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In the Blood: A Novel
by Lisa Unger
Hardcover : 352 pages
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LANA GRANGER LIVES A LIFE OF LIES. She has told so many lies about where she comes from and who she is that the truth is like a cloudy nightmare she can't quite recall. About to graduate from college and with her trust fund almost ...
Introduction
SOMEONE KNOWS LANA'S SECRET - AND HE'S DYING TO TELL.
LANA GRANGER LIVES A LIFE OF LIES. She has told so many lies about where she comes from and who she is that the truth is like a cloudy nightmare she can't quite recall. About to graduate from college and with her trust fund almost tapped out, she takes a job babysitting a troubled boy named Luke. Expelled from schools all over the country, the manipulative young Luke is accustomed to controlling the people in his life. But, in Lana, he may have met his match. Or has Lana met hers?
When Lana's closest friend, Beck, mysteriously disappears, Lana resumes her lying ways--to friends, to the police, to herself. The police have a lot of questions for Lana when the story about her whereabouts the night Beck disappeared doesn't jibe with eyewitness accounts. Lana will do anything to hide the truth, but it might not be enough to keep her ominous secrets buried: someone else knows about Lana's lies. And he's dying to tell.
Lisa Unger's writing has been hailed as "stellar" (USA Today), "arresting and meaningful" (Washington Post) with "gripping narrative and evocative, muscular prose" (Associated Press). Masterfully suspenseful, finely crafted, and written with a no-holds-barred raw power, In the Blood is Unger at her best.
Editorial Review
Amazon Guest Review of In the Blood
By Karin Slaughter
Reading In the Blood is like grabbing a live wire. Youâ??re minding your own business, just looking for a good read, then suddenly youâ??re jolted into a shocking, unputdownable thriller. Thereâ??s no way you can let goâ??the thought of never finding out what happens to these manipulative and terrifying characters is not an option.
The story begins with Lana, a deeply troubled young woman who is a student at a private university in upstate New York. Lana is a psychology major with a knack for working with troubled children. She takes a job as a babysitter for a disturbed young boy named Luke, but itâ??s not just the experience she cravesâ??thereâ??s something about Luke that unsettles Lana to her core. Maybe itâ??s because Luke seems to know Lana a little too well. Maybe itâ??s because sheâ??s a firm believer in keeping your enemies close. Luke is a master manipulator, a budding psychopath who loves playing games. And he seems dangerously close to figuring out Lanaâ??s secrets.
Luke isnâ??t her only worry. The police have found out that Beck, Lanaâ??s friend, has gone missing. They start asking her questions she canâ??t answer. Her quiet, academic life turns upside down. The sheltered campus is suddenly against her. Worse, throughout it all Luke wants to play a mysterious and disconcerting game that seems eerily connected to Lanaâ??s troubled past. And the longer she plays, the more the game seems connected to the night that Beck disappeared too. Lana hasnâ??t told anyone what happened, so why does it feel like the only way to find her friend is to keep playing Lukeâ??s horrific game?
Lisa Unger is a master at creating psychologically damaged characters. Lana is refreshingly original, an engaging yet completely unreliable narrator. We want to trust her, but should we? Luke is equally inscrutable. He has a dangerous side that both horrifies and draws you in. Is Lana playing Lukeâ??s game, or are they both playing the reader? The answer delivers the kind of shock that will leave you stunned long after the last page is turned.
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