Never Lie

The narrative shifts to the present day and opens on Tricia, who is driving with her husband, Ethan, to visit a remote house in upstate New York that they are considering buying. A snowstorm has started, and they are lost. Ethan and Tricia are newlyweds and have been married for only six months. Tricia admits, “I’m still learning about Ethan. All my girlfriends scolded me for marrying him too quickly” (9-10). The two met in a coffee shop one day; Tricia tripped and spilled her coffee in front of him. Ethan and Tricia arrive at the property, expecting their realtor, Judy, to be there; there is a light on on the first floor, so they assume that could be her. Tricia has a sense of foreboding about the house as she thinks, “Something terrible has happened in this house” (13). Ethan convinces Tricia to go into the house.

The narrative maintains Tricia’s point of view, as Ethan and Tricia make their way through the snowy driveway to Adrienne’s house. Tricia is not wearing snow boots, so Ethan carries her on his back, which Tricia finds romantic. Once inside, Tricia and Ethan discover that there is nobody in the house—their realtor, Judy, is not there after all. Even stranger is that the house is completely dark, even though Ethan and Tricia both saw a light from outside. Ethan and Tricia do not have cell service in the remote area, so they cannot call Judy. Nonetheless, they start to explore the house. It is enormous but has not been lived in for some time—dust and cobwebs are everywhere. Again, Tricia thinks: “Something terrible has happened in this house” (20). Tricia is further perturbed when she finds a strange footprint in the dust; however, when Tricia shows the footprint to Ethan, he does not think much of it. Ethan suggests they stay the night and find something to eat in the kitchen. Tricia thinks, “That’s how Ethan is. He’s always so confident. I love that about him. So I follow my new husband to the kitchen” (28).

As Ethan and Tricia explore, they discover a giant portrait of a woman. Tricia suggests the woman lived here. Ethan asks, “What kind of arrogant, self-obsessed person would put a gigantic painting of herself over the fireplace?” (22). Tricia discovers a bookshelf with the book The Anatomy of Fear by Adrienne Hale, MD. From the author photo at the back, she discerns that the woman in the portrait is Adrienne. Ethan and Tricia discuss the famous disappearance of the renowned psychiatrist, which occurred three years prior. Everyone assumed her boyfriend, Luke Strauss, killed her—although this was never proven.

The book returns to the past, reverting to Adrienne’s point of view. Adrienne is at home in her house in upstate New York (the same house that Ethan and Tricia are in during the present day). Adrienne’s literary agent, Paige, is bringing Adrienne the proof of her manuscript for her book, The Anatomy of Fear. This is Adrienne’s second book; her first book was a bestseller. Adrienne dislikes Paige and rebuffs Paige’s attempts at false friendship, thinking, “I don’t have friends. I never have” (34). Paige expresses concern about Adrienne living so remotely as a woman alone. During their conversation, Adrienne realizes that Paige does not respect Adrienne’s work. She retaliates by telling Paige, an appearance-conscious woman, that her mascara is smudged. Adrienne further decides to fire Paige as her literary agent.

Tricia and Ethan are in the kitchen trying to find something to eat. Given the fact that the house seems deserted, Tricia is surprised when they find cold cuts and some other food in the fridge. Ethan prepares sandwiches for them; Tricia enjoys him pampering her and finds it romantic. However, her love of Ethan is marred by an undercurrent of anxiety as she thinks: “I just hope he feels the same way about me after he finds out about my revelation. I feel ill every time I think about it. But I can’t keep it from him much longer” (39). The revelation is yet unrevealed to the reader as well.

Their impromptu meal is cut short when Tricia notices a glass of half-drunk water next to the sink, with condensation on the outside. She is now sure there is somebody else in the house and convinces Ethan to go with her to search for the person.

The narrative continues in the present day, from Tricia’s point of view, as Tricia and Ethan search the empty house. They do not find anyone. While Tricia remains disturbed by the house, Ethan has fallen in love with it and wants to buy it. Tricia is unconvinced but does not share her doubts. When it comes to living in the house, she thinks, “Over my dead body” (48). As Ethan finishes preparing their sandwiches, Tricia looks through Adrienne’s office—and finds a tape recorder.

The narrative flashes back to the past, to Adrienne’s point of view. Adrienne is sitting in her office. She reveals that she sees patients in her house, which could be deemed risky. However, she also vets every patient personally—and she notes: “It is extremely rare for mental health workers to be killed by patients” (50). Adrienne gets an email from a woman named Susan telling Adrienne that Susan will no longer pay for her son’s therapy sessions. Adrienne thinks about Susan’s son, “EJ,” whom Adrienne has diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder. Adrienne doubts she can help EJ and is relieved by Susan’s message.

