The twisty revelations, building tension, and eccentric characters contribute to a fast-paced, unpredictable read. But most surprising are the frequent first-person accounts from Jack’s first wife, Morgan, who is apparently speaking to readers from beyond the grave.Īt 400-plus pages, the novel soars by in its intensity and intriguing plot and evokes the sort of experience you have come to expect from an Agatha Christie novel. Mostly told from Claire’s first-person perspective, the novel occasionally shifts to third person when following Jack or some of the supporting characters. A raging storm moves in and knocks out the power to the island.Įllison keeps readers on their toes with constantly shifting points of view in alternating chapters. Someone has hacked the Compton family’s computer data - the family business develops technology to spy on the enemies of governments they work for - and is demanding a ransom. Skeletal remains of what may be Jack’s first wife, Morgan, are found years after a sailing accident, and someone mars Claire’s wedding gown by scrawling the word “Whore” on it. Desperate to avoid a public scandal that could derail the wedding, Jack and Claire maintain a story that one of Jack’s bodyguards pulled the trigger, allowing the couple to continue their travels to the Compton home.īut, as readers familiar with Ellison’s novels have come to expect, more intrigue quickly ensues. The novel begins with a dangerous home invasion at Claire’s house during which she ultimately shoots and kills the intruder. Jackson Compton, and forever more leave that damaged, empty part of myself behind.”Ĭlaire slowly lets readers in on her secrets as a series of mysterious and deadly events unfolds leading up to the wedding at the Compton family’s villa on exotic Isle Isola off the Italian coast. “I will erase Claire Hunter completely, morph into Claire Compton, Mrs. Internationally known, wealthy, targeted, and as such, understandably private,” she muses. “This is a family everyone wants a piece of. … His love healed me, smoothed all my broken edges.”Įven when she is told she must sign a prenuptial agreement and exclusively take the Compton name as her own, Claire is all too willing. “I’m not that destabilized little girl who blamed herself for everyone’s bad moods and sharp words.
“With Jack by my side, I feel in control again, strong, capable,” Claire says. Ellison’s latest suspense thriller, Her Dark Lies: “I never said I was a good person.”Ī Nashville artist on the way to becoming the latest wife of eccentric entrepreneur Jack Compton, Claire is eager, almost desperate, to start a new life after a dark past. There probably will not be a more intriguing line of text in a crime thriller this year than the one protagonist Claire Hunter delivers in J.T.
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