(Image from Barnes & Noble)

Kelsey Thomas lives in a fortress.  Her isolated home in Virginia's Green Mountains is surrounded by electrified fences and rigged with security cameras and alarm systems.  There's a well-stocked safe room in the basement.  It's hardly a crime-ridden neighborhood, but the extreme measures are what Kelsey's mother needs in order to feel safe.  After escaping abduction seventeen years ago and bearing her captor's child (Kelsey), Kelsey's mom has not left her fortified home.  It's only because of Child Protective Services that Kelsey's allowed to leave—she's now required to attend high school in town.  Frustrated by her mom's paranoia, Kelsey craves the small amount of freedom she's been given.

Although Kelsey has promised her mother she will not call attention to herself, she's involved in a dramatic car accident and subsequent rescue mission that is covered by the media.  Ryan Baker, an 18-year-old volunteer fireman, is her rescuer and a boy for whom she can definitely see herself falling.  Before Kelsey really has a chance to explore the attraction, her agoraphobic mother disappears.  Knowing she would not have left her house unless forced, Kelsey starts to panic.  That's when things get crazy.  Suddenly, she finds herself confronted by a relentless enemy and the dark truths about her mother's past.  When the safest house in Covington, Virginia, becomes the most dangerous place to be, can Kelsey make it out alive?

If propulsive psychological thrillers are your jam (and they certainly are mine), you need to check out Megan Miranda.  Her twisty novels never fail to engross me.  The Safest Lies, a psychological thriller for teens, is no exception.  The adrenaline-fueled plot kept me whipping through pages, desperate to know what was going to happen next.  Although the finale seemed a little anti-climatic given other things that happen in the book, overall I found The Safest Lies to be an entertaining and satisfying read.

(Readalikes:  Other books by Megan Miranda)

Grade:

If this were a movie, it would be rated:

for language (no F-bombs), violence, and scenes of peril

To the FTC, with love:  Another library fine find