I loved David Ellis's past book so I was SO excited to receive this E-arc! This one was not quite as engaging for me but I still would highly recommend as it's a super fast pace and twisty thriller.

If you were a fan of Look Closer by David Ellis, The Best Lies will be a must read because dare I say, I think its even better!!! I found the way the whole story developed to be so original and absolutely brilliant! Thank you so much NetGalley and @putnambooks for entrusting me with an early arc of this book!
I went into this one blind, and I think that is definitely the way to go if you’re willing to trust me!
Leo Balanoff is a diagnosed pathological liar and a lawyer. He’s also charming, funny, broken and flawed. When his finger prints are all over a murder crime scene, it might be the FBI’s only way to take down an elusive crime lord. Leo doesn’t seem to have much of a choice…go undercover for the FBI or face life in prison and either way he knows he’ll be facing the wrath of the crime boss. But Leo has secrets of his own and maybe some tricks to play!
This is the perfect psychological thriller with a bit of humor and a touch of romance thrown in! The characters were great and the twists had me going “wow…oh wow….woah wow”!

Leo is a pathological liar. But his downfall in life might just be what saves him.

Ahhhh I really wanted to like this book but I think I’m just more of a domestic thriller girl. The corporate espionage, the multiple POV/timelines was extremely confusing to me. I also couldn’t get over how Leo was written in first person POV and all the other POV were third person. This was my first David Ellis book, so not sure if this is his normal MO but I can usually finish a thriller in 24 hours or less but this took a solid 3-4 days to get through. I just didn’t find myself wanting to reach for it.

Many thanks to NetGalley for the early copy in exchange for my honest review.

The Best Lies by David Ellis
Holy Smokes immediate 5 stars and added to the list of the top mystery/thrillers I have ever read. A morally great lawyer and FBI agent… Human Trafficking, revenge, and redemption… 14 plus year time shifts woven into the story…. The twists on top of twists!!! The way it all comes together in the end!!! (Can you tell I am excited about this book!?!) Was THRILLED to be chosen on Net Galley to read this book early (comes out July 23rd) and I will be telling all my book besties that this is a must read. This is my first by this author but it will not be my last! (Still shaking my head over the last 20% of this book)

Super fast paced and twisty! While there are a lot of characters to keep track of, the last half of the book really picks up and offers some surprises worth sticking around for. Not as good in my opinion as Look Closer, but still recommend!

Thank you Putnam and David Ellis for the digital ARC!

If you follow my Bookstagram account you know how much I *loved* Look Closer in 2022 and pretty much haven't shut up about it since. It is my go-to thriller recommendation. Suffice to say I had very high hopes for The Best Lies as well.

And let. me. tell. you!!! It DELIVERED. Knowing how sneaky Ellis wrote his characters in Look Closer I was on high alert the entire time I was reading and I still did not guess anything that was going to happen. It is absolutely fascinating to me how his mind works!

I can confidently say if you enjoyed Look Closer you will love The Best Lies as well. And now prepare for me to be insufferable about it until its pub date on July 23!

Thank you to NetGalley, David Ellis, and Penguin Group Putnam for granting me access to an e-Arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

4⭐️s

Leo is a lawyer who protects those he loves and tries to do right, but sometimes he gets his hands dirty in the process. In this case, he finds his path intertwined with a drug dealer/human trafficker as well as an FBI officer. This story was action packed and had so many twists and turns. Every time you thought you had the story figured out, it continued to develop. The amount of craft it took to develop a story so intricate and twisty without getting lost in the process is beyond me. My only criticism is the “prime numbers”, I felt they distracted me from the story more than they contributed to it!

I absolutely loved “Look Closer” and this one did not disappoint. David Ellis’s writing is becoming one of my favorite in the psychological thriller genre and I can’t wait to continue reading more of his books.

I was so excited to get approved for an early copy of "The Best Lies" since I loved "Look Closer" by this author so much! This book is very different from "Look Closer", but did not disappoint.
The plot in this book was very clever. The characters were well written and complex, and the twists were unpredictable. I appreciated the short chapters and changes between different POVs and timelines. There was just enough tension and action to keep me invested, and I thought the ending tied everything together perfectly.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an early copy of this book. I'm excited to recommend it!

3.5-4 stars!
liked this one! I was absolutely overjoyed to receive an early copy via NetGalley, after lovingggg Look Closer at the end of 2022. That was a five star read for me that I still think about so often to this day; a forever favorite! While this one was good, fast paced, and contained a lot of twists toward the end, I feel like this plot was just not overly interesting to me. Because I was not super entertained in the plot, I felt like the twists were not overly exciting to me either, but they did have some shock factor. I have talked to a few people who absolutely loved this one though, so I think this is just a personal thing! It was very well done; everything was tied up and made sense in the end, though there were multiple twists. I do enjoy David’s writing! This is my third book of his and I can’t wait to read more!

After reading and loving the book look closer, I was ver6 excited to recieve this Arc! This book was very diffrent then I expected but the twists definitely kept me interested. Being from the quad cities it was exciting that's where the book takes place!

