Member Reviews
*I received a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
This book was a fast-paced mystery thriller. The story follows a man who finds out that everything he thought he once knew about his family and his life is all a lie. I enjoyed this book when I read it, but honestly at this point I can barely remember it! So if you like thrillers/mysteries and quick reads then I would say you could pick it up, otherwise I would pass.
Rating: 3/5 Stars
Amazing book. Loved it from beginning to end.
Well written which kept me captivated throughout.
I will definitely be reading other books by this author
SPOILERS AHEAD:
I did not like the story. On paper you can assume that one disgruntled closet lesbian/ bisexual could plan to off her husband with a willing passive partner married to another, bit it just didn't jell for me.
This is a twisted story that keeps you guessing from beginning to end. I thought I would get bored with yet another story with a “surprise twist” that really is not all that surprising, but this one got me. I loved it!
The only issue was that the story got a little slow at times but it would quickly pick up again. Some of the character’s actions became a little confusing and convoluted, and it is a bit confusing once the ending is revealed. However, it leads to the “lies” that are told throughout the story and the misleading actions by the characters.
This is a good story to pick up and read when you have some downtime. It’s engaging enough that you will want to continue picking it up to finish the story.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an advanced copy to read. All opinions are my own.
I didn't hate this book, but I didn't love it. The main character was extremely frustrating in their decision making process. The fact that Ben appeared to be so tech savvy felt a bit unbelievable. The story I felt dragged on a bit longer than it should have to the point where by the time I got to the end, I was entertained but wished we had gotten there sooner.
A good suspense book is one that I feel like I need to know what's happening next. But Joe's often dumb decision making left me frustrated more than anything.
Thank you to Netgalley, the Publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book in return for my review based upon my honest opinion.
This is the first book I have read by this author and I was pleasantly surprised. It was a quick read, mainly due to the fact that I needed to know what happened. Joe Lynch and his four year old son, William, are driving along and the little boy sees his Mom's car go into the car park at a hotel, he asks Joe to be go see his Mommy and that one moment, sets everything in motion. Joe sees his wife, Mel, in the hotel having what appears to be an angry altercation in the lobby with her best friend's husband, Ben and he and Wills make a quick exit, but then Joe has an altercation himself with Ben in the car park, which turns violent, Ben falls and hits his head but then William has a severe asthma attack and Joe has to make a quick decision about what to do, he rushes William home, gets his inhaler and then heads back to check on Ben, but Ben is not there... how many times will he relive that moment and wonder if he had just continued on home and not stopped to see Mel, would this all have happened.
Ben then goes missing and the next thing Joe knows, he is a suspect in the disappearance and he seems to be the only one to know he is innocent. His wife, Mel, may not be who he thought she was all this time and everything he knows is suspect. How can he figure out what is going on before he finds himself railroaded right into a jail cell. Lots of twists and turns and a surprising ending. It would make an excellent miniseries on tv.
It starts out with Joe seeing his wife going to a hotel. So he follows her because their son wants to say hi. This decision to stop instead of continuing on with his day will change his life forever. This book is packed with twists and turns and you will not be able to put it down until you finish reading it. I could not stop reading until I found out what happened. I definitely recommend you read this when you have lots of time.
Teacher Joe Lynch and his 4-year-old son, William are driving in London traffic when William spots his mother’s car exiting the highway. William wants to surprise her so they follow the car to a hotel where they find Mel in the hotel bar arguing with tech millionaire Ben Delaney. A short time later, the suspicious Joe confronts Ben in the parking lot and knocks him unconscious. Mel later admits to an affair, Ben goes missing, and Joe is accused of murder. But Joe is convinced Ben is alive and is communicating with him through social media. But as the evidence continues to mount against him, Joe must find Ben to prove his innocence. This page-turning psychological thriller was a quick and entertaining read.
I received an eARC via Netgalley and St. Martin's Press with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book and provided this review.
A chance encounter for a man begins a chain of events that leaves him scrambling. The more questions he asks of everyone around him, the more problems it creates until he gets backed into an impossible situation. Author T.M. Logan will keep readers guessing until the end with the tight thriller Lies.
Joe Lynch leads a respectable life. He and his wife, Mel, live in a well-to-do suburb of London with their adorable four-year-old son, William. Because Joe’s hours as a teacher offer him more flexibility during the day, he bears the bulk of the responsibility for taking care of William and he enjoys every minute.
