An evocative family drama!
The author writes stand alone brilliant psychological thrillers so was interested to read this and see if a change in direction would alter the writing or indeed the poignancy of this book
It didn’t!
This book ( and I am finding this review difficult as don’t want to give too much away ) is a derailed almost forensic account of, in basic terms, what domestic abuse can do to a family, not only the victim but the extended family and indeed the perpetrator and how one persons actions can cause repercussions for a long long time
The book spans 30 years and we meet the family wife Carol, husband Ted, daughter Nicola and son Graham and we go back and forth from the past to the present and see just how life changing events affected them all, the situations are at times dire and dark and the writing put me there experiencing the terrible things this family endured, all told in the authors own, genuinely brilliant, style of writing
All the characters are fascinating even when mundane and all are ‘imaginable’ instantly, there is the authors occasional dark humour that was welcome and 2 endings that made me have a feeling between sadness and grim understanding
Its a well researched, well thought out book that made me think and can only highly recommend it
10/10
5 Stars

Carol lived with her abusive husband, and their children Nicola and Graham, and life was hell. Her husband was a drink and a bully and used her as a punchbag. You put up with so much for your children until a line is crossed, where you realise that if you were killed, your children would only have the scumbag bully ok n their lives - and then you run. This sets off a chain of events to change everyone's life.

The important focus in the family is that the youngest, Nicola, must pass her exams, get into University, and make a better life for herself.

Mother and son enter several pacts to make sure that Nicola is safe and can become the person they want her to be.

The other 'voice' in the story is Richard, a prison chaplain, who sees something in Graham and is determined to make him a better man.

A brilliant, twisty story, of family abuse, lies, and even murder. How far would you go to protect your family?

This author has taken a step outside of her comfort zone after writing several brilliant psychological thrillers.
This book is set against a background of domestic violence but it's so much more than that. It's about Graham, Nicky and their Mother Carol, who sacrifices her own chance at happiness to bring them up in a secure, safe and happy home.
There's so much background to this story and the author does a brilliant job of pulling it all together. I enjoyed the build up of the story from 30 years ago up to present day and with this comes a shocking revelation from Graham.
There's more than one twist to this story and it finished nice and neatly for me with all the ends nicely tied up.

I liked this book- it centers primarily on Carol, a survivor of domestic abuse, and her kids, Graham and Nicola, and spans back and forth between timeframes. It wasn't the type of psychological thriller that I generally read, but it was an engaging and emotional read and I felt connected to most of the characters.

There were SO MANY characters in the book that between that and the time jumps, I did sometimes have to slow myself down and remind myself who was who and how they all fit together, and how old everyone was in the chapter I was reading. That being said, it all came together the more I got into it and I could empathize with most of the characters, despite how many there were.

I liked the ending and thought it tied things together nicely- it's always satisfying when I book end with loose ends being tied up, and Lynes did a good job of that.

All in all, outside of my normal genre, so don't expect a psychological thriller, but if you want to read a good domestic suspense book, I would recommend it. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Lies We Hide...S.E. Lynes.....Carol has been mentally and physically abused by her husband Ted for years....one night she leaves with her two children Graham and Nicola after Ted nearly drowns her in the bathtub..... told in 3 different POV... Carol....her bravery to protect her children... Richard....a clergyman helping Graham while in prison....and Nicola told in the present and finding out the shocking truth 30 years later.

This book pulls at your heart. Grabs you from the very first page and doesn’t let go until the very last! I found myself not really enjoying Graham’s version of events told through Richard ....but it didn’t take anything away from me loving this book! I wish it would have been just Graham talking.....I felt such empathy for this family and the author built these characters very well. This is my first book from this author and I am now a fan for life....I will be getting her other books! Thank you so much to the Publisher and NetGalley for my advanced copy and many thanks to the author for writing this very emotional story!

