I read The Passengers last year and was elated to get an arc of this one as well. John Marrs is written cocaine! His writing is some of the most addictive I've come across.

A daughter in her late 30's has imprisoned her mother in the house they share and we find out why piece by piece. THERE IS SO MANY TWISTS! You will NOT expect this book to end the way it does.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC

Actual rating: 3.75

Well, that’s one f*cked up book!
I feel like the less I say about this, the better, so I’ll try and keep it vague.

In Maggie and Nina, John Marrs has managed to create such vivid, disturbing, and entirely complex characters—two women who, from the start, will make you uncomfortable.

Typically with novels that hold their secrets close to the vest, I’m usually left unsurprised by the mysteries and their developments (I blame my intuitive/perceptive nature and having absorbed so many mystery novels/tv shows/films over the years). I believe that a majority of the books that claim to have “big twists” and “plots that will keep you guessing” are all show and no deliver. And to be honest, What Lies Between Us had some fairly obvious twists... but here’s the thing: for once, I didn’t really mind! If only because the book is so well written and the characters so intriguing. I didn’t care that a good chunk of the revelations were predictable; Marrs managed to keep me engrossed by fashioning some pretty messed up sh*t!

The dual narratives between mother and daughter, captive and captor, work wonderfully here to define their motives and distinctive psyches. As we learn, too, their pasts in alternating POV shifts, the picture becomes clearer, and it’s paced so brilliantly.

I know some readers might like the “Bobby” character, but I actually hated him. For such a nut, I was still Team Nina on that front, but in the long run: Team Maggie all the way. Or maybe Team Neither?? I don’t know. This is the most fascinating sort of book for me, where you have a couple of great characters who have done despicable things—but still have redeemable moments and qualities—and you’re constantly seesawing between rooting for this one and/or that one.

What Lies Between Us is twisted, dark, and pretty damn bleak... and I’m glad—Glad that John Marrs didn’t go the expected, cookie-cutter route. This could’ve so easily fallen into the category of ordinary, but it doesn’t. This is a sick little novel, and I’m happy I read it... I just feel like I need to take a shower.

Many thanks to Amazon Publishing UK and NetGalley for providing me this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really like this author. Though this isn’t his best book,it is a very unusual study of people’s behaviors.Sometimes the best-laid plan’s fall. When a mother tries to protect her delusional daughter from harm,she does more damage. While the it might seem unbelievable, Mr. Marrs brings an understanding to the story. You sympathize with the characters. Even though they can be despicable,they are also human and we make mistakes. The story comes to it’s inevitable conclusion. Not great,but a good read nonetheless!

Thanks to author and publisher for early release read of this title. I absolutely loved it. John Marrs is one of my favorite authors. He takes you on a crazy train and it’s amazing ride. I was sucked in from beginning and couldn’t wait to pick it up every night. Read this everyone. You won’t be disappointed.

Nina and her mother, Maggie, live together in the same house but this is no ordinary mother/daughter relationship. Nina keeps Maggie prisoner, held captive by a chain in the attic. There are things that Nina can never forgive her mother for and she is determined to make. her pay.

But the past holds more secrets than Nina can ever know and Maggie is determined to keep it that way. Even if it costs her her life.

This story is so full of twists and turns it will make you dizzy. Just when I thought that I understood and I knew you I felt empathy for then "Bam!!" another twist that changed everything and my loyalties would shift again. This is a dark and compelling tale that deals with some difficult subjects. It kept me hooked and guessing right until the very end.

This is the second book that I have read by John Marrs, and it definitely didn't disappoint.

Thoroughly recommend!!

Thank you to Netgallery for the free digital ARC in exchange for an honest and voluntary review. All opinions are my own.

Wow! Just Wow!! What Lies Between Us By John Marrs gives new meaning to the term highly dysfunctional family. With the story going back and forth between Nina (daughter) and Maggie's (mother) point of view. You are drawn into a truly messed up family you'd never want to be part of. Fast paced, truly disturbing and a great read!

This book was amazingly written and one heck of a page turner. It gripped me from beginning to end. I had an internal battle on who to blame and hate for every event that happened. Both Nina and Maggie are to blame for the events that happened in their lives. Both were co-dependent on each other. Maggie was trying to protect Nina from herself and what she did to her father under a false claim. Nina didn’t want to let go of her mother or her son once finding out about everything taking from her. Nina needed saving from her self and Maggie wanted to redeem herself for what she did. The ending was gripping as well. I’d definitely recommend this book.

