Verity by Colleen Hoover

I heard so many things about this book, I figured I should read it and see what the hoopla was about. The main character, Lowen Ashleigh, is a writer who isn't great with promoting herself - or her books. So, her books are not great sellers. She is chosen, however, to finish a best selling series written by a very successful author, Verity Crawford. Apparently, Verity was involved in a serious car accident and needed someone to write the last three novels of her series. She writes from the viewpoint of the antagonist, so her novels are darker in nature.

Pretty much the opening scene is Lowen witnessing a violent death on the street. A pedestrian steps off the curb in front of a truck and gets run over. His brain matter splashes on Lowen, which is obviously traumatic. How exactly does this tie in to the book? Well it doesn't really, except it's how she first meets Verity's husband, Jeremy.

With some persuasion, Lowen agrees to write the three remaining books of this series. (Basically, her mother just died and she is deep in debt, so that alone should have persuaded her that this is a good and necessary opportunity. She was getting kicked out of her apartment too, because she couldn't pay the rent.) Anyway, Jeremy is the one who convinces her.

Lowen travels to the Crawford house to look through Verity's office to try to find her notes or outlines about Verity's plans for the remaining novels. She doesn't find any, but she does find an autobiographical book (in draft form) written by Verity. So, while she reads the first few books in the series and writes her own notes/outlines about the upcoming novels, she also reads Verity's autobiography "to get inside her head". What she reads is deeply disturbing. Lowen is also uncomfortable staying at the Crawford home because of Verity's presence, who is bed-bound unless her nurse transports her to the kitchen table for family dinners. But Lowen suspects something else is going on with Verity. Jeremy & Verity's twin daughters had both previously died tragically, within a year of each other. Their son, Crew, who is only 5 years old, is their only child left.

The book is definitely a page-turner and spooky in parts. There are a couple of twists in the story, one I was expecting, the other I wasn't. The ending is open to interpretation. I can see how this would be a good discussion for a book club. I did find myself thinking about the ending, and each character's motives, for days after I finished the book.

Wendy's Rating: ****