Book Review – The Lies I Tell by Julie Clark

The Lies I Tell: A Novel <— Another author that I AM LOVING!!! I read one by her a couple of years ago that had quite a fun/thrilling journey (and a really original storyline that had me imagining all sorts of things). And this one is one of those too. It was fantastic and while at first it had all the makings of a scaryish psych-thriller (and don’t get me wrong… it was), it wasn’t as… psycho as I thought it would be. And I’d tell you why, but that would be a spoiler, though once you read it, I think you’ll get it (as this is totally my catnip!!). 😉

Maryse: I just read it, and it’s a 5-STAR MUST READ!!! Book Review – The Last Flight: A Novel by Julie Clark

Diane: The Lies I Tell was just as good!

Tasha J: I recently finished The Lies I Tell and LOVED it! I totally just picked the thinnest book off my physical tbr (I’m feeling pretty overwhelmed over here 😅) and am so glad it exceeded my expectations. I totally could have read it in a couple days if not for life getting in the way, lol.

Maryse: Now I need to read “The Lies I Tell”!!! YAY!!! Thank you for that recommendation, Tasha.

My book-twin Tasha absolutely loved it, and I one-clicked it and had it on the back burner for awhile now, and last weekend, I finally started and finished it, and never once got bored once.

So what’s it about?

Two women/main characters (again, just like the first book I read by her), and their journey’s together and apart.

One (“Meg“), becoming a highly skilled grifter and taking advantage of men (and adding to her own personal wealth), one man at a time.

It’s so easy, it’s criminal.

I spend hundreds of hours on observation and research. Profiling the different people in your life, finding the one I can befriend, the one who will lead me to you. When I’m done, I know everything I possibly can about you, and most of the people around you. By the time you’re saying nice to meet you, I’ve already known you for months.

Does this worry you? It should.

But, she’s after one man in particular, stalking him ever so strategically, and she’s using her lessons and mistakes with all the previous men to:

1.) make herself well off enough to be able to continue on her very specific quest. and

The main element of a good con is a strong thread of legitimacy. Of almost being who you say you are. Just like on a movie set, I’m real. My actions are real. It’s only the background that’s fake.

2.) finally reach the man that ruined her life as a child, and that of her mother’s, leaving them homeless, and destroy him.

Once again, I was being chased from my home. Five years ago, it was Ron Ashton who came in with promises that ended up being lies. This is just how financing works.

And now it was happening again. Another man taking what he wanted while the rest of us scrambled to accommodate him. I remembered what Ron had said to my mother when she’d confronted him. When she realized she had no legal recourse to fix it. There are winners and losers in life, Rosie. You’re the loser here. Take the loss and be smarter next time.

But the other woman (Kat) is discreetly stalking Meg. She’s a small-time reporter wanting to get “that story” that propels her to the top of her game and has been paying attention to Meg’s whereabouts for years, patiently waiting. Knowing that she’d be back. But it’s the why she’s keen on exposing Meg that’s interesting. Because for her, it’s personal.

…that was the night I started my search for Meg Williams, the woman who had exploded Cory Dempsey’s life and then disappeared. The woman who would soon destroy mine as well.

Two women “stalkers” for lack of a better word, keen on getting revenge. Chapter by chapter, we live life through each of their eyes as they eventually come together (and get to know one another – so good!!!) and then,

Con artists don’t like to be conned. The loss of her childhood home is Meg’s core wound. Every criminal has one, a beacon calling them home. Of course, it’s possible Meg grew up, got therapy, and moved on. But I don’t think so.

things take a different turn, and my suspicions ran wild (just the way I like it!!).

It’s the Girl Code. We have to look out for each other because no one else will.

You already know, as a reader, you’re on one specific journey as the story builds, but it’s always fun when an extra curveball gets thrown into the mix!

And that’s where I’m ending my “what it’s about section” because it’s SO much better than that, and so much better told by the author. Through the eyes of her characters, we live out their reasons, their past, the present (husbands included – one being a cop/fraud detective – which was so fun to me ’cause my husband is one of those too!!!) and their plans for the future.

“You just wait and see.”

You just wait and see. The words flutter around in my mind, like butterflies taking flight.

And an ending that I found even more satisfying than the ending in the other book that I loved. So that makes 2 for 2 with this author and I’m wanting more!!

4.5 stars!! <— These are my kind of heroines, and this is my kind of thriller! Not so much a scary-thrill but definitely a thrill-thriller.

➔➔➔  Looking for more of my must-read recommendations? Browse my 5 star and 4.5 star and 4 star reviews. 😀

➔➔➔  Love this trope? Browse more features and reviews on my blog of books that include psych-thrillers

➔➔➔  Love this author? Browse more features and reviews on my blog of books by Julie Clark