Truth Be Told

by Tom Williams

Caught in the midst of an emotional and an unexpected break up, a move from home and a start of a new life at university, Jack Beckett isn't having a fun time. The love of his school years, Lisa Linton, confessed that she has been cheating on him over the past few months. Now, in a new life, she's left Jack for him and left Jack tortured by her lies.

Determined to move on but apprehensive of the realities, he and his fellow reclusive friends decide, purely for a laugh of course, to attend a speed dating event. An opportunity for him to prove to himself and to Lisa that he's moving on. However, wrapped in his angst, Jack Beckett decides to go along as a completely new character, he changes his accent, his hair, his clothes, his back story and even his name. Jack Becektt, for one night, becomes Gordon Bennett, a figment of his imagination that would have been an interesting experiment if he had not met and fallen in love with a girl who would return his feelings, Isabella Fazarri. In love but forced to live a lie, Jack battles over telling her the truth behind the mask, over whether she loves him or Gordon, and whether in love, we can ever, trust.

'For a night Jack Beckett could become whoever he fancied, he could craft an entirely new persona for the entertainment of himself and a few strangers, the sort of people he would never have to encounter again. It was perfect, it would be perfect.'

302 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 7, 2012

Reviews

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Up and coming author Tom Williams captives readers with the painful aftermath of Jack and Lisa's break up. But don't let the thought of a depressing break-up novel sway you from reading this book. Truth Be Told is actually about finding love again. When Jack creates a fake persona named Gordon he meets Isabella and he falls for her. The two pursue a relationship but she doesn't know that Gordon is actually Jack. Jack wants to make this relationship work, but how can a relationship survive on lies? Jack knows that didn't turn out so well for his last relationship.

What I enjoyed about this novel was the whole identity switch. Everyone at one point or another wants to be someone else, even if just for a day, or maybe that is just me. So in that aspect I was able to relate to the main character Jack. As for the rest of the novel, the beginning chapters took me awhile to get into because as an American I was confused with some of the terms used in the novel because it is inspired by life in the UK. (I guess watching the Misfits and Downton Abbey didn't help me very much.) After reading a bit I grew accustomed to Williams writing style and I must say it's refreshing. He writes with a passionate old soul that you don't find in many novels today.

[Elyssa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Before I read this book, I didn't think it would be anything special considering it was just under 300 pages. However, I was pleasantly surprised; the storyline is plausible, yet enough to let you escape whilst reading it, and I really liked the characters (Scott and A-B made me laugh a couple times). If you want a light, feel-good read, then please buy it. Not enough people know about it.