I devoured this novel in a few hours with very little breaks. Rainey and her Mom find themselves living I a cult run bu a megalomaniac who wants to co trol and destroy people. After trying to escape, things get wild for upung teenage Rainey. Told in a dual timeliness with Rainey as an adult on a girl's trip with new friends, things come full circle. A creative and suspenseful novel. Not one to miss!

While I'm one of the many that have become enthralled with Tarryn Fisher's online persona, her books have all been hit or miss for me. Regardless, I keep grabbing for her newest releases, so clearly there's something about her writing that keeps me intrigued. An Honest Lie was a refreshing surprise after The Wrong Family.

When New York-based artist Rainy falls for a man that buys a piece of her artwork, she uproots her life and moves to Tiger Mountain to be with him. Grant is eager for her to make friends and feel at home, so he connects her with a group of women that call themselves the Tigers. Rainy isn't exactly thrilled to be forced into all of their social events or their drama. After growing up in a cult, her ability to trust (or fake it) is pretty limited. But Grant doesn't know that, and neither do the women he's pushing her to befriend.

When they head to Vegas for a girl's trip, she finds herself dangerously close to the compound she fled from years ago. Her past is quickly catching up with her, but she isn't the only one on the trip keeping secrets.

While I'll agree with the chorus of other reviewers that say the past-and-present timelines felt a bit disjointed, I was sucked in enough by the flashbacks that I was willing to push through the present-day chapters to see how everything resolved.

This was a quick book that I read all at once. It kept the pages turning. It’s the story of Rainey who takes a trip to Vegas with a new group of friends and things get dark. There were several parts of the story that seemed pretty implausible, but I thought it was creative. I enjoyed reading it.

A girls weekend in Vegas, secrets and murder.. what could possibly go wrong?

Believe it or not, this was my first Tarryn Fisher book and it did not disappoint me in the slightest. I can officially say that I’ll be reading everything that she writes now.

When Rainy reluctantly agrees to go on a weekend trip to Vegas with her friend group, her past decides to come back and haunt her. After a wild night at the bars, her friend Braithe doesn’t make it back to the hotel. When she gets a text from Braithe’s phone saying that they have her, Rainy knows it’s her that they really want.

This was so dark and twisted and I enjoyed every second of it. I loved the now/then timeline and getting to learn about Rainy’s past. I really enjoyed the setting throughout the story and the cultish compound from the past.

Overall, I couldn’t stop reading this book. It was fast paced and kept me wanting more. I highly recommend picking this one up on April 26th! Prepare yourself for a crazy ride.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Graydon House for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

This book had an interesting premise of a young girl and her mother who unwittingly become trapped in a cult. It alternates from there to present day and has lots of twists and turns that kept me hooked from beginning to end!

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas - unless you’re Rainy! Rainy reluctantly agrees to a girls’ weekend in Vegas, a place she escaped from & a past she left behind! It all comes rushing back when her friend Braithe disappears. Rainy receives a text, the people that has Braithe wants Rainy and now it’s life or death! Are these “girlfriends” or her boyfriend, Grant, in on it? Who can Rainy trust? This is told in two timelines - past/present and Rainy’s past is certainly intriguing! Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing for a gifted copy! This is my honest review.

Lorraine moved her entire life to move to Tiger Mountain. While her relationship is great, she doesn’t love most of the ladies in their friend group. When she gets forced into a girls trip to Vegas, things go downhill when one of the girls disappears.

Ok are cults the new trend this year? I feel like I have read so many cult books! That said, this was not my favorite of the cult books I have read. While I enjoyed both storylines, the past and the present, I had some trouble when they came together. It felt very unbelievable which made it a bit harder to get into. I did read this one quickly and it was enjoyable, but if you are choosing which cult book to read this year, I think there are better out there.

This memorable thriller sucked me in immediately with its past, present, and unexpected storylines. I dove into this book without expectations, and was pleasantly surprised.

Rainy is a newer Tiger Mountain resident who reluctantly joins a group of neighborhood wives, girlfriends and significant others for a Vegas trip. The story jumps back and forth from Rainy’s present to Rainy’s past which has a strong Nevada tie.

Rainy’s past life was absolutely fascinating. It offers a sneak peak into the inner workings of a cult and its powerful leader. I never understood the midset of cults until I read this book.

The book is a very slow burn but it’s intentional for plot-building. I actually enjoyed the cult backstory more than the present, but the tale became WAY more interesting when the past and present collide.

The story did not have many likeable characters, except for our heroine Rainy who is strong, resilient, and recovering from past trauma and abuse. All other characters in this book from Rainy’s past and present are pretty awful, especially the group of women that are Rainy’s “friends” who persuade her to travel to Vegas. The group is a bunch of manipulative Mean Girls who stab each other in the back and talk bad about each other. With friends like these – who needs enemies?

(Mini-Review) In all honesty this is pretty much a semi-DNF review - I read a solid 30% before calling it & skimming the rest, I just couldn't get into this for the life of me. The present day storyline was just so, so boring, & while the cult storyline was definitely more interesting, I just had no desire to trudge through the rest of it. I had this same issue last year with Tarryn's "The Wrong Family" (another DNF for me), I feel like I've been chasing the high I got from the craziness of "The Wives" but nothing's come close to that. All in all, this just wasn't for me. Thank you so much Tarryn Fisher, NetGalley & Harlequin Trade Publishing for providing an ARC in exchange for a honest review!

