Holey Moley this was utterly brilliant!

What Lies Between Us is sooo unputdownable, I almost finished it in one sitting!

What an intense, addictive and terrifying mother daughter relationship this story tells. Revenge is sweet but what takes place here is pure evil.

What is the terrible history that exists between Librarian Nina and her mother Maggie who live together in Maggie’s house that brings out this saga of horror?

For those of you that love an entertaining and dark suspense thriller, this is one you cannot miss. The author really knows how to capture his audience and shock them.





I wish to thank NetGalley & Amazon Publishing UK, for generously providing me with a copy of the book to read in return for an honest review.

This was a twisty messed up masterpiece! I just didn't see all the twists coming. Loved that truth be told I didn't know who the "bad guy" was, was it the daughter or was it the mom?! And when one of them says something are they telling the truth or telling a lie? I ate it up! Loved the story, haven't heard of that type of plot before, so that was such a wonderful surprise because of all the books I read, to read something fresh!

Thank you to NetGalley for this opportunity to read an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Wow wow wow!!!

If you like psychological thrillers; here is one you need to read.

It’s all about family for Nina, but family isn’t very easy for her. Her father abandoned her and her mother when she was a teenager. Nina also had a miscarriage and a stillborn by the time she was fifteen. Her mother doesn’t get along with her very well either because they don’t see eye to eye; probably because Nina is keeping her mother as a prisoner inside of their home. How far will you go to keep family near by you? Also, how will you act if you find out some dark, hidden secrets about your family?


Bravo on this book. Get ready for some mind-twisting chapters.

This book surprised me!
It started a bit slow, but wow did that change. I really liked the characters especially Tommy, it was great how John Marrs got me believing the storyline only to tip it completely on its head . The chapters were not long which made it unputdownable.
I will definitely be reading more from this author.

Wow, John Mara, what can I say, another fantastic read. You really do have one sick imagination. Totally loved this and couldn’t put it down.

Wow this book is awesome. This will take you on a journey that will cause you to experience all kinds of emotions. I read this book in about a day because it was so hard to put down. Thanks to NetGalley for the arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What Lies Between Us by John Marrs is a must read mystery thriller novel. Though a few twists were easy to guess, the rest were mind boggling. After reading this book, I am seriously considering re-picking their other book that I had DNFed earlier.

The breath-takingly intense and devious plot left me asking for more. It was scary and disturbing, to say the least. The end was epic and unexpected. The story is spread over various timelines, and is narrated by the mother daughter duo. Both the characters are convincing in their own right, and the reader in me was confused as to who he should root for. Eventually, I kept changing sides every couple of chapters.

I am sure it is going to be a bestseller.

Thanks to the author and the publisher for the eARC.

Verdict: A must read.

#WhatLiesBetweenUs #NetGalley
An ok read.
They say every house has its secrets, and the house that Maggie and Nina have shared for so long is no different. Except that these secrets are not buried in the past.
Every other night, Maggie and Nina have dinner together. When they are finished, Nina helps Maggie back to her room in the attic, and into the heavy chain that keeps her there. Because Maggie has done things to Nina that can’t ever be forgiven, and now she is paying the price.But there are many things about the past that Nina doesn’t know, and Maggie is going to keep it that way—even if it kills her.
Because in this house, the truth is more dangerous than lies. I personally was not so hooked by this thriller despite of its good plot. These kind of thrillers I read everyday so nothing was new to me. But it's an ok read. Thriller fans go for it.
Thanks to NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK for giving me an advance copy of this book.

O.M.G!!! This book was AMAZING! I honestly didn’t want it to end, that’s how much I enjoyed this story

In a nutshell: For the last 2.5 years Maggie and Nina have dinner together after which Nina takes Maggie back to her room in the attic, where she remains chained up and Nina goes about her life. Maggie has done unforgivable things to Nina, and now she must pay the ultimate price. But every story has two sides and not every memory is reliable.

My thoughts: I honestly went in blind. I didn’t read the synopsis or look at the reviews. I was rewarded in the end with a mind blowing, twisted and dark tale of buried family secrets, lies and of course murder. I was so absorbed in this book and I savoured and loved every page. Well written, unique and suspenseful, I seriously can’t say enough good things about this one. READ THIS BOOK! You won’t be disappointed 👏🏻

Thanks to Netgalley and Amazon Publishing UK for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Nina keeps her mother, Maggie, locked up with a chain in the upper floor of their house. Nina has uncovered some things that Maggie did in the past that she feels are unforgivable and this is Maggie's punishment. Maggie has reasons for what she did in the past but she can't share those reasons with Nina.

I usually hate hostage books because I find them boring and the reasons for keeping the person hostage don't end up being that compelling. But I requested this one because the reviews on goodreads were so extremely positive. Well this book was a complete 180 from those boring hostage books. This was fantastic. I could not put it down. New info was being turned up around every corner and I went back and forth between who was really to blame for the mess that was these two women's lives. This was my first read from this author and it clearly won't be my last. This was so warped and nuts, and soooo good!

How moley! What a marvellously twisted and convoluted mind John Marrs has. This book kept me on the edge of my seat from the moment I began reading. It's not for me now to spoil the reading pleasure for other but let's just say Baby Jane springs to mind. Talk about a dysfunctional family with co-dependency issue...and you're only then scratching the surface of this thriller. Yes, I will confess it stretched credulity at times and you will have to suspend disbelief while you read it. But that's why it's such a cracking good story. Highly recommended. John Marrs, you've done it again! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC - what a wild ride!

