James Whitfield Thomson, a Natick native, has been writing short stories and novels in a cozy carrel on the second floor of Morse Library for more than 20 years. His debut novel, Lies You Wanted to Hear, has garnered rave reviews and strong sales approaching 20,000 copies.

He’s a kick-in-the-pants reminder that it’s never too late to reinvent yourself.

His debut novel Lies You Wanted to Hear is a harrowing tale of love gone wrong.

James Whitfield Thomson grew up in Pittsburgh, where he learned a lot about the world from his mother, who ran a dry cleaner. After a successful business career, he took a few years off to raise his family and pursue his literary aspirations. Eventually, he rediscovered his passion for writing at age 68, and published this compelling debut novel.

After reading a Boston Globe article about a man who kidnapped two daughters, the story inspired him to write Lies You Wanted to Hear. His debut novel is a harrowing tale of love gone wrong, but it’s also a kick-in-the-pants reminder that it’s never too late to reinvent yourself.

Thomson has a knack for putting his characters through their paces, showing both sides of the story with vivid detail. The tangled web of deceit that the two protagonists weave in their relationship is gut-wrenching and addictive to observe.

Lucy Thornhill is a sexy, edgy woman who’s been searching for love for years. She sexily entices Matt Drobyshev on a blind date and gets more than she bargained for. Their marriage is built on a series of little white lies and bigger ones that will eventually come back to haunt them.

The novel is split into three parts: the first focuses on the relationship between Lucy and Griffin; the second, on Lucy’s marriage to Matt; and the third, on Matt’s decision to kidnap his children. Each chapter takes you on a journey through the lives of these two families, and it is quite an experience to watch the twists and turns that lead to one of the most heart-breaking decisions a divorced parent can make.

In the end, it’s up to each of them to decide how they will react and what consequences their choices will bring. The result is a compelling story of a marriage torn apart and a family ripped to pieces.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a thought-provoking, hard-hitting read that will change their perspective and leave them thinking about all the moral questions raised in the story. It is a compulsively readable and stunningly written debut novel that will appeal to readers of Jodi Picoult, Elizabeth Berg, George Packer and Dennis Lehane.

He’s a kick-in-the-pants reminder that it’s never too late to reinvent yourself.

James Whitfield Thomson wrote his debut novel at age 68, after more than 20 years of workshopping and rewriting. His harrowing tale of love gone wrong, Lies You Wanted to Hear, was published late last year. He is a kick-in-the-pants reminder that it’s never too late to reinvent yourself and turn your passion into a career.

The 67-year-old Natick resident has written a compelling story about a recognizable but flawed couple bound by bad choices and devotion to their children. He explores the consequences of their self-deceptions with insight and irony that has earned him numerous accolades from major publications.

He has written a nuanced portrait of both sides in the book–the hardworking Boston cop Matt Drobyshev who decides to give up a respectable life for his kids and Lucy, a privileged beauty whose obsession with a sexy drug dealer has led to her divorce from her husband and the kidnapping of their two children.

At the back door, Frodo, a cross between a boxer and a corgi, waddles over and wags his tail, a smirk of approval on his face. She lets him out into the yard, putting fresh kibble in his bowl and checking the thermostat and turning up the heat. The cab driver drops her off at Le Lapin Vert, a tiny bistro on Centre Street a few blocks from her house in Jamaica Plain. She orders escargots and a glass of wine and sits in the back.

Her desk is walnut with a few nicks and one long burn from cigarette ash that could have set her entire house on fire, and there are a few leather-bound journals in the lower left-hand drawer. She writes in a fountain pen; there’s something comforting in the permanence of the blue-black ink soaking into each page.

Then, weeks go by without a word from her. Her anger and sorrow shriveled into a hard kernel stuck permanently in the back of her throat.

In the alternating chapters of the book, we hear from both Matt and Lucy’s points of view as they each try to navigate the aftermath of their breakup. They are both tormented by the lies they told and the choices they made.

He’s a masterful storyteller.

James Whitfield Thomson is a masterful storyteller who weaves a tale hard to put down. He introduces us to a plethora of complex characters who are all at a crossroads, one which will impact their relationships with each other and with their children. Among these is Matt, a Boston cop who is set up on a blind date by his colleague’s wife, Lucy, and her oldest friend from college. From their courtship to its unraveling, the relationship is a rollercoaster of emotions, where loyalty shifts back and forth between the two men. The story unfolds over decades, and is a grim melodrama in the vein of Ordinary People and Kramer vs. Kramer.

He’s a good guy.

James Whitfield Thomson’s debut novel Lies You Wanted to Hear is a harrowing tale of love gone wrong. In the course of this saga, Thomson takes a close look at the disintegration of a marriage and its messy aftermath. He offers a nuanced portrait of both sides of the story: the hardworking Boston cop Matt, who decides to ditch his respectable life for the sake of his two children; and Lucy, a privileged beauty caught in the downward spiral of postpartum depression.