Cover Image: The Truth We Bury

The Truth We Bury

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Member Reviews

I received this from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. What a fantastic murder mystery. It starts with a bang and keeps you interested all the way to the end. We begin with a girl's murder and Lily's son on the run. Then the lies, deception, and and many secrets are exposed. Every character was interesting, and I am also happy to see an author shed a light on PTSD. She did an incredible job with that subject. Unputdownable!

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This is a must-read!
It gives the message we all already know all too well. "Things are not always as they appear to be."
It is a story of great love between mothers for their children, no matter how old a child is. The other question is - How far will a Mom go to protect a son or daughter?
I so enjoyed this wonderful novel!

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This book was a great murder mystery. So many secrets and lies and tons of family drama kept me reading way past my bedtime! I loved the characters. I felt Lily's pain as she tried to protect her son. I felt Shea's excitement about the wedding then her love for A.J. while she is defending knowing in her heart he couldn't have killed her bridesmaid. It is a wonderful who-done-it book that keeps you guessing until the end. Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for an ARC in return for an honest review.

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I enjoyed this book and would recommend it. For the most part it flowed well and kept me wanting more but I guessed who was behind it do four and not five stars.

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An engrossing suspenseful novel that will keep you guessing until the very last page!

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Kudos to Barbara Sissel, author of "THE TRUTH WE BURY" for such an exciting and descriptive and entertaining story. The genres of this novel are Women's Fiction, Adult Fiction, Mystery and Suspense.

The author describes her characters as conflicted and complicated. and flawed. The story is narrated by the alternating perspectives of two mothers , whose children are about to get married.  Both families are dysfunctional in many ways and have SECRETS. Shea and AJ are engaged to be married in a few weeks.  Both mothers find fault with their children's significant other, and are truly not happy about the impending marriage.

One of the girls in the Bridal party is found dead in AJ's apartment and all clues seem to indicate that AJ might be responsible. AJ has PSTD from being in Afghanistan, and in the past he has made some bad choices and has a temper. There is a major problem that no one seems to know where AJ is.  Is AJ guilty?

This novel has twists and turns, and some characters are very suspicious. There are other murders, and threatening actions that takes the reader on some suspenseful adventure. 

Barbara Sissel brings up questions that are so relevant today. How should victims of PSTD  be accepted and treated? How can family secrets of the past affect family relationships? How should a person accused of a crime be treated? How do you show acceptance of differences in physical appearances and social status?

I love the way the author discusses, family, friends, community, secrets, betrayal, loyalty, support, love, hope and and faith.  This is an amazing and captivating novel that I highly recommend. Thank you to Lake Union Publishing, NetGalley and Barbara Sissel for the Advanced Reading Copy(ARC) for my honest review and opinion.

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A murder mystery is my favorite kind of book and any time it takes me less than one chapter to get into it I know to strap myself in and get ready for the ride.

Although the book is a murder mystery it is also a family drama that focuses on what it takes to be a mother, the worry, the sacrifice, the conflict. A quick read that makes a summer day go particularly fast.

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This book, The Truth We Bury, held my attention more at some points than others. I liked it well enough but wanted to like it even more than I did. It did take me until close to the end to start figuring things all the way out, though.

I did like that the author touched on PTSD, particularly as it relates to our military personnel, and I wish that more had been said about that, particularly at the end of the novel. I know I would like to know more about this particular issue and I was left wondering. I will research it further on my own.

Thank you to Lake Union Publishing house for the opportunity to read the ARC of The Truth We Bury. They choose great writers and stories to publish and I am excited to read more of their offerings. All opinions in this review are my own.

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Holy Cow! This was such a wonderful surprise! Two mother's believing in their child and all the disappointments that follow.

The characters were well written with lots of depth and personality. This was a fast paced mystery/thriller that I was not able to predict until all was revealed.

My thanks to netgalley and Lake Union Publishing for this advanced readers copy.

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This was an intriguing, and easy to get into, murder mystery-family drama style story. The characters had incredibly realistic depth and feeling.

This isn't my first book by this author, and it certainly won't be my last. She writes such compelling characters. They're all so real, in such horrific situations, but they all understandable as they're so well written. If you want a character driven story, one that will have you thinking about how you'd handle a specific situation, then any book by this author fits this bill.

This story focuses on PTSD, and how it affects, or potentially affects, two different people (possibly a third as well). It also looks at how a mother copes with having her son be the prime suspect in a brutal murder. Neither situation is light or easy, and the book itself is neither, but it's compelling, and well worth a read.

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I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for a honest review. Great book. Enjoyable read. This Author always gets it right!!

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What a great book. I absolutely loved this book it has a great plot and well developed characters.

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A suspenseful atmospheric novel that pivots around 2 families grappling to hold onto their family secrets at moment of tragedy and desperation.

Lily receives the phone call. A female body is found in her son's apartment. Not just anybody but his fiancee’s bridesmaid and his ex-girlfriend. Lily feels an overwhelming sense of dread overcome her. This is not AJ's first brush with the law and he is no where to be found.

