Member Reviews
What if your whole life was built upon Lies? When Joe Lynch follows his child's desire to follow his wife's car to an underground parking lot at a hotel, his life becomes upended. He sees his wife fighting with a male acquaintance , he confronts him in the parking lot while simultaneously his child has an asthma attack with no inhaler , and leaves the scene to get his medication. The scene is thus orchestrated for his downfall, one lie at a time. The novel snakes back and forth with twists and turns as if peeling back the layers of an onion, one lie at a time. Finally, the ultimate lie is exposed, dramatic and unexpected, to the conclusion of the novel. The ending felt a bit abrupt to me which is why I only rate it as 3.5 stars, but this one mystery that goes down like an ice cream on a hot day..
A chance moment changes his life forever.
Joe Lynch is driving with his four-year-old son when they spot his wife’s car driving into a hotel parking garage. They follow, and Joe’s seemingly happy family life starts to unravel.
I found Joe to be a likeable, sympathetic character, and his feelings of anger and betrayal felt real. While some of his actions seemed naive, they were completely within character for this man whose life until then had been fairly uncomplicated. Not only did he have to deal with personal betrayals, the police were convinced he was guilty of a heinous crime of which he was innocent. No doubt most readers would have been as unequipped to deal with these as he.
That, I believe, was the appeal of this story. The protagonist wasn’t a superspy, adept with the latest technology and able to suss out lies as they’re spoken. He’s a pretty average nice guy whose life is turned upside down and he has to scramble to cope. I was drawn into the story because his character was so relatable and I wanted him to survive and outwit his obviously more devious nemesis.
Does he? You’ll need to read it yourself to find out.
I found the main character likeable and I felt sympathetic towards him, which is the glue that holds a book like this together. Though I also enjoyed the author’s easy writing style, I skipped most descriptional or procedural paragraphs, as I was constantly rushing through to grasp hold of something thrilling— for which there is not much. I also noted how long it took for the plot to reach an interesting point, where I felt somewhat invested— Chapter 21, a fourth of the way into the book, to be exact. After that, the meager thrills and final reveal did not pay off, causing this book to be a disappointment, despite its satisfying good-guy-wins conclusion.
I really wanted to like this book more than I did because I usually enjoy a twisty suspenseful story. In the end this was an engaging story and did have a nice twist or two. But my goodness it was hard to get behind the clueless protagonist! You sort of expected him to go back down just because he was trusting people who had already shown him they couldn’t be trusted. How many times does a person need to lie to have to be considered a liar? That said, it is a quick read and did keep me interested, so worthy of 3 stars. (Maybe 3.5....)
Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for an unbiased review.
Sadly this novel didn't keep my attention, I wish I would have liked it better. Don't think I would recommend this book . UPDATE I TRIED READING IT AGAIN I ACTUALLY ENDED UP LIKING THIS BOOK.
I was hooked from the first sentence, at least for the first half of the book. Then I kind of lost interest. I was so excited to read this book! The reviews were great! I feel let down. I hated Melanie, the wife, of the main character Joe. I was pulling for Joe for the first half the book. He seemed like a genuinely good guy who ended up in mess. As the book progressed I found myself feel like saying "Seriously? Gimme a break" It just felt like T.M. Morgan threw absolutely everything at this character. By the end of the book I really didn't care about Joe anymore, I was just over it. There was a twist at the end but it wasn't enough to bring me back. This was a quick and easy vacation read, and those who are not as cynical as I am will probably enjoy this book a lot. I'm giving it a generous 3 stars only because I can't give 2.5.. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
Even though the writing was good and captivating enough, I found it impossible to relate to any of the characters in this book.
The main actor, English teacher Joe Lynch, is just very naive, dull, uninteresting, unimaginative, with the intelligence of a canary. Inevitably he makes stupid decision after stupid decision.
The five years old child has the eloquence and the wisdom of a sage and at times falls back into toddler mode.
The wife, Mel, is extremely deceiving and conniving, and has been for years.
The premise of ‘Lies’ was enticing, as Joe and his son, unexpectedly catch Mel, where she wasn't expected at a time when she shouldn’t have been there. And then everyone starts to lie…
Joe in his right mind decides to become his own detective in a disappearance/murder investigation, reinforcing himself as the sole culprit. All, but for Joe and the police, are well versed in technology, stealing each others Facebook account, tracking others cell phones and invading email accounts … the plot feels extremely implausible, borderline ridiculous.
The big climax of the book is just ludicrous.
The only deeming quality of that book is that it's a quick read.
Thank you to St. Martin's Press and T.M. Logan for the chance to read LIES in exchange for this honest review.
Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for making digital ARCS of this book available. The pacing of this novel is Fantastic! The twists just kept coming and blew me away in the end. I will definitely be recommending this novel to anyone who enjoys thrillers and suspense.
Honestly, I started reading this book on my iPad by accident as I planned on reading another ARC first. One chapter in I realized it wasn’t the book I was expecting but I was, in a very short amount of time, invested.
Joe stumbles across his wife while driving his young son home from school, who pleads that they stop to say hello. This coincidental meeting snowballs into an unimaginable amount of lies and drama. You’ll find yourself incredibly frustrated (for Joe) and incredibly confused (about Ben). The only way to get answers is to keep reading.
You won’t be able to put this book down. I’ve found a new author to look out for and will be following T.M. Logan’s career.
A chilling thriller with a final twist that I did not see coming. The story moved at a gripping pace and revealed little clues along the way that all came together in the final moments. Believable characters made it an agonizing read as circumstances spiraled out of control and left me breathless.
