K.E. GARVEY

I’m back! Actually, I haven’t gone anywhere, I simply haven’t been posting reviews. Not that I haven’t been reading – I’m never not reading – I haven’t been reading anything that moved me enough to lend time to a review. Until today.

Synopsis:

Sutton and Ethan Montclair’s idyllic life is not as it appears. They seem made for each other, but the truth is ugly. Consumed by professional and personal betrayals and financial woes, the two both love and hate each other. As tensions mount, Sutton disappears, leaving behind a note saying not to look for her.

Ethan finds himself the target of vicious gossip as friends, family and the media speculate on what really happened to Sutton Montclair. As the police investigate, the lies the couple have been spinning for years quickly unravel. Is Ethan a killer? Is he being set up? Did Sutton hate him enough to kill the child she never wanted and then herself? The path to the answers is full of twists that will leave the reader breathless.

Review:

I began, and finished, my first read by author J.T. Ellison, Lie To Me, today. Although I don’t recall where I got the book, I am unyielding in my certainty I did not purchase it. I wouldn’t have. On the cover, Lisa Scottoline lauds it as something fans of Gone Girl will gobble up. I realize I am in the minority when I say, I was not a fan of that book. Almost as much as I wasn’t a fan of any of the Fifty Shades books. Different strokes and all.

But, I picked it up this morning for a look with no intention of diving in. I never set it down until I had reached the end. Never saw that coming… it just sort of pulled me in right from page one.

Ellison is a skillful writer. That is apparent off the bat. Although skillful in several areas, the one I am referring to is tension. In too many of this type book, I lose interest early on because the author fills the dead spots with fluff. Things that pertain to the story by association, but change it little if removed. Too often I find myself skimming (selectively reading) just to get to the whodunit. I read every page, every word, of this book. Yes, I was anxious to find out the who, what, why, and where at the end of the journey, but I was enjoying the ride so much, I wasn’t in a rush to get there.

There are twists and turns you will not see coming. Even if you are able to guess one (which I did), it will only be one or two. From early on I did have the antagonist figured out, although not the motive. I had also guessed who Ethan had (or thought he had) slept with (same person) but that was about it. Even when I thought it was all over, it wasn’t. I was a little confused at the very end, last words, about Josie. Her real daughter – got it. But I must have missed something in how she learned who/where she was. It seemed a bit odd that she would know this information and not share it with her husband after all they’ve been through and knowing how the previous lies contributed to the events in the book’s story.

There were a few things that had I been presented with in real life, I would have argued rather than to blindly believe what I was hearing without a good old-fashioned debate. For instance, Holly is with Ethan when he receives a text message warning him not to tell ‘the cop’ about the meeting at the farm. That fact might explain why Holly was never convinced of his guilt, but when she’s told by her superior that they have him dead to rights, why didn’t she argue the case? If he was truly guilty, who sent the text while she was with him? There were a few of those, “Hey, wait a minute,” moments, but none that took away from the read overall. I suppose not everyone would have caught them, and I’ve been accused of scrutinizing even more than reading, but I caught them and I hate when something doesn’t feel real. Another one was when Ivy called Holly on her cell phone and asked her to stop by because she had something she had to tell her. Holly agrees and says, I’m close, to which Ivy replies, “I know you are.” Duh, I no sooner read the words and found myself saying, “How does she know?” Yet, when Holly gets to her house less than five minutes later, she doesn’t question it. If I feel like someone is stalking me you can bet I’m going to ask them how the hell they know my whereabouts. Just another little niggler I found off.

Anyway, those items are minor to the overall read. I thought the way the author divided the stories worked well. In that way I got the whole story piece-by-piece rather than in scattered info dumps. I also thought the way she divided his story, her story, and everyone’s story worked well in this piece.

I did meander over to Amazon to see where my review falls in line with others and found that for the most part, I’m right in line. I don’t go through the 4 and 5-star reviews, but I do tend to look through the 1-stars if only to see what a particular reviewer took away from the read that I didn’t, or visa-versa. Apparently, some, although few, hated this title as much as I loved it. One in particular made me smile. They begin by praising Gone Girl and move on to their utter contempt for this book. Sounds like me, in reverse.

Granted, if the events of the book were to play out the way they did on their own, it would be almost too out there to be believed. But when you take into account that there was a Puppeteer pulling all the strings, anything is possible. Neither Ethan nor Sutton were in control of their own lives at this point, although they believed they were.

All I can say is I (happily) read it in one sitting and will definitely look for more by this author – even if her work is compared to books I didn’t care for at all. 🙂