Wow! Great twisty book taking on big pharma! This was a very different read. At times, it was hard to keep up/follow all the identities and twists. It almost seemed too much at times and I spent too much time dissecting who is who taking me away from the story itself. However, I really enjoyed the twists, turns, and surprises in this novel. I have not read anything by this author before, but will now! Thankful for the ARC!

Nail biting GREATNESS!

Hold On Tight.... because you are in for one heck of a ride! Hank Phillippi Ryan had me on the edge of seat. I could not stop turning pages. I was completely hooked. Completely consumed. Completely addicted.

The First to Lie is intense and full of suspense! An action packed read that will leave you gasping out loud. I definitely recommend this one to my reader friends! Maybe grab a glass of wine too, because you are in for a shock!

I could not put The First to Lie Down! This is a great thriller if you're looking for an escape. Love Hank Phillippi Ryan's writing and all the twists in this plot!

This was not my favourite Hank Phillippi Ryan book, for sure.

What happens when an undercover reporter gets in too deep? And when a practiced liar has to face off with her own truth—how does she choose her true reality?

Who will be the first to lie?

The blurb has everything going for it and yet for me the story fell flat. The characters also just did not appeal to me and I just found the whole story far fetched. I just could not buy into the world.

A big pharmaceutical company, Pharminex has developed a drug to help women get pregnant, but what if it is not all that it touts to be? What if it actually causes more harm than good?
The company is owned by the wealthy Vanderwalds. Ellie is a reporter who is digging up dirt to expose the company and she is all set to do whatever it takes for the same. She is aided in this by her assistant, Meg, who acts suspicious and Ellie is always wary of her.
Then we have another character, Nora, who is a sales rep for Pharminex. We have POVs of all the characters mentioned and to me it just gets jumbled for no good reason.

There are some interesting twists and turns and the story is interesting but it just did not engage me. I guessed the main twist quite early as well.

This might work for others so give t a read and decide.

I will definitely be reading more of the author's work because I've enjoyed her previous books.

So many twists and turns keep you so totally enthralled in this book.

I couldn't put it down.

Family secrets, lies, betrayals, money, power. It's all there and so much more.

It will keep you on the edge of your seat to find out what happens.

A fantastic read, a winner. Abundant with twists and turns, it was very hard to put down.
Many thanks to MacMillan-Tor/Forge and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Wow, what did I just read?!! This is one of the craziest, feistiest books I have read in a while. It took me a moment to get it into, the story goes between present and past with different characters. Lacey and Trevor are the perfect socialite pair. He is the son of a top pharmaceutical company. Unfortunately, the company is not above board and makes money off of medications it knows can cause permanent damage. Ellie and Meg are reporters looking into the story and trying to bring the company down for its wrong doings. Paths collide in ways unimaginable. I don’t want to give anything away with the story. It is another must read by Hank Ryan.

Thank you Hank Ryan and Netgalley for the opportunity to read an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Ellie is a reporter for a brand-new television station in Boston and she’s investigating a company that knowingly produces a medicine that has harmful side-effects.

This suspense/thriller had so many twists and turns and left my jaw on the floor more than once! I love how Hank Phillippi Ryan incorporates her own journalism experience to give a sense of exigency and realism to the story.

Could not put this book down!

***May Contain Spoilers***


Lies have a complicated half-life. Nora tried to calculate the life span of her most recent one as she waited on the corner of Tremont and Union Park. She's meeting a guy named Douglas. He's a doctor. They walked arm in arm toward the hip South End restaurant he'd chosen, Calabria. Nora had met Dr. Douglas Hawkins earlier this morning in his clinic office, where he'd been flat-out 53 minutes late for their appointment. Nora is a pharmacy technician. Her employer is Pharminex. Dr. Hawkins is a fertility doctor.

