Welcome to February—the month of Valentine’s Day and my birthday. That mix of celebration and reflection feels fitting for the story I want to share with you this month.
Rita thought she was celebrating love when she and her husband—after thirty-five years together—stepped into Theater 4. Then—bam! Everything she believed about her life shattered in an instant.
Beneath His Lies is a standalone novel in my Families & Heroes collection, and I think you’ll love Rita’s story. Originally published as Deadly Deceit (now out of print), this novel has been fully revised and rewritten to reflect both the story—and the writer—I’ve grown into.
Coming March 3
What begins as a celebration ends in gunfire—and Rita discovers the truth comes at a cost. A story of love, lies, sacrifice, and second chances.
Rita’s life shatters on the night she and her husband celebrate their thirty-fifth anniversary. What follows a mass shooting isn’t just a search for answers—it’s a reckoning with grief, family loyalty, and the terrible cost of silence. As her husband’s secrets come to light and her daughter is taken, Rita learns that protecting the people she loves may demand everything she has left to give.
This is a story about the after—after tragedy, after betrayal, after the moment when everything you believed no longer holds. It’s about family bonds under pressure, the strength that emerges when there’s no choice but to stand, and a mother who chooses love even when the cost is everything.
If you enjoy emotionally rich suspense with strong women, complex families, and stakes that are as personal as they are dangerous, I think this one will stay with you.
Beneath His Lies launches March 3, and pre-orders are now open at a discounted price.
Pre-ordering helps in ways readers don’t always see—it gives the book a stronger launch and helps it reach new readers who are looking for stories like this one. If you choose to pre-order, thank you. It truly matters.
As always, I’m grateful you’re here and part of this journey.
Warmly,
Karen Randau
Author of the Families & Heroes collection
P.S. If you’ve read Deadly Deceit in the past, this edition may surprise you—it’s the same heart of the story, told with deeper layers, sharper stakes, and a voice shaped by years of growth.