Every Last Lie

By Mary Kubica

The pursuit of truth leads her to the darkest corners of the psycheNew York Times bestselling author of THE GOOD GIRL, Mary Kubica is back with an exhilarating thriller as a widow's pursuit of the truth leads her to the darkest corners of the psycheNew York Times bestselling author of The Good Girl

New York Times bestselling author of The Good Girl and Pretty Baby, Mary Kubica is back with another exhilarating thriller as a widow's pursuit of the truth leads her to the darkest corners of the psyche.

“The bad man, Daddy. The bad man is after us.”

Clara Solberg's world shatters when her husband and their four–year–old daughter are in a car crash, killing Nick while Maisie is remarkably unharmed. The crash is ruled an accident…until the coming days, when Maisie starts having night terrors that make Clara question what really happened on that fateful afternoon.

Tormented by grief and her obsession that Nick's death was far more than just an accident, Clara is plunged into a desperate hunt for the truth. Who would have wanted Nick dead? And, more important, why? Clara will stop at nothing to find out – and the truth is only the beginning of this twisted tale of secrets and deceit.

Told in the alternating perspectives of Clara's investigation and Nick's last months leading up to the crash, master of suspense Mary Kubica weaves her most chilling thriller to date – one that explores the dark recesses of a mind plagued by grief and shows that some secrets might be better left buried.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Australia
• Release date: Jun 1, 2017
• ISBN: 9781489230553

Mary Kubica

Mary Kubica is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of THE GOOD GIRL and PRETTY BABY.  She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, in History and American Literature. She lives outside of Chicago with her husband and two children and enjoys photography, gardening and caring for the animals at a local shelter. 

Reviews for Every Last Lie

[amalieturner · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I have read Mary Kubica before and liked her other works so I had hoped this would be a decent read but I didn't enjoy this book nearly as much as her others. I didn't find Clara to be likable or very interesting. I didn't feel for her, even in her grief, and I found her choices to be annoying and her attitude to be weird. She just didn't feel real to me. I know Kubica usually has a big twist to her books so I powered through this one hoping the ending would be dramatic, but I was disappointed. I skimmed most of this story and didn't miss anything because of it. I felt like it could have been told much more quickly and with a faster pace.

[readingover50 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed this more than her last book I read, Pretty Baby. Clara's husband Nick dies in a car crash 4 days after giving birth. She begins learning things about him she didn't know. Could he have been murdered? Or are grief and postpartum depression clouding her judgement. Clara seems a bit too quick to think the worst of Nick.

[howifeelaboutbooks · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

People need to stop labeling books as suspenseful when they are not. I’m also tired of Gone Girl comparisons. I loved some of Kubica’s twists, but also couldn’t read one of her books, so I didn’t know what to expect with this. I read it because it was new and easy to read, but there was NO suspense, the story was pretty lacking, and the ending was… wow. One of the worst I’ve read. There was so much potential in the storyline that could have spun off into something great, but it fell flat.

[flourgirl49 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Clara and Nick are married with two children, and their story is told in two timelines - the past for Nick, and the present for Clara. Nick is killed in a car accident, and after his death Clara finds out that he was keeping many secrets. The book is mildly suspenseful, but I didn't care for the ending - too many loose ends that weren't tied up.

[master275 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Good....but not what I hoped for. I absolutely loved "The Good Girl" and was so-so on "Pretty Baby" (haven't yet read Don't You Cry)--so I was excited about this one. It's a good book and the writing kept your brain swimming in a sea of doubt about what happened so I was certainly pushing to the end to end the suspense. I won't give a word of it away - I'll just say it wasn't the ending I hoped for or that I felt it could have been. Still, definitely no regrets reading it---I'll certainly keep MK on my reading list.

[bingereader87 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Clara is recovering from giving birth to her second child at home while her doting husband, Nick, is on his way home with dinner and her daughter, fresh from ballet. She is later given the news that her husband was killed in a car accident. All signs point to him being at fault, yet she believes something else is the cause.

This was my first time with a novel by Mary Kubica and it was also my first book for the 7 in 7 Readathon. It took me a few days to read as I've been pretty busy the past few days as well as finding it a little hard to get into at first. That being said, I enjoyed it. It was definitely a new experience for me and I can see how some people really enjoy her writing style. I found myself very put off by the end of the book, but after giving it some time to sit within me and move around my brain, I've come to the conclusion that I really like the way the story moved along, switching perspectives and telling the story. I think I may be looking for more of her work soon.