Wonderfully twisted ended. Will be enthusiastically suggesting this title to patrons looking for a refreshingly new thriller.
Lies by TM Logan is a fast paced psychological thriller that had me hooked from the first page. Logan didn't waste any time jumping right into the action and grabbing my attention with the deception and mystery surrounding Ben, Mel, and Joe. I flew through this book in one afternoon, needing to know how things would end. The plot kept me jumping from theory to theory with each new detail that was revealed. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that I was only partially right in the end. I think fans of The Wife Between Us or The Marriage Pact will devour this new thriller.
I voluntarily received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
What a twisty story. Every time I thought I had it figured out, I was thwarted by another twist. The main character just couldn’t seem to catch a break. The writing kept the tension high throughout. I loved it. One of my favorite books of the year.
This was an immensely satisfying book for me. The lies are everywhere, and I believed most of them. When all was revealed i was completely blindsided!
This book had a great premise and I couldn’t resist snatching this one up on NetGalley. A husband witnessing his wife go into a hotel to meet a mutual friend of theirs and it leads to a disappearance? I mean, how more scandalous can it get?
There were a few things that I did enjoy about this novel. It was very fast paced which I LOVE! When I’m reading a thriller, I want it to leave my heart pounding and not going at a turtle’s pace. This book accomplished that feat! It was hard to put down and despite it being just under 400 pages it reads very quickly and before you know it you’ve blown through half the book!
So...why my 2 star rating?
Well, the writing had a bit of an amateur feel to it. There are a lot of emotional scenes occurring throughout the book, but the writing left a lot to be desired. There wasn’t much of a buildup to the climax because there were small minor quick resolutions that would impede that progress. There was an emotional disconnect with the characters where I really didn’t care for them all that much or what happened to them.
The main character was probably the most frustrating of them all. He is such a moron. I don’t think I have ever read about a character who couldn’t find his way out of a paper bag. For instance, someone confronts his wife of cheating with that woman’s husband and she even shows him proof in the form of texts and over 100 nude photos from his wife and still - STILL - he says that there has to be a rational explanation and asks his wife if it’s true. I mean, big fat DUH!
He was such an infuriating character who missed so many warning flags and things that anyone with a half a brain would’ve noticed that it was nearly impossible to root for him. He was easy to manipulate and easy to fool so most of the time I was shouting at him through my kindle.
I was still hoping that the ending would redeem itself and there’d be some shocking twist, but unfortunately it ended up being pretty predictable.
Special thanks to the author and publisher for approving my request to read this book through NetGalley.
Thanks to Netgalley for an advanced copy! This book won’t come out until September. I’m sorry all of you have to wait!
This book was fast pace from the beginning. Kept me reading through till the end!
Lots of twists and what the heck’s! I did question a few things when they were investigating.
I never put two and two together. Ending has you saying no way!
Great read, I’d recommend!
I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley. It was a very good mystery about lies that are told between married couples, friends and acquaintances. You are really not sure who the villain is until the very end. There are many twists and turns along the way. A man disappears and his friend is charged with his murder even though there is no body. The police are too eager to blame an innocent man for the murder.
Joe Lynch has it all. A wife he is crazy about, a young son, and a job he enjoys. The perfect life. However, that all changes when he sees his wife's car drive into a hotel parking garage on a random Thursday. From that moment on life as he knew changes forever.
Joe was a very likable character. However, his constant need for the truth and trying to figure out what happened all on his own, made me what to hit him over the head with something. I completely understand trying to prove you are innocent, but the more he did the more guilty he looked.
I have to say this book kept me guessing until the very end. I did not know how it was all going to work out. I was pretty sure that it was going to be an ending that made me cringe.
This was the first book I have read by T.M. Logan, but it won't be the last. The story kept me interested until the very end and kept me on my toes.
I received an ARC from NetGalley and St. Martin's Press. Thank you so much for this advance copy!!
was interested in the book cover as soon as my eyes fell on it, What if your whole life was based on lies? That’s the question! And I love thinking about it. What would you do?
Im eager to dive into Lies by T.M. Logan.
Here’s the plot:
Six days ago, Joe Lynch was a happily married man, a devoted father, and a respected teacher living in a well-to-do London suburb. But that was before he spotted his wife’s car entering a hotel parking garage. Before he saw her in a heated argument with her best friend’s husband. Before Joe confronted the other man in an altercation where he left him for dead, bleeding and unconscious.
Now, Joe’s life is unraveling. His wife has lied to him. Her deception has put their entire family in jeopardy. The man she met at the hotel has vanished. And as the police investigate his disappearance, suspicion falls on Joe.
Unable to trust the woman he loves, Joe finds himself at the mercy of her revelations and deceits, unsure of who or what to believe. All he knows is that her actions have brought someone dangerous into their lives—someone obsessed with her and determined to tear Joe’s world apart.
What if your whole life was based on LIES?
There is nothing better than a domestic thriller with lots of untruths, twists, turns, people you can’t trust. This book is getting GLOWING reviews. I guess I won’t getting much sleep!
Lies by T.M. Logan grabbed hold of me so that I could hardly put the book down. On an ordinary Thursday afternoon Joe is driving his 4 year old son home when his son spits his mommy’s car. Joe follows her so they can say hello but this leads to a string of events that will change his life forever. I had some inkling of what the real story was, but did not see the twist in the end coming. I really enjoyed the excitement of this book and would love to read another book by this author.