Today's Read: Unbecoming by Rebecca Scherm

What happens when a carefully planned crime goes terribly wrong? Two men go to prison, but a third thief gets away, absconding with some of the loot. Now that Riley and Alls are out on parole, can Grace bury herself in Paris, escaping detection?

The first lie Grace had told Hanna was her name. "Bonjour, je m'appelle Julie," Grace had said. She'd been in Paris for only a month, and her French was still new and stiff. She'd chosen the name Julie because it was sweet and easy on the French tongue—much more so than Grace was. The best lies were the simplest and made the most sense, in the mind and in the mouth. These lies were the easiest to swallow.

—Unbecoming by Rebecca Sherm (Penguin USA / Viking, 2015, p. 3)

Quick Facts

• Setting: modern times; small-town Tennessee; New York; Paris
• Circumstances: After the robbery of a local historical museum goes bust, Grace escapes to Europe, leaving her friends behind. Now she's working hard to stay hidden, though she's not necessarily living on the straight and narrow. Will Riley and Alls track her down? Does she secretly hope to be found?
• Characters: Grace, an art school drop-out; Riley her long-term love; Alls, another partner in crime; various people in the United States and Europe who help or hinder Grace's cause
• Genre: mystery, thriller
• Themes & plot points: family, double-crossings, theft, love, identity, trust
• Miscellaneous: Reviews have been mixed; Unbecoming seems to be one of those polarizing novels; most critics have loved the characters and the cat-and-mouse game but felt the plot sometimes got bogged down.
• Recommendations: None; I haven't read far enough.