Kate Pepper, Here She Lies

Here She Lies

Kate Pepper

Onyx, May 2007, $7.99, 320 pp.

ISBN: 0451412397

Annie has been married to Bobby for less than a year but they and their baby daughter were a very happy family until an e-mail leads Annie to believe Bobby is having an affair. He vehemently denies it, insisting he doesn't know anyone who signs their email lovylove addressed to bobbybobs. Yet the contents of the notes are very erotic and exact, going so far to describe the marks on his body only a wife or mother would know.

Even when they get new credit cards and destroy the old, unexplained charges occur with things one would give to a lover appearing on the bill. After two months Annie walks out on the marriage and takes their daughter to her identical sister's house; She knows Julie will love and support them through this trying time. When Anne goes to keep an appointment for a job, she is arrested on embezzlement charges. Bobby put up the house for collateral and Annie makes bond but when they return to Julie's home, neither her sister or child are there. Besides identity theft, Anna now has to deal with a kidnapping with her frantic thoughts taking her down a horrific path to which she is afraid to give any credence.

Besides being a great thriller, HERE SHE LIES gives readers an incredible look at the consequences of identity theft and how it impacts the victims. Annie's love for her sterile twin is so strong and so deep that thinking bad thoughts about her sibling feels like a betrayal of the person she loves most next to her daughter. Bobby is a great character willing to be dominated by a stronger woman. Kate Pepper rolls up the tension in this cleverly written suspense laden urban crime thriller.

Harriet Klausner