Member Reviews
Kelsey leaves her yoga class to pick up her daughter at daycare. When she arrives, her daughter is not there and they have no record of her ever having been there. To make matters worse, she cannot reach her husband either.
The police are called and Detective Ryan is assigned to the case. He feels there is something not right about Kelsey's story, but cannot put his finger on it.
This is the beginning of a crazy thrill ride where nothing is as it seems.
Hop on the crazy train, you will not regret it!
Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
Thank you to the publisher for an advanced copy in return for my honest opinion.
I thought this was a great book. I always try to figure out the twist and can usually figure it out, but this had me guessing right until the end. The characters were well developed. The book was quick moving and I didn’t want to put it down. While this has become a saturated genre, I thought this book held its own. I would definitely recommend this book.
I don't want to say too much about this book because the unfolding of the story is the best part. At the beginning, it seems to be an abducted child story. Kelsey goes to daycare to pick up her child to discover that they have no record of her being there. She calls the police who begin a search but no one is really sure what is going on.
There were many twists and turns in the novel and sometimes I had difficulty following the story line with multiple narrators. I sometimes had to backtrack to see if I missed something.
I read this book straight through because I had to find out what in the world was going on. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a psychological suspense story.
A brilliant, twisty novel full of secrets and lies and I did not know who to trust. Brilliant. I raced through this x
Many Thanks to Netgalley, Thomas & Mercer and the author for a chance to read this book.
Take a deep breath, fellow readers, this one is surely gonna hit you like a ton of bricks. Last One to Lie is incredibly well-written, right from scene one where a mother realizes that her daughter is missing from the day care where she is been dropped to, to the introduction of a cop who has a very terrible baggage to carry around, each scene was stark and severe.
Kelsey Jennings is looking forward to a new beginning, a new place closer to your missionary in-laws, new house, even the packing boxes have not been opened completely, but things turn awry soon and nothing is as it seems. The husband is incognito, daughter is missing, the in-laws are out of the country. Is Kelsey a victim or a criminal mastermind or just plain crazy? Detective Paul Ryan is unable to form an opinion about the smart and sexy mom in front of him as the sexy vibes begins to play havoc in his mind and a ‘BASIC INSTINCT’ plotline comes into play. The story alternates between Kelsey and Detective Ryan’s POV and tension begins to mount as the child remains missing even after 24 hrs.
There’s also the detective’s past that adds to the drama and how it all connects to Kelsey and her story.
Last One To Lie is a thriller that creates confusion in the mind towards the end so much that I went back a few pages and re-read parts of it, and it should surely have been a 5* read but for certain plot holes that were too glaring. Kelsey was a ballet dancer but that point seems to have been forgotten at the climax and Detective Ryan for all the jaded and cynical outlook he has in life does a really shoddy police work, which kind of failed to evoke sympathy for the character.
Any more details and I would probably give the whole story way. 😜
Read it purely for the thrilling twists in the story!
A big shout to https://ludwigsbookreviews.wordpress.com/ whose review made me wanna read this book. Thank You friend❤️❤️
There are so many twists and turns in each chapter; that I was on a roller coaster until the end. This is one of those books that you want to read again after you find out the ending.
Many thanks to Thomas & Mercer and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion
Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Who is telling the truth in this twisty thriller?
PLOT SUMMARY:
Kendall Jennings’ worst fears have come true - her two year old daughter Mikayla is missing. It’s hard to imagine it could get worse, but it does - when she arrives at the daycare where she left her, Kendall is told that they never had a child named Mikayla there. No one knows what she is talking about. What is going on? And why is her husband Malcolm suddenly out of contact as well? When Detective Ryan is called to investigate, little does he know how this case will affect his life. Because when he starts to uncover long hidden secrets, he might not be prepared for the truth he will find...and the lengths someone will go to make sure they stay hidden.
PROS and CONS:
This one is fun! Lots of twists and turns with unreliable narrators and unsolved mysteries to create suspense. Who is manipulating whom in this thriller? It’s really hard to tell!
One suggestion I would make would be to say at the top of the chapter who’s perspective it was...it sometimes took me a paragraph to figure out who’s first person narrative I was reading, and that took me away from the story a bit. Along with the date and time, either Paul or Kendall’s name could be added to make it easier to follow.
Otherwise, I really enjoyed the dual perspectives, the lies, the secrets, the family dynamics, the mystery...it was well done.
YES or NO:
It’s a YES from me - twists, turns and an unexpected ending...what’s not to like???
4 Stars
The Last to Lie is seriously a mind melt. The more you read, the more twists and turns you come across. I’m still not sure of the ending, if all the information came out and who is good and who is bad.
Thank you to the author, Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This was an intriguing premise, which did not live up to its potential. At times I felt mired in molasses struggling to get through this mish-mash of badly researched police procedures and poorly written characters, with a side of erotica mixed in. I may be exaggerating slightly, but I did get fed up with reading the detective's standard reaction: "I could feel myself getting rock hard...". The characters came off as caricatures of themselves, and I found it impossible to get invested, let alone suspend belief enough to follow along with all the plot twists and turns, many of which dead-ended with no further ado.
i think this premise is one of the scariest to me, it kept me on the edge of my seat from the beginning to the end. The characters were great and I really liked the way the author wrote.