Ellie Berenson and Meg Weest are neighbors. Ellie's first day on the air is in three weeks. Two weeks before, she'd passed the first hurdle there, a gut-wrenching interview that was more frightening in reality than in her imagination. Ellie is a reporter at Channel 11.

Nora went to dinner with Dr. Hawkins. He's married. Nora was in college theater productions. Her mother had performed in the theater too, in college, before she got married and played the lifetime role of mother. Nora started working at Pharminex three weeks ago. Her name is Nora Quinn. Maren is a haughty bun-wearing receptionist. Dettalinda Fiddler is head of HR for Pharminex and had been climbing the ladder for ten years. In the early 20003, and continuing its storied history of market-crushing success, the company had claimed a market share in women's anti-anxiety medications. Now a new drug was their star player. Dettalinda Fiddler was the poster woman for Pharminex's outreach and opportunities. Nora is the conduit between the company and the medical profession, to convince them, inform them, and reassure them that what they're producing can change their patients' medical futures. Nora meets her boyfriend, Guy, at a restaurant.

Warren Zalkind is the boss at Channel 11. Ellie is doing a story on Pharminex. Ellie wonders if it would be possible to warn patients' families about the chance of addiction before their loved ones died. Meg is Ellie's new assistant. At least Ellie didn't have to work with Meg every day. She'd spent today researching, on her own, and now imagined the slew of potential complications having a coworker as a neighbor would inevitably present. As a roving assistant producer, Meg wouldn't be underfoot at Channel 11 all the time. The woman had seemed almost clingy the night they'd met, prying and needy. Meg wants to exchange apartment keys with Ellie. Warren and Ellie are going into his office so she can share her news story with him. Ellie wants to do a story about acclaimed wonder drugs harming women more than helping them. Those drugs were FDA-approved and aggressively pushed on patients as lifesavers. But in truth, they were deadly. Monifan is also FDA-approved, but only to be used to decrease the recovery time after surgeries. Pharminex thinks it can also make it easier for fertility drugs to take effect. Sometimes Monifan doesn't work like that. It can cause women to be unable to have children. She's talked to some lawyers, and Ellie has been tracking the pharmaceutical representatives, the salespeople for Pharminex. In honor of his continuing and generous contributions to science and medicine, the Massachusetts Medical Science Association is giving the president of Pharminex, Winton Trevor Vanderwald, Jr., their coveted Humanitarian of the Year Award. The Vanderwalds will announce they're funding a megabucks scholarship for Massachusetts Medical to give every year in honor of their son, Winton III. Winton Trevor Vanderwald III, went by Trevor when he died. Ellie gets a note from Gabe. The security guard hands it to her. Trevor Vanderwald died in a boating accident years ago. He was being groomed to take over the company, but rough seas and an unlucky gust of wind had ended the line of male succession in the Vanderwald family. His sister Brooke had been on the boat too which was called the Caduceus. When she was nine, after Ellie had devoured every volume of the Cherry Ames, Student Nurse mysteries, she'd thought the caduceus was the symbol for medicine. But when she got older, she'd learned it was also the magic wand of Hermes, messenger of the gods and patron of trade. She calls Gabe. He sent Ellie a Pharminex email about Winton Vanderwald. This could be the call of her dreams, a Pharminex insider who had sneaked her this email to prove he had access, and was willing to offer her more. Or it could be a trap---a Pharminex fixer who was out to see where she was going and stop her. Ellie agrees to meet with Gabe.

Kaitlyn, a patient at the fertility clinic calls Nora Quinn. Kaitlyn was rendered infertile by the medications her doctor had prescribed and was on the phone with Nora when she was involved in a car crash.

Meg may have found another victim of the drug Monifan. Abigail says she'll only talk to Ellie on the phone. Meg has to be with her and asks Ellie if she wants her to set up an interview with her. Lydia saw the same patients in different fertility clinics. That's why she's worried someone from Pharminex is spying on them. On Lydia especially. Why would the same women be in different offices? Gabe is a lawyer working the same case as Nora and Lydia. Kaitlyn dies in the car accident.

