The Good Lie
In Los Angeles, Even the Sunshine Hides Something Dark
There is a particular kind of dread that lives in beautiful places. Manicured lawns. Expensive zip codes. Houses with impeccable curb appeal and secrets buried so deep in the walls that nobody thinks to look. In The Good Lie, a quiet and once-prestigious street in Los Angeles is filled with tension and sorrow as the neighborhood grapples with the horror of a series of kidnappings and murders. And yet the palm trees still sway. The sun still shines. Los Angeles carries on, as it always does, as if nothing is wrong.
The Good Lie centers on Dr. Gwen Moore, a psychiatrist who has spent a decade treating California’s most depraved predators and unlocking their motives which makes her exactly the right person to profile a serial killer. And exactly the wrong person to fall for the man who hires her.
The city is gripped by fear. The Bloody Heart Killer has claimed six teenage boys, each death more harrowing than the last until one of them walks home. Scott Harden, battered and bloodied, makes it back alive. He points the finger at Randall Thompson, a local high school teacher. The case is closed. Except that one man refuses to believe it: Robert Kavin, a defense attorney whose own son was the killer’s sixth victim. Grief will do strange things to a person. Sometimes it makes them very dangerous. Sometimes it makes them right.
Robert enlists Gwen to create a psychological profile of the killer and help clear his client’s name — and the two grow closer as the investigation deepens, even as grave questions arise and Gwen begins to suspect that Robert is hiding something. She is not wrong. But she cannot yet guess the shape of the thing he is hiding, or how close it has already come to her.
What A.R. Torre does so brilliantly in The Good Lie is make you feel the pull of everyone’s logic simultaneously. Robert’s conviction is persuasive. Gwen’s professional certainty is persuasive. Scott’s testimony is persuasive. And the truth, when it finally tears through the story like a blade, is the most persuasive and unsettling thing of all because it was there all along, hiding in plain sight, wearing the face of something perfectly ordinary.
Kirkus Reviews called it “ambitious and twisty… great bedtime reading for insomniacs.” Publishers Weekly called it “compulsively readable.” Both are right, and neither quite captures how cleverly this novel weaponizes your trust. It is the kind of book that makes you replay every chapter once you reach the end, mentally underlining all the things you missed.
A chilling plot wrapped in light narration easy to pick up, impossible to put down. The lies in this novel are not ugly or obvious. They are smooth and reasonable and very, very good. Just like the title promises.
Psychiatrist Dr. Gwen Moore is an expert on killers. She’s spent a decade treating California’s most depraved predators and unlocking their motives—predators much like the notorious Bloody Heart serial killer, whose latest teenage victim escaped and then identified local high school teacher Randall Thompson as his captor. The case against Thompson as the Bloody Heart Killer is damning—and closed, as far as Gwen and the media are concerned. If not for one new development…
Defense attorney Robert Kavin is a still-traumatized father whose own son fell prey to the BH Killer. Convinced of Thompson’s innocence, he steps in to represent him. Now Robert wants Gwen to interview the accused, create a psych profile of the killer and his victims, and help clear his client’s name.
As Gwen and Robert grow closer and she dives deeper into the investigation, grave questions arise. So does Gwen’s suspicion that Robert is hiding something—and that he might not be the only one with a secret.
📖 The Story
Los Angeles is living in the shadow of a monster. Six teenage boys all of them attractive, all of them from good neighborhoods have been abducted, killed, and left with their hearts cut out. The city calls him the Bloody Heart Killer. Then one boy comes home.
Scott Harden staggers back to his family, marked but alive, and names a teacher. Case closed or so everyone thinks.
Dr. Gwen Moore is a criminal psychiatrist who treats the city’s most dangerous patients behind closed office doors. She is professional, controlled, and carrying her own carefully hidden secret: she suspects one of her patients murdered his wife and got away with it. When a detective comes asking questions, Gwen gives carefully chosen answers. A lie of omission, she tells herself. A necessary one.
Then Robert Kavin walks into her life. His son was one of the Bloody Heart Killer’s victims. He is representing the accused teacher not to exonerate a predator, but because he is certain the wrong man is behind bars. He offers Gwen a case she cannot resist: build a psychological profile of the real killer. Find the truth in a city full of polished, practiced lies.