What Lies Between Us by John Marrs was disturbing on so many levels and I couldn’t put it down for the life of me. Thank you to @netgalley and @amazonpublishinguk for giving me this ARC in exchange for an honest review. Holy shit - this was a rollercoaster. I haven’t had a 5 star read in so long, and this one nailed it for sure. I really cannot say much about the plot because it’s best to go into this blind. Let’s just say the story revolves around a dysfunctional mother and daughter relationship. Nina, the daughter, has her mother, Maggie, chained up in the attic to atone for things that happened in the past. Why does she have her incarcerated? The author will take us through the last twenty five years to loop us in.⁣
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This story was so fundamentally twisted, but the way John Marrs weaved it was so incredible. At times, I felt it may have been be a bit too dark for my liking, but I absolutely had to keep reading and reading until I solved every mystery of the book. Believe me when I say that you will be dying to know the secrets the characters have held on to through the years and what led to the present. I found myself getting annoyed with having to complete everyday life tasks like eating and cleaning because I so desperately wanted to finish this book!⁣
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This book had me feeling all kinds of strong emotions from anger to compassion and heartache. Reading it was like watching a game of ping pong between Maggie and Nina. I was back and forth on how I felt about each of these two women from the start to the end. This is a gut-wrenching story about the lengths people will go to for the purposes of revenge, vindication, and self-preservation. It is not for the faint at heart. I could see this being a great book for a book club discussion, because there is plenty to discuss and unpack. If anyone has other John Marrs books they can recommend to me, please do so in the comments below because I’m obsessed with his work and need more!⁣

Thanks to NetGalley, publisher and awesome author, to allow me to read a free advanced copy in exchange for my honest review. John Marrs is so talented as a writer. He knows how to grab reader's attention and how to keep it. For a few days now, I haven't wanted to do anything other than read this book and find out what happened. What a terrifying story. The vibe was pure terror. I did not know who was the crazy one and who was the victim. Nina and Maggie are daughter and mother that live together against their will. Both have done horrible things in the past in the name of love. I could not stop reading until I got to the end. Unique story, look forward to the author's next book impatiently!

Wow! This book certainly does take the reader on a ride! There is such a dysfunctional mother-daughter dynamic going on here, and there are plenty of crazy reveals to keep the reader entertained. I found this book to be quite sad, though. If only one of these family members had actually tried to seek help, this story could have turned out better. If you like super dysfunctional families that can't make any good choices, then this might be a good read for you. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

So far, I'm completely in the minority here. I liked this one, but didn't love it. It's a very compelling read, I couldn't put it down. So many twists and turns! But, I also feel like it too long with too much repetition. Loved The One, so I will definitely continue to read more from John Marrs.

Could not put this book down. i was up til 2am on a WORK NIGHT because I had to know what happened. So many incredible twists and turns. it's the kind of book where you just stare off into space for a few minutes after finishing it because it hit so hard.

This was a creepy tale and you're never really sure who the guilty party is. It explores family relationships and how they impact on future behaviours. I couldn't say that I 'enjoyed' this but it is a really good read!

For me this book was almost perfect! It switches between the perspectives on Maggie and Nina, and for both of them there are chapters set in the past. Gradually this allows you to piece together who these characters are, how they are interlinked, and what series of events has led to the situation they find themselves in today.

The story is full of secrets and lies, misunderstandings and just plain bad decisions. Both of these characters have made mistakes, and its fascinating to see where the twists and turns of their lives have taken them, leading up to where they find themselves today.

The story becomes far more complex than I could have imagined at the start, and some chapters are so heartbreaking thats its hard to read them. I know it sounds like a cliche but this book and the characters will stay with me. There are so many layers to the story and I can’t stop thinking about them!

Also, can I just take a minute to swoon over that cover? I *love* a house on a book cover and this one is so appealing to me.

I read the whole book in a weekend, and if I didn’t have pesky things like a life and a family to look after, I really think I could have read it in one sitting. It was so readable, and I flew through the pages.

John Marrs has definitely created an amazing story. I now need to go back and find some of his other books. I’m thinking The Passengers next.

Firstly I’d like to thank Amazon Publishing UK for the ARC of this novel. Also thanks to NetGalley for facilitating. And a huuuuuuge thank you to John Marrs, who provided me with yet another AMAZING read! John, I’ve said it before and I really mean it, you are a genius!!!

So, as usual there will be no spoilers in this review - I find them disrespectful to the authors!

Having read all of John Marrs’ previous books, I was expecting a lot from this one and it really did deliver! This is a different fee to The One and The Passengers though so if you’re looking for another Black Mirror-esque read then alter your expectations before you read this one. It’s just as delicious and terrifying as John’s other works of art however it is set in the same world that we currently live in.

This book was just fantastic! It kept moving at a decent pace and was so full of secrets and drama that it kept me hooked from the first page to the last.

