Lisa Unger's novels all explore the theme of family and how it shapes people's lives. Her latest, "In the Blood," examines the life of Lana Granger, a person with many secrets.
Granger appears to be running away from a traumatic event in her past. She's found college life to be rewarding, and is about to graduate. She needs extra money, and learns of an opportunity to baby-sit a young boy named Luke (who has secrets of his own). The two of them hit it off, and Granger looks forward to spending her afternoons with him.
When her best friend, Beck, disappears, the police suspect Granger since she was the last one to see him alive. As the authorities dig deeper, they discover Granger lied about her alibi, and that she has connections to a dead body found a year earlier.
What the police don't understand is that Granger cannot tell the truth about what happened on either of those occasions. The lies have been flowing so constantly they have become truth.
And then Luke begins to show signs of hostility.
Nothing is what it seems as Unger pulls off some beautiful surprises in this intriguing thriller. Once the final page of "In the Blood" is turned, readers will flip through the novel to see if they can uncover how Unger masterfully told the tale.
Online: