A psychological thriller set in Oslo about a summer camp for teens on a island. It turns into a nightmare two gunmen from a white supremacist group start shooting.
As the parents are waiting for news, some are relieved that their children are unharmed. And some get them hear the worst news, 91 young lives lost. Cal and Elsa are left in limbo, as Licia is missing.
They start delving into their daughters lives, and discover lies and secrets, most disturbing is their other daughters behavior. There is so much hurt and anger. Their lives are unravelling as we read. It tugs on your emotions. I felt the most real reaction was from Vee.

It has a slow steady pace, the emotional portrayal kept my interest.
It's a book that makes me think, I really liked the story line, I wish the beginning of the book had a faster pace. I enjoyed the book but like a little more thrill.

Thanks NetGalley for the opportunity to read for an honest opinion

This is one of those books that is interesting enough to make you Google the author. I was completely surprised to learn the author is a British, because this Nordic noir feels so authentic that I assumed the entire time that I was reading a Scandinavian book with a really good translation. As a girl with Norwegian grandma who has never been to Scandinavia, I especially loved that this book was a Norwegian noir — for some reason, you don’t see as many of those as ones set in Denmark or Iceland. The Nordic settings of the book were atmospheric and vivid.

This book was not at all what I expected, and is not your typical missing girl Nordic noir. It crackles with action from the very start, and incorporates aspects of terrorism, family secrets, couplehood, and deception along with the family tragedy.

This is that rare book that is both fast-paced and full of characters with depth. Each character is thoughtfully drawn. McPherson has a page-turning writing style that will draw you in and make you question larger issues and truths. A very competent and interesting book that makes me want to pick up McPherson’s debut novel as well. Definitely more well-written and insightful than many other thrillers I have read of late.

4.5 stars. Recommended! Thank you to William Morrow and Custom House, NetGalley, and the author for the ARC.

Off the bat, I'll say that this book tackles some unimaginable complex family issues through the lens of white nationalism in the perceived Utopia of Norway. It's a fantastic read. From page one, you are swept up in one of the most tragic events in Norwegian history, yet from a POV few have ever imagined and even fewer have lived. It's a POV I've often wondered about, and Ben McPherson has brought it to life.

As a side note, this book's elegant, halting prose creates an odd sense of Scandinavian noir, even though it's written by a Scottish writer (albeit, he lives in Oslo). The prose has a certain Scandinavian flow that I always associated with translation into English, yet this book's native language is English. I'm not sure what to make of this, but I liked it. I highly recommend this book.

Full disclosure: I was given an advance copy of this book by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

LOVE AND OTHER LIES is a smart, complex psychological thriller. I love McPherson's literary style and the intricate character and plot development. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough, in part because the characters seem so genuine. I like how the story explores different character motivations and isn't afraid to linger in the gray areas. Highly recommended for fans of smart novels with a suspense angle.

Ben McPherson's Love and Other Lies centers on attempts to understand what really happened at a horrific shooting in a teen summer camp on an island outside Oslo, Norway.

Cal and Elsa moved to Oslo from Washington, DC. Their eldest daughter Licia is at the summer camp. The question of what happened to her grabs readers and pulls them through the story.

The answer is a shocker, as is what follows after that answer is revealed. This is the best mystery I've read in many months, highly recommended!

Well this was certainly different. I couldn't stop turning the pages! I loved the duologue, and the descriptions, and liked the surprise ending. Thanks for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Love and Other Lies by Ben McPherson is a superbly written book that will hold the reader's attention. well worth the time spent!