[eadieb-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Standalone, psychological thriller that is a tale of marriage and secrets. Clara Solberg's world shatters when her husband and their four-year-old daughter are in a car crash, killing Nick while Maisie is remarkably unharmed. Story told in alternating perspectives from Clare and Nick. Clara searches for answers which take her to dark places she would never want to go. A definite suspenseful page-turner with twists and turns you don't see coming. Kubica's books are addictive as the ending you expect is not what you get. Recommend to those who like psychological thrillers.

[chrisway · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Well done! I enjoyed the structure of this book and the various plot twists.

[john_warner-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Clara has recently returned from the hospital after delivering her second child. This should be a joyous occasion; however, shortly after her return, her husband Nick and their four-year-old daughter, Maise, were in a car crash. Maise, secure in her car seat, escapes unharmed; however, Nick is killed. The police inform Clara that Nick was driving too fast for a curve. However, when Maise apparently begins having flashbacks whimpering statements such as, "He's here. He followed us here," she isn't too sure. As she begins looking into Nick's life she begins discovering secrets that Nick never divulged.The story is told through alternating chapters titled either "Clara" or "Nick Before." As Clara discovers circumstantial evidence that might confirm Maise's fears, Nick provides the backstory in his narration which disproves Clara's assumption. I enjoyed investigating the accident with Clara questioning Nick's behavior nearing the day of the accident; however, I had the advantage of knowing Nick's motivations. I'm glad that I received an advanced reading edition and read the novel since I would probably would not have read this novel, which I found enjoyable.

[seasonsoflove_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my opinion of the book or my review itself.Clara's seemingly perfect life is turned upside down when her husband dies in a car crash. Their young daughter, miraculously physically unharmed, seems to remember something from the crash that suggests it wasn't an accident, but a murder.Kubica always does an excellent job of exploring the complexities of human relationships. Her characters are never one-dimensional, and neither are their connections to each other.There are lots of twists and turns in this read, which definitely keeps up the suspense. The use of flashbacks ups the ante even more.This book did seem to move at a slower pace than I would have liked. Kubica's The Good Girl predominately took place in one isolated location, and it still had a much quicker and more engaging pace.While this is not the best book I've read in this genre, it is still a quick and interesting read. Kubica is a really good author, so even her books that aren't her best work are still good.

[tiffanyak_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The ending kind of ruined things for me, and Clara as a character came across as just plain irrational and paranoid, even taking into account the whole grieving aspect and everything. Now, I liked the story that developed and learning about different elements from the two different perspectives, but this also resulted in a LOT of things being brought up that were never resolved or felt relevant at all. And, it all culminates in an extremely anticlimactic conclusion that left me feeling as though all the work was for nothing, though, granted, developing the theories as I read was sort of fun. Overall, I liked it well enough for a reading, but wouldn't personally consider it one to buy or anything. I do love the way Mary Kubica writes in general though, and will be checking out more of her work.

[susan.macura · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I absolutely loved this author's first books. However, this book is nothing like those. In this tale, Clara's husband Nick is killed in a car accident while her 4-year-old daughter survives. Convinced that it was no accident, Clara, who only a few days before the accident gave birth to the couple's second child, a boy named Felix, embarks on a campaign to discover what really happened on the road that day. I kept reading thinking it only had to get better. Wow, was I wrong. What a boring story! I still can't believe I wasted hours of my life reading it.

[cherylk_44 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I did read this whole book. It was easy to do so as the hype level laid near the "this has gotten very intriguing" level. In addition, there were moments that had my attention and kept it. Yet, it really was not until the end and I was finished that I was like "this was a nice read". I was disappointed towards the ending. It felt like the addition of one of the characters was added just because to try and prove that Clara was not crazy. The reason this book did not work for me this time is because it felt too safe. Having read other books from this author, I know what to expect and that is part of the reason why I have enjoyed reading this author's books. I hope that I find that again in the next book.

[carolibrarian-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Clara has the perfect life, or so she thought.A new baby, a beautiful little girl and a loving husband. Then comes the knock on the door....Clara's life is turned upside down in a flash. She is consumed with finding out the truth.This book gives you 2 perspectives, Clara's in the present day and Nick's leading up to his death. It is a little slow in the beginning, but has a few twists and turns throughout that help give it that suspenseful feeling.I didn't like Nick throughout the book, Clara was strong even though she was struggling with lack of sleep after giving birth to their new son, thoughts of what really happened when Nick died (was he really just going too fast around the bend) and dealing with the day to day life, Clara had to be strong for her children.