When Susie Lynes told me her next book was going to be something a little bit different from her past psychological thrillers, I was intrigued but I knew that it was something that I definitely wanted to read. And I can confirm that she did not disappoint in any way at all. In fact, I’d say this is probably Susie’s best piece of work to date. She honestly just gets better and better with each book.
The Lies We Hide is a dark and brutal tale of domestic abuse and the ripple effects that follow Carol and her family as she plucks up the courage to leave her husband. It will push you into the abyss but it is also a story of hope, of courage and humanity. It is a story that will touch you like no other.
The blurb tells you what you need to know about the plot line so what can I add to this? I feel I can’t do justice to this book with a review but I will try my very best.
I can tell you as I always do, this woman has magic flowing from her fingertips, she takes the thoughts in her mind and turns them into something absolutely magical. There’s emotion, passion and depth. Every single word earns its place on that page and she evokes such strong feelings in me as a reader, it can be totally overwhelming at times. But in a good way!
It switches effortlessly between past and present and draws out all the emotions. I felt as though I was each of the characters as I read. Stepping inside their heads was painful; my heart ached for each of them all the way through the book.
It’s emotive; death, grief, guilt, domestic abuse, relationships and sacrifice of are all laid out in their full ugly and raw glory for the reader to explore. But it’s so much more than an exploration of themes; reading this book is an immersive experience. I deliberately read slowly, I wanted to savour every single page, every word. I was bereft when it came to the end.
Susie Lynes may have actually broken me with this one. Her writing always connects with me on such a personal level, I feel as though she is writing for me…yep I know that sounds super creepy but it’s not meant to be, it is just my very inadequate way of trying to demonstrate just how powerful her writing is.
It provoked some very deep thoughts, it made me weep and each character’s story and life is a part of me now. I hope this book teaches people not to judge what they don’t know or haven’t experienced; to look behind the situation and to listen and to hear. I hope people read this book and love it like I do. Reading this book was not “just reading” it was an experience…an experience I will never forget.
There are not enough stars in the world to describe my love for this book! A million stars and more from me!

This review will be on my blog as part of the blog tour.

I don't have the words to say how much I loved this story. I know it's not a thriller but it felt like it to me, and more. I got the same nervous feelings, the butterflies in my tummy I would if I was reading a thriller. I connected with the characters from the very beginning, they felt real!

The story is based on domestic abuse but it's got so much more - grief, fear, friendship, kindness and most of all love and family.

I don't want to go into too much of the story in fear of giving away spoilers but want to say this story will have you wondering what's going to happen to everyone until the very end with lots of omg moments, I didn't see that coming, throughout the book. Amazing and very clever writing.

This book genuinely gave me shivers. It's a story that will stay with me for a while, the truth of it so familiar to me. I could use a thousand adjectives to describe it - gripping, heartwrenching, consuming - but none would do it justice. It is the perfectly imperfect story of family, and of survival.

What a fantastic book! I have enjoyed all of this author's work and this book certainly doesn't disappoint.
It is the story of Carol who escapes from an abusive marriage with her two children. We follow Carol and her family through the years discovering the impact that the violence and subsequent escape to a women's refuge has had on them. It was so realistically written and absolutely heartbreaking at times. The path that Carol's children choose to follow, and the choices they make was so portrayed so well. Just a wonderful, authentic story I loved it.

This is a fantastic powerful story written with elegance and compassion.

The book deals with serious and tough topics including, domestic violence, drug addiction, and alcoholism.
But at its core, it's the story of the power of love, healing, and the unbreakable ties that hold families together trough thick and thin.

The writing is amazing and as a reader I identified with the characters and their journey through life, because S.E. Lynes weaved a brilliant narrative with real life issues and relatable inspiring characters. Highly recommended.

Thanks Netgalley, Bookouture, and S.E. Lynes for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Really excellent novel, encompassing multiple timelines and narrators about the stories we tell ourselves and the ones we tell other people. It covered a range of triggering topics from domestic violence, to drug abuse and alcoholism, as well as the things we're willing to do for the people we love. Their mother escaping an abusive relationship would have far reaching impact on Graham and Nicola, both as children and adults, one person paying the ultimate price for a tale told in innocence to hang on to the feeling of having her brother care about her again. Decades later, all these secrets will come to the surface, but the resilience they've gained throughout this book is in full view. Great read!

When a book describes itself as “absolutely gripping” I’m usually a little bit disappointed. Not so this time - this really was powerful, breathtaking and absolutely fantastically written.

One that will stay with me a long time.

Special thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a free, electronic ARC of the novel in exchange for an honest review.

Publication date: December 4, 2019

This was an extremely emotional, heart wrenching, page turner for me. Having been a victim of domestic violence myself in the past, I was caught up in the emotional turmoil Carol was finding herself in as a battered wife. The author does a fantastic job describing Carol’s emotions as she comes to the realization that her husband could kill her at any time and that she must protect her children from his wrath. She cannot fathom the possibility of them being raised in this house of horror she felt she couldn’t escape from until she almost dies from her husband, Ted’s, blind rage. The description and emotion that is felt when Carol finally decides to leave is scary, tension-filled, and breathless.

