Doug Booth

Family Lies Doug Booth

Davidson stands despondent at the corner of La ruelle de la Falaise in Paris, blue smoke wafting aimlessly into the night air from between muted lips. The jeep stops abruptly. He shrugs at the MPs. He doesn't care. He's made a terrible mistake, though that night there is no curfew for the men ordered to fight the Battle of the Shelde. The darkened window above the quaint French bistro reflects the soft moonlight, not her tear-streaked face, not her trembling lips; her pleading whispers a needless secret to last a lifetime. A moment lost in time, a moment lost to lovers torn apart, a moment that will one day bring torment, tragedy and death.*Davidson Alexander knows where he truly belongs at the end of a long, brutal war. Instead he deserts her to embark on a path of deceit, death and destruction. He comes home from liberated Europe to his devoted Emily, his dreams threatened by Emily's need to erase a dark secret. Facing a grim future, Davidson struggles to stave off certain failure. Coldly disregarding Emily's pleas, he gives up their twins and sells their home. The years pass. He's successful and wealthy, though Emily never forgives him. Nor does he now forgive her. Jean-Alexandre, Gabrielle's son, arrives to turn his father's world upside down. Through him Davidson discovers Emily's deception, returning to France to be with Gabrielle until her death. Now Davidson's at death's door, eager to make amends with his twins. He hires a detective, aware nothing to that without Emily's greed he'll fail once again. Though suddenly he dies, never to see his grandson: a repeat offender with nothing to lose. Nor will Davidson know of Emily's murder, her daughter's or the detective's. What Jean-Alexandre knows is the killer's name, that he murdered his own parents, and when he will arrive to kill again.