Nome: One of Us is Lying
Autor: Karen M. McManus
Lançamento: 2017
ISBN B01M98J44U
Páginas: 368
Edição: Inglês
Sinopse
Preste muita atenção e você pode resolver isso.Em uma segunda-feira à tarde, cinco estudantes da Bayview High chegam à detenção. Bronwyn, o cérebro, está vinculada a Yale e nunca quebra uma regra. Addy, a bela, é a imagem perfeita de princesa do baile de boas vindas. Nate, o criminoso, já está em liberdade condicional por tráfico. Cooper, o atleta, é o astro do time de beisebol. E Simon, o excluído, é o criador do notório aplicativo de fofocas de Bayview High. Apenas, o rejeitado, nunca sai da sala de aula. Antes do fim da detenção, Simon está morto. E de acordo com os investigadores, sua morte não foi um acidente. Na segunda-feira, ele morreu. Mas na terça-feira, ele planejava publicar revelações picantes sobre os quatro colegas de classe de alto nível, o que faz todos os quatro suspeitos de seu assassinato. Ou eles são perfeitos bodes expiatórios para um assassino que ainda está solto?Todos têm segredos, certo? O que realmente interessa é o quão longe você iria para protegê-los.
Antes de mais nada, quero dizer que acabei de ler One Of Us is Lying (às 02h15 da manhã do dia 06 de março de 2018) e vim direto pro blog porque meu coração simplesmente não tá suportando que o livro chegou ao fim. E olha que eu enrolei pra ler. Poderia ter lido em dois ou três dias, mas esse livro me conquistou desde que o vi nos lançamentos do Goodreads. Mas eu adiei a leitura dele. Acho que foi uma forma do meu cérebro dizer "esse livro vai te conquistar na primeira página". E conquistou. Principalmente com a pegada "O clube dos cinco", aquele filme clássico de 1985.
Uma geek, um jogador, um criminoso e uma princesa? O time perfeito. Ou "o clube dos assassinos".
Desde o início do livro eu soube que nenhum dos quatro personagens eram culpados. Isso ficou meio óbvio para mim. A interação entre eles no primeiro capítulo já mostrou que a história seria maravilhosa. Principalmente por ser narrada do ponto de vista dos quatros.
Browyin, a garota estudiosa que faz tudo certo; Cooper, o astro do time de beisebol da escola; Addy, a princesa do baile de boas-vindas e namorada do Jake; Simon, o excluído que sempre quis ser incluído em algum grupo; e Nate, o criminoso que foi pego vendendo drogas; e um professor. Cinco estudantes em detenção. O motivo? Foram pegos com celulares em sala de aula, o que é proibido. Menos Nate. Nate vive em detenção.
Durante a detenção há uma batida entre dois carros, o que faz com que o professor saia da sala para verificar se alguém ficou ferido. Assim que os alunos ficam sozinhos, Simon toma um copo de água e começa a sufocar. Nate é o primeiro a socorrê-lo e se lembra que ele é alérgico a amendoim. Então ele começa a procurar a injeção de epinefrina (um remédio com efeito anti-asmático, vasopressor e estimulante cardíaco que pode ser utilizado em situações de urgência, normalmente é transportado por pessoas que apresentam elevado risco de ter uma grave reação alérgica) que Simon sempre carrega com ele. Porém Simon não está com ela e ele pede para que Cooper vá até a enfermaria procurar por alguma injeção que esteja lá. Mas todas elas sumiram.
Então começa a investigação sobre quem matou Simon.
No início, os investigadores pressionam os quatro para que eles cedam e assumam que um deles planejou o assassinato de Simon, já que ele havia estragado a vida de muitos alunos com o seu aplicativo de fofoca. O qual, apesar de ser apenas boatos, sempre estavam certos. Quando eles não cedem e os advogados começam a entrar em cena, são aconselhados e se manterem longe um dos outros para que não haja hipótese de combinarem o que irão dizer no momento em que tiverem que depor sobre o que aconteceu naquele dia.
Mas quem é que segue as regras?
Chamados de "Os Quatro de Beyview" pela mídia, eles começam a serem investigados depois que uma nota sobre a morte de Simon é postada em um Tumblr. Não bastasse isso, a nota que ele iria postar no dia seguinte à sua morte sobre as quatro pessoas que estavam com ele. Portanto isso era uma prova de que um deles ou todos haviam planejado o assassinado de Simon. Até que, aos poucos, eles se unem para investigarem por si só o que levou Simon a ser morto.
