Sliver of Truth (Ridley Jones Series #2)

by Lisa Unger, Jenna Lamia (Narrated by)

Overview

Ridley Jones is being careful about where she steps and trying to get on with her life when a seemingly mundane act–picking up a few envelopes of prints at a photo lab–puts her at the nexus of a global network of crime. A shadowy figure of a man appears in almost every picture she’s taken in the last year, lurking just far enough away to make identification impossible. Now the FBI is at her door, some serious bad guys are following her every move, and the family she once loved and relied on is more distant than ever. The only thing Ridley knows for sure is that she has to get to the truth about herself and her past if she’s ever going to find her way home. Charged with relentless intensity and kinetic action, playing out with unnerving suspense on the streets of New York and London, and seen through the terrified but determined eyes of a young woman whose body and heart are pushed to the point of shattering, SLIVER OF TRUTH is another triumph from the New York Times bestselling ...

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780739341841
Publisher:	Random House Audio Publishing Group
Publication date:	01/29/2008
Series:	Ridley Jones Series , #2
Edition description:	Abridged

About the Author

Lisa Unger lives in Florida with her husband and daughter.

Read an Excerpt

1

I'm running but I can't run much farther. The pain in my side already has me limping; there's fire in my lungs. I can't hear his footfalls. But I know he's not far away. I know now that he's been right beside me all my life in one way or another. I'm the light; he's the shadow. We've coexisted without ever meeting. If I'd been a good girl, the girl I was raised to be, I never would have known him. But it's too late for regrets.

I'm on Hart Island in the Bronx, a place known as Potter's Field. It's the city cemetery for the unknown and indigent--a grim and frightening place. How we've all wound up here is a long story, but I know the story will end here--maybe just for some, maybe for all of us. A tall abandoned building that seems to sag upon itself looms ahead of me. It's a darker night than I have ever known, in more ways than one. The sliver of moon is hidden behind a thick cloud cover. It's hard to see but I watch as he disappears through a door that hangs crooked on its hinges. I follow.

"Ridley!" The call comes from behind me. But I don't answer. I just keep moving until I am standing at the entrance to the building. I hesitate there, looking at the crooked, sighing structure and wondering if it's not too late to turn around.

Then I see him, up ahead of me. I call out but he doesn't answer me, just turns and slowly starts to move away. I follow. If I valued my life and my sanity, I'd let him get away and hope he did the same for me. We could go back to the way things have been. He dwelling in a world I never even knew existed, me going about my very ordinary life, writing magazine articles, seeing movies, having drinks with friends.

Fear and rage duke it out in my chest. Hatred has a taste and a texture; it burns like bile in my throat. For a moment, I hear the voice of someone I loved: Ridley, you can release the hatred and walk away. It's nothing more than a single choice. We can both do it. We don't need all the answers to live our lives. It doesn't have to be like this. A few minutes later, he was gone.

I know now that those words were lies. Hatred doesn't release. Walking away is not one of my choices. Maybe it never was. Maybe I've been in the path of this freight train all my life, lashed to the tracks, too weak, too foolish, too stubborn to even try to save myself.

As I enter the building, I think I might hear the rumble of boat engines. I feel a distant flutter of hope and wonder if help is coming. I hear my name again and look behind me to see a man who has become my only friend moving unsteadily toward me. He is injured and I know it will take him a while to reach me. I think for a second that I should go to him, help him. But inside I hear movement and the groaning of an unstable structure. My breathing comes shallow and quick. I step deeper inside.

"Stop running, you coward!" I yell into the huge darkness. My voice resonates in the deserted space. "Let me see your face."

My voice bounces off the surfaces around me again. I don't sound scared and heartbroken, but I am. I sound strong and sure. I take the gun from the waist of my jeans. The metal is warm from my skin. In my hand, it feels solid and righteous. This is the second time in my life I've held a gun with the intent to use it. I don't like it any better than the first time, but I'm more confident now, know that I can fire if pressed.

He steps out from the shadows, seems to move silently, to glide like the ghost that he is. I take a step toward him and then stop, raise my gun. I still can't see his face. A...

Reading Group Guide

In Sliver of Truth, rolls of film developed at the corner drugstore spark a life-threatening chain of events for freelance writer Ridley Jones. The gripping story that follows is full of twists and turns, as well as many absorbing themes: finding truth in a web of deception, the meaning of family and what defines a parent, hiding one’s true self as a means of survival, searching the past for clues about the present. The questions below are intended to assist your reading group’s discussion of Lisa Unger’s fast-paced, thrilling novel.

Attention: Plot spoilers throughout this guide.

1. Of all the baffling plot twists in Sliver of Truth, which one caught you most by surprise? Why?

2. The book’s pivotal scene–where Ridley confronts Max at Potter’s Field–bookends the novel, appearing at the beginning and near the conclusion. Why do you think the author chose to structure this scene like this? What did you think of having it split in this way?

3. In chapter 2, Ridley describes her childhood habit of hiding from adults, saying, “I just got better and better at finding places to hide. Eventually I had to reveal myself or never be found” (page 21). In the context of the novel, does this statement have another meaning? If so, what?

4. What was your opinion of Dylan Grace? At first, did you think he was being honest with Ridley about his motives for finding Max?

5. “Some of us are lost and some of us are found. I think that’s really the difference Max had observed” (page 273). Who are the “lost” characters in Sliver of Truth, and who are “found”? What are the differences between these characters?

6. Talk about the relationship between Dylan and Ridley. Did you expect that he and Ridley would get together? Why do you think they were so attracted to each other?

