The Truth and Other Lies
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3.7 • 12 Ratings
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- $17.99
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- $17.99
Publisher Description
Famous bestselling author, loving husband, generous friend - Henry Hayden is a pleasant person to have around. Or so it seems. And when his mistress, who is also his editor, becomes pregnant, his carefully constructed life threatens to fall apart.
So Henry works out an ingenious plan. Craftily and cold-bloodedly, he intertwines lies and truths and all the shades of grey in-between.
But when he tries to get rid of his mistress, Henry makes a terrible mistake. Not only are the police soon after him, but his past, which he has painstakingly kept under the carpet, also threatens to catch up with him with deadly consequences.
Sascha Arango was born in Berlin in 1959 and is one of Germany's most prominent screenplay writers. He has also authored audio plays and stage plays and has been awarded several prizes, including the Grimme Prize twice. The Truth and Other Lies is his first novel.
'One thing must be made absolutely clear: The Truth and Other Lies is, until further notice, this year's best achievement on the German crime book scene.' Die Welt
‘A highly entertaining thriller…Wry humour punctuates this insightful look at a soulless man.’ STARRED Review, Publishers Weekly
‘This is one wicked tale…German screenwriter Arango’s first novel is superior pulp, with schemers all around and plenty to say about fame, identity, and mortality.’ Kirkus
‘A dark, funny, captivating read. A villain in the vein of Patricia Highsmith’s Tom Ripley, a book you won’t soon forget.’ Sydney Morning Herald
‘Ridiculously funny and seriously wicked…one of those books you zip through rapidly, suddenly realising, blearily, it’s now well into the wee hours.’ New Daily
‘Excellent…[a] riveting, bleakly existential novel.’ Playboy
‘Bears comparison to Patricia Highsmith – the book fairly twangs with paranoia, sardonic humour and razor-sharp observation.’ Guardian
‘A house of mirrors of intrigue that ends with a delicious twist. The finest crime novel I have read this year.’ Daily Mail
‘Arango…has constructed a clever plot that always surprises, told with dark humor and dry wit and bustling with apercus that show no signs of jet lag from Imogen Taylor’s clean translation.’ New York Times Book Review
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
We loved this clever thriller about a bestselling author who’s actually an amoral fraud. Written by German screenwriter Sascha Arango, The Truth and Other Lies ticks all the boxes of our favourite crime capers: larger-than-life characters with unusual quirks, wry turns of phrase and a plot that repeatedly catches you off-guard. If you like hard-boiled tales of deception and dogged detective work, you’ll have a blast finding out if the law will catch up to Henry Hayden and expose his elaborate web of lies.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
German scriptwriter Arango's exceptional first novel, a highly entertaining thriller, focuses on Henry Hayden, a successful author who lives in a "nondescript coastal town." Wealthy beyond imagination, he appears to be a loving husband to his wife, Martha, and is so humble that people automatically like him. In truth, the vain and selfish Henry is seeing a mistress, Betty Hansen, who's also his editor, and a few other women besides. As for those bestsellers, Henry never wrote one word Martha did, allowing him to take credit as long as her authorial role remained a secret. Henry's carefully constructed world is in danger when Betty becomes pregnant. His decision to take drastic action results in an accidental death. Dodging the police inquiry and an old acquaintance determined to expose his erratic past, Henry takes charge of his own fate. Wry humor punctuates this insightful look at a soulless man.
