3.5 stars

Overall I enjoyed this. It was a bit slow in the middle, but I did NOT see the twist coming, and then I couldn't put it down. But it did seem like THE BIG REVEAL was sort of skimmed over ... we don't really get any sort of reaction out of Leslie when Mary reveals her true identity.

This is one you almost want to reread once you know all the secrets, so you can see all the clues you missed the first time. Overall a solid debut.

I had really high hopes for The Better Liar. It sounded intriguing and suspenseful and multiple twists are promised in the synopsis. Unfortunately, none of those things ended up being true for me. Instead of the psychological suspense I was expecting, this book read much more like a Women’s Fiction story, focusing on two sisters with a dysfunctional childhood who turned into two dysfunctional adults. It’s also supposed to shine a light on postpartum depression, but I don’t think that was done all that effectively, even with the condescending Author’s Note about it at the end of the book.

The story is told from three points of view: Leslie, Robin, and Mary. I liked the multiple perspectives, even if they all sounded basically the same. The premise definitely had promise, but I found myself pretty bored for most of the book. I disliked all of the characters and found a lot of their actions a little unrealistic. I kept waiting for the multiple twists and when they finally happened I thought they were kind lackluster. I expected a really explosive, twisted ending and was left pretty disappointed.

Overall, The Better Liar was just not for me. While it had promise, it failed to live up to it. I think if this had been packaged as Women’s Fiction rather than Mystery/Thriller, I could have adjusted my expectations and enjoyed it more. However, I have seen many more favorable reviews on this than mine, so it may still be worth picking up for some.

Overall Rating (out of 5): 2 Stars

Books about family dynamics always interest me so I was eager to pick this one up. The story deals with sisters, creating false identities, and the entertaining trope of the elusive inheritance.

I found the characters in the story to be well developed, albeit fairly unlikable. Leslie was always irritated, which started to irritate me. Mary was very unpredictable and mysterious. I enjoyed the dynamic between these 2 ladies as they worked together to achieve a common goal.

I found the twist to be slightly predictable but I still really enjoyed the ride. I would highly recommend this one!

I received this book from NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine to review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Available Now from Ballantine Books

If you love books with an unreliable narrator, dark family secrets, and unexpected twists-this book is for you. Tanen Jones has created a story with such an intricately designed plotline, that you never know who to trust from chapter to chapter. Told through the perspectives of our two sisters Robin and Leslie Voight, Robin from the grave and Leslie very much alive, a shared troubled childhood sets the sisters on very different paths.
After finding her estranged sister Robin has died of an overdose (not a spoiler, it's on the first page) Leslie is devastated. Not because her sister has died, but because her father's will stipulates the sisters must attend the lawyers office together in order to get their inheritance after his death. After searching the country for her sister, she finally tracks her down in Las Vegas only to find her dead of a drug overdose. Rattled from her discovery, Leslie is surprised to find a young woman sitting on her rental car and the two strike up an uneasy friendship. After a night of drinks, the two decide that Mary looks enough like Robin to pose as her at the lawyers office and the two will split the inheritance money.
As the two set off to Leslie's home, the gravity of their situation begins to take a toll on the two as they both become more and more suspicious of each other. Mary is highly suspicious of Leslie's need of the money when she has a great job, a hot husband, and a gorgeous home. Quickly becoming bored with her temporary imprisonment in Leslie's home, she sets out into town and finds herself playing the part of Robin very well; in fact, well enough to reignite her connection to an old flame.
As the end draws near, the relationship between the two women becomes more unstable and their dark secrets threaten to sabotage all their hard work.
Oh reader friends, this is a good one! It's fast paced and the different perspectives keep you guessing until the very last page. I was so intrigued by Leslie's need for the inheritance money and while I suspected some really dark stuff, I wasn't even close to what the true need was. Robin is a highly complicated character. Even though the two women grew up in the same house, they have very different memories of their past. It's this discrepancy that really adds to the complexity of the characters and the story.
I really enjoyed this one and just flew through it.
Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read and review this title. All opinions and mistakes are my own.

This was an amazing book! I loved it. I want to start off by thanking the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book. This was a very well written book by a new author for me. The book had a very good storyline with a twist at the end. I enjoyed reading this and didn’t wanna put it down. I highly recommend this book to anyone. I hope in the future to read more by this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine Books for an ARC of this book! Release date - January 14, 2020

I thought this was an incredibly well-done book. It probably wasn’t the best thriller I’ve ever read, but I clearly liked it because I read it all in one day. I was hooked and never wanted to put it down!