What happens when your daughter goes missing during a mass shooting? Is she dead? Is she missing? I really liked the storyline of this one, but I found the lack of emotion in the main characters to be odd. The other daughter, Vee, has some great dialogue that made me really like her. Surprise ending. Recommended. #loveandotherlies #netgalley @TheBenMcPherson

In his exceptional debut novel, A Line of Blood, Ben McPherson presented a stand-alone domestic suspense novel from the perspective of the husband. He now returns with Love and Other Lies and once again focuses on a family in crisis, however, unlike the strain in that earlier book, Love and Other Lies’s central trauma is a large-scale terrorist attack which changes not just the core family in the novel, but all of Norway. While Cal Curtis, the husband and father, is the point-of-view character for the bulk of the novel, Love and Other Lies is really a deep-dive character study of this entire family and an indictment of a culture – worldwide – which stokes the embers of violence by amplifying hatred and discord.

Love and Other Lies hardly allows the reader a moment to settle into the novel before thrusting them forth on a path packed with suspense, fear, and danger. This first chapter recounts the actions of a pair of terrorists as they storm an island in Oslo, Norway, the site of a summer camp for teens. It is a calculated assault with many casualties and the depiction of this violence pulls no punches. In an almost cinematic fashion, readers watch as these two soldiers gun down innocent victims across the island, but the author is wise enough to temper these difficult moments by also allowing readers to witness various acts of courage and resilience on the part of the unsuspecting camp-goers. In a nice bookend structure, Ben McPherson places another action-oriented chase scene at the end of the novel, leading up to the final moments which once again take place on the island.

So, what of the Curtis family? Little did they know when they said goodbye to their eldest daughter Licia, on that particular morning that it would be the beginning of a painful journey which would eventually find them attending the trial for these two mass murderers. Because no family lives in a vacuum, the Curtis’ have their share of personal challenges as well. Cal, a Scottish native, feels very much out of place in the Nordic society; his wife Elsa seems distant and Cal has evidence that she is likely having an affair; younger daughter, Vee, feels guilt and anguish for not having treated her older sister kinder when she had the opportunity and finds solace in both violent videogames and excessive analysis of the terrorist attack. Each of these characters has an arc which will alter their existence and leave them in very different places by the end of the novel.

Ben McPherson structures his novel to remind readers that humans can play many roles simultaneously. Cal can act as a husband, father, foreigner, skeptic, spectator, and countless other roles all at the same time – that is what makes being human such a complex and beautiful experience. But, just as one can serve all those positive functions, there is inevitably persons who take on the task of being the villain, displaying traits that are less desirable and even harmful to others. In all honesty, everyone is made up of varying degrees of both the good and the bad; the journey of life is about making the choices that hopefully push the balance toward the positive side.

And therein lies another theme of Love and Other Lies. Where does hatred come from and how has our modern society not only allowed it to flourish, but downright put into place a social media system designed to capitalize on it? Radicalization is born and breed in these cyber realms and sometimes it falls to the most innocent amongst us to point out the flaws and show a path toward betterment. The journey of Love and Other Lies is very much a personal one for the Curtis family, but the lessons learned by them are truths the reader will carry with them moving forward into the real world.

Ben McPherson is a demonstrative writer; he draws the reader in and allows them to experience what it would be like to exist under these challenging circumstances, while never losing sight of the fact that a novel’s ultimate purpose is to entertain. Love and Other Lies features peaks and valleys of emotional turmoil culminating in a truly gut-wrenching final moment that resonates in profound ways. With just two books so far, Ben McPherson has demonstrated a unique ability to get into the skin of his characters and convey subtle emotions in a dynamic and effective manner. Reading one of his novels is not something one soon forgets.

Man, I would like to tell you what happens in this story but it would wreck the look you will have when you find the truth. Elsa, Licia, Viktoria, Franklin, and Cal Curtis were a family that had lived in Washington D.C. for years, but Elsa was Norwegian and Cal was Scottish. They were in Norway for 6 months until a horrible bomb explosion and on an island over 91 people were killed. Licia was one of the victims but was presumed to be drown. Now the story goes in a lot of different directions from this point on. It's amazing how most things are taken seriously but you can believe each person has other agendas. That all I'll say. I gave it 4 out of 5 stars