7. “I was filled with dread and fury, and yes, the slightest glimmer of hope,” Ridley says after she finds out Max is still alive (page 283). Why hope? Does this foreshadow her ultimate encounter with Max? At any point in the novel did you believe Max was alive?

8. Ghosts and hauntings are recurrent themes in Sliver of Truth. Discuss some instances where they are prominent, and their significance. Does the author employ other symbols like these?

9. “I have a tremendous ability to compartmentalize my emotions. Some call it denial, but I think it’s a skill to be able to put unpleasant things out of your head for a little while in order to accomplish something else,” (page 98). Consider this statement of Ridley’s. What does it reveal about her personality? Do you agree with what she says?

10. Nature versus nurture is a theme Ridley frequently debates with herself: Is her true self a result of her adoptive parents’ upbringing, or is she Max’s daughter (and therefore shares his traits)? What do you think? Are we really products of our DNA, or do the people around us shape who we become?

11. Discuss Jake. Did you imagine that he was not who he claimed to be? Were you surprised to discover what his real identity actually was? Do you think Ridley suspected that Jake was lying to her?

12. If you read Beautiful Lies, did you realize that Jake lied to Ridley on the Brooklyn Bridge?

13. Why was Ridley unable to see the real Max, despite the attempts by many to inform her of his wrongdoings? For that matter, why does it seem that all the men in Ridley’s life (Dylan, Jake, her ex-boyfriend Zack, even her adoptive father, Ben) hid their true selves from her?

14. “I’m sure you were hoping for a neater package–the villain is caught and brought to justice. I live happily ever after” (page 351). What did you think of the book’s ending? When Ridley’s real intentions against Max were revealed, were you surprised?

15. What do you think the title means?

Introduction

In Sliver of Truth, rolls of film developed at the corner drugstore spark a life-threatening chain of events for freelance writer Ridley Jones. The gripping story that follows is full of twists and turns, as well as many absorbing themes: finding truth in a web of deception, the meaning of family and what defines a parent, hiding one’s true self as a means of survival, searching the past for clues about the present. The questions below are intended to assist your reading group’s discussion of Lisa Unger’s fast-paced, thrilling novel.

Attention: Plot spoilers throughout this guide.

Editorial Reviews

Ridley Jones thought her faux uncle Max (who was actually her father) was long dead. But apparently, no one else did; not the FBI, the Armenian mob, the woman who identified Max's corpse, or Jones's boyfriend, Jake. Each want Max for different reasons, and Jones becomes the tool with which they hope to bring him out into the open. In an effort to figure everything out, Jones recruits contacts, but it seems every time she does, they end up dead. Unger's second novel featuring Jones packs a lot of action, humor and drama. Jenna Lamia improves these elements in this first-person novel with a light, smooth voice that fits with Jones personality. Within the first hour, Lamia's soft tone reverberates with attitude or sincerity depending on the context, while her ability to inject personality into the narrative aspects of the story makes it all the more enjoyable. She tackles accents, gender differentials and sarcasm with great ease, leaving listeners to lose themselves in Unger's tale of intrigue. Simultaneous release with the Crown hardcover (Reviews, Oct. 23). (Jan.)

Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information

Publishers Weekly

Freelance journalist Ridley Jones stops by the photo lab to pick up her pictures and is taken in for questioning by FBI agents on her way home. It seems that a mysterious figure is hovering in the background in several of her photos, and Special Agent Dylan Grace believes that the figure is Ridley's Uncle Max, whom she thought was dead. In Unger's follow-up to Beautiful Lies, Ridley must face the fact that her beloved uncle may not only be alive but that he wasn't the man she believed him to be. The FBI wants her to lead its agents to him, but she doesn't completely trust anyone now, including her boyfriend, Jake, who informs her that Max was part of a vicious crime ring. Determined to discover the truth in the web of lies surrounding her, Ridley decides to do some investigating on her own and encounters danger and deception at every turn. A fast-paced story that readers will find difficult to put down; recommended. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 9/15/06.]-Linda Oliver, MLIS, Colorado Springs Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

More identity crisis for New York City journalist Ridley Jones in this murky follow-up to Unger's debut (Beautiful Lies, 2006). Just when she thought she'd figured out who her real father is, single working girl Ridley is confronted with fresh evidence that her dead Uncle Max Smiley, revealed a year ago (and in Unger's previous book) to be her biological father, might in fact still be alive, and responsible for a series of ghastly assaults on women. Max, an abused child himself, was a self-made real-estate developer and the shadowy head of the Project Rescue organization, which ostensibly saved at-risk children from abusive parents, but in some cases actually abducted children and placed them in foster homes. Ridley's adoptive parents, Ben and Grace Jones, were also involved in Project Rescue, and adopted Ridley as a child. At this point in her life, Ridley is still picking up the pieces of her identity, having been involved in the last year with Jake, a former Project Rescue baby who is still obsessed with Max's whereabouts. Meanwhile, Ridley is being trailed by FBI Special Agent Dylan Grace, who ties her to the recent disappearance of a New York Times journalist, Myra Lyall. In a development that turns these characters into paranoid, damaged people, it's revealed that Agent Grace's mother happened to have been a spy and one of Max's victims. And with everyone looking for Max, possibly at the center of a sex slave trade, the trail leads naturally to Ridley, the beloved daughter he will surely reveal himself to at the novel's 11th hour. Ridley is a character still in search of herself, and this effort offers appealing moments of first-person honesty, but could lose readers unfamiliar withUnger's first.

Kirkus Reviews

Double feints and triple suspense plays . . . make Sliver of Truth compulsive reading.”
—New York Daily News

From the Publisher