Wendy Corsi Staub's LIVE TO TELL

Wendy Corsi Staub LIVE TO TELL

Plot:

Secrets can scandalize . . . 

In a lovely suburban town just north of New York City, the gossip mill runs more efficiently than the commuter-train line. And in every impeccably decorated house, they're talking about Lauren Walsh. They say that nothing could be worse than being abandoned by your husband for another woman. They're wrong . . . 

Secrets can shock . . . 

All Lauren wants is to protect her children from the pain of her messy divorce. But when their father goes missing, a case of mistaken identity puts all their lives in danger, and a stealthy predator lurks in the shadows, watching . . . waiting . . . Secrets can kill . . . 

Lauren is about to uncover an unfathomable truth—a truth this cold-blooded mastermind would never let her live to tell . . . 

My Review and Thoughts:

The first six pages start out with the mystery and what’s going on. It grabs you quickly and places you there so that nothing is hidden and it shows you what the story is about. The writer knows how to grab the reader right off. There is just something wonderful about a good satisfying book that's makes you feel all giddy inside making you think you lived what you just read. 

You become apart of the life and danger and the suspense taking place inside this story and most of all the thick mystery, that is how this book reads. It's written to take hold of you and meld deep inside your mind. The characters are wonderful and well developed. There is an underlining humor at times. The writer knows how to add the darker side and yet also pause and push in a little moment of humor. You live and experience the everyday life and struggle of a divorced mom raising kids and slowly page after page it develops full force into a thick mystery. 

The book builds and builds in small moments exploding to capture intense moments. Soap Opera leads to Perry Mason Drama to a Lifetime movie network movie as each character you relate to and even the so called bad guys have that human side to believe in. 

This showcases the good and the bad. You follow along with Lauren, Rusty, Lucy and Little Sadie as you become apart of there family. This book bleeds drama induced reality, simple yet tense, simple yet edging slowly into a darkness. The high light of the book is how the writer showcases the good and the bad people in great detail, just when you think the bad people can't get worse they do. The book is an easy read with a tripped up tension filled waiting to burst. 

Another star power to this book is you not only get the mystery but you get many type of book genera's from massive drama, fun humor at times because their is a great comedy at times mainly related to the children and in honesty the mystery and suspense at times is secondary to the struggling mom with kids. The youngest child Sadie is written so adorable you can read a whole book on just her. The star of the book is Sadie. The book is paced out long at times before any action happens, the author teases you just enough to hold you chapter after chapter. 

On page 307 it becomes 64 pages of edge of your seat suspense as the mystery finally unfolds in a true suspense nail-biting reality. This end and closer creates a unique and satisfying outcome that the reader fills fulfilled with. Now the book does end with a second story. 

There is a character inside this book that has there own journey, this book answers who he is but it ends to move on to his own ordeal, although it does not conclude with this character, but don't worry LIVE TO TELL can be read as a stand alone and if you want to adventure further then you can in the the next exciting book SACRED TO DEATH. This was a fun read of drama and mystery woven together in one perfect little tale of a good book, a little to long in spots but in the end it's a perfect little mystery that worked for me and it will I believe work for you.