On their home one day, Joe and William spot Mel’s car in traffic. Joe makes a spontaneous decision to follow her; they can surprise Mel, he thinks. He follows her to a hotel where he sees her meet with Ben, a mutual friend. From a distance, Mel and Ben’s conversation looks heated. The interaction makes Joe uneasy and suspicious.
After Mel leaves, unbeknownst to her, Joe confronts Ben in the parking garage of the hotel. The men share a barbed encounter that ends with a physical challenge and Ben injured and bleeding. Joe runs, but he tries to get in touch with Ben soon thereafter to find out if he’s all right. He receives a few cryptic responses from his own cell phone, which he lost in the scuffle. Then Ben disappears.
The police come to Joe asking questions about Ben’s whereabouts, and Joe is dumbfounded. Ben initiated the conflict between them in the parking garage, but there’s no way to prove it. He confronts Mel who first denies anything intimate between her and Ben but then admits that they did have an affair. Joe tries to contact another friend only to be rebuffed. It seems like everyone close to him has either betrayed him or wants nothing to do with him, and every time he gets over one lie he discovers another. Nothing makes sense anymore. Then the police come back for Joe, and he decides to make a run for it just to buy enough time to prove his innocence.
Author T.M. Logan keeps his thriller straightforward, which allows for a deliciously taut story. Readers will stay up long into the night to find out whether Joe can cross each and every hurdle that appears in his path. Logan answers every question he poses and does so with deft and panache.
More admirable is the choice of point of view. Joe narrates his own story, a plot device that often keeps readers inside the protagonist’s head for too long. Logan strikes the right balance between Joe sharing his thoughts and keeping the action moving. The result is a satisfying descent into the world of an entire host of people who resort to lying to benefit themselves.
Even Joe isn’t above telling a few fibs, a choice that will haunt him because he’s the one who stands to lose the most. Readers will rub their hands in glee at the novel’s pacing while at the same time worrying about Joe. A likable protagonist, he will have readers rooting for him all the way to the end.
The twist ending will make readers sit up and take notice, and even though the last few pages may seem like a quick wrap-up by that time Joe seems to deserve it. I believe readers will find with Lies by T.M. Logan that they will want to Binge it!
3.5 out of 5 stars
Joe Lynch happens upon his wife’s car while with his young son. He follows her into a hotel parking lot and finds her arguing with a friend. He has no idea why she would be arguing with Ben and something niggles at him about the situation. When she leaves and he confronts Ben, Ben tells Joe that Joe has no idea what’s really going on. He goes to punch Joe. Joe pushes him away, not wanting to hit someone not quite up to his size, Ben falls and hits his head. Joe’s son is in the midst of an asthma attack so Joe runs home and when he goes back, Ben is gone. He asks his wife what’s going on and she tells him she was just helping Ben out with a client but as the story unfolds, and Joe is implicated in Ben’s disappearance, there is lie upon lie upon lie.
I did not see the biggest lie reveal at all. I thought I knew what was happening and was pretty proud of myself but I was wrong. There were some parts that really dragged for me and I wanted them to move a little quicker but all in all, it is a good thriller with a very likable lead character.
Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for a copy of this book.
Joe Lynch is a married man who takes great care of his child. One day while driving him and his kid home, he sees his wife's car and decides to follow it to a hotel. Thinking she is meeting up with a client, he decides to take him and his child in to give her a fun surprise. What transpires after this will forever change Joe's life. If only his son didn't see his moms car, if only he didn't follow her, his life would have never changed.
I found myself unable to put this book down. I wanted to know what happened, where the lies led, and how possibly a chance encounter with his own wife could turn Joe's life upside down. I found myself cringing many times at the decisions Joe made (STOP MAKING YOURSELF LOOK GUILTY!!), but I was also happy with what he was doing because I wanted to get down to the truth.
When it comes to suspenseful novels like this, I love taking guesses at what the "twist" or ending will be, and to say I was surprised by this ending would be an understatement. The end wasn't even close to any of my guesses, and I loved it!
If you are in the suspense craze like I am with books currently, I would highly recommend this novel.
Loved every moment of it! Kept me guessing until everything was revealed. Though, I'm proud to say I was there at least 75% of the way on my own.
The premise of this story is how fragile your life and happiness can be when someone you love lies to you. The story line is a good one that moves steadily towards an unexpected ending. Joe accidentally sees his wife at a hotel having an argument with a man they know. His curiosity leads him to confront this man with disastrous results. How Joe handles the consequences makes a very good read. This is the author's debut book. Based on LIES, he has a great career ahead of him.
