The Truth and Other Lies - by Sascha Arango (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK

A literary crime thriller with "a clever plot that always surprises, told with dark humor and dry wit" (The New York Times Book Review, Editor's Choice), this brilliant debut follows a famous author whose wife--the brains behind his success--meets an untimely death, leaving him to deal with the consequences.

Henry Hayden seems like someone you might admire, or even come to think of as a friend. A famous bestselling author. A loving and devoted husband. A generous and considerate neighbor. But Henry Hayden is a construction, a mask. His past is a secret, his methods more so. Only he and his wife know that she is the actual writer of the novels that made him famous.

When his hidden-in-plain-sight mistress becomes pregnant, it seems his carefully conceived façade is about to crumble. And on a rain-soaked night at the edge of a dangerous cliff, his permanent solution becomes his most terrible mistake.

Now not only are the police after Henry but his past--which he has painstakingly kept hidden--threatens to catch up with him as well. Henry is an ingenious man, and he works out an ingenious plan, weaving lies, truths, and half-truths into a story that might help him survive. Still, the noose tightens.

Smart, sardonic, and compulsively readable, this is the story of a man whose cunning allows him to evade the consequences of his every action, even when he's standing on the edge of the abyss.

Review Quotes

"A cross between James M. Cain and Patricia Highsmith, with a wide streak of sardonic humor, this is one wicked tale. You keep waiting for the author to slip, plot-wise, but, as with his protagonist, you wait in vain. German screenwriter Arango's first novel is superior pulp, with schemers all around and plenty to say about fame, identity, and mortality."-- "Kirkus Reviews (starred review)"

"Arango has constructed a clever plot that always surprises, told with dark humor and dry wit and bustling with apercus that show no sign of jet lag from Imogen Taylor's clean translation." -- "New York Times Book Review (Editor's Choice)"

"Exceptional...a highly entertaining thriller.... [w]ry humor punctuates this insightful look at a soulless man."-- "Publishers Weekly (starred review)"

"The Truth and Other Lies moves from vivid, immersive scene to vivid, immersive scene, including several tour de force set-pieces (including a scene with a marten which will make your skin crawl every time you remember it), featuring, at its core, a well-developed enigma of a focal character...compelling summer reading."-- "Toronto Star"

"[An] excellent psychological thriller. . . . Arango maintainsthe perfect pace to keep you hooked in this riveting, bleakly existentialnovel." --Playboy-- "Playboy"

"[A] wittily wicked psychological mystery."-- "Psychology Today"

"A wickedly good first novel about a sociopathic drifter who becomes famous by selling the manuscripts he finds under a female pickup's bed." -- "Chicago Tribune"

"A house of mirrors of intrigue that ends with a delicious twist. The finest crime novel I have read this year."-- "Daily Mail"

"An edgy nail-biter."-- "New Mexico Review of Books"

"Arango uses dark humor to probe the depths of human depravity in Henry's borderline psychotic profile. Fans of psychological thrillers will be eager to see whether Henry's increasingly detailed spin job will protect him or if the chaos he has created will blow his own cover."-- "Booklist"

"Bears comparison to Patricia Highsmith - the book fairly twangs with paranoia, sardonic humour and razor-sharp observation."-- "The Guardian"

"Engrossing."-- "Bustle Magazine"

"It's a sheer pleasure to read such a clever book....dark, funny, captivating... [with a] villain in the vein of Patricia Highsmith's Tom Ripley, a book you won't soon forget."-- "The Sydney Morning Herald"

"Sasha Arango's THE TRUTH AND OTHER LIES is like no other book you will read this summer."-- "Huffington Post"

"What Arango throwsat the reader is not the expected...Five stars out of five (I'd give six if Icould.),"-- "Daily Republic (CA)"

"Witty, elegant, lethal: these describe equally well The Truth and Other Lies and its irresistible protagonist, Henry Hayden. Evil has never been so much fun."--Joseph Kanon, New York Times bestselling author of Leaving Berlin

About the Author

Sascha Arango is one of Germany's most prominent screenplay writers and a two-time winner of the Grimme Prize, a prestigious award for German television, for his work on the long-running detective series Tatort. His first novel, The Truth and Other Lies, will be published in more than thirteen countries in 2015. He lives in Germany.