Durante a narração, o leitor é levado aos problemas e segredos de cada um e uma amizade improvável começa a tomar forma.
O livro foi lançado recentemente pela Editora Record, através do selo da Galera Record. Caso você tenha o interesse de adquirir o livro (ebook ou brochura), clique na imagem abaixo.
Caso queiram a versão em inglês (ebook ou , clique nesta outra imagem.
Quotes
“What do we write with?” Addy asks.”
(...)
“Mr. Avery crosses to Addy’s desk and taps the corner of a lined yellow notepad. We all have one. “Explore the magic of longhand writing. It’s a lost art.”
(...)
“But how do we know when we’ve reached five hundred words?”
“Count,” Mr. Avery replies.”
“This time next year, you’ll be at Yale. What do you think you’ll do there on a Friday night? Frat party?”
(...)
“Right, because you get a personality transplant along with your acceptance letter”
“I try to picture it—me, Nate, and the two girls plotting murder by peanut oil in Mr. Avery’s detention. It’s so stupid it wouldn’t even make a good movie.”
“With Nate, I don’t wonder. He’s never pretended to be anything other than exactly who he is.”
“Some people are too toxic to live. They just are.”
“Group murder. It’s an interesting theory.”
“Is Bronwyn home?” It’s the most pointless question ever. Obviously she is, and obviously he’s not going to let me see her. I don’t even know why I want to, except that I can’t.”
(...)
“He’s doing a decent job of pretending I wouldn’t be his worst nightmare even if I weren’t involved in a murder investigation with his daughter.”
“Bronwyn, what’s the nature of your relationship with Nate?”
I have no idea. Maybe you could help me analyze it? Is that part of your retainer?”
“I was going to apologize for stealing Jesus from you.”
I recoil a little. I have no idea what he’s talking about. Is he making some kind of religious allegory? “What?”
“In the fourth-grade Nativity play at St. Pius. I stole Jesus and you had to carry a bag wrapped in a blanket. Sorry about that.”
I stare at him for a second as the tension flows out of me, leaving me limp and slightly giddy. I punch him in the shoulder, startling him so much he actually laughs. “I knew it was you. Why’d you do that?”
“To get a rise out of you.” He grins at me, and for a second I forget everything except the fact that Nate Macauley still has an adorable smile.”
“It’s entirely up to you, Cooper.”
People always say that but it doesn’t feel true. About anything.”
“You’re not a sociopath.”
“How do you know?” I say it like I’m making fun, but I really want to know the answer. I’m the guy who got searched. The obvious outlier and scapegoat, as Officer Lopez said. Someone who lies whenever it’s convenient and would do it in a heartbeat to save his own ass. I’m not sure how all that adds up to trust for someone I hadn’t talked to in six years.”
“I really liked your mom,” Bronwyn says tentatively when I don’t answer. “She used to talk to me like I was a grown-up.”
“She’d swear at you, you mean,” I say, and Bronwyn laughs.
“I always thought it was more like she was swearing with me.”
(...)
“She used to tell me …” Bronwyn pauses. “She said you only teased me so much because you had a crush on me.”
(...)
“I might have. I don’t remember.”
Like I said. I lie whenever it’s convenient.”
(...)
“Well, bye. And, um, Nate?” She speaks quickly, in a rush. “I had a crush on you back then. For whatever that’s worth. Nothing, probably. But anyway. FYI. So, good night.”
(...)
“Bronwyn’s naïve if she thinks there’s more to me than that.”
“If I’m not Jake’s girlfriend, who am I?”
(...)
“He doesn’t get to erase you from the world. God, you made a stupid mistake. It’s not like you murdered someone.
“Well,” she adds with a short, sarcastic laugh, “I guess the jury’s still out on that one.”
“I stare at her as my knees start to tremble. Is she for real? Now is most definitely not the time. Still, I feel this almost irresistible urge to answer her, to explain myself, until a hand under the table grasps mine. Nate doesn’t look at me, but his fingers thread through mine, warm and strong, resting against my shaking leg.”
