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Sports blog: Warrior Nation

By Oline H. Cogdill

Sun Sentinel


-- "Never Tell a Lie," by Hallie Ephron; Morrow ($24.95, 288 pages)


A Saturday garage sale -- a ritual that occurs weekly in towns all over America -- dismantles a couple's life and forces them to re-evaluate their relationship in Hallie Ephron's invigorating "Never Tell a Lie".

Reminiscent of "Single White Female" and the best of gothic thrillers, "Never Tell a Lie" delivers a tale about obsession, relationships and forgiveness. Ephron quickly builds a foundation of psychological terror that doesn't let up until the last surprise twist.

The nesting syndrome has struck high school sweethearts Ivy and David Rose, whose baby is due in weeks, with a need to rid their beautiful Victorian of junk left by its former owner. One shopper at the garage sale is Melinda White, a high school classmate who also is nearly nine months pregnant. Melinda's disappearance soon after the sale eerily points back to David and Ivy, neither of whom particularly liked Melinda. As the evidence mounts against them, the young married couple must face some long-buried secrets while trying to find Melinda.

Writing seems to be a family industry for Ephron, whose sisters Nora, Delia, and Amy are authors in their own right as well as her parents who are screenwriters.

After five medical thrillers written with Donald Davidof under the name G.H. Ephron and two nonfiction books on writing, Ephron proves her mettle with her first stand-alone thriller.

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