However, you see the war she has within herself. Grappling with herself on rationalizing that she could go back. Caught in between being paralyzed in fear that he would find her and drag her back home and thinking he has learned his lesson after being gone, she waffles back and forth between going back or staying gone. After facing Ted again and seeing him fly into a rage, as his hands are around her neck, she decides ‘no more.’

Sidenote: I felt sick to my stomach when I thought she was going back to Ted. She thought she could reason with him. Carol found out the hard way that abusers don’t change. Ted screamed at her, “I’ll kill you Carol. I’ll find you and fucking kill you.”

When Carol is trying to justify going back to Ted, I was panicking, as if I was reading about a real family. I did not want her to go back to that fool. She was living in a nightmare! “…his anger will write itself on her body later, invisible ink that reveals its black message by degrees.”

Carol is only trying to protect her kids, Graham and Nicola. You see their lives unfold as Carol starts her life over after Ted. Carol, trying to keep a handle on everything, you watch her try and keep her family together as best as she can. She does not want her son Graham going down the same path as his dad, but she is unsure of how to reach him before it’s too late.

There are a host of supportive friends that surround Carol and her family. Pauline, Carol’s ride or die friend, with her husband Tommy, is like a godsend to Carol. Many abused women are not able to get out because they don’t have a strong support system. Carol was able to find her way because of Pauline and Tommy. They protected her and helped her get on her feet until she was ready. Carol also met Jim. Carol was skittish and nervous around Jim. She didn’t know if she could trust him wholeheartedly without him turning on her, and bringing her back into a life she just escaped.

You also watch Graham become an adult in the wake of his father’s evil, vindictive, and physically violent behavior towards his mother. You see little Nicola grow up, somewhat unawares in a sense as to what’s really going on in the household, but also struggling to keep her brother close. You watch Carol get her life back in order after leaving her violent husband, and try to reestablish her life and place in the world, slowly coming back into her own self-worth.

The story is told from many different view points, and it was interesting to see how many angles and twists this story took. It was immensely triggering for me, as I’ve had some previous experience with domestic violence. This book is vivid and descriptive in the ways of physical violence towards Carol, so if you are triggered by this type of violence, I would caution you to take your time to read this because it could make you re-live your own experiences.

I wavered in between a 4 and a 5 rating with this book. What made the difference for me was the fact that I felt something was missing in the chapters of Richard. Richard had several chapters discussing an angle of Graham, but we don’t really know Richard's backstory or see why it was important for the author to include an angle into Graham’s life through this character’s viewpoint. Also there is a time jump in this book that skips some important developments between Jim and Carol that I would have liked to see. Overall this book is a solid 4.5!

I really enjoyed this book.. Susie Lynes starts every book with a normal situation which could be you or someone you know going through it. From there her storytelling comes to life. You are suddenly sucked into a situation you would never want to be in but feeling every heartbeat of the characters. In this story you feel every thump of the husband, every bruise of the wife, every fear of the son who cannot help his mum and every tear of the frightened little girl? The story then takes us through their lives to death, prison and adulthood and how we think they have got there, the love that shines through each and every character and the very reason that we think that love comes from them. The story concludes so that you will question every word you have read, did you miss clues, but essentially shows you what the love of a family is. Amazing book, her best yet!!!!!

I have read and enjoyed every book by S.E.Lynes and when I heard she had a new book out I pushed it to the top of my 'to be read' pile.

As with her other novels, it is very well written, with interesting and well drawn characters and a very realistic story-line. It is a story of families, friends, secrets and lies, and how far people will go to protect the ones they love.

Highly recommended!

The Lies We Hide is a book about many things: love , abuse, trust, faith, family,secrets , consequences and new beginnings

The characters are all strong, not all likeable, but you have such empathy for Carol and her kids as they escape her abusive husband and their father.

I found myself turning the pages to see what happens to Carol , Graham and Nicola. How hiding even the littlest thing from someone can change so many lives.

The book can be dark at times but more than that it is an uplifting read and well worth your time.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to read The Lies We Hide.

