BOOKS & BOTTLES INAUGURAL PICK (A Francis Ford Coppola Winery selection); Featured by ABC27, The Huffington Post, and more, the latest from award-winning author, Amy Impellizzeri, is a taut psychological thriller with an ending no one can predict. Will, a recovering heroin addict-turned-counselor for whom truth is a championed element to recovery, has a dark secret — shared with no one … dark secret — shared with no one outside of his anonymous support meetings. Over twenty years ago, after an ultimatum from his pregnant ex-wife, Will was forced to assume a new identity and to fake his own death to get out from under his dealer and user-friends once and for all.
Now Will is counseling Thea, a young woman who has been diagnosed with a pathological addiction to creating fake social media identities, and who founded a start-up company (“Alibis”) that created false internet identities for clients, many with suspect pasts. Thea’s addiction has landed her in rehab as a condition of her parole — after a plea bargain cut short a court case that would have put both Thea and Alibis on trial for a very high-profile crime.
As Will works with Thea, the truth is put into motion on a collision course. Both Will’s, and his young client’s, secrets start to unravel … and reveal, at long last, the truth about Thea.more
Clever, mind-bending and darkly original, THE TRUTH ABOUT THEA had me hooked from page one. In Thea Brown, Amy Impellizzeri has created a brilliant, complicated, flawed character that gets under your skin. Fast-paced and twisty, the unexpected ending will have you gasping for air.
The book engages you from the very beginning. It’s got some twists and turns that are unpredictable and well thought out.
Two things you should know about me:
1. I rarely read the book blurb on the back of a book since I like to learn as I read.
2. One of my New Year’s resolutions is to learn to read faster. Notice, the phrase Speed Read felt like too much to wish for, so Faster is the goal.
Now on to the review, this fast-moving story with twists and interwoven characters was not the book to skip reading the blurb, or for me to attempt a record-breaking reading time. The suspense and the twisting plot definitely kept me on my toes. So trying to read fast only caused me to back up and reread. And by not reading the blurb it made the first of the book more confusing than it needed to be.
The Truth About Thea is an original, fast-paced tale that will require you to remain open-minded to the unexpected. When Thea is taken to court after her business is named as being partially responsible for an incident, she is diagnosed with an addiction to social media. And more directly, creating fake social media identities for her clients. Though unusual, she is granted a court-mandated program of treatment.
Her therapist is Will Cann, an addict turned counselor. But as the story progresses, and timelines go back and forth, it seems both Will and Thea are hiding dark secrets.
Though each character had a history that brought about believability regarding their actions, I still found myself continually wondering if they were on the up-and-up. I analyzed and searched for hints as Impellizzeri directed this mesmerizing, twisty ride.
Though each piece of this puzzle eventually fit together, to completely enjoy looking at the finished product I found I couldn’t over-analyze each puzzle piece. I had to just look at the perfect pieces and the overall finished picture.
What Concerned Me
I wasn’t a fan of the first part of the book where the timeline went back and forth on several chapters.
There was a definite need to suspend disbelief.
What I Liked Best
Wow! Where to begin? This story is current, original, and a page-turner. The characters are believable and the story offers things to be considered on a deeper level.
It certainly turned out to be a memorable book, and I will definitely be planning to read more from author Amy Impellizzeri.
My thanks to Amy Impellizzeri for a copy of this book. I was free to express my opinion on this review.
Timely and important, this well-crafted story makes us face hard truths.
A man’s past and a woman’s present collide in Amy Impellezzeri’s latest up-all-night thriller where nothing is as it seems. Filled with questionable characters, long-held secrets, and a tangled web of twists and turns, The Truth about Thea will keep readers guessing who — if anyone — can be trusted. A perfectly compelling read all the way to the shocking end.