Member Reviews
This mystery started off a little slow, but by halfway in I was hooked. I loved how the author ended so many chapters with a cliff hanger, really made me need to keep reading! The final twist surprised me too. Just when I thought I had it all figured out. An exciting vacation read!
"Lies" was a definite page-turner. It held my interest from beginning to end, and it had plenty of twists that I certainly didn't see coming. Joe is a very likable character, perhaps a bit naive. His life as he knows it is about to change when he accidentally spots his wife in a motel when she is supposed to be elsewhere. What follows is a series of lies, and Joe's life starts to unravel.
This was a fun read, but certainly required some suspension of disbelief. There were some aspects of the story and the conclusion that I just didn't find believable at all. However, I found it impossible to put down and I will look for other books by this author.
This book had so much promise. As a lover of Behind Closed Doors (BA Paris) and Gone Girl (Gillian Flynn), the blurb of LIES was sufficient enough to have me requesting copy from the publisher. With a rare day off, the kids both at school and my husband at work, I seized my opportunity to dive in, and while the first third of the book excited me, the story twisted and turned so much that it kind of forgot where it was going.
In terms of characterisation, I found Joe to be terribly annoying. I'm not one of those readers who needs the male protagonist to be an Alpha, but I do like my heroes to have some kind of backbone, and Joe was distinctly lacking -- and if I have to read about someone who lives in their head this much again, I think (!) I might explode! His wife Mel was no better. Her lies were so transparent that the story lacked the build up required from a true psychological thriller.
If I'd read LIES before books like the above (or another of my favourites Let Me Lie by Claire Macintosh) then I might not have expected as much from it as I did. As for the twist at the end, I found it to be inconceivable -- even for a fiction novel.
There were times the story was fast paced and then there were times it seemed to drag on a little. All in all, it was a good book. The book is mostly about Joe Lynch and his family. His wife is named Mel and they have a son, William. Joe is a very easy going English teacher. He doesn't seem to let anything bother him. It begins when Joe is driving William home after picking him up from school. As they sit in traffic, his son happens to see his wife, Mel's car. Joe decides they will stop and surprise her. When they see Mel, Joe sees that she is talking to her friend's husband, Ben. It seems to be a very heated conversation and before Joe can speak to her, she leaves very angry. Joe is still in the parking garage when he sees Ben come out. He decides to talk to Ben about what he saw. When he approaches Ben, Ben gets aggressive and the altercation ends when Ben falls and hits his head. At that exact moment, Joe realizes William is having a severe asthma attack. He realizes there aren't any inhalers in the car so he races home to find one. He later returns to the garage and Ben is gone. That is where things go down hill for Joe. Even though Joe begins to receive text messages from Ben, Ben's wife, Beth shows up saying he's missing. After Beth leaves, Mel admits to Joe that she slept with Ben. The longer Ben is missing, the more the police get involved and look at Joe as a suspect. Joe finds out that Mel lied about what happened with Ben and he still stays with her. I thought I knew how it would end, but I was totally wrong! It was a great thriller and the ending is great.
**I received this book in exchange for my honest review**
Joe is driving his son, William, home when he sees his wife, Mel, pull into a hotel. He follows her in there and sees her in a meeting with Ben, the husband of Mel's best friend from college. It appears they are talking angrily to each other. He follows Ben out to the parking garage where they get into an altercation. Joe pushes Ben who falls, hits his head and appears to be unconscious. William sees the altercation and starts to have an asthma attack. Joe drives William home to get his inhaler. When Joe returns to the hotel to check on Ben's status, Ben and his car are gone. That is the start of a week of Joe getting harassment from Ben, hearing his wife admit to having an affair with Ben and being pursued by the police because Ben is now missing and someone is setting Joe up to look like he murdered Ben.
I enjoyed the story. It was fast paced, and it held my interest. I gave it only four stars instead of five because I felt like Joe's character would have been smart enough (he was a teacher after all) to consider more explanations for what was happening.
WOW. The entire time I was reading this, I knew there would be twists and turns, but I was not prepared for the craziness - in the best possible way!
The only thing I found slightly annoying and unrealistic was how quickly and readily Joe and Beth were to forgive their cheating spouses and just have their families back. Joe in particular, I think, would've been angrier and less ready to simply forgive - he may have in the long run as of course people do stay together, but it doesn't happen as smoothly as it was depicted.
That being said, this was still one of the most interesting stories and one of the best of the summer!
Brilliant thriller - kept me gripped the whole way through and stayed up too late wanting to finish. I believe this is the first from this author and will look out for future books.
Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press
A psychological thriller is not my usual choice, but all the 5* reviews had me curious. And what an amazing ride it turned out to be!
It all starts with father Joe and his small son William following mother Melissa's car. From there ordinary life takes a turn for the worse and will never be the same again. Modern day electronic devices and social media take over. Their vulnerabilities a great source to start messing with other peoples lives. The walls are moving in, the creepfactor rises, intrusion of privacy reaches a high. I'm on the edge of my seat, turning page after page. And with one unexpected twist it's all over. I'm out of breath, finished it in one sitting.
