Never Lie is now my fifth Freida McFadden book, but only my second that wasn’t in the Housemaid series. Therefore, I’m really starting to get a feel of the formula that McFadden likes to go with and decide for myself if i’m going to continue with her future books (I have others sitting on my TBR shelf).
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Never Lie is about Ethan and Tricia, two newlyweds who are visiting a large house they’re interested in buying. However, after the person who is supposed to show them around doesn’t turn up and a large snow storm traps them inside, they decide to stay the night until the snow eases. During her time there, Tricia finds a secret room and the audio transcripts of the former house owner, Dr Adrienne Hale, a former psychiatrist who was supposedly murdered by her boyfriend.
Never Lie plot – 4.25/5
The pacing of Never Lie, as with a lot of McFadden books, starts of slow and gains pace as we hit the halfway mark and is racing along by the end. Once Tricia finds the tapes, we start to realise as a reader that things are inevitably going to take a sinister turn and that these tapes will prove whether the boyfriend did really kill the doctor or not.
There’s not much more to write about to be honest. There is a classic McFadden-style twist and I’d have to say, this is quite a good one. Though one that I feel was introduced a little too late to have as big of an impact as it could have. But still, very respectable all the same.
This did also feel like one of McFadden’s more tense entries (from what I’ve read from her so far anyway). I know a lot of McFadden’s books feature a murder or a killing of some sort, but the elements of the isolated cottage and the fact that we read chapters of the Dr’s conversations with psychiatry patients, that made this one feel just a little more eery than usual.
Never Lie characters – 4/5
Tricia and Ethan were simply fine as characters. Quite often in thrillers, the main protagonists aren’t given enogh depth because the author wants you to focus on what’s going on around them rather than the actual personalities of the people we’re reading about. Unfortunately that makes reviewing the “characters” in these sorts of thrillers a little tricky.
There are other characters throughout the book; one of whom is sufficiently creepy throughout to serve as the suspect.
Then the twist at the end, as with all of McFadden’s books gives us a lot to think about with the characters we’ve been reading about and whether, if we looked back through the book now knowing what we know, we can find holes in their personalities that don’t suggest it’s possible. Without spoiling too much, I’ll just say that it didn’t feel completely possible that the twist made sense as a result of who the twist involves.
Never Lie final rating – 4/5
Never Lie was fine. It wasn’t the greatest thriller I’ve read this year but by no means did it lack anything either. It features quick, short chapters with mini cliffhanger endings as is the case with most thrillers and has a twist that I think a lot of people will be impressed by. If you don’t think too much into the details of the twist and aren’t too bothered about deep, likeable characters, there’s a lot to enjoy with Never Lie. Just don’t expect this to impress you like her Housemaid books might have.
Pick up a copy of Never Lie from Amazon
