From the USA TODAY bestselling author of Do No Harm and The Night Olivia Fell—an “emotionally charged mystery” (Mary Kubica, New York Times bestselling author)—comes a thrilling new suspense novel about the insidious nature of family secrets…and their deadly potential.If you can’t remember it, how do you prove you didn’t do it? Eva Hansen wakes in the hospital after being struck by lightning and … do it?
Eva Hansen wakes in the hospital after being struck by lightning and discovers her mother, Kat, has been murdered. Eva was found unconscious down the street. She can’t remember what happened but the police are highly suspicious of her.
Determined to clear her name, Eva heads from Seattle to London—Kat’s former home—for answers. But as she unravels her mother’s carefully held secrets, Eva soon realizes that someone doesn’t want her to know the truth. And with violent memories beginning to emerge, Eva doesn’t know who to trust. Least of all herself.
Told in alternating perspectives from Eva’s search for answers and Kat’s mysterious past, Christina McDonald has crafted another “complex, emotionally intense” (Publishers Weekly) domestic thriller. Perfect for fans of Lisa Jewell’s I Found You and Karin Slaughter’s Pieces of Her, Behind Every Lie explores the complicated nature of mother-daughter relationships, family trauma, and the danger behind long-held secrets.
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Once again, Christina McDonald has sent me into the world of a deeply dark domestic thriller and would not let me escape. Eva Hansen wakes up in a hospital after being struck by lightning and is told that her mother Kat has been murdered. And she is a major suspect in the murder! Eva’s snatches of disjointed memories adds to the stunning, unexpected twists throughout the book. The book takes place in Seattle, where Eva lives, and London, where her mom used to live. It is told from the points of view of both Eva and Kat and from the times of present and past. All of these changes back and forth kept me so absorbed in the book that I did not realize sometimes how late I was staying up to read. I felt like a pinball at the beginning of each chapter, and I mean that in the best way possible. McDonald sent me spinning each time, bouncing from one twist to another and waiting for the lights to zing in my head and show me what was really going on. There were clues, but they were subtle and very well-written. This was a book about mother-daughter relationships (or lack thereof), but it was so much more! It also included sibling rivalry and the budding love relationship with a new fiancé. This book was a thriller like no other that I have ever read and I read a lot of thrillers! I loved it and absolutely devoured it! Fans of thrillers and suspense will definitely want to read this one. In fact, I want to read it again to read all of the clues that I skipped over, not noticing what the author was telling me in her tricky and masterful way!
Disclaimer
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. (But I also want to say that I have purchased an e-copy and a hard copy for myself to own! I love this author’s books so much!) I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255, “Guides Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”
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While I’ve not yet had the chance to hit that holiday gift stack that includesThe Night Olivia Fell, I jumped at the chance to get an early copy of Christina McDonald’s newest book Behind Every Lie and I really enjoyed it as much as I was expecting.
Eva Hansen goes from a celebratory dinner for her mother Katherine along with her brother Jacob to waking up in the hospital being told that her mother has been murdered. She’s been struck by lightning and due to the lightning strike she has no memory of how she was even out there to be struck, let alone what really happened to Kat all while police suspect her of committing the murder. The worst part for Eva, she wonders if they’re right and she could have possibly done this terrible thing. Eva’s history of a traumatic event that happened to her years prior that her mind has blocked all memories of make her feel broken and filled with constant doubt in herself.
Katherine- “Darling, I’m not entirely certain one can ever become unbroken, but I do know we can be strong and brave and broken and whole all at the same time. It’s called being human.”
That sentence really struck me, especially as a survivor of a terrible car accident with a traumatic brain injury that I have zero memory of. I really felt for Eva throughout the entire book, knowing how events can throw your life off balance in a variety of ways that still affect you years later.