Dru is the mother of AJ’s fiancee Shea. She has never liked AJ and fears that his PTSD from the war has been left unchecked. But anxious bride Shea knows her fiancee’s heart and is desperate to find her AJ, despite her mother's protective clutch.

Suddenly there is a turn of events. Secrets are being kept. The truth always comes out. Even if they are buried. Can the two mothers reconcile the past to help secure their children’s future?

I really enjoyed this book but within the first two chapters I counted well over 15 characters. However, after processing their relevance and relationship to the story I started to engage with great inquiry. The characters in the novel were cleverly developed and each relationship well deleniated. The narrative is well written building a rich stage for a suspenseful plot with obscure twists and turns. I highly recommend this book by Barbara Taylor Sissel.

Thank you Netgalley and Lake Union Publishing for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

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"The Truth We Bury" revolves around a murder mystery and a wedding. When one of the bridesmaids dies in the grooms apartment, all fingers point to the groom. From there, we see the investigation play out and unravel. I found the plot to be interesting but it just couldn't hold my attention. I was skimming through the book 50 pages in. I had a feeling about who the murderer may actually be and I was right! The author does add a nice twist that I did not see coming.

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This is one of my favorite books so far in 2017.
Barbara Taylor Sissel has written a love story full of warmth, courage and unimaginable horrors happening.
It's written like a slow dance, turns to salsa and ends like a love song.
She writes like a master!

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Great story! Looking forward to reading more by this author! Highly recommend!

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3.5 stars.

A woman is found murdered in the apartment of a man named AJ. He's been in trouble with the police before, and he's missing. All the evidence points to him, and his family and fiancé want to find him and get to the bottom of it all.

I did quite enjoy this book to be fair. I got into it fairly quickly, and it managed to keep me guessing throughout. I thought it was a well thought out story and I quite liked the mix of characters. Some I liked and some I liked to dislike, which made a change, as the last few books I've read, I feel like I've hated all of the characters. It kept me mainly engaged, but I wasn't especially impressed or excited by the story.

The book was just about the right length - I was around 90% through when I started feeling like I wanted it to end. I wouldn't mind reading some more by this author though!

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The Truth We Bury is a fascinating, well-written and captivating thriller.
The locals of Wyatt, Tx were in an uproar. One of their own, Becca Westin, had been brutally murdered, and the person of interest, AJ Isley, was nowhere to be found. Shea Gallagher was crushed. She was supposed to be marrying AJ in two weeks. But, after Becca, her bridesmaid, was found stabbed to death in his apartment, how could she possibly go ahead and have a wedding? And, although mounting evidence was pointing to AJ as the murderer, Shea still believed in his innocence.

Lily felt strongly that her son, AJ, would never intentionally hurt a young woman, especially, one as sweet as Becca. But, her son had not been himself lately. After fighting in Afghanistan, AJ came home a changed man. He was edgy, unstable, and paranoid. And, although, Lily believed her son to be innocent, she also knew that this was not the first time AJ had been a suspect in a homicide investigation.

Lily was racked with guilt. She loved her child as much as any mother would, but her relationship with AJ had never been a close one. Her husband, Paul, had made sure of that. But, AJ needed their help now. He also required the expertise of Edward Dane; the criminal lawyer who had worked miracles for him in the past. Paul, however, refused to have Edward Dane take on his son’s case. That too, Lily knew, was her fault. Maybe if she had been honest with AJ about her past, his life would be different now. Lily, however, was not the only one who kept secrets. Others were keeping them also, damaging secrets, even more so, than her own.

I recommend reading this engrossing and riveting novel. Thank you, Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley, for my advanced review copy. I loved it.

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Dru and Lily, mothers of the bride and groom--two women with completely different backgrounds--must come together to protect their children when one of the bridesmaids is found murdered in the groom's apartment and the groom himself is missing. Is he the murderer or is he being held captive against his will? Told from alternating perspectives, we begin to uncover the past and the secrets and lies that complicate the case. Forced to confront their own demons, each woman must reconcile the past with the present to ensure a future for themselves and their offspring. An engrossing novel!

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I loved this book, finished it in a few hours. It's a great book filled with suspense and family secrets where relationships and emotions mix together.
The story, which starts with the murder of a bridesmaid, tells the tale of two mothers. Lily whose son, AJ, is accused of murdering the bridesmaid and Dru, whose daughter, Shea, is AJ's fiancée and his staunch supporter.
Both the mothers have had a difficult emotional past which have left scars, and this influences their decisions and outlook. Each mother is trying to protect her own child. Lily feels both pain and and love for her son AJ, with whom she has not been able to connect, since his childhood and especially, after his return from the war. She struggles hard to prove his innocence. Dru, on the other hand, just wants to save her daughter from what she believes to be a grave mistake.

Barbara's words show the angst which the mothers experience. This book is a wonderful play of emotions seen from the point of view of both Lily and Dru. There are a lot of twists and turns, a good whodunit and family secrets, which doesn't fail to thrill.
Barbara's books are always a pleasure to read and she does not disappoint with this book. A great Book Club read too.
Thank you for writing this book..

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