In this chapter, Adrienne also reveals that she started recording all her patient sessions, because “[t]ape recordings don’t lie” (54). On the cassette for each patient, she writes their initials, the number of the session, and the date.

At this point, the book starts to set up the red herring that EJ might be Ethan, Tricia’s husband.

The narrative flashes back to Tricia. Tricia reveals that Ethan does not have many friends and did not have many girlfriends before her; Tricia’s friends warned her this was a “red flag” (57). However, Tricia disregards her friends’ warnings. She is mostly worried that once she shares her secret, still also unrevealed to the reader, Ethan will react poorly. Tricia searches Adrienne’s bookshelves for something to read. When she tries to pull out Stephen King’s The Shining, the bookcase swings open, revealing a secret room.

The narrative continues in the present day, from Tricia’s point of view. Tricia enters the secret room and finds thousands of cassette tapes. They are the recordings of Adrienne’s sessions with her patients. Tricia sees a tape labeled “PL” and remembers that a patient by this moniker is referenced in Adrienne’s famous pop-psychology book The Anatomy of Fear. Tricia also notices a tape labeled only “Luke,” instead of with initials. Tricia remembers that Adrienne’s boyfriend, the one who was suspected of her murder, was called Luke. Tricia hears Ethan calling for her and leaves the secret room, taking the PL tapes. She does not tell Ethan what she has found: “There’s no reason not to tell him. But he won’t want me listening to these tapes. He’ll tell me it’s none of my business” (63).

Ethan has found a bottle of cabernet sauvignon from South Africa in the house. Tricia notes that “he’s something of a wine expert” (64). Ethan pours them two glasses and proposes a toast to their new home—Tricia has yet to tell him that she finds the house creepy and cannot imagine living in it. Tricia cannot drink the wine, however, because of her secret—which she now reveals to the reader via an internal thought: She is pregnant. Tricia is terrified to tell Ethan because they have agreed to wait to have children. To cover her secret, Tricia pretends to sip the wine. As they drink the wine, Tricia looks at the portrait of Adrienne. Ethan tells her that the portrait is creepy, and he takes it down from over the mantel, setting it on the floor and turning it around. Tricia remains uneasy: “Even with the portrait turned around, I still feel Dr. Hale’s green eyes boring into me” (69).

The narrative continues in the present, from Tricia’s point of view. Tricia reiterates in her mind how sweet Ethan is, thinking, “My friends were totally wrong about all the red flags” (70). Nonetheless, she remains reluctant to tell him about her pregnancy, especially when they are in an isolated house with no way to leave—a realization that surprises Tricia. Tricia maintains that Ethan is perfect; one of the few flaws she identifies is that “he’s a bit on the short side for a man” (71). Ethan goes to take a shower. While he is gone, Tricia seizes the opportunity to listen to one of the tapes she stole from Adrienne’s secret room. Tricia goes into Adrienne’s office, where she previously saw the tape recorder, and puts in one of the PL tapes.

The narrative provides a transcript of the recording of PL that Tricia is listening to in the present day, allowing the reader to “listen” along with Tricia. It is PL’s second visit with Adrienne. PL, age 25, tells Adrienne about the incident that caused her to seek therapy: PL was with her fiancé, Cody, and her two best friends in a remote cabin. PL describes how she woke up in bed to the sound of Cody screaming. There was a strange man in the room; he had stabbed Cody, as well as PL’s two friends. The man stabbed PL in the stomach: “I’ve got a scar on my belly to remember him by forever” (77). The man was never caught, and memories of the night continue to haunt PL. Adrienne is determined to help PL regain control over her life.

Tricia stops listening to the tape, worried Ethan will discover what she is doing, and goes to find him. Ethan has showered and taken some clothes from Adrienne’s closet to wear—the clothes of Adrienne’s boyfriend, Luke. Tricia wonders, “What’s worse—wearing the clothing of a dead woman or wearing the clothing of the man who killed her?” (82). Ethan convinces Tricia that they should sleep in the primary bedroom, Adrienne’s old bedroom, even though it makes Tricia uncomfortable. Ethan insists, saying that this is where they will be sleeping once they own the house. Tricia thinks, “Yeah, over my dead body” (83). Finally, Tricia acquiesces. As she drifts off to sleep, Tricia thinks about her family—and Ethan’s family. Tricia reveals that Ethan’s parents died before they started dating.