The Liar's Child

This is a character driven novel, more psychological than suspenseful, with each chapter written from a different character’s perspective. Whitt and Diane and their children Cassie and Boon live in a rundown apartment complex on the Outer Banks. You can just see the ocean from their balcony. Twelve year old Cassie is a little wiseass I wanted to smack most of the time but as more is revealed about the past I felt sorry for her. Her dad is always at work and her mom has mental issues. She “forgot” Boon was in the car and almost killed him. Sara is in witness protection to avoid jail and is placed in the apartment next door. Their lives will collide with a major hurricane that provides much of the suspense. The book starts a little show more slowly but that was necessary to build the characters and fill us in on their pasts. The characters are believable and human. They are complex. They are not perfect. They all have flaws. Mostly they are likeable. Who is the liar’s child referred to in the title? Read the book and decide for yourself. I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a copy of this book to read and review. I thoroughly enjoyed it and look forward to reading more of Ms. Buckley’s work. show less

The Liar's Child by Carla Buckley is a highly recommended novel of suspense.

Set mainly at the dilapidated Paradise apartment complex on North Carolina’s Outer Banks, The Liar's Child follows a handful of characters: Whit, Sara, Hank, and Cassie. Sara Lennox is in the witness protection program, awaiting her testimony in an upcoming trial. Her FBI handlers have set her up in an apartment at the Paradise and she's got a cleaning job. Sara has noticed the children who live next door, rebellious twelve-year-old Cassie and needy five-year-old Boon, and the social worker who has been by asking her what she knows about the family. Boon is taken by Sara and finds her fascinating. Sara knows there is more going on after their father, Whit show more tells her about his wife leaving them.

When a hurricane approaches, Sara is supposed to be evacuated by her handlers, but she has other, secret plans put into place that she is going to carry out now. As she is leaving the Paradise, she looks up to see Cassie and Boon, out on their deck, apparently left alone by Whit. She loads them into her car at the last minute to get them off the island to somewhere safe too. Now Sara has the two children under her care and needs to find some place to leave them so she can carry out her own plans.

Buckley uses an omniscient narrator to tell the story of these damaged individuals - and they are all very damaged, hurting, troubled, and have secrets. All of the characters, are flawed and well-drawn and their misdeeds and troubles are slowly revealed, leaked out bit by bit, as the story unfolds. They all keep things to themselves, even Cassie and Boon. It is nice to see that Cassie and Boon are portrayed as characters representative of their ages. Sara is a complex woman, with a life of secrets, and she is clearly unfamiliar with children. Whit is stressed out and doing the best he can. Hank's role in this drama won't be known until much later in the narrative.

In this well-written novel, the approaching hurricane adds an element of danger and increases the sense of urgency, but the story is found in the characters and their interactions. While there are surprising twists, the real plot is in the interaction of these people and the role of fate in their actions. Pay attention to the brief descriptions of objects found randomly between chapters as their importance will become clear later.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Penguin Random House.

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The Liar’s Child by Carla Buckley

March 2019
Random House
Fiction, psychological drama

I received a digital copy of this ARC from NetGalley and Random House in exchange for an unbiased review.

This story is told from multiple POV with alternating narrators with questionable reliability. Based near North Carolina’s Outer Banks, several lives are devastated and not just from the impending hurricane. The Liar’s Child is just about anyone’s child given the complicated family histories and differing perspectives of reality. It seems most families have secrets or untold truths which ultimately get retold or misrepresented over the years.

The Nelson family live in an apartment complex called the Paradise which coincidently is anything but a show more paradise. Life is difficult for 12-year old Cassie and her 5-year old brother, “Boon” primarily due to their ineffective parents. It seems that as much as the parents express their love for their children they lack the mental and physical ability to protect them. It’s no wonder that Cassie is acting out and hanging with high school hooligans and Boon sucks his thumb, wets himself and considers his stuffed animals his friends.

The father, Whit Nelson, seems to spend most of his time compensating for his wife’s mental instability while working as a full time hotel manager to keep CPS from taking his kids. While it seems that he has good intentions, he clearly spreads himself too thin trying to placate his parents who live an hour away and Thompson his demanding boss.

As if this isn’t enough, Paradise becomes the home for Sara Lennox, a con artist forced into Federal protective custody to avoid prison. As much as she tries to remain uninvolved with the tumultuous family living next door, she gets drawn into their lives reminding her of her own childhood. Unfortunately, her story only feels partially explored with an unsatisfactory ending.