Brooke and Liam are dating. Brooke Hadley Vanderwald wants a baby girl more than she's ever wanted anything in her whole life. Having a daughter is more important than anything, including herself. Liam was crazy about Princeton and would possibly dump her if she ever got pregnant. Lacey Grisham is her sorority sister. Trevor Vanderwald is the scion of the Vanderwald family, their only son and rightful heir. Trevor is Brooke's brother. Sometimes it seemed, even though he was four years older, her brother was the only one who cared about her. Brooke is 15; Liam is 16. She wanted happiness, she could envision it, but what did happiness mean? To her, it meant Liam Endicott.

In an apartment somewhere in Massachusetts, Meg sat with the woman who was about to reveal her devastating medical outcome. In the hideous equation of journalism, this woman's tragedy could seal Ellie's success. Meg is with Abigail. Meg might be an asset to Ellie. Being annoying didn't mean she was incompetent, and Ellie could not pull off the story alone. She'd knocked on Meg's door---and Meg had slipped out in the hallway, clicking the door closed behind her. Ellie wasn't eager to invite Meg into her place again, didn't want to set a precedent. Abigail's damaged and has decided that her life was ruined by Monifan. By Pharminex. When Meg told her what Ellie said, about the company calculating how much a human life is worth, she about lost it. Meg almost regrets that she knows it. Now she feels the damage was on purpose. Premeditated. That they knew what might happen and didn't do anything about it. She's out to get them. Meg found Abigail on a social media private group. She pretended she was a victim too. Meg only learned about the project that week, and she already convinced somebody to talk to a reporter. Usually that kind of negotiating and persuasion takes much longer. They'll have to figure out how to tell their boss. Abigail felt as if she had killed her children. As if Pharminex had tricked her into murdering her own children.

Nora couldn't decided which tactic was more ominous: that she'd been yanked off her afternoon appointments or that Allessandra Lewes and Dettalinda Fiddler had not offered her the elegant visitor's chair that now sat conspicuously empty in front of the Pharminex executive's desk. Allessandra and Detta know that Nora is not who she says she is. They find this out from reviewing her resume. They did a complete background check and realized Nora Quinn does not exist. Mrs. Fiddler tells "Nora" that there are security officers willing to escort her to the authorities. They ran "Nora's" fingerprints against the government database and found no matches. "Nora" offers to resign. Detta Fiddler just laughs in her face. They recorded "Nora's" meetings with Dr. Hawkins. They used Dr. Hawkins as bait.

Gabe calls Ellie. Gabe brings up the subject of Nora Quinn. Gabe thinks she's a potential client to blow the whistle on the company. He thinks her family has connections to Pharminex. To the Vanderwalds themselves. He thinks she's related to them. He thinks she's scheming to rat them out. Reveal what the company's doing. How it's harming women. He doesn't think "Nora" is what she seems to be. Brinn and her soon-to-be lauded husband had a daughter. Maybe Nora Quinn is really Brooke Hadley Vanderwald who had disappeared from news coverage years ago. The Internet thinks she might be dead because she was in a sailing accident that killed her brother. She was in rehab, then she's not heard from again. Gabe wants to hash things out with Ellie. Gabe is looking into the crash that killed Kaitlyn Armistead and is trying to link it to Monifan which can result in suicidal thoughts or actions. That could be a key point in Ellie's investigation. It could provide evidence that Monifan was dangerous and that Pharminex had known that fact and sold it anyway. The police aren't sure Kaitlyn's death was an accident.

