Book Review: "Every Last Lie" by Mary Kubica

"Every Last Lie" is the latest book by Mary Kubica. It will be released on June 27,2017. I have previously devoured and loved "The Good Girl" and also "Don't You Cry" so I had high hopes for "Every Last Lie". I must admit, I was somewhat let down. Unfortunately even though it was eminently readable and the characters were well written, fleshed out and even likable, I just didn't get stuck in like I did with Kubica's previous books.

The mystery had a great premise, here's a synopsis. Just days after giving birth to their second child, Clara Solberg's husband Nick is killed in a car crash. Although the police insist it was an accident, Clara is becoming convinced that something bad happened on that fateful day. For one thing, her four year old daughter is rabidly afraid of something, she is having night terrors, screams "The bad man, Daddy. The bad man is after us." and is terrified of black cars. As Clara endeavors to continue functioning, her world falls apart around her. Everything is made worse when she discovers secrets Nick kept and these discoveries fuel Clara's racing mind. Her obsession with the crash will either bring her to the truth or destroy her.

As you can read, the beginning of the book is both heart stopping and achingly real. What happens if you discover that your husband wasn't who you thought he was and how do you get over blaming him for his own death. Or did someone else end him? The immediate problem presented itself in overly written scenes. I didn't need every single paranoid thought that Clara thinks to be on the page. I thought the book could have used some editing as I did finally get tired of the angst with which Clara faced the world. 

The second problem I found was that I second guessed the actions of Clara. Too many times I thought "do this" or "go here" or "do something about how you FEEL". I found myself rolling my eyes at Clara's actions one to many times. Kubica truly captured how absolutely frustrated and bone tired Clara must have felt dealing with a young obstinate child and a new born all on her own, but that excellent writing did not cover the parts where I thought Clara was overtly and annoyingly wimpy and indecisive. It just became too much and it overwhelmed the enjoyment of the story.

I wanted to like "Every Last Lie" but in the end it only reached a three out of 5 stars. I will keep reading Mary Kubica books in the future as her previous ones were hits.
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