Just a perfect read !!
I have read all of Susie Lynes books and each time as I finish I say the same thing “ this is the best yet” so here we are once again with me saying those same words.
I loved this book it was so moving and compelling and as always Susie writes with such feeling making the characters so believable with all their flaws. The story is one of a family and their ability to cope and it’s a sad story in parts but one that grips you from the start and really does make you care and I think that is why all of her books are so damn good she just has a knack of drawing you in to a story. The book has secrets and surprises and well I really do think it’s my favourite so far but let’s wait till the next book because they really do get better and better.
Brilliant read Susie and a big thank you as always or a 5 star read that’s well recommended.
My thanks also to NetGalley and Bookouture for giving me the chance to read the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

This book starts off with our main character (Nicola) mourning the death of her mother (Carol). As the book progresses however we are thrown into the world that her mother lived and we get to see exactly why she acted the way she did and what impact it had on her daughter as she became a woman herself. Carol is in an abusive and loveless marriage with her husband Tim, however at the time divorce is unheard of so she stays with him. However at a party she runs into a kind and caring man named Jim, and they hit it off even after her hesitations. With all the different characters as well as the two different time lines constantly intertwined I was pleasantly surprised at how well it all fit together for the reader. It was an easy to follow story that pulled you in and left you wanting more. I found that the characters in this book to be very strong and I was rooting for them through the entire thing. This was a very good read, however considering it was written by S.E. Lynes I would have expected nothing less. Check out this book if you haven't already, it is one that will really get you thinking. This book has so many twists that right when you think you know what is happening it changes again. I'm very glad that I got the chance to read this one. The only thing that I didn't like about this book was about half way through I found it very hard to follow and the point of view changes, while they were laid out nicely they were a little confusing as a reader.

I’m a big S.E. Lynes fan and think this is her best yet! One night, Carol has finally had enough and, trembling with fear, leaves her abusive husband in the dead of night with her two young children. Having plucked up the courage to leave, she now needs to start over, reliant on the charity of others, and build a new life for herself and her children. The abuse and the leaving inevitably have a long-term impact on them all.
So realistic are the characters, the story and the dialogue that I was really invested in this story. In fact, I was sold from the very beginning. The story opens with a nostalgic scene set in a Blackpool fairground in 1968 which the author describes so brilliantly that I was instantly transported right back to the sounds, sights and smells of those long-ago rides. Throughout, the author kept all my senses involved, so that I could perfectly imagine what was happening, whether it was Carol’s fear or Richard’s experiences inside prison.
She also uses unusual devices, such as little asides which would momentarily take me out of the story for a few seconds as she explains something: how Nicola got her nickname, what passersby would have seen…
S.E. Lynes writes fabulous dialogue with never a false note. I particularly loved the humous banter between Carol and her best friend and guardian angel, Pauline.
The author tells us that the story was inspired by an interview she did many years ago at a refuge for women who had been abused by their husbands. The stories these women told always stayed with her – and The Lies We Hide is the result. As the author points out in her letter to her readers, we tend to think that leaving is the end for these women – they’ve got away. But in fact, it is only “another terrifying beginning.”

Special thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a free, electronic ARC of the novel in exchange for an honest review.
Publication date: December 4, 2019
“The Lies We Hide” by S.E Lynes is a little bit women’s fiction mixed with a little bit of suspense, with some family drama to wash it all down.
Thirty years ago, Carol woke up her sleeping children and packed up their lives, leaving her abusive husband behind. Now, Nicola is a lawyer trying to seek justice, and her brother Graham is trying to rebuild his life after years behind bars. When Carol passes away, the siblings begin to share their feelings of guilt and loss, and when a deeply kept secret comes to light, both Graham and Nicola are forced to look at their mother, and themselves, in a new light.
This story is told in multiple pieces, from multiple points of view. Each chapter of the story is told from the perspective of Nicola, Carol, or Richard <i> (the prison chaplain- who tells his own story but also adds Graham’s points of view) </i> and each shares their version of events from before, when Carol leave with her children in the middle of the night, to after, when Graham is being released from jail. The suspense builds throughout the novel as the crime, and its motivations, are slowly revealed.
The characters in this novel are so brave and flawed, and their honesty shines through. I related to Richard, with his strong desire to want to have appropriate conversations with people but being unable to find the right words, but there is empathy to be had for all of Lynes’ characters. In this case, I was able to predict most of the ending, but that did not stop me from enjoying this novel.
Well-told, with just the right amount of suspense-fueled drama, this novel brings to light the heartbreaking truth of escaping an abusive relationship, the rebuilding that comes after great loss, and the powerful love of a Mother.