Dr. Alan Gregory and his attorney wife, Lauren, are less than thrilled to see new neighbors arriving in the house across the lane. Alan's good friends, both now deceased, used to live in that house. Alan is also now the parent of young Jonas, the son of those good friends. He is trying his best to help Jonas through his grief and get him back on the path to a normal life. These new people moving into what used to be Jonas's house isn't helping things.

The newcomers themselves are less than exciting to Alan, although his wife, Lauren, seems to be a bit elated. Mattin Snow, an attorney turned television celebrity, and his wife, Mimi, don't get off on the best footing with Alan. At least, Mattin doesn't. He's bothered by the fact that Alan lets his huge dog, Emily, run off of her leash at certain times of the day. Therefore, their first conversation deals with Mattin making veiled legal threats regarding the dog being off the leash.

When the Snows hold a large and expensive housewarming (to which Alan and Lauren are NOT invited), things begin to get really interesting. One of their female guests, a young widow, decides to stay overnight since she feels she has had a bit too much to drink. She spends the night in one of the guest rooms and wakes the next morning knowing that something is very wrong. She has no memory of what happened the night before past a certain point, but she has "impressions" of some very disturbing events that convince her she was drugged and raped.

Lauren and Alan's good friend, police detective Sam Purdy, both know some things that they are absolutely not allowed to share with Alan. However, it turns out that Alan stumbles onto his own avenue of information purely by chance. Therefore, as Alan learns more and more regarding the strange events at the housewarming, it is actually he that understands more about what really happened.

On top of this, Jonas has some secrets of his own. These are secrets that could threaten his life and that of Alan, who will do anything to save his son.

Stephen White has been writing amazing mysteries for years and this isn't the first one to feature Dr. Alan Gregory. His past writing speaks for itself but THE LAST LIE is a book of, not only the lies that people will tell to save themselves, but of changes. The mystery of what is really going on is neatly wrapped up in the final pages of the book, but the facts do end up being just as shocking as they are distasteful.

My only issue with THE LAST LIE is that there were a couple of passages that seemed to go on longer than it seemed necessary, but those sections turned out to be important to the overall development of the plot. This is a book that will hold you spellbound and refuse to let you go until you have finished that last page.

Book Summary

In The Last Lie, White returns to his Alan Gregory series roots with the popular characters and Boulder setting that first launched him onto the bestseller lists and attracted legions of fiercely loyal fans.

Shortly after Alan and Lauren welcome their affluent new neighbors — a legal legend in women's rights law and his beautiful wife — the couple hosts a housewarming party that ends in quiet disaster. One of their guests, a young widow, elects to spend the night after indulging in too much wine, only to wake the next morning with no memory beyond getting ready for bed. Was she drugged? Raped?

Lauren, a deputy district attorney, and detective Sam Purdy are both privy to facts they can't share with Alan, but Alan soon discovers that he has a most unusual perspective into what truly happened after the housewarming. Before Alan can discover all the pieces to the puzzle, an important witness to the events is murdered. Alan fears that other witnesses — people he loves — will be next.

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