Nora and Kaitlyn were sitting together in the doctor's office talking leading police to believe that they knew each other. Kaitlyn appeared upset, so the police think Nora said something to upset Kaitlyn. Gabe and Ellie think Nora Quinn caused Kaitlyn to crash her car, and is trying to blame it on the medicine and Pharminex to ruin them. Nora has a box of evidence that she takes to her apartment. She's trying to haul the box inside from the cab without being seen. She had met with Guy, her boyfriend, five days ago which had been unsettling. It had ended so late that they'd closed down the restaurant. Nora lied to Detta and Allessandra about the reason she changed her identity. She said she was an abused woman hiding from a dangerous husband. She told them she thought Dr. Hawkins was genuinely interested in her as a person. They agree to lie to protect her, saying that she had another opportunity.

Lacey is getting married. Brinn Vanderwald's son, Trevor, is marrying Lacey. She'd be Lacey Grisham Vanderwald. Mrs. Trevor Vanderwald, the beloved wife of the scion of Vanderwald industries and all they controlled. Brooke is a bridesmaid. Brooke has a lot of hostility to her parents because they had actively tricked her, actively deceived her, and then, thought she'd accept their murder of her child. She'd loved Liam, and now her heart was too heavy to carry i her body. He'd ignored her and erased her. He'd told her he loved her more than the moon and the stars. Liam would never miss her, no matter how much she missed him. Brooke's brother, Trevor, is marrying Lacey. Trevor loved Lacey, and had asked Brooke to be a bridesmaid.

Ellie had called the Medical Science Association, curious about tickets for the Vanderwald gala. Every penny goes for the Trevor scholarship. There might be a problem with the interview with Abigail. The video is missing. They think there was a transmission glitch in the file transfers. Abigail won't answer Meg's calls. Ellie comes home, and her apartment door is open. Meg, her neighbor calls the police. Someone had been inside Ellie's apartment while she was gone. Somebody put legal pads and pencils on her kitchen table. Gabe had texted her over the weekend that he was out of town for a few days. Maybe one of the lawyers she interviewed had ratted her out, and the company ordered some goon to scare her away. Ellie tells the police the break-in wasn't random. She thinks someone wants her to understand that they're aware of a story she's working on. Their intent is to threaten her. Someone's trying to tell her that her own home is not safe. She believes it has to be personal. Ellie believes that Nora Quinn was behind the break-in. Ellie used her reporter status to email the state police casually asking about the latest in the car accident. They'd been unresponsive. She'd even driven to the state police headquarters to find Detective Lieutenant Rafael Monteiro, the trooper assigned to the case, but had been told he was out and his schedule was "uncertain". She meets with Gabe to discuss Nora Quinn and how the disenchanted and disillusioned pharma rep had finally agreed to an in-depth no-holds-barred interview. Pharminex is fully aware Monifan can be devastatingly harmful. But because those bad outcomes are rare, they've made the decision to pay off the victims and keep it all quiet. Ellie asked Nora about being connected to the Vanderwalds. She seemed baffled by the question. She told Ellie everything she needed for her story and she asked to be Gabe's law firm's whistleblower.

Nora is deeply upset about Pharminex and what they're doing to women. Gabe asks if Nora has proof. Nora has training materials and will give them all to Gabe and Ellie at some point. She says the company has prescription pads printed, already filled out for Monifan, just waiting for a doctor's signature, and Nora's getting samples. Included in the training materials is proof Pharminex instructed their sales reps to push the drug for off-label use for "infertility mitigation" which is not only illegal, but dangerous. And they know it. And that's what Abigail said happened to her. Her doctor admitted Monifan sometimes made women infertile.

Ellie believes that Pharminex had engineered Kaitlyn's accident. Gabe thinks Ellie is Nora. Ellie has been pretending to be Nora. Gabe pretended to be Guy to Nora. He'd targeted Ellie's whole class of recruits and hung out in doctors' offices to see which sales reps might be willing to divulge secrets in return for whatever he could do for them. Ellie posing as Nora is going to help Detta and Allessandra identify the reporter (which is also her as Ellie) posing as a patient in doctors' offices to investigate the women's claims that Monifan harms more women than it helps. Gabe agrees to pose as Ellie's/Nora's lawyer to make sure everything's legal and that their confidentiality deal holds. Gabe/Guy thinks maybe they need another contract. Ellie is worried that Detta and Allessandra know that she's pretended to be Nora Quinn. Gabriel Hoyt agrees to be Ellie's lawyer. Gabe talks with Meg, and Ellie thinks that he might know her. Meg is at the office to apply for a job. Gabe thinks Meg is Brooke Vanderwald.

