by M. J. Hyland
First published 2006
John Egan towers over his classmates at twelve years old. His voice booms like a man's. He believes he possesses a special ability to detect when people lie to him. John records each deception in his personal log, cataloging falsehoods both trivial and significant. He dreams of earning a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for his unusual talent. His body changes rapidly as puberty advances. His parents' marriage crumbles around him. John's mother and father argue constantly, their relationship deteriorating week by week. The lies multiply as family tensions escalate. John's mental state becomes increasingly unstable as he struggles to process the chaos surrounding him. His obsession with detecting deception intensifies. The family faces a crisis that could destroy them completely. John must navigate his transformation from boy to young man while his world threatens to collapse entirely.
Genres: fiction, coming-of-age, contemporary, adolescence, psychological-thriller, family-drama
Vibes: dark, emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: character-transformation, family-dysfunction, unreliable-narrator
Audio Cassette · Blackstone Audio Inc.
Content warnings: mental-illness