The Rundown
Featuring a hinted-at murder, an Amber Alert, a rekindled romance, and multiple mysterious and misunderstood characters with hidden pasts, “The Fool’s Truth” aspires to be a twisty, turny literary thriller that keeps the reader guessing. Whether or not it succeeds depends on whether the reader can suspend disbelief and follow the improbable story despite the somewhat contrived plot devices and the overly formal writing style.
The novel commences with a shadowy introductory scene with a mother soothing her baby while ominously stepping over an unmoving form seeping an aubergine pool. Once the book begins, Cordelia Carlyle, the only first-person character in the book, seeks the assistance of her childhood friend and one-time lover Ramon to escape what she tells him is an evil, vindictive husband who intends to take away custody of her daughter Gabriella. Ramon sets up her escape, she flees toward Canada and, through some unexplained very bad decisions, ends up in a tiny town in Maine, with a damaged car, an Amber Alert on her heels, and nowhere to turn. She is taken in by the mysterious hermit Rebekah Winchell, who takes a strong interest in Gabriella. Conveniently for the plot, Murphy, Maine has very bad cell service, so Cordelia is essentially a prisoner at Rebekah’s remote farmhouse. Cordelia learns (through much ill-advised snooping) of Rebekah’s real identity and disturbing past. Determined to escape to safety, Cordelia hikes to the nearby home of the recently paroled rapist and murderer Sam Rawlins – another of her questionable decisions – and it’s all downhill from there.
Throughout all the above, Ramon has his investigator Badger searching for Cordelia; the perceptive town sheriff Homer Pruitt has a sense that something is amiss; Rebekah’s aunt hosts a spiritual convention at a nearby retreat; the British ex-tabloid publisher Russell Payne snoops around for a good story; the local pastor is involved in an illegal pot-growing scheme; and the Rawlins brothers appear to be up to no good. All of these plot lines converge in the second half of the book, in somewhat convoluted and suspiciously coincidental ways. Everyone has secrets, and some of those secrets are doozies.
“The Fool’s Truth” – the title refers to the idea that one cannot hide one’s true character, or, basically, the truth will out – certainly has all the plot elements of an exciting thriller. Written from the alternating perspectives of Ramon, Cordelia, Russell, Homer and Rebekah, the reader is never certain, until the very end, who has what secrets, what information is important, and how it all fits together. The author has constructed an elaborate plot and interwoven many different storylines, featuring some well-developed characters such as the puzzle-loving sheriff Homer and touching on multiple themes such as identity, spirituality, and love. The problem is that the story is just not believable as as whole. The sheer number and pace of events is simply highly improbable, and the plot relies very heavily on coincidences and contrivances. And finally, the writing itself is both wooden and overly formal, with unnatural-sounding monologues and dialogues, preventing the reader from fully empathizing with any of the characters.
The Recommendation
“The Fool’s Truth” will appeal to fans of suspenseful thrillers with multiple layered story lines, so long as they are not too discerning when it comes to the nuances of the writing style, the depth of the characterizations, or the contrivances of the plot.
The Rating
2.5 Stars (out of 5): Needs work. This book has promise, and with the help of an editing team, it could easily be reworked into a professional manuscript.
The Pros & Cons
Pros: Page Turner, Plot, Surprise EndingCons: Character Developement, Dialogue, Plotline, Suspension of Disbelief
