Liane Moriarty

Ever read anything by Liane Moriarty? Now, if you're like me, you see Moriarty and think Sherlock Holmes. Nope. Liane Moriarty is an author from Australia. Yes, I agree, still a very enjoyable accent. Just ask my niece who has a "thing" for the British actor Hugh Grant, because of his accent. Don't ask me, it would take me a year of blog posts and I still might not be able to explain it. Fortunately this is about books not movies, back to our hero Liane!

There are seven books by Ms. Moriarty: The Hypnotist's Love Story, What Alice Forgot, Big Little Lies, The Last Anniversary, Three Wishes, The Husband's Secret, and Truly Madly Guilty. Unless you've been living under a rock or without a tv, you're familiar with Big Little Lies, which was turned into a mini-series for HBO with Nichole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon, Laura Dern, etc. The series was interesting but nothing is ever as good as the book. Frankly, I'd read all of her books before seeing the series so I am a bit biased.

I'm a thriller girl. I read slowly, so I need something to grab me right from the beginning and rocket me to the end...no stopping to clean the bathroom, buy groceries and certainly not to vacuum! (To be honest my vacuum is broken so that is impossible anyway.) Many of Liane Moriarty's books are not big "hook" books for me. Luckily my first read was The Husband's Secret, a woman is in her attic and comes across a sealed note written by her husband that says to open upon his death. Hubby who is not home, calls and blows it off telling his wife not to open it. As we all know, temptation is a hard thing to deny, ask Laura Petrie and that darn inflatable raft! So there was my seat on the roller coaster, I was in...for that one. However, some of her books start much more slowly. Hey they can't all be thrillers, but for a thriller reader non big start books can seem ho hum.

If you like a good story, if you can trust the author literally (pardon the pun) putting your valuable time in her hands, Liane Moriarty WILL deliver. Her stories are about average everyday people, often neighbors doing something as normal as having a barbeque. You wouldn't think there is a book in that but she proves you wrong, you just have to trust. Know that in the end you'll be amazed that someone could make such a wonderful tale out of nothing. I think a great many people, non-authors, could make an acceptable story out of a power house idea, but Liane Moriarty can make a wonderful story out of common situations. Because her stories are often so "everyday" you feel included, it could be your block, people you know....you.

If I were starting to read these wonderful books, I'd start with The Husband's Secret, I'm partial to Three Wishes as it is about triplets and I have three sisters that actually are triplets, Truly Madly Guilty kind of reminds me of the book A Man Called Ove, and don't be afraid of the Last Anniversary which I thought would be about death but isn't. I think if I had to rank all her books, my favorite would be Truly, Madly, Guilty and my least favorite The Hypnotist's Love Story.  Anyone of these books would make a great summer read, just remember to trust the author, you'll be happy you did.