Ed James was a favourite already with his Cullen novels, so I was thrilled to be sent an ARC of this. I have my favourite authors for detective fiction and he’s definitely one of them. FBI special agent Max Carter is in charge of the FBI Child Abduction Rapid Deployment Team based out of the FBI Seattle Field Office. Max himself was abducted as a child and this motivates him in his career.
This time the missing children are those of a Senator so there is some murk as well as mystery to solve this kidnapping.

When an established author starts a new series it is both as nerve-wracking and exciting for the reader as I am sure it is for the writer. This one came down well and truly on the thumbs up from me side.

WoW Tell Me Lies by Ed James is the first book in the brilliant Detective Max Carter series This book was excellent I was hooked from the beginning till the end and ended up reading several of these books within the Detective Max Carter whilst on holiday, I really enjoyed this book especially as it had clever twists and turns, thorough-out with lots of action, suspense. The author told everything in great detail. I liked the main character Detective Max Carter he grew on me!!!! and he worked well within the story.

I highly recommend this series Excellent!!

*** I would like to Thank Netgalley and Bookouture in exchange for an honest review. ***

Just to say that I am a super fan of Ed James' police procedurals, so was unsure as to what I would make of a thriller set in America, particularly without the trademark humour. No need to worry! Although it could have been written by a different author, given the complete change of style, it is a compulsive and addictive thriller, with a heart. I'll still be looking out for the procedurals with anticipation, but hope Max Carter will return.

This is a compelling read. It talks about politics and corruption.
It had a good storyline, good characters and was a great read.
However I felt the pacing was a bit off.

Fabulous plot which I could not put down. Brilliant characters, and twists and turns. Highly recommend to other fans of this genre!!

Excellent book that kept me enthralled from beginning to end. Would recommend this to anyone who likes a good thriller, and I can't wait to read the next book carrying on with the life of Detective Max Carter.

A great political thriller. Good characters and well written which kept me interested.
Definitely worth a read!

"Tell Me Lies" is the first book in the Max Carter series featuring a Seattle-based FBI Detective, heading up their child abduction unit. Carter can relate to children being abducted, he thinks, because his father abducted him from his mother's home in London when he was a child. Here, the case set against the backdrop of the snow-capped mountains of the Northwest, is that a Senator's two children are kidnapped as a way to get a hold on the Senator and ferret information out of him about a training exercise gone wrong. Although billed as an exciting thriller and plotted as such, the characters are cardboard cutouts and interchangeable and the plot simply does not hold up to the promises made in the sales pitch. At best, an airport lounge read.

Tell Me Lie is the first novel to feature Special Agent Max Carter of the FBI Seattle Field Office’s Child Abduction Rapid Deployment Team and my first read by Ed James.

This is a solid start to a new police procedural. It's heavy on the action, with lots of narrative shifts (the senator, the FBI agent, and the kidnapper) . I enjoy reading multiple POVs, but these shifts were a bit too dramatic for me and I found them to be a bit disruptive to the overall narrative. As is the case with many first books in a new series, background is needed and character development can fall a bit short as you try to get the stage set for the story's world. I wish there had been more focus on Carter as the lead of the series.

I think this series has potential, but didn't quite get there for me yet.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for this e-book ARC to read and review.

This was the first ever Ed James book that I've ever read and I enjoyed it quite a lot. The story starts off with an incident that had happened quite a long time back which sets up the mood of the story and then progresses to the kidnapping of a US Senator's children. From then onwards it jumps from perspective to perspective and telling the story of each of the characters involved in the story. Overall well written and quite fluid in the storytelling, Tell Me Lies was a good book. My only complaint was that 60% through the book I felt that it was dragging on and the book was unnecessarily long, around 15 to 20 chapters too long but it doesn't harm the book and the story. But that's my opinion which should not put off anyone who's thinking about reading the book. I'll be looking forward to the next book. And a big thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for giving me this book in exchange of my honest review.

Special Agent Max Carter works for the FBI Child Abduction Rapid Deployment Team. He understands the stress and anguish of being abducted. because Max himself was abducted as a child.

The wife of a prominent Senator is drugged and left on her own from porch with a written message that says ... Do NOT Call The Police. She also discovers that her two young children are nowhere to be found. Her husband is not returning her calls or messages.

Meanwhile Senator Christopher Holliday has received a text showing his two children, apparently drugged, with directions to meet him. When Carter manages to reach the Senator, he says he is on his way ... but he's not going home, He's going to where his children are being held.