“Come on, just for an hour till we finish the movie. You can meet my lizard.” It takes a few seconds of silence for me to realize how that might be interpreted. “That’s not a line. I have an actual lizard. A bearded dragon named Stan.”
Bronwyn laughs so hard she almost chokes. “Oh my God. That would have been completely out of character and yet … for a second I really did think you meant something else.”
I can’t help laughing too. “Hey, girl. You were into that smooth talk. Admit it.”
“At least it’s not an anaconda,” Bronwyn sputters. I laugh harder, but I’m still kind of turned on. Weird combination.”
“I don’t even know who or what I’m crying for: Jake, Simon, my friends, my mother, my sister, myself. All of the above, I guess.”
“(...)and remember how careful and contained I always had to be around Jake. If I was going to the party tonight I’d have to wear something he picked out, stay as late as he wanted, and not talk to anyone who might make him mad.”
“When I’m still sitting and she’s standing we’re almost the same height. She’s close enough for me to notice that her hair smells like green apples. I can’t stop looking at her lips while I wait for her to back away. She doesn’t, and when I raise my eyes to hers it feels like the breath is yanked right out of my lungs.”
“I’m almost outside when someone tugs on my jacket. When I turn, arms wrap around my neck and the clean, bright scent of green apples drifts around me as Bronwyn kisses my cheek. “You’re right,” she whispers, her breath warm in my ear. “I’m sorry. It’s not my business. Don’t be mad, okay? I can’t get through this if you stop talking to me.”
“But between Mikhail Powers Investigates and our trip to the mall on Monday—which I’ve been thinking about nonstop in those spare moments when I’m not thinking about going to jail—I can’t concentrate. Too many other thoughts compete for brain space.”
“Anything’s possible. Maybe you brought me here to shove me down the hill and break my neck.”
“You brought me here,” Bronwyn points out. Her eyes widen, and I laugh.
“Oh, come on. You don’t actually think— Bronwyn, we’re barely on an incline. Pushing you off this rock isn’t much of an evil plan if all you’d do is twist your ankle.”
“That’s not funny,” Bronwyn says, but a smile twitches at her lips. The afternoon sun’s making her glow, putting glints of gold in her dark hair, and for a second I almost can’t breathe.
Jesus. This girl.”
(...)
“Bronwyn Rojas, I solemnly swear not to murder you today or at any point in the future. Deal?”
“You’re ridiculous,” she mutters, going even redder.
“It concerns me you’re avoiding a promise not to murder me.”
She rolls her eyes. “Do you say that to all the girls you bring here?”
(...)
“I move closer until there’s only a couple of inches between us. “You’re still not answering my question.”
Bronwyn leans forward and brings her lips to my ear. She’s so close I can feel her heart beating when she whispers, “I promise not to murder you.”
“I’d never felt so trapped in my life. I thought I’d feel the same way in his living room today, waiting for him to tell me again I’m not good enough.
But I didn’t, and I don’t. For the first time in a long time, I feel free.”
“Wanna go upstairs with us and trip for a while?”
I hesitate. I’d do almost anything to get out of my head right now. It’s the Macauley family way. And everybody already thinks I’m that guy.
Almost everybody. “Can’t,” I say, pulling out my burner phone and starting to shoulder my way through the crowd. It buzzes before I get outside. When I look at the screen and see Bronwyn’s number—even though she’s the only one who ever calls me on this phone—I feel a massive sense of relief. Like I’ve been freezing and someone wrapped a blanket around me.”
“I’m not sure if Bronwyn’s trying to distract everyone from Cooper or if she couldn’t help herself. Maybe both.
Either way, Cooper’s effectively been forgotten. He’s motionless at the entrance until I grab his arm. “Come sit. The whole murder club at one table. They can stare at all of us together.”
“But I’m struck by a couple of things as I listen to them talk. One: I like all of them more than I thought I would. Bronwyn’s obviously been the biggest surprise, and like doesn’t cover it. But Addy’s turned into kind of a badass, and Cooper’s not as one-dimensional as I thought.
And two: I don’t think any of them did it.”
“(...)when the entire Bayview High cafeteria was ready to take me down like a pack of hyenas, Nate was the only person who said anything. I never thanked him, but I’ve thought a lot about how much worse school would’ve gotten if he’d brushed past me and let things snowball.”
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