I’ll Tell You No Lies
This YA novel is set on New York’s Griffiss Air Force Base in 1955, the height of the Cold War. Its heroine-narrator is eighteen-year-old Shelby Blaine, who is both bright and appealing. Shelby has come to Griffiss with her father, an Air Force intelligence officer, shortly after her mother died in a suspicious car accident while the family was stationed in Germany.
The plot of this novel focuses on Shelby’s meeting with an escaped Soviet pilot, Maksym, who is seeking asylum in the United States. When Maksym escapes from the base, he takes refuge with Shelby in her home; Colonel Blaine’s absence makes this shelter possible. The story has many complications as the Soviet pilot tells Shelby various stories about his background: stories about his ethnic origin, his family, his imprisonment in Auschwitz, his service as a Russian pilot, and his reasons for defecting. Indeed, lies pile up on top of lies.
Complicating the plot are Shelby’s aloof father, who seems impervious to her mother’s death; interfering Agent Jones, whom Shelby distrusts on sight; and Jo Matheson, a charming neighbor with an engineering degree who is bored with playing officer’s wife.
McCrina provides fascinating details about the Cold War era. She draws from historical research about what happened to Soviet Bloc defectors to the U.S. Her characters, authentic development, and sharp dialogue keep the reader glued to the page.