Fantastic read - another in long line from John Marrs. A daughter keeps her mother chained up in her attic but why? My sympathies constantly switched between them. Interesting questions on a mother’s love.

Some very bad decisions were made in a misguided effort to protect - probably summed up in this quote early on: “I thought that having a baby meant that I would always bei loved by someone until the day I died. I was wrong. Being a mother is no guarantee of anything”

Well John Marrs you are a little twisted aren't you :)
I have been a fan of this author for a long while now and this book doesn't disappoint.
It tells the story of Nina and Maggie - a mother and daughter living together in Maggies house - though things aren't quite as lovely as they seem - Maggie is locked upstairs in a room with chains at the bed - she is given food by her daughter and only has access to the bar minimiums in her room.
Why is Nina punishing her mother like this - what has actually happened to make her dislike her mother so much. This is a crazy twisted story - youll love it!

Looking for a dark thriller that will keep you turning the pages long past your bedtime? This is it. It’s a super dark story about a very disturbing and convoluted mother and daughter relationship. The chapters go back and forth in time and the narrator shifts between Maggie (the mom) and Nina (the daughter). You get little details in every chapter which flesh out how they got to where they are. Maggie chained to the floor in the attic. Yep, that’s right. Daughter keeps mom locked in her attic bedroom on a chain that doesn’t even reach the door. The best thing about this book is as it reveals details about their life together, you don’t know who the truly evil person is until the end, but don’t worry, you definitely find out.

This book is disturbing and a little icky in parts, but if you love dark and gritty thrillers, you will love it. I have another “mother/daughter” thriller on my shelf but I’m gonna have to wait on that one, because, ew, I just can’t. Gonna go read something happy now.

This was a disturbing psychological thriller. Beyond unimaginable family dynamics, mystery and twists all throughout. The character development was great, you really get attached to some of these characters. I thought the flashbacks to different time periods would be hard to adjust to, but its necessary for the story to unfold the way it did. My only critique is that despite the interesting storyline, surprisingly this book was a slow burn for me, but I can't explain why because I wasn't bored by the writing for a second.
This was my first John Marrs book, and I will certainly be reading more of his work!!

This was an incredible read! SO TWISTY AND DARK!!!!

The characters were complicated, complex and creepy!

The story is told in alternating perspectives, Maggie and her daughter, Nina, both in present time and in the past, I was hooked on this book from the first page until the last.

An incredibly twisty, dark, terror filled raed .

To say that What Lies Between Us is explosive would be an understatement. John Marrs took what I would consider a domestic thriller and turned it on its head. This book was incredibly dark and left you questioning everything you were told at the beginning of the novel.

I loved how Marrs slowly introduced the reader to the disturbing world of Maggie and Nina. What Lies Between Us starts out seemingly normal. However, pretty early on Marrs shows us just how not right this entire situation is.

What I loved about this novel the most were the characters. Both Maggie and Nina have done terrible things in their past. Neither one is better than the other which begs the question – do any of us have the right to punish someone else for perceived transgressions when you yourself are not an innocent party either?

Not everyone loves the unreliable narrator aspect in novels. That is one of my favorite aspects of a book and John Marrs gave me two of them. The book flips back and forth between past and present, in both Maggie and Nina’s perspective, so we could find out what exactly lead to the current events.

Maggie was constantly at odds with Nina. She struggled between wanting to continue loving and protecting her daughter and trying to save her own life. While we discover what Maggie’s past is, one thing is made evidently clear- she loves Nina. No matter what. This internal tug of war made this story more believable. Which was much needed as some of the plot points seemed a bit too unbelievable.

Nina on the other hand believes there is no love lost between her and her mother. She’s the type of women who bad things happen too not the cause of the bad things in her life. For her entire adult life she’s spent her time focusing on the past. How different her life may be if something had or hadn’t happened to her. All she craves a stable family and a comfortable life. But Maggie has seemingly got in her way of that.

If you are looking for a book that will keep you turning the pages well after your bedtime, What Lies Between Us is the book for you. This book starts out with a fast pace and keeps it up until the very end. John Marrs is a master at revealing new truths behind events we had already assumed the outcome of. This type of revealing reminded me a lot of Sandie Jones’ books. The best part was that it didn’t seem messy or choppy. It was all beautifully crafted to make a tragic story even more tragic.

There was only one event in which I wish Marrs explored more. He does lay out clues that can point a reader into the direction as to what really happened which I appreciated. But I just wanted a little more and I can’t say too much without spoiling things.

I wished the ending of this book had turned out differently. But the way John Marrs ended this novel is really the only way it could have ended to keep in line with the trajectory the characters were already on.

About: Nina has locked up her mother, Maggie in the attic because she has done something that is unquestionably evil. Maggie is up in the attic tied in chains. This is a story about a messed up family and the lies they tell each other.

Characters: This was a dual POV book and we get the thoughts of Nina and Maggie as well. The story goes into the past and tells about the present timeline simultaneously which helps with the character development of both mother and daughter.

My thoughts: This was a crazy read full of twists and turns. I wasn't able to figure out who to make the antagonist through the book because of the extreme plot twists! This was my first John Marrs read and I would definitely check out the author's other books too.

Recommendation: If you love a good page-turner, crazy psychological thriller then this is definitely the book for you.

Amazingly wicked. The plot had evil twists and turns that kept me turning pages. This book would make a great movie!

I’m a fan of John Mars but I really struggled with this one. I didn’t care for the characters and found it to move slowly. The book was well-written and had its share of plot twists, but as much as I tried I just couldn’t get into it. I’m still a Mars fan, just not a fan of this book. Thanks to NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.