Every Secret Thing

Written by Lila Shaara

Narrated by Julia Gibson

I only got one birthday present, and as it turned out, it was a gift of such importance, opening it should have sent psychic shivers through me. But I merely thought it a curiosity, vaguely creepy but nothing threatening. Not a portent. Gina Paletta should have been used to upheaval. From her childhood in a small southern town to her career in Manhattan's glamorous modeling world to sudden, unplanned motherhood, Gina has forever struggled to keep her life under control. Now, at thirty-three-her "year of waking up"-she has moved with her young sons to upstate New York and reinvented herself as a college professor. At last she can nurse the fragile hope of safety, the hope of security. But Gina learns that security is an illusion when a pair of police detectives arrive at her doorstep. Two of Gina's students have posted salacious photographs of her on a website. Even more troubling, these young men are suspects in a local murder. Beneath the campus elms, amid the ivied masonry of the collegiate buildings, and in the libraries where she secrets herself from the world, Gina Paletta must now contend with a new sensation: terror. As the tension rises, Gina turns to her family and friends, only to discover lies and violence beneath placid surfaces. Fearful for her safety and that of her children, determined to guard the new life she has built, Gina comes to rely on the company and protection of one of the detectives assigned to her case. Yet even as their relationship grows more complicated, the danger around them mounts-and Gina finds herself marshaling reserves of strength and resolve she never dreamed existed. Riveting and hypnotic, lyrical and tense, Every Secret Thing is a remarkable debut: a provocative psychological drama about love, guilt, fear, and every secret thing that binds us together.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Mar 15, 2013
• ISBN: 9781436101745

Reviews for Every Secret Thing

[alphawoman_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

It has taken me quite a while to read and finish this book. Not that I didn't find it interesting just that I am traveling and life is interfering with reading. I am finding the protagonist slightly unbelievable on several levels. 33 years old and obviously very intelligent. ...phd and all that....but so dense! For example was she adopted? Check your birth certificate. And I am learning beauty is not only skin deep but very dangerous. Too many characters. I found myself having to pause at times to establish who was who. Too many sisters, too many girl cousins, too many boyfriends, co - workers, students etc. You get the picture. Then for good measure she throws in a whole new set of names and family in the final few pages.

[mzkitty570 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Gina Paletta should have been used to upheavel. From her childhood in a small southern town to her career in Manhattan's glamorous modeling world, to sudden unplanned motherhood. Gina has forever to keep her life under control. Now at thirty-three, her "year of waking up"--she has moved with her young sons to upstate New York and reinvented herself as a college professor. At last she can nurse the fragile hope of safety, the hope of security.But Gina learns that security is an illusion when a pair of detectives arrive at her doorstep....All in all it was an interesting, if not slow, book to read. I must have had a difficult time getting through it because when it came to the end chapters, where the mystery/secrets are revealed, I didn't get all of them and didn't understand who some of the characters were that the author was talking about. I was reading this book along with "The Fortune Teller's Daughter" and had difficulty getting through both books. I hope you enjoy it.

[emigre_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I'll always be grateful to this book, it introduced me to Alan Watts. His quotes were used to open each chapter and they've stayed with me since I've read the book. At first I didn't see why Shaara had to take up so much time and space decribing the protagonist's relationships with her extended family and odd duck neighbor, when the plot centered around two of her students' crimes. Now that I've finished reading this massive tome, I finally understand Shaara's intention. She really spent time crafting the atmsphere and back story so the final reveal would be all the more shocking. Like the title suggests, there are lots of secrets, big and small, being revealed along the way. The reader gets tugged along, seeing more and more of the big secret(s?) at the end, not quite sure if one should keep going, since there is quite a bit of daily minutiae in between. Kind of like life, now that I think about it.