The chapters alternate in being told from Eva and Kat’s point of view so we learn about both their pasts as well as Kat’s own secrets. We follow Eva to London as she searches for the truth about those secrets. It works very well being told the way it is and I enjoyed Kat’s perspective and motivation as well. I thought the author did a great job tying everything together and was pleasantly surprised by a few twists I did not see coming. She did a great job of making Eva feel like a friend you might know or even someone like yourself.
“I was too awake to go back to sleep, so I dinked around on my phone, checking e-mail and Instagram. I knew social media was like standing in front of a crowd screaming into a microphone: “Look at me! See how great I am! Be jealous of my life!” We had twenty-four hour access to the worst things happening in the world, and twenty-four hour access to other people’s apparently perfect lives. It was simultaneously disturbing and confusing, and yet I continued using it. Maybe something inside me needed to feel worthy of others approval. But weren’t we all like that?”
I’ll be keeping my eyes open for the author’s next book, looking forward to whatever she comes up with next.
*Many thanks to Gallery Books and BookishFirst for an ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.”
Behind Every Lie left me a little undecided. On the one hand, it did hold my interest, and there were elements I liked, but there were also things I didn’t care for. The story is told in dual POV and timelines, switching back and forth between Eva and Kat until the timelines merge into the present and the night Kat died. No, I’m not giving anything away with that tidbit since that’s the foundation of the story – mostly. Both timelines were interesting, but Kat’s had some lags in the beginning, and both timelines sometimes included a little too much of the mundane. Jumping back and forth between past and present sometimes works and sometimes doesn’t. In this case, it was essential to keeping the story’s secrets until the author was ready to give them up, or I think that was the reasoning, and it would’ve worked well had it not been so predictable.
The unreliable narrator is used here, which is something I see more and more lately. Sometimes it works, and sometimes not. In this case, it could’ve been very effective, but I’ll refer back to the aforementioned predictability. When the clues are so in your face, any doubts about innocence or guilt go out the window. The same goes for any red herrings introduced throughout the book. It’s a little too easy to figure out the who, what, and why of this one.
So, predictable? Absolutely, very much so. But, that’s not necessarily a deal-breaker for me. Very often, I’ll devour a book to the end just to see if I’m correct. I did finish this one, but not for that reason. Instead, it was the completely over the top elements that kept me reading. At around the halfway mark, I started to roll my eyes at the many things this family had been through. I mean, how much bad stuff can happen to one family or even one person? They say lightning never strikes the same place twice, and that may be, but Eva didn’t need lightning to strike twice. Once was enough, and she had plenty of other bad to deal with. It felt like the author was throwing everything she had at us to see what would stick. Along with the crazy that was Eva’s life came a number of twists, but big twists only work if you don’t see them coming. I may not have had all the details worked out as far as how the big reveal would go down, but I did have enough that none of it was a surprise, including the very last twist, which was more about tying up that one loose end.
In the end, the characters were interesting. Not necessarily likable, but interesting. For me, the biggest problem was that the author needed to find that happy medium between being suspenseful and thrilling and going completely over the top. The story is a good one – not great, but still worth the read. I do think Christina McDonald shows promise as a domestic suspense/thriller writer, and I’ll be interested to see where she goes from here.
4.5 stars for me.
Behind Every LIe will grab you from the first page and never let go.
The suspense builds page by page. Eva thinks she may have murdered her mother but she cant remember as she was struck by lightining.
Liam her fiance says she could not have done it, the police are not so sure.
Who do you believe ? I cheered for them all at one point.
I dont want to give anything away . I will say I didnt see the ending coming.
Dont miss this one !! Twists and turns will keep the lights on.
Just finished Behind Every Lie by Christina McDonald. After reading Christina’s first book, The Night Olivia Fell, I was excited to read her new book. I devoured this fast-paced book in a twenty-four hour period.
The main character Eva finds herself in the hospital waking up to find that she was struck by lightning the night before. She has multiple bruises, burns, and cuts on her body. She is told her mother was killed and Detective Jackson wants to question her. Eva does not remember what happened. Her fiancé Liam is there to protect her.
