In this gripping psychological thriller--smart, chilling, and unrelenting--Nancy Springer establishes herself as an exciting new suspense writer with a distinctive voice and some surprises up her sleeve...

To their neighbors, Dorrie and Sam Whiteare a contented couple in America’s heartland, with steady jobs, a suburban home, and plenty of community activities to keep them busy. But they’re not quite what they seem. For plain, hard-working Sam hides a depth of devotion for his wife that no one would suspect. And Dorrie is living a lie--beset by physical ailments, alone within herself...and secretly following the comings and goings of the sixteen-year-old daughter, Juliet, she gave up for adoption when she was hardly more than a child herself.

Then one day at the mall, Dorrie watches horror-stricken as Juliet is abducted, forced into a van that drives away. Instinctively, Dorrie sends her own car speeding after it--an act of reckless courage that puts her on a collision course with a depraved killer...and draws Sam into a dogged, desperate search to save his wife. As mother and daughter unite in a terrifying struggle to survive, to what extremes will Dorrie go in overcoming her own limitations...and in confronting her dark, tormented past?

Review

Dorrie White is a loyal wife to her husband Sam and they seem to have an ordinary life in their small hometown in Ohio, even though Dorrie is suffering from Lupus. However, Dorrie is hiding more than a few secrets from her devoted husband, Sam. One of them involves 16-year-old Juliet Phillips whom Dorrie has been secretly watching.

One day, when Dorrie follows Juliet to the mall, she witnesses Juliet being abducted. Dorrie follows the van and when police are skeptical of her story, Dorrie is determined to do whatever it takes to rescue Juliet, in spite of the physical limitation caused by her disease, as well as dangers to her life and sanity.

Sam doesn’t know why Dorrie is so fixated on this young girl, but in spite of what the police think, he knows his wife would never hurt anyone and involves himself in protecting Dorrie’s name and ensuring her safety.

Dark Lie is a strange book. It’s sometimes scary and sinister, and other times melodramatic and almost silly in the clichéd characters, especially Dorrie’s religious fanatic parents. Dorrie’s mom and dad are so strict and vindictive in their punishments they become caricatures instead of believable characters, which greatly diminishes the story.

The description of the book leads readers to believe it is a thriller in the style of Harlan Coben or Linwood Barclay. That’s how the book starts out, but it slowly becomes something like a bizarre combination of a Lifetime television movie and a creepy episode of “Criminal Minds.” The man who abducted Juliet seems to be the typical misunderstood villain who had a horrible childhood. Some of the experiences he had are too weird and the strange connection he has with Dorrie pushes his character beyond believability and makes it impossible to feel pity for him.

Even though she is the main character, I never get a true sense of Dorrie. She seems to be a good, although emotionally distant, wife to Sam. She appears to be sensible and down-to-earth, but then we see there is a bit of a dreamer deep inside. She also has a dark side that she tries to block out, which goes against everything she appears to be at the beginning of the book.

We don’t get to know Juliet as a person either, even though she is at the heart of the story. I pulled for her to be safe, but beyond the fact she seems a sweet young woman, her personality doesn't really make a difference to the story.

Dorrie is the hero in this story in that she is able to find unbelievable strength to stand up to a villain, in spite of her illness and past traumas. She refuses to give up and will try to save Juliet no matter what, but I didn’t care for the dark turn at the end. I wanted things to work out for Dorrie, but Sam is an underrated character who shows he was a hero inside his plain, unassuming demeanor. From the way Dorrie talks about him in the beginning of the book, Sam comes across as overly practical and boring, but he loves his wife more than she knows and shows he believes in her and will be there for her no matter what. 

The character I like the most is actually a minor character, but one who plays an important part in getting to the bottom of Juliet's abduction. Rookie police officer Sissy Chappell worked hard to become a cop and stands up to an overbearing, critical boss to do what she knows is right in the investigation. Sissy's involvement in the investigation helped keep my interest as the other parts of the story grew darker and harder to read.

The book doesn’t have a fairytale happy ending, but there is some closure for Juliet and hope for Dorrie to live a happy life without having to live a lie. I like the originality of the story and I did remain interested in seeing how the author would tie up all of the loose ends, but the book was ultimately disturbing rather than entertaining for me.

However, I would love to read a mystery featuring Cassie and her uncanny intuition and knowledge of handwriting analysis. Fans of Wendy Corsi Staub or Jesse Kellerman may enjoy this unusual story.

Reviewed by Christine

READERS COMMENTS