A suspenseful novel with a plot that will keep you on pins and needles until the final moment.
Fame and its trappings are not for everybody. Dahlia Frost has good reason to avoid the limelight. An unceremonious departure from the Air Force more than a decade ago leaves her with little more than PTSD, heartbreak from an abrupt split with a boyfriend overseas and a hypnotherapy session that brought a repressed trauma to the fore. However, being discharged from the military provides an opportunity for Dahlia to begin a healing journey, one she prefers to do out of the public’s insatiable eye. Hoping for anonymity for herself and her mother, Dahlia uses a pen name and writes a very personal book that chronicles her life, including many of the abuses she and her mother suffered through the years. The book becomes incredibly popular and word eventually gets out about her true identity, making it impossible to lie low. Complicating matters is an irascible reunion with an ex-boyfriend who still harbors intense feelings for Dahlia. While the book tops the charts, not everyone is happy with her success. Buried secrets begin digging their way out from the rubble of her past, and Dahlia may not live to fight them off this time.
The Truth is a passionate novel that deftly ties in elements of romance, mystery and suspense and wraps them in a package scarred with dysfunction and abuse. Dahlia is a complicated character whose choices will leave you frustrated and angry, but also sympathetic and emboldened. As difficult as it is to get to know the fractured mind of Dahlia, her relationships prove to be even more complicated and convoluted. The title, The Truth, couldn’t be more appropriate, as each character possesses their own version of the truth, defending their position vigorously. “There will be a price for the truth, Dahlia. There always is.” With this ominous warning and other suspicious elements, the author employs a nice balance of red herrings and some more obvious culprits, while always keeping readers in the loop and able to follow the subtle clues that point toward what actually happened. The chapters are scattered across time, making readers feel jumpy and out of sorts, fitting qualities for a suspenseful novel with a plot that will keep you on pins and needles until the final moment. Emotionally jarring and purposefully disturbing, D F Kennedy’s fictional story that has roots in true events is one that will touch you on a personal level and leave you craving the next installment.