[debkrenzer · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book had me guessing at so many suspects, AND there were so many suspects to choose from. The wife did get on my nerves at times. Clara suspected her husband of so many things and she was always seeing things that weren't really there.The fact that her daughter who was in the car when Nick was killed started having nightmares only added to Clara's suspicions. Everyone she came into contact with practically had a reason to kill her husband in her mind. While Clara did irritate me, it wasn't enough to stop me from reading the book. There are many plot twists and reasons for goosebumps. An entertaining read that I enjoyed.Thanks to Harlequin and Net Galley for providing me with a free e-galley in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

[sharn_3 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Okay, I really liked this book but there hasn't been a Mary Kubica book that I didn't like.This book is told in alternating voices between Clara in the present and Nick in the past leading up to the present. Basically, in Clara's chapter she is investigating Nick's death which turns out to be really depressing and sad for Clara since she can only piece together information with nothing to really back any of it up (speculate) but then Nick's chapter tells us what Clara's doesn't. I like that both stories are continuously being told going forward making it easy to follow.I loved Nick and Clara. I felt really bad for both of them. Their love was definitely solid. [And at the end when Clara went to the jewelry store, I got a little teary as I was able to put myself in her shoes. (hide spoiler)] I'm left feeling heart broken for Clara.Thank you Mary for not making Maise speak in baby talk. I believe that authors are often guilty of this when it's not necessary and rarely does it come off as intended.[I wish I had got a little more information in the epilogue as to what happened with Izzy, Connor and the money Nick won. I was hoping that Clara would be notified of the money (and be able to live and mourn at her own pace) but somehow but that didn't happen.

[dariazeoli · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

When Clara is informed that her husband Nick died in a car accident, she refuses to accept the official explanation. So begins a search for the truth, taken up by a grieving mother of a 4 year old and 4 day old who could really use some sleep.

This is a case study in secrets, lies, and relationships. I wanted to shake Clara & Nick both so many times! Why are humans so bad at making good choices? Why are they so bad at communicating?

This was an imperfect but entertaining read! 3.5 stars.

[beamis12 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

When the police leave Clare's house, she knows her life will never be the same. With her four year old daughter in the car, she was told Nick, driving too fast around a dangerous curve, hit a tree. He is dead but thankfully her young daughter is unhurt. She has recently given birth to their second child, a child Nick will not see up. When her daughter begins to have nightmares and day fears about a black car and a bad man, Clare starts to think that maybe there was more to Nick's death than it appears.This book is definitely suspenseful, told in alternating chapters by Clare trying to cope while investigating Nick's death and by Nick, before the accident happens. My problem is that Clare's character irritated the heck out of me. I understand her grasping at straws, following lead after non lead, but the author let this go on far to long, imo. I actually felt more and understood Nick's story and his grasping at straws, his desperation, far more easily. Clare's mothering skills also left much to be desired. So a mixed read for me, suspenseful yes, but maybe a tad overwritten. Please keep in mind other readers did not have the same roadblocks to their enjoyment that I did, always best to read for yourself and see where you fall.ARC from Netgalley.

[bookappeal · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Clara tells the current story of the aftermath of her husband's fatal accident that left their 4-year-old daughter unscathed (physically at least) and left Clara a single parent of two with a newborn baby. Kubica builds suspense by interspersing chapters narrated by Nick, Clara's husband, filling in the events leading up to the accident. Nick has been lying to Clara for awhile so there are many secrets to reveal while also dealing with the struggles of a newborn and a hot Chicago summer. Maisie, their 4-year-old, inexplicably is unaware that her father died in the accident but apparently remembers certain details about a "bad man" in a black car with such intensity that it gives her terrors. But how much can you believe a child known for dramatic antics?I had a hard time identifying with Clara and found her to be a bit annoying. She repeatedly muses on the errors she makes in parenting Maisie but does nothing to change her behavior. Nick's excuse for lying to his wife just because she's pregnant with their second child is not believable, especially because he keeps finding new things he feels the need to keep secret.A rare disappointment from an author who has proven her skill in writing creative suspense novels.