Despite being a mystery/thriller I think the idea of this book was actually very serious and realistic. Most thrillers are like, that would never happen in real life but you’re still along for the ride. But there was nothing that happened in this book that could not really happen. It was a very normal thriller, and I say that as a good thing. There was no polygamy (The Wives), serial killers infiltrating juries (Th1rt3en), drunken unreliable narrators (The Girl on the Train, or impossibly brilliant psychopaths (Gone Girl), just to name a few unrealistic ones I’ve enjoyed very much. But sometimes that’s not necessary. Sometimes real life is terrifying just as it is. This was a book just about women and messed up families and things that don’t go the way you expect them too. It was excellent.

If there’s one thing that brought my rating down from a 5 to a 4 it’s that there was one clue dropped a smidge too early that gave the twist away for me and I totally guessed it. But it was still a really clever twist and just because I guessed it that didn’t make it less enjoyable when it happened.

I think Tanen Jones has the potential to become the next big thriller writer. I can’t wait to see what she writes next.

This is such a wonderfully written debut novel from Tanen Jones! It's a sinister story fill of twists, turns and red herrings. It is a quick read for that will keep you guessing until the end.

Oh my lord what insanity did I just read in this heartless character in this book????!!!!!! Soooooo good and un-putdownable though!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Please don't be discouraged by that first sentence. This book was wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Had me hooked from the first page and the ending OMG I never predicted that one!!!!!!!!!!! Leslie has a sister she hasn't seen in 10+ yrs but she has to go teach her down because their father passed away and in order to receive the inheritance both daughters have to be present. When Leslie finds her estranged sister Robin she is too late. Robin is dead but Leslie meets this random girl after finding her dead sister who happens to look just like her deceased sister. Together they cook up a plan for this girl to pose as Robin to collect the money. So now this stranger comes to stay in Leslie's home w/her, her husband, and their baby. But she really knows nothing about this Stranger. Who is this woman posing as her sister?????!!!!!! What does she really want out of this arrangement?? You have to read it to find out!!! Thank you to Netgalley & Random House Publishing for my honest review!!!!!!

The Better Liar started out a little slow, but definitely was worth continuing. Leslie and "Mary" are characters that you can't figure out whether you like them or hate them.

The real treat to this novel is the bread crumbs the author leaves to make you do a palm to the forehead at the end, like, "how did I not see that coming?!?!?!"

After the first 50 pages, the book really redeems itself and pulls you in. You will literally question everything you read until the very end.

A perfect breakout novel for those of us who like to be entertained and sucked into a story. A definite must read. 4.5/5.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, Ballantine (Random House), for the eARC. All thoughts are my own.

If you like thrillers, I would recommend picking this one up! This was overall a great book with suspense and plot twists.

I received this book a while ago, but had not had the chance to read it. I started to see reviews and shares of The Better Liar on Instagram and instantly got excited to read it. Right away you are pulled into the mystery and storyline as you read from Leslie, Robin, and Mary’s point of views. As the reader, you have some idea of what is going on, and if you read enough thrillers, you will probably start guessing the secrets that the characters hide. What was great about this book though, was that even as you start to piece things together, new information continues to be added. Different twists within the story have you rethinking what you thought was going on within the plot. Keeps the reader on their toes.

There were some slow parts towards the middle/end, which did make it hard for me to continue reading. Once I got past that section though, the story picked up again and I continued to enjoy the story. I was then blown away by the ending, but did feel like I was missing something. I wish there had been a bit more to really dig deep into each character. The more I think about that though, the more I think that might have taken away from the mystery.

The Better Liar is all about deception. Unfortunately, I'm just not buying it.

I was intrigued by the premise for this one, and a rave review from another reader. It's definitely the sort of book you can fly through.

Leslie finds her sister, Robin, dead - and isn't all that broken up about losing her. No, she's upset because it puts her inheritance in jeopardy, and she needed that money yesterday. So she hatches a plot with Mary, a woman she met in a parking lot. Mary will pretend to be Robin, they'll get the money and split it down the middle, then never see each other again. Hm. What could possibly go wrong?

Maybe I'm just a great detective, but the twists seemed fairly predictable. I didn't care about either character enough just to hang on for the ride once I got the gist of what was going to play out - DNF at 28%.

I fully expect this to be a fun, twisty thriller for those who don't see the turns coming. And while I'm not quite sure how I feel about the ending, I'm grateful for the inclusion of the Author's Note. I'd be interested in trying out whatever Tanen Jones writes next!

Thank you to Ballantine Books and NetGalley for a free e-arc for review.

