This book was definitely a thrill ride! Very fast-paced with a good story line. In a lot of suspense/thriller novels I've read recently, I sometimes wonder why characters do stupid things. Like instead of going to the police or someone else for help, they decide to take matters into their own hands first. I suppose that's what makes it more thrilling, though, right? I find myself yelling at the book at times saying, "why are you doing that?" or "don't go there!" Well, even though I did find that Joe Lynch wasn't always making the right decisions, I was completely engrossed in this story. I had a couple of theories on how it was going to end and who was involved and I was kind of right but not completely. I won't say any more about the ending as I definitely don't want to spoil it for readers, but it was a complete surprise. This is an excellent debut novel, and I'm hoping T.M. Logan will bring us another thriller soon.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the advance review copy. All opinions are my own.

This book was fantastic! It had all the makings of a thriller and was a suspenseful read. At times I couldn't put the book down it was so interesting. All I can say is poor Joe! To watch your life go spiraling down hill in a matter of days.
The only reason this book is not getting a 5 star is the ending was just didn't sit right with me. It could have gone in so many different directions than it did. Don't get me wrong it was a good ending just not for me. I will diffidently be reading more of this author in the future!
I received an ebook copy of this book from Netgalley and a paperback for #stmartinspress.

This was a very entertaining psychological thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat. Joe is basically a stay-at-home dad who is out driving with his young son when they see his wife driving and on the spur of the moment decide to follow her into a hotel parking lot. What he witnesses is his wife having a heated argument with a family friend and when he intervenes they come to blows and punches are exchanged and the friend, Ben, is knocked to the ground where he hits his head and is left unconscious. In the meantime, Joe's son suffers an asthma attack and he leaves to seek medical attention and when he returns Ben and his wife are gone. Are you hooked yet? This is just the start. There are so many twists and turns to keep the pages turning and a well developed story it was hard to put this one down, so I didn't. I recommend this one!

**Received this ARC for review from the publisher via NetGalley**

I received Lies from NetGalley in exchange of an honest review.

Lies is one fast paced. thrill ride, complete with all the twists and turns one would need. I was constantly guessing until the end of the book. I didn't completely love the characters, Joe, Joe. STOP BEING SO NAIVE! This is a good psychological thriller that you can't put down.

<u><b><i>Lies</i></b></u>


<b><i>I Picked Up This Book Because:</i></b> The blurb showed so much potential.

<b><i>The Characters:</i></b>

<b>Joe Lynch:</b> Father, confused gentleman
<b>Mel Lynch:</b> wife, up to something???
<i>William (son)</i>

<b><i>The Story:</i></b>

I feel so much urgency from Joe but NOTHING is happening. Well a lot happens but I feel like he’s too amped up. Or the writing is, I’m not sure. I do know I’m not enjoying myself so I’m calling it quits.

<b><i>The Random Thoughts:</i></b>

*DNF so no rating

First thank you to netgalley for the advanced copy. I thought the book was a good mystery novel. I had
My suspicions of who the instigator was and I was right sort of. Couldn’t put the book down as I wanted to know how it ended. The main character kind of bothered me a little as he talked to much and kept repeating. Some of the stuff with the police seemed a little far fetched but overall 4 out of 5 stars. Def worth reading.

Lies is a good story, but I personally had a tough time with the characters, they're not quite believable....in my opinion. I also thought the ending was a little "slow" or maybe "lacking". The ending wasn't one that keeps you in a book hangover for days. I would recommend that anyone questioning whether they should read this or not....read it!!!! happy reading!! :)

I just finished Lies by T. N. Logan and thoroughly liked it. This is a thriller not just about lies and how they affect people but also about absolute betrayal within a family. The book has fast paced action and moves quickly towards the end. Each chapter ends with a cliffhanger that hooks you right into the story and before you know it the book is at the end with a totally unexpected ending at least for me. I can sincerely say I was shocked by it. There were a few annoying character flaws in Joe but he is so great with his son that you totally forgive him. I am happy to give this book 4 stars and will happily recommend it to others. I thank NetGalley and T E Logan for the chance to preview this book and am looking forward to more books from the author.

Joe has a quietly successful life with his wife Beth and their son Will. Or, he thought he had. Things begin going askew when he witnesses his wife arguing with a co-worker at a hotel. Joe confronts Ben and a minor scuffle knocks him out. In a panic, and with his son nearby, he races home to await confronting his wife. But Beth lies. She never saw Ben at a hotel.....surely he knows her better than this. With some pushing Joe finally gets her to admit that, yes, she was there, but it was all a business 'thing'. Enter Mel, Ben's wife, who comes to them a couple of days later, while Joe keeps getting bizarre and potentially disastrous postings to his Facebook page, to tell them tearfully that Ben has left her. And taken a gun with him. The more information Joe gets, the more lies he uncovers. Has Beth been Ben's lover? And what is Mel's role in this? Is their entire life a lie? This book has some wonderfully unexpected twists!

