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Beautiful Lies By Melissa J Wantuck  |
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 Recently released in paperback, Beautiful Lies by Lisa Unger, was a New York Times Bestseller when it debuted in 2006. Now you have another chance to pick up this suspenseful page-turner.
The story is a mystery and the narrator, Ridley Jones, tells us her story in first-person. Ridley describes herself as a thirtyish freelance writer living in New York City in a sagging apartment in the East Village. She’s content with her life until it is flipped upside down after a random act of selflessness that makes her a hero.
Ridley is confronted with the possibility that her parents aren’t her biological mother and father. Her questioning and search for answers, whether her parents are her biological ones or not, lead her into a dangerous situation as well as into the arms of a man she wants to trust but not sure if he’s being honest with her about who he is or if he’s one of the enemy trying to stop her from uncovering the truth.
At times the story is predictable but the horrific reality Ridley must face will endear her character to readers. Unger writes Ridley’s reaction in a realistic and believable way. Along with a character that’s believable, the story seems plausible, adding to its ability to engage readers.
Unger appears to be attempting in a subtle way through Ridley to put forth a humanistic philosophy. Ridley engages her reader in a discussion of choices. At first that’s a logical discussion, but then Ridley goes deeper, arguing that choices can’t be defined as good or bad, but the type of choice a person makes directs their path and is based on who that person is.
Ridley make a split-second choice to save a life that ended up catapulting her down a path riddled with deceit and danger. To her it was a choice and it was simply that. Her first choice put her own life in the path of two oncoming trucks that barreled at her. One was real, the other was figurative. She made choices that led her to both yet she tries to argue that none of her choices were good or bad and the choices made by people who have affected her life aren’t good or bad. All choices are based on experiences, which are individual.
The same time Ridley argues her life philosophy, the events that led her as an infant to her parent’s door are put under moral investigation. The issue of right or wrong comes into question and you can’t leave defining actions as good or bad at the door of reason when arguing the actions of people: this one aspect of Unger’s story sits on a weak foundation. Think of her plot as a house with multiple additions and each addition has its own foundation built to support it. This foundation, exploring the human condition, has some cracks that maybe Unger should’ve left to a book on philosophy to explain rather then tackle it on her own and removing all contradictions.
Unger leaves a few threads dangling at the end after she neatly weaves most of them into her story. A couple of those left end up having no relationship to the whole as they seem to have been lost along the way. These are more cracks in an addition of her plot, but the main foundation is crack free and results in a good read.
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