*ARC provided via #netgalley ⁣
⁣
I saw a review that read “this book puts the W in WTF!” and they took the words right out of my mouth. I was not expecting the dark and twisted ride this book took me on, but believe me when I say I enjoyed every twist and turn. I sincerely hope someone will develop this into a movie or TV show. ⁣
Leslie is in Las Vegas to see her sister Robin, who she hasn’t spoken to in 10 years. Their father has died, and Leslie needs Robin to return home based on the conditions of the will-Leslie will only receive her share once Robin is with her. But when Leslie arrives at Robin’s home, she instead finds Robin dead. For reasons that will become revealed later, Leslie meets a stranger who bears a resemblance to Robin and offers her Robin’s share if she can return with Leslie and pretend to be Robin until the will is signed. This is all I will share right now, because this book needs to be experienced on its own! ⁣
This is quite the debut novel for Miss Jones, and I do hope she has another novel in the works. Each character was well developed, and the differing chapters between characters never became confusing for me. The vivid descriptions of the landscapes in New Mexico left me feeling as if I was looking at a photograph. The final reveal caught me completely off guard and I went back to the beginning to re read certain chapters. I can’t wait to recommend this book to others! ⁣

The Better Liar by Tanen Jones had a great concept and the cover drew me in. When Leslie goes to hunt for her sister, she finds out Robin is dead. So, Leslie uses Mary as her substitute to inherit the funds from her dad's will. But not everything is as it seems, Told from Mary, Robin's and Leslie's POV. I would have liked to truly get to know Leslie to understand her motivation. The Better Liar had some twists and turns that had me feeling it was unrealistic and others that had me intrigued. But I didn't see that ending coming. Thank you, #Netgalley

Fantastic! As the story unfolded I couldn’t even begin to figure out how it would all come together in the end. Total page turner, every chapter kept me guessing as to what would come next!

Leslie and Robin Voigt are sisters who grew up together in a dysfunctional family in New Mexico.
Robin, the wild sister, runs away as a teenager. Leslie, the good sister, stays home. She marries and has a child of her own. She takes care of her dying father after her mother passes away.
When her father dies, she finds out that she only inherits her half of the money he left them if Robin is there too. They must be together to claim it.
She needs to track down the elusive Robin. The trail takes her to Los Vegas, where Robin is living under an alias.
She travels there and finds out Robin just died from an overdose.
Leslie is frantic, she has plans for the money and she has to have it.
When she meets up with Mary, a waitress at a local restaurant, she comes up with a desperate plan.
Mary looks a bit like Robin, she asks her to impersonate Robin and she'll get fifty thousand dollars if she's successful in fooling everyone.
No one will know that the real Robin is dead if she lets them bury her under her assumed name.
She talks Mary into it and they drive back to New Mexico.
But Leslie realizes that Mary is an enigma to her, with secrets of her own, and they might destroy everything.
This was a tortuous, brooding thriller, full of dark psychological twists. The suspense level kept me reading, I didn't want to stop.
And the ending was an amazing shocker!
Thank you to Random House Publishing Group-Ballentine for the e-ARC via NetGalley.

After being estranged from her sister, Robin, for years, Leslie travels to Las Vegas to find her in order to collect the money promised to them in their father’s will. She locates her sister’s apartment only to discover her dead body. Shortly after, she meets a young woman, Mary, who resembles her sister so much that Leslie convinces her to return home with her to impersonate Robin in turn for half of the inheritance. Mary agrees but soon finds out that Leslie is keeping secrets. Turns out that Mary has a few secrets of her own. If that sounds like a tangle of twists and turns, hang on – because it that is just the beginning. It all comes down to exactly which sister is “the better liar.”

As a first novel for author Tanen Jones, <I>The Better Liar</i> has a lot going for it. The pluses include a mainly solid, multi-layered plot in the psychological suspense category with some interesting side issues, numerous clever twists, and unreliable characters. On the other hand, it needed a bit more polish to really succeed for this reader. I found one of the main characters much more well developed than the other and neither were likeable. That would not be a problem except for the side issues – one of which I felt deserved more sympathetic representation. I found the pacing uneven with slow sections that almost lost my interest altogether as well as a couple of the twists that teetered on the brink of (un)believability.

Despite these concerns and a couple of stars, as a fan of this genre, I look forward to future titles from Tanen Jones.



FYI - I received a copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is really quite an amazing debut novel by Tanen Jones. It is dark and twisty and perfect for reading when you are huddled in your bed with a cold. My addled cold brain was messed up enough and then I get further into this book and my head was swimming.

Leslie is looking for her sister because she needs her to collect her father’s inheritance. When she goes looking for her, she finds her dead and ends up with a young actress named Mary, who will fill the bill nicely. You can already tell that this is not going to go any which way you think it is. I do have to say that part way through I had a big “What if” question mark and I am not going to give anything away but cold be damned! I loved how it was told in the voices of Mary, Leslie, and her sister Robin. It gave a depth to the backstory and made you understand just who they were.

I loved where this book took me and I look forward to wherever Tanen Jones takes me next book.

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House Ballantine for a copy of this book.

