Between the Lies,

by Michelle Adams

Publication: St. Martin’s Griffin; March 5, 2019

between the lies About the book:

In the vein of Allison Brennan, Michelle Adams’s Between the Lies is an addictive psychological thriller with twists that keep the reader guessing until the last page, in which a woman who’s lost her memory is back home with a family she doesn’t know—who are keeping secrets of their own. The truth is hiding between the lies. What would you do if you woke up and didn’t know who you were?
Chloe Daniels regains consciousness in a hospital with no memory of how she got there.
She doesn’t recognise the strangers who call themselves family. She can’t even remember her own name.

What if your past remained a mystery?
As she slowly recovers, her parents and sister begin to share details of her life.
The successful career. The seaside home. The near-fatal car crash.
But Chloe senses they’re keeping dark secrets—and her determination to uncover the truth will have devastating consequences.

What if the people you should be able to trust are lying to you?

My Review

Between the Lies is my first time reading author Michelle Adams, and I certainly found this to be an addictive thriller. Chloe wakes up in the hospital having no idea who she is or what her life was like before the car accident. She is living back home with her parents and younger sister, who are all immediately sketchy and creepy. Her father is a psychiatrist, her mother is just a mousy woman who appears to be walked all over, and the college-aged sister seems o.k. one minute and then sneaky the next. The police are wanting Chloe’s help in piecing together what happened in the accident, her father keeps telling them that she isn’t ready, and for the most of the book – she has no idea what happened.

Thriller fans know that the “waking up with amnesia” plot isn’t unique or original these days, however, this one still reeled me in from the very beginning. The story is told primarily from Chloe’s POV with the exception of some entries from an unknown narrator. It took a while to figure out the identity of the unknown narrator and some of their passages greatly added to the suspense factor of the novel. What I loved about all of the characters and the book, in general, is that for a good portion of the book I truly didn’t know who to trust and who was up to what. Some of the characters ended up fading into the background a bit, but overall, it was a toss-up as to whether or not anyone in the novel was being honest about anything at all. And if you love to hate characters, you are in for a treat with Chloe’s lying, dishonest, weird, controlling father. The man had zero redeeming qualities.

Between the Lies was a page-turner for me and one that I wasn’t able to put down until I finished the entire thing. I can’t say that I loved the ending, but I find myself feeling that way often when it comes to thrillers. It’s such a nail-biter with all of this suspense and questions, etc. but then – a mediocre ending. Why can’t it be fantastic all the way through? The ending also wasn’t very believable for me. Could everything really be that o.k. after everything that had happened? I think not. Regardless, I highly recommend this to fans of psychological suspense. The writing is excellent, the characterization is perfect in that everyone feels like a suspect, and there are numerous twists and turns to keep you on the edge of your seat.

*Thanks to St. Martin’s Griffin and NetGalley for providing this review copy in exchange for my honest opinion!