Lacey is told by the doctor that she can never have children. She's had two miscarriages, and Trevor's mom suggests she get tests and go to doctors, even going so far as to suggest medications and experimental treatments. Then, she has another miscarriage. Brinn, Trevor's mom, takes her to a fertility doctor.

Ellie/Nora will be reassigned as a customer service/public relations representative. No longer actively representing products but tasked with assessing consumer reaction and protecting the company's market position. She'd report to Ms. Fiddler directly. Gabe tells Allessandra that Nora cannot guarantee she'll discover anyone---reporter or other unwanted questioner---who's approaching Pharminex's employees. Pharminex has people in certain pivotal doctors' offices and other places. They need to ensure the safety and efficacy of their products, as well as their security. They need to make clear to the board and to the stockholders and to the public that no renegade journalist is targeting their company. As Nora, Ellie lied to convince Pharminex to give her a job in the first place, lied to further her investigation, then lied her way out when she got caught. As Ellie, she'd lied to convince her news director and everyone else that she had no agenda but to be a journalist exposing a powerful and unscrupulous business. Now she was being offered an assignment where the stated point was to keep on lying and to discover who else was doing the same thing. When the stakes were life and death, did a few lies matter?

Ellie thinks it's her fault that Kaitlyn died. Ellie is thinking that maybe Pharminex thought Kaitlyn was going to call the media, as she threatened Dr. McGinty she would, that maybe they decided to shut her up. And whether she was simply scared or injured or even killed by it---they knew that "accident" would put her out of the picture. But the fact that she called Ellie---that was the puzzle piece Pharminex could not have predicted. Meg calls Ellie to let her know that a Pharminex employee was killed or is dead, or something like that. Ellie thought she'd been the first to lie in her and Gabe's relationship. But maybe he'd been the first. Maybe the first lie was only the beginning. Gabe was the only person who knew her as both Ellie and Nora. Lydia Frost, a Pharminex employee died in a car accident like Kaitlyn Armistead. Ellie goes to the police station about the fatal accident on Route 9, the accident that killed Lydia. The cadet at the desk tells Elllie she needs to call the media relations. Kaitlyn was taking Monifan when she died. Lydia was selling it. Detective Lieutenant Rafael Monteiro was head of accident reconstruction and shows up to talk to Ellie about Lydia Frost. She tells him she's a reporter for Channel 11. They called the news station to talk to Ellie, and Meg, a producer, tells the police that Ellie is a big time investigative reporter. The police have made a connection between Lydia Frost, Kaitlyn Armistead, and Nora Quinn. Ellie tells the police Nora Quinn works for Pharminex. The police are aware that someone is pretending to be Nora Quinn. Ellie tells the police about Gabe's/Guy's connection to both Lydia Frost and Kaitlyn Armistead. She also tells them about his connection to Nora.

Trevor tries to explain his and Lacey's trouble conceiving to his sister, Brooke. Brooke was with Trevor when he had a sailing accident, and drowned. The police arrive at the Vanderwalds' party and notify Lacey that something happened to her husband.

