Where the Truth Lies

A Novel

By: Rupert Holmes

Narrated by: Ana Gasteyer, Michael McKean

Length: 4 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's summary

Where the Truth Lies is a tour de force of sinister mystery, sly comedy, grand cuisine, and incredible sex - a sensual, sardonic, neo-Dickensian thriller in which a latter-day Alice careens through the seductive Wonderland of New York and Los Angeles in the dark heart of the 1970s. 

This novel of intrigue speeds from one vivid setting to another, all of them factually real even as they are fantastically surreal: a clandestine club in Disneyland with a dazzlingly well stocked bar; a dizzying Shangri-La of a castle hidden away in Burbank; a drive-in movie theater nestled below the most chic streets of midtown Manhattan; an elegant table for four perched 30,000 feet above the earth. 

Written by Edgar, Tony, and Grammy Award winner Rupert Holmes (who first came to public attention in the mid-70s as a singer and writer of story songs), Where the Truth Lies will wine and dine you in wickedly whimsical company, all the while luring you into a labyrinth of ever-sharpening bends and darkening corners. 

The tale is told by O’Connor, a vivacious, free-spirited young journalist known for her penetrating celebrity interviews and bent on unearthing secrets long ago buried by the handsome showbiz team of singer Vince Collins and comic Lanny Morris. These two highly desirable men, once inseparable (and insatiable where women were concerned), were driven apart by a bizarre and unexplained death that may have cast one of them as a murderer.  

As the tart-tongued, eye-catching O’Connor ventures deeper into this unsolved mystery, she finds herself compromisingly coiled around both men, knowing more about them than they realize and less than she might like, but increasingly fearful that she now knows far too much.

At once funny, frightening, delightful, and disturbing as it restores the opulent Hollywood and Manhattan of the 70s to their garish glory, Where the Truth Lies drops its veils like a giddy and voluptuous Salome who knows not what reward or punishment awaits her when she is at last naked. It is the work of a master storyteller and wit at the very top of his form.

©2003, 2004 Rupert Holmes (P)2003 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"Where the Truth Lies is a beguiling suspense novel. It's sexy and surprising, witty and intriguing. I was hooked from the very first page." (Candace Bushnell, author of Sex in the City and Four Blondes)

“Days after you finish this book, you’ll still feel the narrator’s voice elbowing through your brain. Fully realized characters, ruthless commentary, and a beautifully dark sense of humor - all masquerading as a hyper-clever mystery. You won’t look at the truth the same way again.” (Brad Meltzer, author of The Millionaires)

“Rupert Holmes seats you gently next to an irresistible narrator only to entangle you completely in her twisted, dark, exhilarating troubles. The ensuing thriller crosses a Dickensian world of deceit and destiny with the slipping glory of 1970s New York and Los Angeles. Every character is so alive with delicious secrets that you’ll never suspect Where the Truth Lies.” (Matthew Pearl, author of The Dante Club)

No wrap up

It just ended. No explanation as to what happened or why. It had a great plot but just ended without any wrap up.

Just ok

I thought this was just an ok book. Nothing really stood out in this one.

Unabridged Book Better than this Chop Job

Wonderful writer and very amusing dialogue. So much so that I bought the book. The abridged version here does a serious injustice to the writer and the book. I can’t recommend the abridged version. Book is much better and makes more sense. The reader is sensational!