Lies by T.M. Logan was my favorite suspense novel this year. Every chapter ends with a twist or a thought provoking line that projects you into the next chapter wanting more. Usually in a really good suspense book you have one or two jaw dropping moments (if it’s a really good story) but this book had so many that the story line was constantly reinventing itself. Lies is T.M. Logan’s first novel and he hit it out of the park on this one.
Joe Lynch was a happily married man with a beautiful son, nice house, and a teaching job he enjoyed. Everything seemed picture perfect, until it wasn’t. Joe is driving down the street when his son points out a car that looks like his mommies and asks his dad if they can go say hi to her. Joe is shocked at the realization that his little boy is right, that is mommy’s car, and she’s pulling into a hotel parking structure when she told him she was at work. Joe turns around and pulls into the parking structure ready to confront his wife, but she’s already gone inside. He gets his boy out of the car and the two of them go into the hotel to look for mommy. What Joe sees is his wife and his neighbor Ben in the middle of a heated conversation. What could the two of them possibly have to talk about, and this doesn’t appear to be a chance run in. Joe decides to go back to his car and wait for his wife to come out but before he could stop her she pulls away. Ben comes out and Joe decides to he won’t stop until he finds out what’s going on. Some yelling, an altercation, and fleeing the scene will be just the beginning of the end of the life Joe used to know.
⭐️⭐️⭐️ 💫
To be perfectly honest I was a little bored with this up until very close to the end. The first 3/4 of the book read like a messy affair, well written but not enough pace in the plot for me (especially given that this is a thriller).
That being said, the ending and the twists at the end were wonderful, unexpected and very clever! If more of this pace had been written earlier into the narrative this would have been a much stronger read for me. This a debut so I really look forward to seeing what the author writes next!
Thanks to @stmartinspress for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.
Joe’s son spots his wife’s car on 5e highway and Joe decides to follow her. They end up in a motel parking lot where he sees her meeting with her friend’s husband Ben with whom she seems to be arguing. Joe confronts Ben in the parking lot and things get a little physical. Joe’s son begins having an asthma attack and he rushes home to get his inhaler leaving Ben knocked out on the floor. That is the last Ben is seen. His wife reports him missing and Joe is the lead suspect in the missing person case. Things get stranger when Joe begins to discover lies and deceit from those close to him. He also begins to receive strange messages from Ben that seems to lead him into more trouble. Joe has lost his job and fears he will lose his family and freedom soon. He will do anything to prove his innocence.
Wow! Joe Lynch is your happy, goes with flow kinda guy. He’s married, has a son, teaches and thinks life is perfect! Is it really?
Joe learns suddenly that the life he thought he was living is not the life he’s currently trying to fight for.
Seeking the truth and trying to fight for his innocence Joe stumbles upon many lies and secrets and has a hard time knowing who he can trust.
I found him to be a bit naive and had hoped he really opened his eyes but I still found the thrill in reading this! I couldn’t stop turning the pages!
Great book - really grabs you and keeps you attention from page one until the end. Full of suspense, mystery and intrigue, twists and turns! T.M. Logan has definitely earned a place on my "must read authors" with this book!
Joe was happy with his wife and son. He's works part time as an English teacher which allowhich allows and to spend more time with his son.
Joe sees his wife's car go into an underground garage and decides to see why she's the and ends up seeing her arguing with Ben, and from that moment on his life begins to unravel.
Wow..... what a page turner this was. I loved this book, it was scary, the the way Joe's life crumbled from underneath him, a man who was completely innocent.
This book is a great psychological thriller. If you want to read this one make sure you hold on tight and enjoy the ride.
What if you have the perfect life, the perfect wife and the perfect child–then, in one shattering moment, you discover nothing is as it seems? Joe quickly figures out his life has been a lie when he catches his wife at a hotel with another man. He quickly jumps to conclusions, but things aren’t as they seem. In fact, they’re worse. Joe will do whatever it takes to protect his family, but as the deception unravels, so does his life. review: After a few chapters I was definitely hooked. Without saying too much, this book was “unputdownable.” it had me flipping the pages like a crazy person. But, I have to say, I didn’t like the ending. It’s definitely not how I thought the book would play out – but I still don’t know how I fully feel about the ending. rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars⭐️