Lies Review

Title:  Lies
Author:  T.M. Logan
Genre:  Mystery, Thriller
Publisher:  St. Martin's Press
Release Date:  Sept. 11, 2018 (1st released 1/17/17)
Purchase Link:  Amazon

My Rating:  3.5 Deceiving Hearts

*Many thanks to St. Martin's Press for a copy of this book via Netgally.


Synopsis:

What if you have the perfect life, the perfect wife and the perfect child—then, in one shattering moment, you discover nothing is as it seems? Now you are in the sights of a ruthless killer determined to destroy everything you treasure.

It’s the evening drive home from work on a route Joe Lynch has taken a hundred times with his young son. But today, Joe sees his wife meet another man—an encounter that will rip two families apart. Raising the question: Can we ever really trust those closest to us?

Joe will do whatever it takes to protect his family, but as the deception unravels, so does his life. A life played out without any rules. And a cunning opponent who’s always one step ahead.

Review:

 One thing I know to be true from experience is that life can change in a blink of an eye.  One minute you're happy and content going about your normal day, and the next minute your whole world comes crashing down.  That is what happened to Joe Lynch in Lies.  Joe is an average, happy, contented, trusting man with a wife he loves and a son he worships.  Life is good . . . until one day it isn't.  One afternoon, one impulsive decision, one life-altering moment, and Joe's perfect world comes crashing down with devastating implications and results.  The more he tries to unravel the lies, the more deception he discovers.  The foundation Joe's life is built on is crumbling away, and he has no idea how to shore it back up.  

Lies begins with an ordinary man making an ordinary decision that sets off a tsunami of events that forever change his life.  There's no way to discuss more detail without revealing a story line best discovered by reading it yourself.  I found the first half of the story to be intense and compelling as events escalated out of Joe's control.  The story unfolds from Joe's pov thus making it easy for readers to feel his pain, sense of loss, sorrow, and growing confusion and panic as he works to uncover the truth and salvage life as he once knew it.  The author's use of social media and technology is brilliant as it ends up playing a huge part in the storyline while potentially sealing Joe's fate.  This part of the story is fast-paced, heart-pounding action that is well executed.

The middle to latter part of the story lacked the intensity of the first part in my opinion.  The pacing seemed to stall as the storyline became a bit predictable and almost repetitive.  I think maybe it was just a case of one lie too many drawing the story out too long at a point when I was impatient to be immersed in the escalating suspense and danger.  Having said that, the detailed characters and plot line are conducive to an intriguing story, and a surprise twist near the end is sure to keep readers talking.  A complex story of lies, deceit, and the ultimate betrayal, Lies will be high on the list of Must Reads among fans of mystery, suspense, and thrillers.    

My Rating:  3.5 Deceiving Hearts . . . And that's the truth!

Cross My Heart . . . xxx

Sandra