QUICK TAKE: In a year with a LOT of cult books hitting bookshelves, this is...not the one to prioritize. There was such a disconnect between the Las Vegas girls trip and the cult storyline that I never really felt came together in a cohesive way, and the last 50 pages are just a slog. Ultimately, not for me.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for this advanced copy.

I am a HUGE Tarryn Fisher fan! Unfortunately this just fell short for me. The before chapters were so good and gripping….the now chapters were like listening to 30 year olds still stuck in high school and their drama and it irritated me to no end. I would have liked the story much better if it was all about the before.

I really wanted to venture into the mystery genre, specifically, mystery thriller, and An Honest Lie by Tarryn Fisher was a fabulous start. There's Vegas, there are strong, three-dimensional women characters and there's the exploration of abusive relationships It's an honest portrayal of toxic friendships and the suspense will leave you searching for more but scared of what you will find at the same time. You'll be anxious but the wild ride will be so worth it. Tarryn Fisher will have you at the edge of your seat from the first sentence. Highly recommend giving this book a shot!

Wasn't too sure what to think of this book when I started it. As I kept reading, it kept me interested. Told with dual timelines from Rainy's perspective.

I’m going to tell you now, this book will elicit polarized reviews. But, I feel that will always happen with this author’s books.

With so many similar thrillers out there, I love to read her unique ones. I do like some of her books more than others, but I love authors that try new things, defy norms, and just write what they feel like writing.

I actually really liked this book. It kept me entertained throughout, flipping pages and had me thinking about it for days afterwards.

I feel like you should just go into this book with as little information as possible.
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Rainy attends a weekend with her new friends in Vegas…. her past and present collide…
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I definitely recommend this distinctive, wild, savage, ride!

And it is definitely one of my all-time favorite covers! 😍

Thank you for the opportunity to review this book. This story had potential, but the flow of it didn’t work for me.

I’m the girl that will drop everything to read a new TF book but man, something about this one just didn’t hit right for me. The two timelines felt forced together and I just didn’t get it. The story was just okay. I was definitely more invested in Rainy’s past life than I was in her present life. This one wasn’t a win for me like previous books but I’m certain she’ll have me with the next.

Wow.

An Honest Lie was not at all the story I was expecting when I started reading. From the very first page I was captivated by the world Tarryn Fisher had so brilliantly created. An Honest lie is so detailed, so descriptive, and I had knots in my stomach the entire time reading.

The book begins with Rainy attending a party she does not want to be at. We learn she’s been in a loving relationship with her boyfriend, Grant, for a while. Rainy moved from New York to Tiger Mountain just to be with Grant. She not only has to adapt to Grant’s town, but she is also strongly encouraged to be friends with Grant’s friends.

From the beginning it’s clear that while Rainy is artistic and strong, she’s also insecure and lonely. She’s independent, but she also is too agreeable. She often agrees to go places she doesn’t want to be, yet she yearns for validation from the people at those places. The best way I can describe her when we meet her is she’s in constant conflict within herself and we don’t know why.

As the story develops, we go back and forth between Rainy’s past and the present. We get to learn a lot about Rainy from her past and it’s clear she wants to leave the past behind her. When her new group of friends decide to go to Vegas, Rainy is adamant she does not want to go. Her agreeable personality eventually takes over with Grant and she decides to join her friends on the trip. Once in Vegas, things begin to spiral between her friends and her past. Rainy first peers into her past by choice, her curiosity getting the best of her. Shortly after she is forced to go back to the past and address people and things she hoped to never see again. The brave, defiant child she once was begins to emerge and, in her strength, will soon come healing. Rainy is smart, calculated, and never wants to be unprepared again. I loved watching her learn to trust herself again.

I honestly was not prepared for how good An Honest Lie would be. When I finished the book, my mind stayed fixated on Rainy’s story for the rest of the day. While An Honest Lie is a brilliant work of fiction, it addresses a situation so real and hidden from most of the world. This story will stay with me for a long time and I’m so glad I got to read this masterful writing.

This started off really slow for me, picked up in the middle and then fell flat at the end. Characters seemed a little out there and not relatable. Definitely not my favorite Tarryn Fisher. .

My two favourite things to read are thrillers and books about cults, so a story that combines those two? Sign me up! I loved the back and forth between then and now though, to be honest, I loved the then more than the now (again, just my love of cult stories). The description of Rainey’s life on the compound was thrilling and heartbreaking, and I could visualize every detail. An Honest Lie is a fast paced, character driven story that will leave you on the edge of your seat during the pulse pounding final pages.

If Tarryn Fisher wrote a shopping list I would read it! Absolutely LOVE The Wives. The Wrong Family was a bit slow for me. But An Honest Lie was right back to the pace of her first book, and I could not put it down. Finished it in one day!

Rainy (Lorraine) has recently moved to Tiger Mountain with her boyfriend. He's originally from there and she's warily thrust in to a friend group she doesn't quite fit in. She reluctantly agrees to a girls trip away to Vegas, but we discover that Rainy has a past in the Nevada desert that she would like to keep away from. After a wild night, one of the women goes missing and Rainy gets a text that seems like someone from her past has her.

The ending was a little drawn out for my liking, - I think the last third of the book was set in the same location with the same small group of characters. But all in all it was a stellar read.