What follows is a twisting, darkly elegant thriller told across three perspectives Gwen, Robert, and a boy slowly realizing the woman he loved was never who she said she was. Every character has something to hide. Every story has a seam where the truth shows through, just a little, if you know where to look.
The ending will make you go back to the beginning.
About the author
Genre: Thriller, Suspense, Mystery
Her first book, Blindfolded Innocence, was a breakout hit, rising to the top of the ebook charts on Amazon where it attracted the interest of major publishing houses and garnered Torre her first print deal with Harlequin HQN. Less than twelve months later, Torre signed a second six-figure print deal, this time with Redhook (Hachette) for the Deanna Madden series, an erotic suspense trilogy.
Torre has been featured in such publications as Elle and Elle UK, as well as guest-blogged for the Huffington Post and RT Book Reviews. She is also the Bedroom Blogger for Cosmopolitan.com. In 2017, her New York Times bestseller HOLLYWOOD DIRT, was released as a full-length film by PassionFlix. Torre’s novels have been translated in eighteen languages and are distributed in over thirty countries.
Torre is the creator of Alessandra Torre Ink – an authors community and online school with over 20,000 members. She is also the founder of INKERS CON, an annual authors conference. A self-publishing advocate, Alessandra speaks frequently to universities, conventions and author groups.
In 2019, Alessandra co-founded Authors A.I. – a company that uses artificial intelligence to help authors with their development and editing process. In November of 2020, Authors A.I. launched BingeBooks, an online community that helps readers discover their next great novel.
From her home in Key West, Florida, she devotes several hours each day to various writing projects and interacting with her fans on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. When not battling her husband at Scrabble, she chases her pet chickens, three dogs, and shoos away iguanas.
Other books by A.R. Torre:
The Good Lie Reading guide
Order book here: The Good lie
Character Analysis
Dr. Gwen Moore
Dr. Gwen Moore is the protagonist and narrator of The Good Lie. As a psychiatrist specializing in violent patients, she has a keen interest in criminal psychology. Her professional training shapes how she views the world, leading her to “psychoanalyze” others and make quick judgments. Although she presents a confident and orderly exterior, she struggles with her own self-doubt and guilt after the death of a patient, which she feels she could have prevented. Gwen’s character arc is defined by her declining confidence in her professional abilities and her struggle to cope with the immense guilt of her perceived failure.
Robert Kavin
Robert Kavin is a defense attorney and Gwen’s love interest, who lost his son to the Bloody Heart Killer. He is a handsome, intelligent, and cocky man who uses his professional training to cross-examine others, including Gwen. Driven by his grief, he seeks justice for his son’s death. He hires Gwen to create a profile of the killer, though he already knows the truth and is using her to get information. Robert’s quest for justice is morally gray, as he takes matters into his own hands by stabbing John Abbott.
Scott Harden
Scott Harden is a teenage boy who was kidnapped by the Bloody Heart Killer. He is popular and from a wealthy family, but he is fundamentally a victim of trauma and manipulation. After his escape, he conspires with Brooke Abbott to frame Randall Thompson for the murders. Scott’s actions are driven by his love for Brooke, which he mistakes for a genuine connection. His character highlights how trauma can lead a person to turn to violence, as he almost kills Randall Thompson at the end of the novel.
John Abbott
John Abbott is one of Gwen’s patients and, with his wife, Brooke, the real Bloody Heart Killer. He is a meticulous and precise man who kidnapped and tortured teenage boys as a way to cope with his own past trauma. His violent urges and possessive love for Brooke ultimately lead him to poison her and apparently take his own life.
Brooke Abbott
Brooke Abbott is John Abbott’s wife and a co-conspirator in the Bloody Heart murders. She is the sadistic counterpart to John’s violence, tending to the victims’ wounds and manipulating them emotionally. She was a victim of rape by Randall Thompson in high school, and she uses this past trauma to justify her crimes and her plot to frame him for the murders. She manipulates Scott Harden, who believes they are in love, and uses him to carry out her plan for revenge.
Detective Ted Saxe
Detective Ted Saxe is the investigator on the case, acting as a foil to Gwen and Robert’s more morally ambiguous quests for justice. He is described as stern and distrustful, representing a traditional, by-the-book approach to justice.