The ultimate mystery with twist after page turning twist. THATS how you write a mystery. Wow. There were multiple times I lost track of time while reading and found myself blowing through the book. The multiple POVs and the short chapters made this over 400 page book bingeable. Just when you think you’ve pieced things together, Ellis throws in another wrench. This was a master class of a mystery for me. He is now an auto read and auto buy author for me. Sometimes with I read multiple pov thrillers/mysteries I struggle to keep them apart because they are too similar and don’t have a unique enough voice. But that is not the case with this one. Each POV had such a unique voice it was easy to keep track of who was who and switch between them effortlessly. Leo was such a fascinating character and I loved reading from his perspective the most. The use of cop POV elevated this even more. I could go on and on but I want so much of this storyline to remain a secret so people can go through the same emotions and revelations that I did so I’ll wrap it up here. Phenomenal!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for early access!

I really enjoyed this book. Ellis did a great job with character development and writing a unique story. Would definitely recommend this to readers who enjoy a suspenseful story with a few surprises.

This is a tough one. LOOK CLOSER was not only one of my favorite reads last year but it’s also one of my favorite books ever. So I had such high expectations for this that it was likely destined to be a disappointment.

In many ways, this is similar. Twisty and surprising, with questionable gray areas that make you ask yourself what defines good and evil. But because it’s similar, I also felt like I saw the twists coming a mile away. It’s probably too similar in structure.

And then this is a story of organized crime and law enforcement, as opposed to an intriguing domestic drama/personal revenge tale. As a result, that means it’s also harder to buy into because you need way more pieces to fall into place when there are these massive organizations and institutions involved. Also I’m less interested in these kinds of stories.

All that said, it reads super fast and I liked it enough that I’ll read more by the author. I also think this would be a great movie.

Prime numbers are not my thing, but they were just a sideshow in The Best Lies. Leo, the main character, a lawyer, is besot with them and one cannot escape them. In The Best Lies, he becomes a prime suspect in a murder investigation. The reader doubts his culpability. It is the unraveling of what happened to Leo and his unofficial brother that makes the story interesting and leads to the disclosure of the biggest lie.
Thanks NetGalley for the ARC.

This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year and it did not disappoint! Multiple povs? Check. Flashbacks to fill in holes? Check. Twist and turns? Check, check, check! I won’t even be ashamed to say I read it in one sitting. Brilliantly written and unpredictable!

Another great thriller by David Ellis! The twists and unexpected turns were TOP TIER!

I am grateful for the opportunity to read this ARC. Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Random House for this advanced copy!

The Best Lies by David Ellis is a head spinning mob themed thriller that will have you questioning everything- except prime numbers. Leo is a diagnosed pathological liar and ruthless attorney that will stop at nothing to win justice. As his story unfolds, the reader is introduced to Leo’s past, which is dark and confusing, including his previous love interest, Andi, who is former police officer turned private sector.

I found this story deep and twisty with lots of unexpected turns. The storyline was difficult to follow at times with amount of characters and the alternating timelines. While I didn’t feel connected to any of the characters, the author did a great job at character development and an amazing job at depicted Leo’s OCD with numbers.

Overall, this was a good read and I am grateful for the opportunity to read this ARC. Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Random House for this advanced copy!

David Ellis is back with a pathological liar in The Best Lies. I knew nothing about the premise when I started it, but I knew I enjoyed Ellis’ book Look Closer. Like normal, there are a million moving pieces that Ellis somehow tied together and made them make sense.

This book had great character development. It centers around three different characters. Andi, a security specialist, Leo, a defense attorney, and Chris, a FBI agent. Not only does the book go between different POVs, but it goes between different periods of time. I will admit I was a little confused at first. I felt like there was so much information being dumped on me and I was trying to sort it out and figure out what was going on.

After the initial meeting of characters at the beginning, the book is fast paced. There are some small twists and turns along the way to major twists. If you like books that center around crime and police procedures, you should enjoy this book. It has a pretty intricate plot that will pull you in and keep you trying to figure out what exactly is going on.

Thank you to NetGalley and Putnam Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and Putnam Books for the early release of The Best Lies. I really liked this book. The whole time I was reading I kept saying to myself “this would make a really good movie”. This is my first book by this author and I plan on reading his other books.

Going into this book I thought it was a domestic thriller. As I was reading I realized it was more of a procedural action packed book that surrounded crooked cops, organized crime, and the FBI. I do enjoy procedural crime books so I didn’t mind that it wasn’t what I anticipated but if you are looking for just a straight up thriller this probably wouldn’t be for you.

I was confused at times with the characters and alternating time lines and felt like it could’ve been wrapped up sooner than it was but even through the confusion it still kept my attention. I liked the cat and mouse aspect of the book.

This book follows Leo a criminal defense attorney who also happens to be a pathological liar. When a big time drug dealer shows up dead and Leo’s fingerprints are at the crime scene he will do anything to seek justice. Even if that means working undercover with the FBI. In the end everything gets brought together and comes around full circle and answers are explained to the looming questions you will be asking yourself the entire time while reading.

I was such a fan of “look closer” by David Ellis so I was very thrilled to receive this ARC. Immediately this book is in the action which I appreciated. Besides having an intricate plot line, this book has little else in common with Look Closer. It definitely is more of a mission impossible style thriller with company dynamics and way less domestic drama. At first I was slightly turned off by this, however I stayed on board and I’m glad I did. The beginning it was a bit of a challenge to keep the storyline clear in my mind because of all the jumping POVs, multiple characters and timelines but once I got used to it I found it easy to get into.