[3.5/5] The First to Lie by Hank Phillippi Ryan is a cat-and-mouse thriller, layered with twists and characters who constantly misdirect each other.

The story follows a young investigative reporter, determined the bring down a Big Pharma company for purposefully lying to and harming patients.

We also get a glimpse into the lives of others: a woman who works as a sales rep for Pharminex, and the glamorous family that owns & runs the company. But which of them is telling the truth? Will each of their true motives finally come to light?

This book was a thrill ride, filled with a cast of mysterious characters. I found myself questioning everyone’s motive, and constantly changing my mind about who was telling the truth. (I mean, that’s a strong sign of an entertaining thriller, is it not?!)

The writing was very good, and kept me engaged (for the most part). There were a few parts that dragged a little – I think the story could have been tighter if it was a little shorter. But on the whole, it raised a lot of intriguing questions and kept me wanting to follow each twist and turn.

That brings me to what I didn’t love as much. In the end, I think there were one too many twists for me, and a couple of them didn’t quite ring true. It made the ending feel somewhat unrealistic.

With that being said, I’m still glad I read this one. If you can suspend your disbelief for some of the less realistic parts, this can be an enjoyable and entertaining thriller to get lost in!

**Thank you to Forge Books for my review copy!

Wow. Let me start by saying that I loved this fast paced thriller. But let me also say that it took a lot of suspending belief to convince myself that none of these people recognized one another at any given point. That was a LOT of characters to be played by not a lot of actors. Once I got past that detail, however, I found this to be a quick, enjoyable read.

Love the cover and the premise.
Has enough twist and turns to keep you guessing.
Like how the author finishes chapters with a hook to make you carry on until the end.

Sir Walter Scott's famous quote:
"Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive" pretty much sums up this book in a nutshell. The lies and deceptions will have your brain tangled in knots as you try to keep track of them all.

Investigative journalist Ellie Berensen and her assistant Meg are working on a big story about a pharmaceutical company. Ellie has found out that Pharminex has been pushing doctors to prescribe an off label drug to woman with fertility problems. The only problem is it has dangerous side effects in some women which the company has failed to disclose. Pharminex is owned by the rich and powerful Vanderwald family so Ellie knows she must have watertight evidence before she can go live with her story and she'll use whatever means she can to get it.

This was a very addictive read with multiple twists and turns as what you think you know about the characters keeps being swept away. I recommend you just jump in with both feet and enjoy the ride.

Another winner for Hank Phillippi Ryan!

This is one of those books that readers will need to be patient with in the beginning. But once things start clicking together, it takes off into a book that is almost impossible to put down.

To see my full review, head over to FreshFiction.com.

A gripping mystery with twist and turns at every corner!!All about deceit, revenge and justice!. Grabs you form the first and keeps you wanting to read until the last page! When you think you've figured it out--don't get too cocky because you will most likely be wrong! Recommend with both thumbs up! Thank you NetGalley and the author/publisher for an ARC in exchange for a review!

Wow! I have to say, I'm a longtime fan of Hank's, so this was not my first introduction to her particular style of writing. However I think this is a really, really damn good book. This book had me flipping the pages (metaphorically, I read it on my Kindle) as fast as I possibly could, and all told I finished the book in less than 3 hours. I didn't know who to trust or what was going to happen! That being said, it does get 1.25 stars knocked off, because I did, as a voracious thriller reader, figure out several key details before they were revealed. Normally this would rate a 3-3.5, but I just love Hank's writing style so much. If you like books that you can't put down, pick this one up! You won't regret it. 3.75 stars!

Thank you, Forge Books and Netgalley for my arc.

4⭐️

This is a story about a big pharmaceutical company who “developed” a drug that can reverse infertility, but there’s a catch; you might have an adverse reaction to the medicine that can make you permanently infertile and another catch, the company won’t tell you that. Horrible right? Maybe not uncommon for the industry but still horrific. Many characters were introduced, and I found myself utilizing bookmarks more that I used to so I can keep up. The story bounces between past and present to highlight the characters involvement and the secrets they’re trying to keep hidden. It’s not easy to tell who’s lying and who’s telling the truth and how they’re all interrelated, but it will all make perfect sense at the end. The story is devious, enthralling, and attention-grabbing. This is my first read from this author, and it will not be the last.

If you’re a fan of suspenseful thrillers, you‘re definitely going to want to get your hands on a copy of this book. I ended up writing down the characters’ names on a post-it with a few bullet points about each of them to keep track of who was who! It’s a story filled with many twists and turns - I’m very grateful to have received an advanced reader’s copy!

This book was a real page turner! It was full of twist and turns and I could not predict what was going to happen next!

Let me suggest that anyone wanting to read this keep a legal pad and pencil handy to try to make sense of all the characters and their personas. Or maybe a spreadsheet would be a better option.

Not only did every character have multiple personas, but the story flipped back for forth in time. Occasionally a section would be designated, “Before” or “Now”, but not necessarily. You could be reading in the Before section (which would have multiple chapters) and then find yourself in the current timeline. Or vice versa.

The plot was very confusing and also inconsistent. For example, one of our characters took a taxi to the highway patrol office. A lot was made of the ride there and what happened in the taxi cab. But when she left the HP office, she drove her own car. That was not the only example of that sort of false sequelae.