The Better Liar is the debut novel from Tanen Jones, who is quickly making a name for herself in the thriller genre. Based on her first book, I excitedly await the arrival of her sophomore story.

The Better Lair tells the story of Robin and Leslie Voigt, sisters set to inherent a nice chunk of change from their recently deceased father. Unfortunately, the two rarely speak. Leslie stayed in New Mexico to care for their ill father, and Robin ran away to Las Vegas, intent on escaping her former life. When Leslie discovers her father is quite specific about the inheritance--either they receive it together or not at all--Leslie begins to panic. Unbeknownst to her husband, Leslie desperately needs this money. The moment she arrives to Las Vegas to visit her sister, Leslie discovers Robin dead. Leslie believes all is lost, including the money, until she meets a charismatic young woman who bears an uncanny resemblance to Robin. The two make a reckless bargain: Mary will impersonate Robin for one week in exchange for Robin's share of the cash. It seems simple, but like any good thriller. Nothing is at it seems. Both Leslie and Mary are hiding secrets, and Robin's troubled life threatens to eclipse them both.

The synopsis declares this one "an eclectic twisted portrait of sisterhood and the ties that bind," and honestly, I could not describe it any better. The Better Liar truly is a fantastic debut with enough twists to keep this story unputdownable. I really enjoyed the way the story is told, with alternating POVs. Thankfully, the writing is clear, and it was not difficult to keep the storylines straight. Everything leads the reader to an explosive ending. I highly recommend this one!

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley. This is my honest, unbiased opinion.

Where do I begin?

Let's first start with that this is a debut novel and I am hoping that there will be many more books by this author!!

Next, the title!! If you are like me and try to figure out the mystery, the reader has to start there. I knew I had to pay very close attention to the clues and the possible red herrings. Are you asking how I did? I'll let you know!

Now the story!!! As the synopsis states, Leslie Voight Flores hasn't seen her sister, Robin, in 10 years, when Robin ran away. However, she must try to track her down since their father's will states that they will both receive $50,000. upon his death but that they have to receive it together. But is she too late? Now, what does she do? She needs that money!!!!

The narrative alternates between 3 characters (being vague as to not wanting to give away even a tidbit of this riveting story). For me, that meant the type of read that was "just one more chapter" to see which character will be "speaking" next and what that certain character might say.

This was definitely a page-turner, one that was very difficult to put down. Thrilling throughout and totally engrossing. However, I didn't figure it out!!! Matter of fact, this debut novel left me with a "book hangover" going over the storyline in my mind as to what clues did I miss.

Ms. Jones is now on my radar!!! Kudos to her for such a dynamic introduction to her writing abilities!

Posted to GR on 01/11/20
Post to blog: 01/14/20

When her father dies, he leaves a wish in his will that Leslie Flores hasn’t expected: she will only inherit the money if her sister Robin also signs the papers. So she sets out for Las Vegas where Robin is supposed to live. They haven’t talked for a decade and Leslie is all but looking forward to do so now. But when she finally arrives at her sister’s apartment, she finds her dead and apparently, Robin has lived there under a false name. When Leslie makes the acquaintance of young charismatic Mary who dreams of a career as an actress, an idea forms in her head: why not take the woman with her back to Albuquerque and have her play Robin’s role for a couple of days? Nobody has seen her sister for ten years and Mary has some clear resemblance to Robin, so why should anybody become suspicious? It’s is a win-win situation, Mary could take her share of the money and make her start in Hollywood and Leslie would get her part of her father’s inheritance. Mary agrees but soon she realises that the respectable wife and mother also has some secrets she hides.

Tanen Jones’s “The Better Liar” is a highly surprising psychological novel with many unexpected twists and turns. The two protagonists develop from average women into enemies who fight their war on a very high emotional and psychological level. The story is told alternately from their different points of you, thus the reader is always aware of their respective plots and ahead of each character – at least you believe you are, but at certain point you also have to recognise that there are some highly relevant pieces of information they did not reveal to you and this makes things appear in a totally different light.

The novel starts at a rather slow pace with Leslie looking out for her sister and then finding her dead and seeing her father’s money in jeopardy. You wonder why she would take a stranger to her house, especially a house with a very young kid - this seems to be too dangerous, just for the money? Why does she need it, seemingly, she and her husband lead quite a good life. This and the question if she really succeeds with presenting a stranger as her sister seem to be the mystery of the novel, yet, with Mary’s arrival in Albuquerque, the real story slowly unfolds and the plot takes up pace and becomes much more dynamic and gripping.

Tanen Jones wonderfully leads the reader into wrong directions over and over again which I liked a lot. I totally adored how the two women play with each other and was eagerly awaiting the end to see who would finally win their very special game. Yet, some twists lacked a bit plausibility, but from a psychological point of view, a great read.