Ellie goes to Kaitlyn Armistead's house to speak to her husband, and Meg has already beat her there. Meg had asked James Armistead about his wife's terrible accident. Mr. Armistead was telling her how wonderful his wife was. Ellie tells James that she and Meg are working on a story about distracted driving. Ellie continues saying that she's been researching the causes for car accidents. Ellie thinks if you can save one life with your personal call to discourage distracted driving, then Kaitlyn's death would not have been in vain. A victim's grief versus the public good---could never truly be reconciled. Ellie would not have been the first journalist to lie about her motives to get a story. She asks James Armistead about his wife and wants to see some pictures of her or his children. She asks Meg again what she's doing there. One of Monifan's side effects was suicidal tendencies, so she thought she'd come ask Kaitlyn's husband if he'd noticed anything like that. She tells Meg that Meg thinks she's just doing her job, and tells her not to go off on her own without discussing it. Meg misled her boss. Meg says she took an Uber to get to the Armisteads' house. Someone came into the Armisteads' house, and stole Kaitlyn's photo album. Meg took the pencils and sticky pads that James had dumped out of Kaitlyn's briefcase; they were Pharminex pencils and a preprinted prescription pad for Monifan. Meg thinks Pharminex may have had something to do with Kaitlyn's death. Meg admits to Ellie that she met "Will Faraday" who is really Gabe because she went to Pharminex to apply for a job. Gabe did not know that Meg worked as a reporter with Ellie. Gabe as Will shows up at Meg's apartment to discuss Lydia Frost with Ellie and Meg. He also wants to discuss Kaitlyn Armistead. The police think the two women's tires were tampered with. Someone knew those cars and targeted them and vandalized them, without getting caught. Gabe thinks it was Pharminex who tampered with the cars. Mary Grace Thibodeaux/Lacey Grisham owns the white car that was parked at James Armistead's house. Meg and Ellie are headed to Abigail's house. They're going to reinterview her because the tape with the original interview is missing. Ellie texts Detective Monteiro and finds out that Lacey Vanderwald is wanted for the murder of Trevor Vanderwald. She's possibly in Boston. Gabe as Will shows up at Abigail's apartment. Abigail knows "Will". She says Will Faraday is a Pharminex hired gun and is trapping and using Ellie. "Will" befriended Kaitlyn and Lydia Frost. He dated them. Ellie tricks Meg into trapping "Will" into admitting he killed Kaitlyn and Lydia. James Armistead phoned Warren, Ellie's and Meg's boss, wondering why Channel 11 employee Meg Weest left a car in his driveway. The police were called and came and took it. Gabe says to Ellie it's Lacey's car. Meg might have been in the car, but Meg doesn't drive, Ellie says. They think Abigail might be Lacey. Ellie thinks Meg was driving the car and that it belongs to Meg and Lacey. She thinks Meg Weest is Lacey Vanderwald. She texts Detective Monteiro, and they're sending police to arrest Meg. Meg and Abigail give them the slip. Ellie thinks Meg and Abigail and Lacey are the same person. Lacey laced the sandwiches for Trevor's sailing trip with Ambien, and Trevor succumbed to the effects and fell overboard and drowned. Brooke came close to dying herself. Meg is Lacey and shows up to the gala honoring her dead husband. She stabs Brinn, her former mother-in-law with an ice pick. Ellie was really Brooke, Trevor's sister, Brinn's daughter. Gabe was really Liam Endicott. Brooke and Liam rekindle their relationship.

I really enjoyed this book. It took a while to get through it because no one was who they seemed to be, and it got a bit confusing sometimes. I received this book as a complimentary copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Finished this bleary eyed this morning. It is so good. The book just takes off from page one and, WOW, the twists just kept on coming. Just when I thought I had it figured out, then I'd have to change my mind again. Plenty of red herrings, the hallmark of a great mystery, to lead the reader astray. I love a setting in Boston, because I lived there for 12 years, so I could truly picture these scenes. This is a really well-written story. So many pieces to grab you, a dishonest pharmaceutical company, women with fertility issues, a tenacious investigative reporter, and even a little light romance. Who can you trust? I'll leave you, dear reader to figure it out and see who is the first to lie.