There may be two people missing in this book but you will be missing sleep as you are up late reading this unputdownable thriller.
Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.
After reading All the Lovely Pieces by this author, I had to read her new book.
This book I couldn’t put it down. Read it in one day. It was full of turns and twists. Lots of surprises and unexpected ending. I really liked it. It kept me interested and invested through the entire time. Bravo!
Just like the first book, the author does not disappoint with this one. Good job with the writing and the plot. It was very well done.
I's disappointed. This started off good then somehow veered into a bloody, icky mess. I'm not sure if I'm more sensitive because of the times we're in right now or not, but I had to stop reading this book. I'll try again at a later date.
I really liked J.M. Winchester’s novel, All The Lovely Pieces, so when I saw Last One To Lie, I knew I had to read it! Imagine going to pick your child up from daycare only to find out she was never there? And not only that, there is no record of her? That’s some crazy switching dimensions and timelines stuff right out of the Twilight Zone!
But this isn’t a sci-fi novel so there is a legit reason and as we read further, the pieces began to fall into place, sort of. The reader is guessing especially as we learn the main character, Kelsey, has something to hide…
Check it out:
Moving to a new city was supposed to be a fresh start for her family. Now it’s a nightmare.
Her little girl was supposed to be at day care when Kelsey arrived to pick her up. But they have no record of her daughter ever being there. And to make matters worse, her husband is missing too—he won’t pick up his phone, and the school he supposedly works at says he never accepted their job offer.
Detective Paul Ryan knows something’s up with Kelsey’s story. Kelsey’s husband might be involved in their daughter’s disappearance, but the deeper the detective digs, the more inconsistencies he finds.
As Detective Ryan tries to uncover the truth, what he finds are more deeply buried secrets that someone clearly never wanted found.
From the first pages I was hooked on the story and the suspense kept me glued to the pages all the way until the end. I wasn’t sure what was going to happen, who I could trust. I love suspense like this and now I need the author to hurry up and write more!
This book comes out on June 9 and you can pre-order here!
Review for 'Last One To Lie' by J. M. Winchester
Read and reviewed via NetGalley for Thomas & Mercer publishing .
Available to preorder ready for release on June 9th
This is the first book that I have read by this author. It is a standalone book. I probably wouldn't go out of my way to look for any more of her books but I would read one if I came across one.
This book is written from the perspectives of 3 different characters including the detective Paul. I like when books are written from different character perspectives as you don't tend to miss any of the main storyline.
THE book was well written and flowed well. I read it quite quickly and did quite enjoy it. However, I don't think the author did much if any research into police work and most of the procedure was unbelievable which made it lose a star (all books start with a 5/5 with me)
THE storyline itself was quite interesting and had quite a few twists and turns which were good and I'm happy with te way it ended. I can't say it didn't leave any questions as a case of a certain person (won't say who so not to spoil it) seemed to be added in and forgotten about. This led to another star being removed.
THE characters were believable and quite strong and the descriptions were good.
THE chapters have the time of the events so you can know what's happening at what time which I found very useful.
If I was to recommend this book it would be to fans of crime and mystery.
Rated 3/5 (It was OK) on Goodreads and Amazon (UK and. Com) and over 30 Facebook
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£3.98 to purchase on kindle. I think this is an OK price for this book
288 pages
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A bit confusing at times, due to the narrator not being specified before the chapter starts. But overall an interesting thriller. loved all the plot twists as they came. This book will keep you on your toes.
What a mind twister... I really enjoyed this book. The moment I thought I knew what was going on there was a good twist. Kelsey just didn't know her past would catch up to her. She thought she escaped it but she didn't.
My first reaction after finishing this book was, "This is actually the worst book I have ever read," which I think says all you need to know. ef in order to try and get some sort of enjoyment from this.
Kelsey is the main character, who arrives at daycare to pick up her daughter to find that she was 'never there'. What follows is a confusing twist of amalgamation of storylines, most of which were ridiculous. I really had to suspend disbelief in order to get some enjoyment from this book! Despite the writer clearly trying to throw in a lot of twists to detract from the ending, it was pretty predictable and by the time the ending came I wish I hadn't wasted my time reading the rest of the book. Although it is predictable, the ridiculous storylines also left me with lots of questions at the end thanks to some plot holes. I hate to be so scathing about a book, but I really did not find this enjoyable in the slightest.
3.75 stars rounded up to 4.
Overall, I enjoyed this one a lot. There were a few things I did not like, that really made me angry. I also knew exactly where this was heading, although there were plenty of twists I didn’t. Overall, a good, suspenseful, thrilling read!
I am definitely one of those readers that looks for a hook to keep me interested in the first few chapters. This book did just that! Once I got into this book, I couldn't stop reading. I definitely didn't see it coming and 3/4 of the way through I had to stop and really think through the twists. It was hard to keep straight at some points, but this was a great read! I think I played out a few different scenarios in my head that weren't even a part of what happened. I also kept thinking to Detective Ryan, "Don't do it!!"