A DRAM OF DRAMA | THE CAMERA NEVER LIES BY DAVID RAWLINGS

Daniel, wife Kelly, and daughter Milly appear to be the perfect family. But an old camera will expose secrets no one wants developed.

Daniel Whiteley is a successful marriage counselor and bestselling author, yet his own marriage is in crisis and his daughter is drifting further away each day. To make matters worse, the deadline for his second book has come and gone, and he still hasn't written a single word.

When Daniel inherits an old camera from his grandfather, he notices an inscription on the bottom: "No matter what you think you might see, the camera never lies." Daniel begins using the camera, but every time he develops the photos, they threaten to reveal secrets that could sabotage both his marriage and his career --- and destroy the life he has worked so hard to build. He's faced with a choice: keep his secrets and save his career, or come clean and possibly save his family. Which will he choose? Which will you choose?

★★★1/2

Professionally, Daniel Whiteley is a highly successful marriage counselor and bestselling self-help author, but behind closed doors his own marriage is crumbling. His wife, Kelly, is struggling with feelings of being a failure as a wife and mother (not to mention she hates the job she has to hold down to help keep a roof over their heads while they try to afford the dream mansion purchased with the help of a generous advance from David's first book). The trouble is, she wants to talk things over with David as a spouse, a teammate... but he can't help talking to her like one of his clients... so one or both of them often shut down, shut each other out, whenever conversations take a serious turn. Additionally, an ever-widening divide continues to develop between him and his daughter, Milly. To add more stress to the mix, Daniel also happens to be way past deadline for submitting the manuscript of his next book... and he has yet to write a single word of it. In short, not his best year. 

Shortly after the passing of his grandfather, Daniel inherits a vintage camera, the bottom of it inscribed with the phrase "the camera never lies." When one of his photography enthusiast friends informs him that the film-fed camera reads full, a curious Daniel tries to find a place that can develop the final images taken by his grandfather. A little internet searching directs him to a photo developing place magically conveniently located right around the corner from his office. At this shop, Daniel meets the mysterious but friendly, happy-to-help Simon, who not only processes the film for the camera but offers additional rolls for Daniel to use...for a hefty price.

It takes him a little while to catch on, but after reviewing each batch of developed photos, Daniel begins to realize that something very disturbing is taking place. No matter where he leaves the camera, whether at home or at the office, it seems to have the ability to capture various unstaged shots of family and colleagues, but these shots reveal deepest secrets and futures yet to unfold --- though quite possible futures if those in the shots don't change their ways and fess up to themselves about what lies in the deepest corners of their hearts that they're terrified to voice. Daniel's secrets are included in this. So what will lead to the best outcome and biggest salvation for him: coming clean or continuing to lock away secrets that, once aired, have the potential to absolutely destroy his carefully crafted life?

...sometimes the best way to come clean is to acknowledge that the peace of truth

 outweighs the pain of revelation.

I enjoyed the air of mystery around Simon. A whole series could almost be written around all the various people he has helped or will in the future. He reminded me a bit of the angel Clarence from the film It's A Wonderful Life.

Monique, on the other hand, was one seriously messy, plotting character... but at least she has something of a turnaround towards the end. 

Kelly was a little disappointing as a character. Sure, she brought herself around to doing the right thing in the end but there really shouldn't have been so much feet-dragging around the issue. Oh, let me sit on this talk of this medication I'm shilling out that may be hospitalizing children so I can hold onto my seaside dream house. But Daniel certainly wasn't husband of the year either. Not to mention, everyone in this story raves about what a brilliant counselor he is... but as the reader, I couldn't help but feel the scenes I was getting of him at work came off rather bare minimum effort.

I wish I could've gotten to know Milly a bit better. Seemed like there was a lot of heart to that kid. I had to laugh at the line Daniel says about her at one point: "What kind of kid took 100 photos, none of them featuring herself?" This reader mentally raising her own hand at that LOL. I have boxes of photos I've taken and only a small handful have me anywhere in them, those usually taken by others.

At times this read / gave me visuals like one of those overly sappy "Focus on the Family" style tv melodramas sometimes aired on Christian networks. I did enjoy the side story (though it could have been built up a little more, IMO) of Kelly's attempts to go up against a corrupt pharmaceutical company. Felt like there was potential for a pretty good thriller spin-off story somewhere in there. 

FTC DISCLAIMER: TNZ Fiction Guild (aka TNZ First Editions) kindly provided me with a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. The opinions above are entirely my own.