As the hurricane approaches, Sara is compelled to do the right thing by rescuing the 2 kids next door when their father doesn’t return from an errand. Trying to escape the elements they eventually end up at a motel where they encounter more people trying to escape their past. Hank is a retired sherif still grieving the loss of his wife and son many years prior. Due to his own denial and feelings of regret he focuses his energy on “all” the missing children in the news. Honestly, I wasn’t sure where his storyline was going as his obsession is rather creepy!

I enjoyed the pace of the story and the twists and turns but didn’t feel like the story was complete at the end. I felt like it “skipped” parts and just put a bow on it leaving many questions unnecessarily up in the air. show less

The Liar’s Child by Carla Buckley

I received a digital copy of this ARC from NetGalley and Random House in exchange for an unbiased review.

This story is told from multiple POV with alternating narrators with questionable reliability. Based near North Carolina’s Outer Banks, several lives are devastated and not just from the impending hurricane. The Liar’s Child is just about anyone’s child given the complicated family histories and differing perspectives of reality. It seems most families have secrets or untold truths which ultimately get retold or misrepresented over the years.

The Nelson family live in an apartment complex called the Paradise which coincidently is anything but a paradise. Life is difficult for 12-year old show more Cassie and her 5-year old brother, “Boon” primarily due to their ineffective parents. It seems that as much as the parents express their love for their children they lack the mental and physical ability to protect them. It’s no wonder that Cassie is acting out and hanging with high school hooligans and Boon sucks his thumb, wets himself and considers his stuffed animals his friends.

The father, Whit Nelson, seems to spend most of his time compensating for his wife’s mental instability while working as a full time hotel manager to keep CPS from taking his kids. While it seems that he has good intentions, he clearly spreads himself too thin trying to placate his parents who live an hour away and Thompson his demanding boss.

As if this isn’t enough, Paradise becomes the home for Sara Lennox, a con artist forced into Federal protective custody to avoid prison. As much as she tries to remain uninvolved with the tumultuous family living next door, she gets drawn into their lives reminding her of her own childhood. Unfortunately, her story only feels partially explored with an unsatisfactory ending.

As the hurricane approaches, Sara is compelled to do the right thing by rescuing the 2 kids next door when their father doesn’t return from an errand. Trying to escape the elements they eventually end up at a motel where they encounter more people trying to escape their past. Hank is a retired sherif still grieving the loss of his wife and son many years prior. Due to his own denial and feelings of regret he focuses his energy on “all” the missing children in the news. Honestly, I wasn’t sure where his storyline was going as his obsession is rather creepy!

I enjoyed the pace of the story and the twists and turns but didn’t feel like the story was complete at the end. I felt like it “skipped” parts and just put a bow on it leaving many questions unnecessarily up in the air. show less

Parents can really mess a kid up, even when they have the best intentions. The lives of a family and a woman on the run intersect and intertwine in this plot that is based on manipulation and humanity.
The beginning was slow, but set up the events to come, and there are some twists that I didn’t see coming. The characters are realistic; messed up people trying not to be. In all, a good read.
*I received an arc from the publisher through NetGalley for an honest review

This book completely held my interest. You've got an accountant that has been put into the Witness Protection Plan, dumped into a seedy apartment complex until time for the trial, a twelve year old girl and her little brother who are mostly neglected by their parents and the character of Florida, itself. Oh, and I almost forgot...a tornado coming in! This completely held my interest until the very last word. Enjoyed the ride!

I’ve read ‘The Deepest Secret’ by this author and thoroughly enjoyed it. Unfortunately, for me this book did not live up to my expectations. I found the story slow moving until mid way thru when the Hurricane hit. From here, it took off at a much faster pace. It is in no way a cheerful read, it’s a down-on-your-luck sad read. The last chapter and the Epilogue were more hopeful. But, I finished it with too many questions. Story is told in 4 voices, until the Epilogue.

I really did not like most of the characters, except for Boon, an adorable little boy caught in a bad situation along with his sister, Cassie, a teenager with major attitude, rightfully so but needing her parents to step up and parent. Whit, the Dad, who tries to show more keep everyone happy. Diane, the Mom, who is selfish and self-centered. Sara, trying to save herself in the Witness Protection Program. Hank, an ex-cop with a past that we learn about late.

I do enjoy Ms. Buckley’s story telling and look forward to reading her again. Thanks to NegGalley, the author and Ballantine Books for this ARC. Opinion is mine alone. show less