Lies is a well-paced, entertaining thriller that managed to surprise me. The chapters were short and snappy and mostly ended in cliffhangers which made me keep saying “just one more, chapter” every time I thought I would put the book down. I thought the mystery was pretty well done, as well. I definitely guessed some of it, but not all of it, so I really enjoyed the reveal at the end. I did think it dragged just a bit in the middle, though, and could’ve been a little shorter.

While I liked Joe, I did have some issues with him. Here’s the thing about a lot of books with the whole “ordinary guy in extraordinary circumstances” thing. They try to play detective and think they know better than everyone else and EVERY. SINGLE. THING. they do makes them look bad. Joe fell heavily into this trope and he kind of drove me crazy for most of the book. I just couldn’t believe how he couldn’t realize he was basically shooting himself in the foot every time he opened his mouth or followed up some lead. That said, he was still a sympathetic character I couldn’t help but root for.

Technology and social media is an important part of the book and it’s really made me want to go live off the grid. Things like Amazon’s Echo products that listen to you all day every day already kind of freak me out, but I don’t usually think much of all the information my phone records. Technology is terrifying and the way it was so easy to manipulate it to make Joe look so guilty was chilling.

Overall, I enjoyed Lies. I loved that the chapters were so short and suspenseful. While Joe did frustrate me, he was still a likable character that I wanted to see vindicated. I’m upping my overall rating a bit because the end managed to surprise me. I definitely recommend this one if you’re looking for a fast and entertaining mystery.

Overall Rating (out of 5): 4 Stars

Twists on twists! It has been a long time since a mystery has kept me this enthralled. Joe was just a regular “Joe” leading his comfortable life until the fateful day he followed his wife. The days that followed were like a crazy nightmare where you never wake up. Definitely a book you cannot put down until the end!

3.5 stars.

This book started off with a powerful punch and I was drawn in immediately. About midway through however, I found my attention drifting. I also got frustrated with Joe at times with his not-so-great decision making! Additionally, I didn't find the ending particularly plausible.

Not a bad read by any means but not the best thriller, especially given its particularly strong start.

I thought this book was very well done for a debut novel.

So this is basically about an average guy named Joe who is a High School teacher. One day he was with his son out for a drive and his son starts spouting out different types of cars. Then he says something like theirs Mums car but Joe thinks he just means a car that looks like his Mums car but nope it was actually her car. He decides to follow her because she was suppose to be at Tennis, but instead she is meeting her best friends husband, Ben, in a hotel parking lot. So of course all sorts of things are going through Joes mind. He witnesses them getting into a huge argument and he doesn't like how Ben is treating her so he decides to go and have it out with Ben. In the scuffle he ends up hitting him and he hits the pavement hard and is knocked out. Joe is worried he might have really hurt him but then Will, his son starts having an asthma attack and he can't find his inhaler so he leaves Ben to go home real quick and get the other inhaler. When Joe comes back Ben is gone and this starts a downward spiral for Joe and his life gets basically turned upside down.

Someone starts messing with Joe, taunting him on facebook, and posting pictures of the scene. Joe isn't sure if it's Ben but if it is why is he doing these things and then he finds out some other things and well I just don't feel like I can say more with spoiling things.

I thought the book was very fast paced and the writing was very easy to read. Even though I thought it was a tad to long at 419 pages it still felt like I was reading it really fast. I am not a fast reader so someone who can down a book in a day would have no problems with this even though it is a longer book. There was times that I thought it was a bit repetitive but even with that I still wanted to keep turning the page to find out what else was going to happen to poor Joe.

I really liked Joe and felt sorry for him but at times I also thought he was trying to trust the system a little too much and I was like stop telling the police these things it's making you look bad!! Joe knows he didn't do anything and he thinks Ben is the one taunting him but the police are seeing things in a different light because Ben is missing. So I am not ashamed to say I yelled at Joe from time to time...lol.

I am usually hit or miss with thrillers so I didn't know how this one was going to go but I really enjoyed it. I had guessed most of the twist and things that was happening but it still managed to throw one over one me that I didn't see coming which made this a really good read.

I would recommend this to anyone who loves thrillers and can't wait to see what else this author might come up with.

“It's a Mummy car. Look, Daddy! Good spot, matey... It does look like Mummy's car. I squinted, trying to make out the [license plate]. It was her car. The VW turned into a Premier Inn. Can we see Mummy? Can we, can we, can we? I made a spur-of-the-moment decision that would change my life. Let's go surprise, Mummy.”

What's cuter than a dad and a four-year-old playing car bingo? A kid with his first School Superstar "cerstiff-a kit". Little Wills spots his mother's car in traffic and his intense need to share his pride with his mother melts his father's heart. They track her car into an underground hotel parking garage and bolt upstairs to greet her. Joe comes to a skidding stop when he spots Mel (Mellisa) in the hotel lobby in a heated argument with Ben Delaney, a neighbor. Ben was screaming at her. Joe quickly frog-marches Wills back to the car to wait for Mel.