When the busy politician vanishes without telling anyone what he’s up to, he becomes Carter's prime suspect.

This is an engaging novel, fast paced, with action that starts on the very first page. The characters are deftly drawn and are found amid a swirling eddy of greed, corrupt politicians, secret organizations, murder, revenge. Twists and turns lead to frequent changes of direction.. like traveling a rugged mountain road. This is first in a series that looks compelling and riveting.

Many thanks to the author / Bookouture / Netgalley for the digital copy of this crime fiction. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

A gripping political thriller that has a great mixture of humanity and political pit falls that are sadly way to realistic.
The characters are well done and the thriller aspects are throughout and keep the book going.
Definitely worth a read!

The person who wrote the book synopsis deserves a raise! I don't know of anyone who could read the "blurb" and not feel the need to read the book!!!
Ed James gives us an excellent story with a great back story woven into the current story of the kidnapping of a senator's children. As the FBI's Detective Max Carter quickly finds that he is not getting the whole story, he must still use all of his resources to find and save the children. As the story switches back and forth, readers begin to get a 360 degree look at the circle this Senator built that leads to consequences he would rather not explain. This is a great start to a new series. Max Carter is a man with a past that I hope to see more of.

Megan Holliday's world is turned upside down when her children are kidnapped she calls the F.B.I against the abducters advice . Her husband is a senator is that why they where taken.The F.B.I send Detective Max Carter who was once abducted himself .
The senator gets a message off the abducters to meet them or his kids will die he decides he has to meet them.
This is a world of politics ,corruption and greed have the children been caught up in something the senator has done.
Good read
Thanks NetGalley

Two children are kidnapped from a senator's driveway. This book focuses on their father's attempt to get them back, as well as Detective Max Carter's efforts to find the kidnappers and the children. Those two efforts don't always coordinate, and there are unique reasons for the kidnapping, all resulting in the complexity of this mystery. Carter seems to have his own problems with an alcoholic father, who keeps taking him away from his focus on his work. I found this book to be quite engrossing, not wanting to put it down. There are several stories woven into one, and this was quite interesting. Looking forward to a second in the series!

Having not read any of Ed James books, I was pleasantly surprised to love this so much.
Some very dark twists in this, some of which I found quite distressing - especially the bullying!
Told by 3 people - made it more exciting and relatable, but some of it was quite disturbing, yet sensitively written.
Will be looking out for more xxx

Review
Nine year old Faraj is kidnapped from school and Jacob, his best friend, his only friend, dies trying to help him.

Senator Holliday’s wife Megan is followed home from the mall with their two children. She is drugged on her doorstep and when she wakes up, the children have been taken.

The book is set during one day and follows Max Carter of the Child Abduction Rapid Deployment Team, Holliday and the kidnappers.

It’s a great story, very detailed and a good twist at the end.

I rate this book 3 stars 🌟🌟🌟

Thanks
Thank you to the author and publishers Bookouture for an advanced copy of this ebook in exchange for an independent review.

I've enjoyed Ed James previous police procedural featuring Cullen, Hunter and Fenchurch and set in Edinburgh and London. This one is different as it's set in the states. I wondered how it would feel being written by a non American but I needn't have feared, Ed has nailed it again.
Max Carter works for a specialist department in the FBI dealing with child abduction and brings his own personal experience to his role.
In this case a senator's wife has been drugged and her children taken outside her own home. A note has been left telling her not to contact the police. The senator is contacted by text and the story evolves from there. The story is fast paced and told from different view points, the senator, Max Carter and the kidnappers. There were lots of twists and the ending was not expected. The story is current and full of possible real life scenarios.
I found it easy to follow, gripping and one that I didn't want to put down.
Looking forward to reading more about Max Carter

always enjoy a new series and Tell Me Lies was no different. I quickly became engaged in the plot and wanted to know what had happened to the children. 

In Tell Me Lies we are introduced to Max Carter. Although the details of the case he was investigating seemed to be more prevalent than details about his character, I could see that he is a family man who cares deeply for his wife and daughter and this influences his actions on this case. There is definitely more to come from him and I look forward to seeing how the character develops. 

James has engineered a complex plot in this novel and I was interested to see how it would all come together. There are sections of the novel that are set a few years previously and at first I found it difficult to see how this was related to the plot in the present  However, when everything is revealed, I found myself hooked in an investigation which is very relevant to events in the news at the moment and gave me lots of food for thought.