Sort of enjoyed the story overall, but it was wayyyy to unrealistic for my liking. The writing style was great (LOVE multiple POVs), and it definitely made sense in the end, but sometimes it was hard to keep track of who was who (which, again, makes sense in the end... but still). This book was literally like the written version of Inception. Interesting, but just too... much.

What a ride! I'm still reeling from the twists and turns this book took me on. The topics this book covered really intrigued me- big pharm cover ups, medical malpractice, deception, and revenge. It was truly unique from the many other thriller books I have read. I have to say I was a little confused the first part of the book and wondered if my questions would ever be answered. It really makes you wonder if ANYONE is who they say they are. The author had excellent character development and impeccable pacing. Looking forward to reading more by this author. Thank you Forge Books and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Rating 4.5

The First to Lie was my first book by Hank Phillippi Ryan and let me tell ya...I am a fan. When I first started, I was wondering how is all this related and how is it going to end. Definitely a page turner of the best kind. Full of twists, turns and deception, Hank weaves a wonderful story and shows she is a master of her craft.

Thank you to Hank, Forge Books and NetGalley for my copy of The First to Lie in exchange for my review.

Publication Date: August 4, 2020

Hank Ryan is a crime fiction master! And she has crafted the ultimate of evil villains in this one… the corrupt and unethical Big Pharma.⁣⁣
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Ellie is an investigative reporter determined to take down the pharmaceutical company Pharminex, who is using one of their medications to treat infertility… when she finds it might actually be making some permanently unable to conceive.⁣⁣
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Nora has just been hired as a rep by the shady company and has plans of her own in exposing Pharminex and the family behind it. Can these two work together to bring them down?⁣⁣
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The stories intertwine with the company and it's history, and it is clear that there are agendas, there are secrets, and that some might do the unthinkable to expose it all.⁣⁣
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A fun, twisty, page turner that you definitely are going to want to cancel plans for!⁣⁣

Liar, Liar, Pants on fire....

I am not going to lie; this was not my favorite book by Hank Phillippi Ryan. I usually love and devour her books, but this one took a long time for me to get into. What I can give her high marks for is writing a relevant book. A big pharmaceutical company (Pharminex) has developed a drug to help women get pregnant, but what if it causes more harm than good?

Pharminex is owned by the wealthy, Vanderwald family. Ellie is a reporter who is trying to dig up dirt on the company and is aided by her assistant, Meg. Then there is Nora, a sales rep for Pharminex who visits doctors’ offices to get them to give the medication to the hopeful patients.
Then there is.... you get it, there are a lot of characters with many POV chapters. Why so many???? And why, while reading this, can't I get the Who's song "Who are you out of my head?"

As with Ryan's previous books, this book has some interesting twists and turns. Some revelations I did not see coming and a nice story on revenge, secrets, justice, lies, and the truth.

Overall, an enjoyable read but I struggled initially with getting into this book. She did suck me in but this one I did not love as I have her other books. Oh well, we cannot love them all. But I will still be looking out for more books from her in the future!

Thank you to Macmillan Tor/ Forge an d NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

O! M! G! My head is spinning like Regan in The Exorcist!!!

Investigative reporter, Ellie Berensen goes undercover at a big and powerful pharmaceutical company, Pharminex, to expose them that they are prescribing a drug that does irreparable side effects for women wanting to start a family. They know this but feel those that do have the side effects they can pay off since they are making major money due to those that don't.

During Ellie's undercover persona, one of the victims ends up dead. And then an employee at Pharminex does too in the same manner. Is Pharminex behind these murders? Or is there something more nefarious happening?

This book takes the reader on a thrilling roller coaster ride with so many loops, turns, drops, and just as you are pulling in to the station, it takes off again. A white knuckle read that the author slowly pulls off the layers of an onion until the very last word.

I would love to know the author's process of writing this book because it was brilliant!!!! Just BRILLIANT!!!!

I promise you, this book will pull you in and not let go. Don't even try to figure it out, because you won't be able to, just enjoy the ride!!!