Great read, 5 stars well deserved.
"There was a stranger in my house and I was married to her."
Lies is a compelling cat and mouse thriller that grabbed me from chapter one. Although the premise is pretty implausible, the story is still a fun ride that kept me guessing until the very end. When the truth was finally revealed, I was disappointed. The ending is very contrived and, honestly, pretty ridiculous.
I was provided an ARC of this book by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
A fast paced thriller that I couldn't put down. . Lies by T M Logan was full of twists & turns that kept me guessing until the end!
This book kept me on the edge the entire time i was reading. Great plot and very well written. I was highly impressed with the flow of events and the turn of events that I did not expect!
Thank you to Net Galley for the ARC. I enjoyed this book. I will have to say I was not as surprised by the twists and turns as others seemed to have been. I didn't have it 100%, but I was very close in the end. This still did not prevent me from enjoying the ride of this book and the driving suspense of what was going to happen next. This was a very intricately plotted book, very fast pace and a definite must read. Very satisfying from beginning to end!
Thank you to St. Martin's Press, NetGalley, and the author for a copy of this in exchange for an honest review.
This was a pretty good book; I enjoyed the plot and the twist at the end. I would recommend anyone that likes a good thriller.
<i>Lies</i> by T.M. Logan does an excellent job of building suspension and tension, making it an engaging page turner. It's basic premise "What if your whole life was based on lies?" weaves through every confrontation which Joe Lynch, the protagonist and narrator, experiences right through to the last 30 or so pages, when all is made clear. That final dramatic scene was a shocker, too much so in fact, as the true nature of the "crime" was pretty much out of left field. Overall, this is an exciting thriller which will keep your interest.
Recommended for fans of psychological mysteries/thrillers by authors such as Tana French, Gillian Flynn, or David Baldacci.
This was a great book! While I felt that the first 1/4 of the book was a tad bit slow, it picked up in a hurry and I couldn't put it down. I absolutely did not expect the ending and I had to pick my jaw up off the floor. This was a well thought out thriller full of twists and turns and I'd recommend it to any fan who loves a good twist.
Lies by T.M. Logan what a knock out debut novel that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Every time you think you’ve figured it out, it twists again. This is a fast-paced psycho-thriller that is most definitely a page-turner that you won’t be able to put down & you won’t be disappointed. Thank you to Netgalley for an advance copy of Lies in exchange for an honest review. I look forward to seeing what T.M. Logan brings to the table next.
I often wonder what would have happened if I hadn't seen her car that day.
This begins a week long game of cat and mouse between Joe Lynch and Ben Delaney after a confrontation in a parking garage. Ben goes missing and uses computer and cell phone technology to get his revenge on Joe, while leaving clues for the police to frame Joe for the crime.
While Joe works to prove his innocence, his wife Melanie's lies keep piling up. Will he ever find out the truth before the police catch up to him?
This was a great thriller with a plot that kept me guessing. It's scary how all the social media information and hacker technology got used against him. I look forward to reading this author's next book.
Physiological thrillers are on the rised. This book can't stand to compare to others in the market such as J.P Delaney or B.A Paris. The characters are not fully developed. The story line was weak at best. The author wrote one of the character way too weak to where it was obvious who she really was. I wanted to like this book, but 30% into the book I was already bored. However, I got through the book.
*I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*
Here it goes...
Lies is about two men. One missing and presumed dead, the other is suspected of his murder. The two men are linked by their wives - best friends from school who have recently been reunited.
There was a nice speed to the novel, and it flowed nicely. However, it just wasn't my cup of tea. I like a good mystery, but again this one didn't "hit the spot" so to say. I'm thinking I expected more from Lies based on the blurb, but my expectations weren't met. Throughout the novel I found myself rolling my eyes, wondering if anyone human could be as dense as MC Joe, and mumbling "why" A LOT. Joe came off as a wimp and pretty pathetic, while Mel made an unconvincing penitent wife. Beth's character seemed "off" from the start and the detectives were very forceful. At around 20% I wanted to throw in the towel, but powered through to find out what happened with the MC. The reveal was no surprise as it tends to become pretty obvious quickly. I will admit Lies did become a bit of a page turner around 2/3ish when things started to unravel. There were a few times throughout when name changes gave me pause - Mel is sometimes referred to as Melissa/Melanie. The ending also leaves a bit to be desired. All-in-all this just wasn't for me.
When I see the word "unputdownable" in a publisher blurb, the reality rarely lives up to the hype. While this is no great piece of literature, it is undeniably FUN, and yes, unputdownable. I could not wait to come back to this story the few times I was forced to put it down. It starts with Joe and his four year old on the highway, where they randomly see his wife. They decide to follow her to surprise her, but when she heads to a hotel, and Joe sees her fighting at the bar with the husband of her good friend, Joe knows something is up. An unfortunate encounter in the parking garage forces Joe to make a difficult decision, and the stress you'll feel for Joe for the rest of the book will almost eat you alive. This would be a great vacation or beach read, and I can't wait to seek out anything else by this author.