Randall Thompson
Randall Thompson is a high school teacher who is framed for the Bloody Heart murders. He is physically unkempt and a poor fit for the killer’s profile, leading Robert to believe in his innocence. Although he is not the Bloody Heart Killer, the novel reveals that he is a sexual predator who raped Brooke Abbott in high school, making him a deserving target of her revenge plot. His character raises questions about justice and punishment.
🍹 Drink Pairings for The Good Lie
Mezcal Old Fashioned — Robert’s Glass A grieving father channeling his rage into a courtroom. Mezcal old fashioned — smoky, complex, something burning underneath the composed exterior. Robert’s drink entirely. Sip it slowly during the chapters where you think you understand him. You don’t yet.
Overpriced Pinot Noir — Gwen’s Office After Hours Gwen sits with the weight of what she knows and what she chose not to say. A good Californian pinot noir — elegant, a little melancholy, the kind you drink alone with the lights low — is the drink of her quieter moments of guilt. Pour one during the chapters where she second-guesses herself.
Iced Coffee, Strong — The Investigation Chapters Gwen reviewing case files, cross-referencing victim profiles, noticing the pattern nobody else noticed. This is focus work. Cold brew, black, no distractions. The drink for every chapter where the real picture starts to emerge.
Sparkling Rosé — The Con in Plain Sight Brooke Abbott is charming, warm, perfectly presented. Everything she touches looks lovely. A chilled sparkling rosé — pretty, festive, giving nothing away — is her drink. It is also the drink of every scene where something seems just slightly too perfect.
Two Fingers of Whiskey — The Knife Scene You will know the moment when you get there. Do not pour this in advance. Keep it ready.
Champagne at Close — The Lies We Decide to Keep The novel ends not with resolution exactly, but with two people who understand each other completely, toasting across the wreckage of what they both did. Pour something celebratory. It’s complicated. Drink it anyway.
Here’s your location guide for the book trail:
Bel Air, Los Angeles — The novel opens on a quiet, once-prestigious Los Angeles street thick with missing-person flyers tacked to Canary Island palms, their edges curled from the elements. The discovery of the Bloody Heart Killer’s lair inside a beautiful affluent home is the novel’s most disturbing gut punch because the house looks like every other house on the street. Drive through Bel Air and feel exactly how well evil hides behind a good address.
Skybar, West Hollywood — The polished West Hollywood bar scene where Gwen and Robert first meet after the funeral, two strangers with too many secrets between them. The Skybar at the Mondrian is exactly the kind of place these characters inhabit expensive, beautiful, and far more complicated than it looks from the outside.
LAPD Headquarters, Downtown LA — The institutional center of the Bloody Heart Killer investigation. This is where Scott Harden changes his story. Where the evidence starts to unravel. Where the machinery of justice grinds forward without knowing it’s been pointed at the wrong target.
Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center, Downtown LA — Los Angeles’s main criminal courthouse, where Randall Thompson’s case would play out and where Robert Kavin a grieving father defending the man accused of his own son’s murder would have to argue with everything he has. Standing outside this building, you feel the full, complicated weight of a justice system that is never as clear as it claims to be.
Brentwood Medical District — The calm, affluent neighborhood where Gwen keeps her practice treating dangerous patients behind closed doors, carrying secrets no one is supposed to know, and trying very hard to believe that doing your job well is the same as doing the right thing. It isn’t always.
Book Club Questions - Spoiler alert
- Is it a single murderer?
- Do you think is male or female?
- Does the killer has appeared in the first half of the book?
- Is Scott being used as a pawn?
- Who is your number 1 suspect?
- Are the other 3 murders related to the 6 boy? in any way?
- Is Randall Thompson your suspect?
- What do you think of the look on Gabe room when he was a child?
- Is the victim #1 important, Why?
- Does Scott has stockholm syndrome?
- What you guys think is the line between worthy to report or not to the police?
- Discuss your theories about how you think is going to end
- Were your theories correct?
- What did you think of the character of Gwen?
- What did you think of Robert?
- Were there many characters to mislead?
- Brooke and John as assassins, Did they fit the profile?
- Which was worse he or she
- Did you like the ending? In general, did you like the book?
