunts him and makes him feel he isn’t believed, son despises him (although in the end it’s the dad the son turns to for help) and life is going down the toilet.

Celeste-ugh ugh ugh. I feel for the girl but come on liar liar pants on fire. What is going through your head and when things snowballed stop it for you are destroying someone’s life.

Mike: the son. He goes along on a hairbrained scheme his girlfriend cooked up to get back at dad. That is some anger issue. What is worse to me is that after his dad is charged and his life is being destroyed, he knows its a lie but lets it go on. Bad bad bad.

Keep no secrets is a riveting story about how one betrayal can hurt and cause consequences beyond what you thought and one lie can destroy everything.… (more)

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Keep No Secrets is the follow up novel to "Tell No Lies". This was a March,2013 release. The publisher is Fresh Fork Publishing. I received this book from Netgalley and the publisher for an honest review. It's been four years since Jack put his family and career in jeopardy by having a one night stand with a colleague. Jenny has since disappeared and Jack believes she played him for a fool. Now he tries to put all that behind him and restore his marriage and family life. But, a string of events place all that in peril once again. Jack's sixteen year old son, Michael has a new girlfriend. The girl, Celeste, bears a striking resemblance to Jenny. When Jack discovers Michael and Celeste have been drinking and fooling around, he volunteers to drive Celeste home since Michael can't drive because he is drunk. Jack makes a series of mistakes at this point. When Celeste come forward claiming Jack raped her, he is arrested. To make things one hundred percent worse, Jenny has resurfaced. She's been receiving threatening letters and wants Jack to help her get to the bottom of it. Naturally, all this is just too much for Jack's wife, Claire. She has slowly regained some of her trust in Jack, but it was very, very, fragile. Now, all that anger, bitterness, and pain boils back to the surface. Not only that, Michael has never gotten over his dad's betrayal either. Now, he is torn between his girlfriend and his father. He is much more inclined to protect his girlfriend. As Jack tries to get to the truth behind what happened four years ago when Jenny was accused of murder, and the letters she has been getting, he is also trying desperately to tamp down on his feelings for Jenny. His marriage, no matter what he says or does is slowly deteriorating and his relationship with his son is also in danger of being lost for good. Jack also is trying to figure out if Celeste has been abused by her father and if that has anything to do with why she made the accusations against him. Something is wrong there and Michael isn't talking. Even after four years, Jack is still being punished by Claire, Michael and even some of his colleagues over the affair he had with Jenny. When these new allegations surface, people jump to the conclusion that he is guilty. But, the worst part is that Claire and Michael might actually believe his had sex with a sixteen year old girl just because she happened to favor his old flame. While he has several meetings with Jenny his feelings for her increase, but so do his doubts about her innocence. Can he trust her or not? The suspense is just killer in this novel. We just know something is going on other than what we see on the surface and we have NO IDEA who is behind it or why. Is it Michael lashing out at his dad, is it Claire punishing Jack for his infidelity, or is it Jenny? Jack's past mistake continues to haunt him as he tries to find out what the deal is with Celeste and keep from hurting Claire more than she already has been. His struggles are mighty. One on hand I felt sorry for Jack, because he knew he screwed up, but if a marriage is to survive an infidelity, the injured party really has to forgive, otherwise it's just not going to work. For Claire it seems that she just can not get past it. Jack is really twisted up inside over the damage he did to his family, but also mad at himself for falling into the trap Jenny allegedly set for him four years ago. Everything he has done since in regards to the situation with Celeste has been because he was trying to prevent further doubts for Claire. But, all that does is increase her suspicions. But, to be fair to Claire, I don't know how I would feel in her position. I think the real problem was that both she and Jack knew deep down that Jenny was still buried in Jack's heart somewhere, even if he was in denial of it. Jenny knows a lot more than she is telling Jack. We don't know if she is indeed a murderer or if there is another explanation. We don't know if she's up to something or if someone is putting the screws to her. The "will they or won't they" drama was also nearly unbearable. Will Jack be convicted of rape or will the truth behind Celeste's accusation reveal itself before it's too late? Will Jack and Claire survive this latest round of doubt and suspicion? I will suggest that you read the first book before reading this one. I did not read the first one and the author does a great of job of catching us up without rehashing the whole first novel. But, when I finished this book, I wish I had read them in order. However, this one can more definitely be read as a stand alone. You will get the premise of the first novel with no problems.This was the first book I have read by this author, but it won't be my last. A very taut legal thriller, mystery, psychological thriller with a great deal of emotional drama .The author does a great job of presenting both sides of the marital situation, and leaves it entirely up to the reader to draw their own conclusions about the situation once all is finally revealed. There were still a few unexpected big reveals toward the end that I didn't see coming. Although bittersweet in a way, I was happy about the ending and how everything turned out. Over all I give this one an A.… (more)