At the beginning of her summer vacation, Cassie finds a severed foot in a high-top sneaker washed ashore at the beach. The police believe it most likely belonged to another victim of The Houdini Killer, who’s been murdering sex workers in the area. The event triggers a voice in Cassie’s head that starts to take over her life, threatening her with violence if she doesn’t comply. As she struggles to deal with the voice, her overprotective father, and a past trauma no one talks about, Cassie enters an outpatient therapy program where she becomes friends with Paris, a charismatic college student who also has mental illness. When Paris disappears, Cassie is certain she’s become a victim of The Houdini Killer and becomes obsessed with finding out what happened to her friend. All of this unfolds as she’s also navigating a budding romance with a college student who’s renting her father’s garage apartment. The gripping novel told in flashback is framed as a letter to the boy and written in second person, offering Cassie’s explanation of why she pushed him away, and why she’s asking for another chance. Ultimately, Cassie’s story is one of survival and healing. (Age 14 and older)

"Raw and lovely, dark and light, heartbreaking and human." - Jennifer Niven, New York Times bestselling author of All the Bright Places

Printz winner Nick Lake delivers an emotionally gut-wrenching love story told in reverse--starting with the post-break up apology letter--in this riveting, choices-of-the-heart summer romance.

Cassie is writing a letter to the boy whose heart she broke. She's trying to explain why. Why she pushed him away. Why her father got so angry when he saw them together. Why she disappears some nights. Why she won't let herself remember what happened that long-ago night on the boardwalk. Why she fell apart so completely.

Desperate for his forgiveness, she's telling the whole story of the summer she nearly lost herself. She's hoping that love-love for your family, love for that person who makes your heart beat faster, and love for yourself-can save both of them after all.

Awards for There Will Be Lies
A Boston Globe Best YA Book of 2015
A Texas TAYSHAS Pick