A psychological thriller that will have you guessing until the end. A murder suicide. Family drama. Love? Illegal business dealings sprinkled with mentions of the cartel. This book had it all wrapped up in a neat package. “This Family Lies” brought the reader through a variety of twists and turns as we discovered through the point of view of the main heroine Iris.

Thank you Net Galley and the author J.M.Cannon the opportunity to preview this ARC and leave a thoughtful review.

"JM Cannon's 'This Family Lies' is a riveting exploration of the intricacies of familial relationships, secrets, lies, and figuring out who you are. Iris survives a gunshot wound to the head, but her husband didn't survive. As Iris slowly starts remembering fragments of her past and life, she slowly uncovers the truth of what occurred the night she was shot and just how deep those lies went. The story revolves around Iris and the Adler family, and her willingness to stop at nothing to uncover the truth of who she is, and what happened to her among a family full of liars and a police force they have bought off. What sets 'This Family Lies' apart is its nuanced portrayal of complex characters and the tangled web of relationships that bind them together. JM Cannon deftly explores themes of betrayal and redemption, drawing readers into this emotional twisty tale. The book had me at the very beginning and didn't let go until I completed it, and even now I have thought of not much else. Simply put, I loved this book so much and am sad to have finished and also anxiously awaiting a possible sequel with Iris and maybe a few surprise characters as well. You will not regret this buy, this book is so good!

Iris Adler survives the home invasion that kills her husband Joseph, but a brain injury leaves her with a flawed memory and years of recollections - including her entire marriage - missing.

Now living with her obscenely wealthy in-laws, Iris begins to realise that there is a lot going on below the surface of things. And it turns out there is no-one she can trust.

Including herself.

Because the person everyone describes her as having been certainly isn't the person she is today...

This is a compelling novel that conjures up the atmosphere of the American South, and Louisiana in particular, very effectively. Iris's story is both gripping and entertaining. It gets 3.5 stars.

This Family Lies has many of the typical traits of a good thriller a strong main character, a background they wish to hide, characters who aren't as they seem and plenty of twists and turns.

The book centres around Iris a lady who has many secrets that she cannot remember after her husband was shot and she sustained brain damage. When his family take her under their wing this get complicated.

I loved this book the way it was laid out, the way it kept me hanging on every word to find out exactly what had happened. For most of the book I was kept guessing who was good who was bad.

I am hugely excited about the next book and in finding out what happens to Iris next.

This book was fantastic. It was my first novel by this author, and I had the honor of reading an advanced copy. I enjoy the amnesia and brain injury trope when it's well-executed, and Iris was the perfect unreliable narrator, trying to unravel who wanted her dead and who murdered her husband. The twist involving Iris and Augusta was unexpected, with motives and secrets that were explosive. I absolutely despised Annabelle. This book earns a well-deserved five stars for its excellent plot and characters.

The twists and shocks in this book had me sucked in. I did not expect what happened. I really enjoyed this book

Iris and her husband are both shot - she survives and he doesn't. She loses parts of her memory and recuperates at her wealthy in-laws' plantation. She quickly picks up on the family dysfunction and tries to piece together her part in it and the character that she was prior to the shooting.

The book started off slowly, setting the scene. It picked up when Iris visits her mother and from then on, it felt like there was too much going on all at once. I didn't find any of the characters likeable as they were all out for personal gain.

What a terrifying, twisty, eerie new thriller from one of the best in the game, J.M. Cannon!

After Iris' husband is killed and she barely survives a gunshot wound to the head, she has no memory of the last decade of her life, and is in the care of her uber-wealthy in-laws, the Adlers. As she tries to piece together who she was before the accident, she feels more and more like the Adlers aren't great people, but wonders what that means about her. Was she a greedy socialite before she lost her memory, or something even worse? While she's living on the Adler's plantation, a girl turns up dead in their sugarcane fields, and Iris tries even harder to reconstruct her memory. But the more she discovers, the more she wonders if she really wants to know the truth about herself and the family she married into.

This is officially my favorite take on the memory loss trope EVER. I was so immediately sucked into Iris' confusing and conflicting world, and the fear of thinking she might have been a terrible person before the accident is a level of creepiness that ramped up the suspense through the whole book. Cannon is unnaturally talented at creating eerie Southern atmospheres, and This Family Lies ratcheted up those sultry, deceitful and gritty vibes. I highly recommend this to fans of Gillian Flynn and Ashley Winstead.

Book review 🔪 🩸
This Family Lies
JM Cannon
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 (5)

Pub May 3 2024 check it out 👀 and add to your TBR immediately!

Thank you @netgalley @jmcannon author and @victoryediting for the ARC!
Woah woah woah! I LOVED this thriller. Everyone is lying. She cant remember… who can she trust?
All the twists and turns played out totally unexpected for me and I could see easily as riveting in a movie! 🎥
Iris the FMC was so refreshing as a strong smart head strong lead unlike some others that portray some main characters to be weak or dumb. Had me hooked from the start, page turning and reading late at night! Highly recommend!