There was no real characterization as all the characters were pretending to be other people and spending most of the book changing personas. Most of the plot simply wasn’t credible.

I appreciate this ARC from NetGalley and the publisher, Forge Books, in exchange for an honest review.

Ya peel off the label on that ol' jar........and there's another one underneath. Similar to the first, but oh so different. And, by the way, what the heck is actually in that jar?

That's what awaits us in The First to Lie. We've got a bevy of characters who put one foot forward with a certain persona only to fade drastically into another of an opposing hue. Who is the actual you?

Ellie Berensen is an investigative reporter for Channel Eleven in Boston. This new news gig is a start-up in a highly competitive chunk of Boston's wickedly cut-throat venue for the latest and greatest appeal for attention. Ellie knows that she has to come up with something ground scorching in order to make a name for herself in this business.

Enter Meg West, Ellie's new assistant producer, who has all the personal appeal of damp laundry concentrating on mildew. Meg seems to show up in unlikely places much to Ellie's frustration. Turns out that Meg is now renting the apartment across from Ellie. She's also made friends with Ellie's cat. Meg the Meek or Meg the Merciless?

We now pivot towards Nora Quinn, a newly hired sales representative for Pharminex. The Boston blizzards have raised hell with this Southern belle from Charleston, South Carolina. But Nora is determined to make inroads into her new position. Nora is not so concerned with adding notches to her resume. There's something within Pharminex that has drawn Nora in. Something deadly.

Spotlight on Pharminex now. The pharmaceutical company has ponied out a ground-breaking alternative to change people's lives. Monifan is a new and effective fertility drug that has been FDA approved. Young women have been swooping into their doctor's offices clamoring for the drug that promises hope to the infertile. But how many successes can make up for a disaster? There may be something sinister hiding behind this innocent label.

I've always enjoyed a Hank Phillippi Ryan offering especially in Trust Me and The Murder List. The writing is spot-on and entertaining. But there seems to be a trend with authors lately with adding bucketfuls of characters into the mix. This one suffers a bit with an influx of individuals from the present and then a swift turn to 2004 for more. Plus the original residents of this story may not all be who they say they are. Some sorting through and rearranging the chess pieces here. But, all in all, The First to Lie is one to reach for when it's published. Quirky and good.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to Tor/Forge Books (Macmillan Publishing) and to Hank Phillippi Ryan for the opportunity.

The First to Lie introduces a new characters with secrets in almost every chapter at first and I thought I would have trouble with so many characters but soon I was so engrossed in the twisty mystery of The First to Lie that the only problem I had with the characters was trying to figure out the secrets they were keeping. Family secrets, corporate secrets and people who are not as they appear combine for a great read. The plot was a little slow in developing to me but after a few chapter it became a nonstop page turner that I did not want to put down.

The First to Lie by Hank Phillipppi Ryan is the first of her books I have read. This book had well-developed characters with an interesting plot involving a family owned pharmaceutical company “Pharminex” that finds itself in the midst of deaths due to a drug used “off label” . There were many twists and turns as it bounces back and forth between Pharminex and many caught up working to expose the cover up. Between the pages there was heartbreak, betrayal, deception, and revenge. While I enjoyed the well written characters I found the multiple identities were overdone. This book scores 4 stars for me since I felt that the back story wasn’t full in that I wanted the author to delve deeper into the pharmaceutical scandal to drive the plot.
A special thanks to Hank Phillipi Ryan, the publisher, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley for a copy of this book for an honest review of my own opinion. I really enjoyed this book as I enjoy this authors other books also. It is very hard to review without giving spoilers but I must say there are twists and turns and I guessed wrong at where the author was going more than once. Read and enjoy!

Hank Phillippi Ryan does it again! What a rollercoaster of a book. The First to Lie is a who-done-it that keeps you up all night trying to figure out which character is lying, what is their truth and who will live long enough to figure it out. The reader is presented with a huge pharmaceutical conglomerate whose impact can be beneficial or not. Lives are impacted by their products, their truths and how we as a society are affected by their wealth, the benefits they bring to society and whether they operate above or beyond society's norms. This is a "can't put it down until I finish" book!!!

A pharmaceutical company is pushing a fertility medication that can cause heart breaking side effects for some users. There is a cast of characters out to expose them and bring them down.

Told from different points of view, there are twists throughout the story. Although an engrossing read, much of the story lines strained credibility. I’d rate it 3 stars for the plot, but 4 for the writing.

The First To Lie is a perfect roller coaster of a suspense novel where almost no one is who they pretend to be and secrets swirl around a drug company and its blockbuster infertility drug. Author Hank Philippi Ryan weaves each of their stories together until they converge in an explosive ending. I’ll just say that I didn’t see it coming!

The First to Lie by Hank Phillippi Ryan is another winner. This fast paced sit on the edge of your seat book kept me reading well past my bedtime. So many twists and turns to keep you guessing and if you thought you had it figured out guess again. Ms. Ryan wrote a wonderful story which drew me right in, making me forget everything else and did not let me go until I turned the last page. I could not put this book down. The story was very well written, the characters were well developed and believable. I'm excited to see what she has in store for us next!

Wow! This was such a good read! There were so many twists & turns that I lost track of what was going on at times. No-one is who they say they are - I kept thinking I had it figured out & then I was proven wrong every time. This was my first book by Hank Phillippi Ryan & I will definitely be reading more!