[nyiper · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I was listening to the audio version of this book but concluded that I really did not care for it at all. So much detail was thrown in to go back and forth between 'before" and the present and yet, it really did nothing but elongate the story WAY too much. Also, as another reviewer mentioned, the author really left some things hanging that should have been answered to give the book a "slightly" better ending.

[purple_pisces22 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is a hard one to review. Without giving too much away, the story basically seemed to be exactly what it appears to be. Although it kept my attention, nothing too unexpected here.

[rmarcin-630843 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is a bit different than Kubica's other thrillers, not as psychologically dark. This is about Nick and Clara and their family. Nick dies in an auto accident, but after Maisie, their daughter, continues to be frightened of "the bad man", Clara believes that Nick was killed. The story is told alternately between present day Clara and Nick before the accident. Nick has a lot of secrets that he is keeping from Clara, and these secrets lend some credence to some of Clara's theories. I thought the book was just okay, not a favorite.

[bbbbecky13 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

If I can predict the ending to a mystery, that says a lot, because I am notoriously terrible at figuring these things out. I predicted this one early on. I still enjoyed it, but I was ready for it to end about 75 pages before the actual ending. There are lots of little things that bother me about Kubica’s writing; I’m often distracted from reading, wondering things like “is that really the word she meant to use, or is that a typo?” I remember being ambivalent about The Good Girl as well, so I probably won’t read any more of her books.

[bookofsecrets · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

3.75 Stars → I do love Mary Kubica’s writing, and in EVERY LAST LIE she presents an engrossing tale of a young mother named Clara facing her husband Nick’s secrets and deceit just days after he dies in a car accident.There was one witness to the crash, the couple’s 4-year old daughter Maisie, who was strapped in her car seat and luckily unhurt. Clara begins to doubt the wreck was simply an accident when Maisie starts having nightmares about a “bad man” being after them. As she digs for clues, Clara finds that Nick was hiding some unsettling secrets, but were they enough to get him killed?The story is told in alternating perspectives – Nick, in the weeks leading up to the crash, and Clara, in the weeks after Nick’s death. I liked that readers got to hear both POVs, which added to the suspense of what Nick might reveal and what Clara might discover. Not only is Clara dealing with her husband’s suspicious death, she’s also now the sole caregiver of Maisie and newborn Felix. So many anxiety-inducing elements in this story! Clara made some very questionable choices throughout, and I’m sure teetering on the edge of sanity didn’t help.I guess I have two niggling complaints with the book. First, there were some loose ends and questions that I wanted answers to, and secondly, I wasn’t thrilled with the ending. I read another mystery that had a similar ending, and while it worked there, it didn’t so much with EVERY LITTLE LIE. Nevertheless, I still think this was an intriguing and well-written book, as much a character study in grief as a novel of suspense. Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[thelibraryladies · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I have many anxieties in my life, some that are realistic, others that are unrealistic. Or at the very least not worth worrying about. One of those anxieties is becoming unexpectedly widowed. I’m the person who can’t sleep too well at night if her husband isn’t home, especially if I’m expecting him home and he is late to return. Because OBVIOUSLY it isn’t that he’s just running late or finding that time has run away from him. Obviously he’s dead. So reading “Every Last Lie” kind of made me confront my anxieties on that at least a little bit, so it has that going for it. Mary Kubica is one of those authors that I really, really want to like, mainly because I really enjoyed her book “Pretty Baby” and the subversion of expectations that we were given. I wasn’t as thrilled by “Don’t You Cry” (if you remember) just because it was less a subversion of expectations and more a tangle of unnecessary twists and turns. But I was willing to give “Every Last Lie” a chance because overall, I like the author. Unfortunately, this was less of a “Pretty Baby” experience and more of a “Don’t You Cry” experience.Note: I am going to try avoiding spoilers here, but I can’t really critique it without saying at least a little bit of how scenarios kind of play out. So even though I’m avoiding specifics, you may want to skip this review if you want to read it.“Every Little Lie” is told through alternating perspectives. The first is Clara’s perspective as she’s trying to piece together what happened to Nick, finding potential clues to suggest that maybe her husband didn’t die by accident and that perhaps he was murdered. The other is Nick’s perspective in the weeks leading up to that fateful car ride that sets the plot in motion. I will give this book credit where it is due, I really enjoyed this structure. It allowed for the reader to be able to see the clues that were presented in ways that Nick and Clara couldn’t see them, and I liked picking up on truths that one or the other weren’t privy to. It’s good when these books find fun and interesting ways to reveal the solution to the reader, and I definitely felt like Kubica did a bang up job in terms of pacing and reveal. It also made it for a fast read, and a pretty entertaining one in the moment.But plotting aside, I didn’t really care for either Clara or Nick. I didn’t feel like I knew that much about Clara as a person outside of the trauma that she was experiencing and what it was doing to her mental state. Sure, that makes sense that we are only going to see that side of her in her chapters, but even in the chapters that Nick had before the car accident we only got a partial view, and it wasn’t a very telling one. Nick was a bit more interesting, seeing Clara’s views of him alongside the truths about him was a very good way to get to know him as a character. But ultimately, he wasn’t terribly interesting, and just fell into pretty familiar tropes of a desperate man with a lot of secrets. And then you add into that a lot of really odd red herrings that never felt satisfying, as they never led anywhere. I know that red herrings usually don’t, but there were so many things in this book that I wanted to have SOME sort of resolution, only to find that there is no resolution in sight for a good deal of them as we turn the last page. And some of them, I felt, really needed resolution for me to be satisfied with the story. I was left saying “Well what about ______?” too much to be happy or at least okay with how things ended up.I still fully intend to keep giving Mary Kubica a shot, because there is a lot of potential there. And “Pretty Baby” was proof that I do like stuff that she has done, and can like it again. It’s just too bad that this one fell flat. I keep hope alive that the next will be better.