I was not sure what to expect with this book, the title for sure caught my attention! I was not disappointed. I loved seeing the female lead Iris develop and how strong she is . The book kept me intrigued thru out and i would for sure recommend this to a friend who loves a good thriller ! Thank you JM Cannon for this ARC!

WHOA! I went into this book blind, and it was the most pleasant surprise! I LOVED THIS BOOK! This was such a great story, with twists and turns that I didn’t see coming. SO different from your typical thriller.

I loved Iris. She was a tough and determined main character. It was a breath of fresh air to have a FMC that wasn’t weak and dumb. The author did a great job developing Iris. I felt that I knew her, and I was rooting for her the whole way through. The supporting cast of characters was developed well also.

The plot fleshed out so well. All of my questions were answered, and everything that happened made sense in relation to the storyline. There were twists that had my mouth hanging open. My head was spinning as I tried to figure out what was going to happen next. This was a fast paced, action packed thriller with short chapters that kept you furiously flipping the pages!

This was one of my favorite books so far this year. Part 2 can’t come fast enough. This was my first book by this author, but it definitely won’t be my last!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

This Family Lies by J.M. Cannon was an amazing story!
This book had me hooked from the start! It is a page turner and if you like a book with a great twist that you won't see coming this is a great read!
The story was a quick, easy read and the pacing was good.
This book was a page-turner that kept me guessing all the way to the end.

Thank You NetGalley and Publisher for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

Thank you netgalley and Victory editing for the ARC and chance to review. I will be posting my review to goodreads as well as amazon!
Joseph and Iris Alder are both shot in their home. Only Iris survives and she has no memories of the last several years, including who shot her and Joseph. She is spending her recovery days living with her in-laws, the Alder family, in their plantation home Sweet Blood. Iris must dig through her past to uncover the ugly truths that she has forgotten.

I really enjoyed the character of Iris. She was head strong and determined to find the answers she needed.
The storyline was fast paced and went directions I was not expecting.
A true psychological thriller!

The downfall for me on this one was the profiling of wealthy southerners. Being from Louisiana I felt like it was a huge insult of assumptions.

When I saw has dropped im still thinking about it all now. Characters development was 100% on point and the twists wow. Honestly not what I was expecting but 10 outta 10

This Family Lies, is the book that keeps on giving...

thrill after thrill after thrill.

My oh my, after concluding this banger, my head is literally swimming with dark thoughts and utter amazement. This Family Lies, is jammed packed with secrets, lies and deceit. The perfect make up for a blockbuster thriller.

J.M. Cannon is in a league all their own.

This book right here is sure to be a hit and I can not wait for other book lovers to get their hands on this one!

Teaser :

Iris Adler was supposed to be killed.

In their home in southern Louisiana, Iris and her husband Joseph are both shot point-blank in the head by an unknown assailant.

While her husband is killed, Iris survives, but only by a ricochet.

She wakes with her memory fractured. She doesn’t remember her husband’s family, eager as they are to take her into their world of marble, maids and prim Southern manners.

Not long after Iris goes to heal at the family’s historic plantation, a girl is found dead in the sugarcane stalks nearby. And of these wealthy, strange people Iris is surrounded by, she realizes one of them might still be trying to kill her.

The only thing certain is not everyone is getting out of this alive.

Everyone is lying. She can’t remember. Who can she trust? This taut thriller has you thinking everyone is a bad guy. Even the heroine? Fun, fast paced read. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

This had all the twists and turns you want in this genre plus way more then what I could have expected. I am excited to see what’s next or what there is in the future from J.M. Cannon.

The story flowed well and the characters were well developed. I recommend this book and look forward to more from this author.


****Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest review****

Publication date: May 3rd, 2024
Page number: 364
Audio length: n/a
Narrator: n/a
Genre: domestic thriller
POV: Iris
Setting: plantation in Louisiana

Iris is shot and her husband is killed 6 months after their wedding. Iris is left with no memory of the incident, or her life prior to the shooting. After the shooting her husband’s family insists on taking care of her- but refuse to tell her about her past. Who shot her and how did she get to this place? And is she safe?

Enjoyable read! Kept me engaged throughout. Definitely surprised by the twists and turns!
Definitely now interested in reading other books written by this author!

Thank you to author, publisher, NetGalley for advanced audio copy. This is an honest voluntary review.

Great book! I thoroughly enjoyed reading this one! But!! Its a freaking cliffhanger!! Ugh! I definitely don't like them! but ill be impatiently waiting for the next book! Lol This book had great suspense, intrigue, action packed, murder, mystery, a bit of a who done it and some crazy twists and turns! The storyline was very interesting and kept me glued to my Kindle! I highly recommend reading this book! But beware it is a cliffhanger! Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me!