Posted to GR 08/18/20 To be posted to blog 08/25/20

Enjoyed this book. It was a little confusing at first, keeping track of the various characters, but as I got further into the book, couldn't wait for the next surprise.

Before I start the review I just want to dedicate a song to this story , “YOU SPIN MY HEAD RIGHT ROUND RIGHT ROUND”. ( head still spinning as i write all this)

This is my first read by Hank Philippi Ryan.

It is a story full of twists and turns but one too many that it wants to make you throw up just like travel sickness or after a rollercoaster ride.

There is a side effect of reading this book and that is you don’t really know who you are or who people are really, makes you cynical and double think EVERYTHING.

This story contains almost 6 POVs 10 POVs or not, I don’t know I can’t think straight anymore, read the book to find out. It’s a story around exposing a big pharmaceutical company business PHARMINEX for selling a “miracle drug” helping women with infertility issues. The plot circles around deception, prevarications, revenge and the sensitive issue of infertility that many women face.

I always like a story where you can’t trust the narrator or anyone for that matter!

The story was a slow burn but once it took off it was nice. Some parts were quite predictable and it kind of dulled my edge of the seat excitement but overall it was a crazy read.

I like the reference to my fav show “F.R.I.E.N.D.S” when One of the characters was thinking about naming her unborn child Rachel, Monika or Phoebe. That was cute!

The challenge after you read the book is to guess and name ,
who is ACTUALLY THE FIRST ONE TO LIE?

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an e Arc in exchange of an honest review.

3.5 STARS (rounded up)

We all have our reasons for being who we are—but what if being someone else could get you what you want?

What happens when an undercover reporter gets in too deep? And when a practised liar has to face off with her own truth—how does she choose her true reality? Who will be the first to lie?

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After seeing all the rave reviews for THE FIRST TO LIE, I knew that it was a book that I NEEDED to read. I am always on the hunt for super twisty, juicy thrillers and this definitely fit the bill!

THE FIRST TO LIE is basically a book of liars - no one is who they say they are and you are constantly questioning everyone and everything. It was almost like riding a roller coaster blindfolded - you had no idea what was going to happen next! I liked that the chapters were short and usually ended on enough of a cliffhanger to keep me frantically turning the pages.

Although I enjoyed many aspects of THE FIRST TO LIE, I never felt super invested in the medical/reporter plot (which is kind of the whole premise. Oops) I found myself skimming those aspects to get back to the juicer (character reveal) bits. I also really struggled with the latter half of the book because I found that the twists / reveals became a bit far-fetched. It's never good when you end a book with an eye-roll! However, I do recommend it to anyone looking for a quick "summer beach read" thriller.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher for my ARC. THE FIRST TO LIE is out now!

From the depths of Nicole’s Book Cellar (Instagram.com/nicoles_bookcellar):

Book: The First to Lie (Release Date: August 4, 2020)

Author: Hank Phillippi Ryan

Genre: Mystery/Thriller/Suspense

Rating: 3⭐⭐⭐!!!!!!!!!

Trigger ⚠️ Infertility and barren woman content

Plot: After a horrible incident, a woman becomes obsessive in making the guilty party pay. Only problem is, there are many other people who too want to make them pay.

Thoughts: The story is told through a few narrators plus flashbacks. I love a book with both these things as long as it isn’t overdone or too confusing. I think Ryan does it just right. I was able to follow along and keep the character separate without feeling like I need to make a character map.

Final drinking thoughts: I was really into the book and the mystery. I went back and forth who was whom and what part they played. Ryan mixed it up so much I just couldn’t tie down a final guess and I loved that! The story did carry on a bit too long. I loved the beginning and the end, some of the middle was okay while a little went on too long. I would recommend this to those that like mysteries.
Thank you to @NetGalley @MacMillan and @ryanhankphillippi for an advanced copy of @TheFirstToLie

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