The Truth Hurts (Mass Market Paperback)

~ (Author) "The nice thing about my kind of fame is that I can still find a grocery store where I can go in my shorts, a..." (more)
Key Phrases: tabloid story, Paulie Barnes, Marie Lightfoot, Lackley Goodwin (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In Edgar nominee Pickard's third gripping Marie Lightfoot mystery (The Whole Truth; Ring of Truth), the Florida-based true crime writer is working on a book about her parents, civil rights activists in Alabama who disappeared in 1963 when Lightfoot was a toddler. She's suddenly threatened by a mysterious fan, who signs his emails Paulie Barnes and demands that she collaborate with him on a book about her own murder, or he'll start killing her friends, including her lover, Franklin DeWeese. As the police work feverishly to find the elusive Barnes, he sends Lightfoot to the town where her parents were part of a modern-day "underground railroad" network, and to meetings with their former associates. As in her sensational earlier entries, the chapters alternate between Lightfoot's third-person manuscript in which she reconstructs her parents' last days and a first-person narrative of her harrowing personal experiences. This makes for slightly disjointed reading, although it effectively shows how the present is tied to the past. Pickard excels in recreating the dangerous atmosphere of the South in the early '60s, when the white establishment used threats and murder to prevent the enforcement of civil rights laws. A solution that's obvious to the reader long before Lightfoot discovers it and some repetition undercut the suspense a bit, but Pickard succeeds with the daring Marie Lightfoot, attractive secondary characters, vivid Florida setting, a keen sense of history and a singular plot device.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

Pickard's new Marie Lightfoot mystery (after The Whole Truth and Ring of Truth) has an intriguing premise. A tabloid has just published a lurid article featuring Marie, focusing on her personal life and the unsolved disappearance of her parents in 1963. Marie then receives an e-mail from Paulie Barnes, who takes credit for the article and threatens to hurt her if she does not cooperate with his demands. He wants her to collaborate with him on writing a book about her own murder. Marie wonders if he is someone she has written about who wants revenge. She begins to believe that the connection is more personal, though, as Paulie forces her to investigate the circumstances of her parents' disappearance. What is the truth behind their apparent betrayal of the underground railroad they had founded? And can she find out in time to save herself? Pickard's narrative flags a bit in the middle, but the suspense returns in plenty of time for the denouement. Fans of the series won't be disappointed. Recommended for most public libraries. Laurel Bliss, Yale Arts Lib., New Haven, CT
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Pocket (May 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743412044
• ISBN-13: 978-0743412049
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #625,492 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars could this book be too well written?, October 2, 2006

By	Sammy Madison (USA) - See all my reviews

In "Ring of Truth", the first Nancy Pickard mystery I read, the story revolved around the death penalty, a serious subject, but still very enjoyable recreational reading. "The Truth Hurts" has Marie Lightfoot researching the past of her missing parents, who abandoned her as a little baby at a colored hotel in 1963 in Alabama, during the height of the civil rights movement, and were never seen again. They were accused of betraying their fellow civil rights workers. Marie was raised by her aunt and uncle, themselves racists who were less than ideal parents for Marie and her beloved cousin, Nathan. Marie, now a true crime author, had used her research skills to poke halfheartedly into her parent's past and found out nothing. But when a stalker who knows more than he should about her parents threatens Marie and everyone she holds dear, she is forced to find out the truth. I loved the characters in this book, and the plot was very exciting, but it was just too painful to be a fun reading experience. Nancy Pickard is a really skillful writer, and she makes you feel the pain, degradation, and fear of a young black civil rights worker on the run after being released from a horrible jail cell. You feel Marie's fear for herself and her friends as the stalker models himself on the brutal stalker in "Cape Fear". I will always remember Robert Michum in the original "Cape Fear". He was so brutal, so relentless. The writing in this mystery was so good, I was actually uncomfortable reading the book, just as I was watching "Cape Fear".

2.0 out of 5 stars Very far-fetched, June 13, 2008

By	V. Sikes (Columbus, Ga.) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Pickard doesn't have a real "feel" for the South. Some of the mannerisms and customs she described were laughable. Southerners don't sit around and drink Mint Juleps unless it's the Kentucky Derby. I never heard of an 60's era Underground Railroad for blacks such as she described. If something like that were going on in a small town, everyone would know about it right away.
The mystery in the plot was good. Pickard had me guessing as to who the villains in the story were. That's the only good thing about this book.

3.0 out of 5 stars Just Okay-Lacks Depth in Many Places, November 27, 2003

By	J. Kirkman "book jen" (St. Petersburg, FL United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is not the very best mystery I have ever read of Nancy Pickard's writing. The story is good enough to stick with though.

It begins with Marie Lightfoot, true crime writer, receiving a scary e-mail. This killer wants Marie to collaborte with him by becoming his next victim-and writing a book about her own murder. But for Marie, it may be the key to solving her most personal mystery and at last uncover the truth about about the disappearance of her parents. They were underground Civil Rights activists who vanished during the explosive summer of 1963. Now Marie must follow the instructions of her "co-author' to find the answers she seeks in a small Alabama town-while racing to outwit her would-be killer before she is forced to write her own final page.