The Family Lie
Page 28
‘I see nothing dark inside her that needs rehabilitating, and without a desire to rehabilitate, a prison sentence can be only to punish. I believe she has served her punishment, to lie under the weight of another’s terrible lie for eight years, and to have had her daughter’s life put at risk. I do not want to see another family ruined. I do not want to be part of tearing her from her family, her little girl, who was very nearly lost for ever. Mrs Carter’s story will not close following this hearing, unlike mine, for she must endure the trial of the Eastmans for kidnapping. Her suffering continues. Don’t punish another for one’s actions.
‘“It is your decision ultimately, Your Honour, and you are somewhat bound by sentencing guidelines, but you sought my opinion and it is the will of myself, my wife and the parents of Joanne Padley that little Josie Carter’s mother is not taken away from her. To the joy of some and no doubt anger of others, primarily those with little grasp of the entirety of this story, I say now sentence her to the six years she was offered in return for compliance – but suspend, Your Honour. Suspend. Send her home to her family. Otherwise, you will be sentencing us all.’
If you were gripped by The Family Lie, you won’t be able to put down The Choice by Jake Cross. When Karl sees a woman standing in the middle of the road, shaking with fright, he helps her to safety. But can he really trust her? And is his family in danger?
Get it here!
The Choice
‘You’ve got to help me.’
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On a wet road in the black of night, Karl Seabury is driving home to his pregnant wife. Suddenly, caught in his headlights in the middle of the road is a woman shaking with fright.
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The woman says her name is Liz Smith, that her home was attacked, and that she was the only one to escape.
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In a split-second decision, Karl decides to help her to safety. But can he really trust her? Or has he put his family in danger?
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An absolutely unputdownable thriller, with twist after twist after twist, that will leave you breathless. Perfect for fans of Robert Dugoni, John Marrs and Harlan Coben.
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Books by Jake Cross
The Choice
The Family Lie
A letter from Jake
Hi all,
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I want to say a huge thank you for choosing to read The Family Lie. If you did enjoy it, and want to keep up-to-date with all my latest releases, just sign up here. Your email address will never be shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.
You chose to buy this book, which means a lot. But most important is that you’re satisfied with it. I hope no parts bored you, confused you except where necessary, or made you skip pages. No novel is to everyone’s taste, so to those who enjoyed this one: thank you. To those who didn’t: I’ll get you next time.
My intention with this story was to stay with the characters at all times, because I felt that skipping a few hours here and there might reset the pace or erode tension. Because of that, I found this novel surprisingly comfortable to write; the constant attachment to poor Anna and Nick, riding right along with them, meant little need for notes or flicking through pages to remember a name or date or some other detail. At the end, I was actually disappointed that there was no more story to tell. I might have to be cruel and snatch little Josie away as a teenager, just to be selfish.
Since I’m no John Grisham, I have the time to read every review this book sparks. If you have the time, please leave one at Amazon or Goodreads, or on your own blog, website or social media page. If the review is bad, I suggest taking the time to word it correctly. A couple of years should do it.
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Thanks
Jake
Acknowledgements
Thanks to everyone at Bookouture for sheer brilliance: the authors, for advice, for the jokes and the gossip, and for reminders that I’m not the only one who finds lows as well as highs when constructing stories; Kim Nash and Noelle Holton, the gurus and now authors themselves, for helping to get this story out of my head and into others’; and Celine Kelly for word surgery. A special shout, though, to Christina Demosthenous, in part for all those things mentioned above, as well as patience. Lots of patience. Cheers.
Published by Bookouture in 2019
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An imprint of StoryFire Ltd.
Carmelite House
50 Victoria Embankment
London EC4Y 0DZ
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www.bookouture.com
Copyright © Jake Cross, 2019
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Jake Cross has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work.
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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publishers.
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eBook ISBN: 978-1-78681-440-1
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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places and events other than those clearly in the public domain, are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.