Mel swiftly exits the elevator and never sees them before leaving quickly in her car. Once more the elevator door opens and Ben walks out. When Joe begins to ask about Mel, Ben becomes violent. Refusing to fight the smaller man, Joe gives him a little shove to put space between them, causing Ben to trip over his briefcase and landing on his head on the concrete floor unresponsive with blood trickling out of his ear.

The stress induces a Richter scale asthma attack in Wills. The spare inhaler is not in the car and Wills is in trouble. The two crises force Joe to make a decision - get help for Ben or get help for Wills. Wills wins but Joe does return to find Ben and his car gone along with Joe's cellphone that he had dropped in the altercation.
With Ben gone, Joe is left to puzzle out the conversation that flipped out Ben. Joe had been pressing Ben about Mel when suddenly Ben shouted, "Just leave it! You have no idea! You're so f***ing dense that you haven't seen it, have you?" Just before he fell.

As Joe seeks answers, his warm and fuzzy world begins to fall apart. Ben is nowhere to be found but Joe knows he is alive; he gets regularly cell phone and Facebook messages from him.
Beth, Mel's best friend and Ben's wife files a missing person report. The search for Ben gets darker and darker as evidence points to foul play and seems to implicate Joe. On the other side of the equation, Ben's messages to Joe get more and more taunting and sinister. I am going to destroy you! Mel finally admits she had an affair.

All efforts to verify Joe's claims that Ben has been in contact him are traced back to Joe's online accounts.
Joe realizes his only way out of this miasma is to find Ben. Against the advice of his newly hired attorney, Joe begins his own private search to clear his name and to save his family. What he finds confirms what Ben had told him - "You had no idea. You never saw it, did you?"

Thoughts
I love debut authors and I don't expect them to rage out of the gate with a blockbuster bestseller. It happens. Not this time. Lies is a easy read, somewhat predicable, and contains elements of mystery and surprise at the end. I found it entertaining and kept my interest. Joe was patently naive and gullible; I think the author was striving for devoted and loyal. Mel, from the beginning, was more worldly and adventurous dusted with a sly and devious capacity to snow Joe. Little Wills was adorable.

Good read for a slow day or long car ride; guaranteed not to make you homicidal.
ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion and review.

This was unputdownable!! I hadn't read a book this intense in awhile, and it was very well done overall. There were a few weaker parts but I for sure did not figure out what was going on, although I had a few little hunches. Quite a fast-paced ride and highly recommended if you enjoy the psychological thriller genre and not quite knowing who is telling the truth.

Will Joe regret following his wife Mel's car hoping, at the urging of their son William, to surprise her? You betcha. This decision and Joe's subsequent unwise physical confrontation of Ben, who was (ahem) a family friend, unrolls a whole pack of lies. This one reads very quickly in the beginning - really rolls you in- and then slows a bit. It's well written and plot driven so perfect for travel. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. No spoilers for the twists- you'll have to read it for yourself.

One lie upon another builds the suspense in this book. T. M. Logan did a great job of keeping the reader wondering which of those lies was hiding the truth right up until the unexpected ending.

Some people are just too trusting. They try to see the good and forgive them they get burned again. That's exactly the case here.
Once Kipling's wife cheated on him it seemed like maaaaaybe he should try forgiving while keeping one eye open and on her a lot more. Bless his heart, it went from bad to worse.

YAWN

Psychological thriller about a man who makes a spur of the moment decision that destroys his seemingly happy life in an instant.

While driving home with his young son, Joe Lynch spies his wife’s Melisa’s car turn into a hotel parking lot. He makes the decision to follow her--a decision he will come to regret. What happens next results in Joe being framed for a terrible crime. As Joe fights to prove his innocence, he comes to realize his happily ever after has been built on lies. A boring game of cat and mouse ensues.

I figured out rather early on what was really going on, which turned this into a boring reading experience. I kept on reading in the hopes that I was wrong but sadly discovered that I was right. I don't have much to say about this book--it was a bit of a frustrating reading experience. There are some elements of cheesiness that I just couldn’t get past. While I felt for Joe, I was also super-frustrated by his inability to see what was happening right before his eyes.

All in all Lies has an interesting premise, but I could never fully buy into the characters or the events of the novel.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and St. Martin's Press in exchange for an honest review.

I don't know why I keep falling for the phrase gripping new psychological thriller. Rarely is it actually gripping. It's a sad day when my favorite character is the small child in the story. None of the characters were likeable which I suppose was part of the plot point since we don't know who to trust. The twist was actually surprising so I'll give the book credit for that but overall, snoozetown. The book built up and built up and became more and more predictable, then surprised me, then back to predictable town. I'd love a psych thriller that is actually gripping. This one missed the mark.