[girlwellread · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A special thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Canada for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.Clara Solberg and her husband Nick seem to have it all—a great marriage, two healthy children, and a successful dental practice. That is until Nick and the couple's four-year-old daughter, Maisie, are in a car accident that claims Nick's life. Clara is only a few days postpartum and her emotions are running the gamut from shock, grief, confusion, disbelief, and now paranoia that is fuelled by Maisie's night terrors of "the bad man". Although the crash is ruled an accident, that Nick was speeding and lost control, Clara can't stop obsessing that Nick was run off the road. It is here where Kubica turns truths into lies, and secrets start to take flight. She is a master at this genre. Told in alternating perspectives of Clara in the present day, and Nick leading up to the accident, Every Last Lie accelerates in pace and suspense, but ultimately stalls out at the end. Unfortunately with this ending, Kubica negates all of the suspense and build up she so masterfully weaves throughout. That being said, I would still recommend the book and any of her other works.

[silversreviews · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Nick? My Nick? It can't be.Nick wouldn't hurt a fly or tell a lie... EVER.Did Clara really know her Nick?Nick's life kept spinning and spiraling out of control as debts mounted and his savings was depleted, and then the unthinkable happened.Clara couldn't believe her husband was talking on the phone while driving, driving too fast around a curve when he had their daughter in the car, and having an affair.When the police came to Clara's door and said there had been an accident, Clara didn't want to believe it was Nick until she saw him lifeless on the table in the emergency room . The only saving grace was that Maisie miraculously hadn't been harmed.As the days after Nick's death turned into weeks and Clara still hadn't told her daughter her father had died, Maisie began to scream about a bad man and continually asked when her daddy would be home. This made a sleep-deprived and grieving Clara believe someone had killed Nick and that it wasn’t his speeding that had killed him.EVERY LAST LIE begins with a car crash that turned Clara's life upside down for more than one reason and turns worse every day as things about her husband are revealed. Nick lied about their finances and who knows what else. Clara just couldn't believe it.Clara was an annoying character for me because she had no clue about what was going on in her household, and her parenting skills were awful. She left children in a running car and didn't know how to handle crying children. She didn't even know how to take care of herself.Nick seemed to be a good father and husband on the surface but a sleaze bag in every other way.There actually were not too many trustworthy characters in this book, but oh did they all make EVERY LAST LIE an excellent read.Ms. Kubica cleverly moves from past to present with chapters headed CLARA and chapters headed NICK - BEFORE And AFTER as she takes us on a secret-revealing ride with the secrets having been better left unknown.This was my first book by Mary Kubica, and it grabbed me the minute I read the suspenseful, attention-grabbing opening lines.EVERY LAST LIE is a book every reader of psychological thrillers won't want to miss. EVERY LAST LIE is marvelous from the first word to the last even though the ending was a bit flat. 5/5This book was given to me free of charge and without compensation by the publisher in return for an honest review.