The characters were so well written that they could easily have been real people. They were flawed and complex, their emotions and motivations were understandable (even when you didn’t want to empathise). And even the characters with high levels of darkness inside them were likeable in some capacity. Because I guess that’s how humans are made. Nobody is all good or all bad, and some decisions set off a chain reaction of events and decisions that can make or break a person.

I read so many books that sometimes I have to remind myself of what the story was when I see an author or title pop up that I recognise. With John Marrs this is NEVER the case. I remember each book of his in detail because they get under your skin and stick with you.

I usually get a sinking feeling when I hear that someone is making a film or TV adaptation of something I’ve read but with John Marrs, every time I finish one of his books I think “how is this not on the screen already?!” It already feels like it should be. Just on Netflix as “John Marrs collection”, people would go nuts for it. I know far too many people who “don’t like to read” (crazy) and I am exasperated that this means they will never get to know the full extent of John’s genius. I am however thrilled that The One has been picked up for a TV series and I cannot wait to watch it!

As usual; I cannot praise this book enough. It really was so satisfying and I didn’t want it to end! I will eagerly await John’s next book in the summer, and of course the Netflix series (with hopefully many more in the future)!

I bumped this one up my readlist the minute I got my hands on the ecopy. Honestly, I didn’t know what this novel was about anymore when I started reading it, I trust this author enough not to care, and I can only recommend doing so because I was in for a surprise real soon this way. The only thing you need to know is that Maggie and Nina live in the same house and that Maggie never leaves the house, so the only hobby she has is spying on the neighbours and reading the books Nina brings her. Don’t be mistaken though, there is a constant battle going on between them and Maggie thinks twice about every word she says to Nina. This resentment also created a tug of war in my feelings for both of them. In what they say and do they both seemed very reasonable women at the start. That really wasn’t the right conclusion to make though.

I strongly felt for Maggie in the beginning, only to feel some understanding for Nina after a while too because of all she went through in her reckless teenage years, until that was overshadowed again with pity and sympathy for Maggie… They both made mistakes in the past, because Nina was young, because Maggie loved her daughter and wanted to do what she thought was best. It is debatable if that was the right thing to do but all I do know is that it backfired in the most horrible way. She is treated horribly by her daughter and there’s literally little she can do about it. She could tell her the truth but even in her most ugly predicament Maggie still doesn’t grab this opportunity. Maybe that is something I didn’t agree upon but I can’t argue the deep love for her daughter.

Nobody lives happily ever after at the end of What Lies Between Us and it won’t come as a surprise either when you read the novel that it does not have this all American ending but in it’s own way the author wrote a rewarding closure to this sad and tragic story.

I held my breath quite a few times while I read this novel, fearing the worst and hoping for the best. The action and reaction between mother and daughter was relentless and I didn’t know whether to be happy or sad that a third person was getting closer to them without knowing what was going on in that house. What Lies Between Us is a very dark and gripping story that will leave nobody unfazed. The novel was built on plenty of deceit, secrets, love and revenge, abuse, loss and obsession. All the best ingredients for an amazing page turner and that is exactly what this is!

I rarely read Mystery / Thriller genre but OMG this book was so good. There were a lot of twists and turns. And that ending of the book. Whoa it was really great! This book literally kept me edge of my seat. I loved it!

Another brilliant read by THE John Marrs!
I adore books where the chapters are dedicated to each character, and for this story, it worked perfectly. Seeing the story unfold as you read it from each character’s viewpoints was brilliantly done, and you get a real insight from each character as to why they did what they did, especially Maggie. As the story unfolded you got to see the reasons why Maggie did what she did to Nina, and the reasons why. I loved that part of the story.
This story, as usual with a John Marrs book, made me gasp with the unexpected events throughout it, and also made me feel completely satisfied with how he ended the book the way he did, absolutely loved the ending! That also contributed to the sheer enjoyment I got from reading this book.

I received a free e-copy of What Lies Between Us by John Marrs from NetGalley for my honest review.

I am still getting over this book. Intense, gripping, dark disturbing and absolutely jaw dropping! I don't want to ruin any part of it but if you want intense, this is your book.

4.5 stars

O, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive - Walter Scott.

^ That right there could be the synopsis of this book. Seriously.

Told in a variety of timelines (but most basically past and present) and from two pov's, this story is one twisty, turn-y ride. The two protagonists are Maggie and Nina, both believe they have been wronged, both have an abundance of secrets and lies brimming to the surface.

I thoroughly enjoyed this roller-coaster, I took a half point away for wishing for a little more show than tell, but honestly this book is well worth a look. Even if you guess one or two of the 'twists' there are probably a crap ton more that will take you by surprise.
Highly recommended.