Eva and her mother Kat are the narrators. Kat takes us to England twenty five years ago and We follow Eva as she tries to remember what happened the night her mother dies.
So many twists and turns as the reader immediately becomes engrossed in McDonald’s story. Just when I thought I figured everything out there was a new twist. This is a book I will be thinking about for awhile. I would have liked to have had an epilogue from Eve ten years later. My thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
After being struck by lightning, Eva is unable to remember how her mother, Kat, died just minutes before. Could Eva have killed her? Will she be able to remember what happened before she’s arrested?
“If nobody believes you, if the police don’t believe you, how can you trust yourself?”
I loved this author’s debut, The Night Olivia Fell (5 stars), so very much and was so looking forward to this one. Unfortunately, the unreliable narrator paired with the lack of emotion really let me down, and I’m so bummed. There were a lot of twists (some I guessed and some I did not) but overall, it was all too much of a stretch for me with way too many coincidences. Lastly, the premise reminded me so much of The Breakdown (4 stars) by B.A. Paris (can you say book hangover?!?), and I’m sad to say that Ms. Paris pulled off the unreliable narrator so much better. With that being said, I love this author’s writing style and will definitely read whatever she writes next.
Location: Seattle, WA (Whidbey Island) and England
I received an advance copy of this book from BookishFirst. All opinions are my own.
Absolutely a five star must read! I thought I had it figured out from the beginning but that was only the start of this very twisty suspense! And with each new surprising twist, I hung on to the absolutely surprising end!
Thank you in advance to BookishFirst, and Gallery Books for providing an advance uncorrected proof to review. All words are my own in this review and a positive review was not required.
First off, as I do review many types of books, this book is not a Christian or clean read in any way. There is coarse language throughout, with several variations of the “F” word used.
Both British and American English are used throughout this story. Since I have read a few UK “chick lit” books, I sort of understood the British English words used.
There is some sex talk in this novel, though nothing overly graphic. There are no sex scenes in the book.
Trigger warnings include:
* Domestic Violence
* Rape
* Murder
* Gaslighting
For those who have experienced some of the traumatic events mentioned, they might want to have someone else read this book first.
I was very eager to read this as I had been hearing about this book since late last year. It sounded SO good. And, I had been TRYING to win a copy through different channels with no such luck. The author’s “The Night Olivia Fell” was highly acclaimed and I suspected this wouldn’t be any different.
This book is NOT connected to the previous novel at all. Both are standalone reads.
I was able to get “The Night Olivia Fell” from the library and it was definitely a four (4) star read, despite the sad premise.
In that book, it was the daughter who “died” and the mother trying to research what happened and lead up to that night. And, in the course of doing so, she uncovered a lot of secrets her daughter knew and some she tried to find out.
This time, in “Behind Every Lie”, Eva is suspected of killing her mother, but can’t remember what happened due to being struck by lightning. Determined to clear her name, she travels from Seattle to London and begins to uncover her mother’s secrets, and how they connect to Eva’s life. However, there is someone who doesn’t want her to know. And, it is for a very good reason.
Like “The Night Olivia Fell”; “Behind Every Lie” is also told in alternating POVs from Eva in the current and Kat (Eva’s mother) in the past. “The Night Olivia Fell” was told with the mother in the present and daughter in the past.
Kat’s past is told in increments: 25 years ago, 17 years ago, 4 years ago, the day before, and the night of the murder.
McDonald has a masterful way of weaving complex mother/daughter relationships along with twists, turns, surprises, and suspense. The first novel was a taste of that talent, this got even more twisted.
One common complaint is that this has a lot of drama and plot twists going on. So much so that it could’ve worked as two different novels. That didn’t bother me, but did keep the book moving at a fast, engaging, and “almost couldn’t put it down” pace. There were more twists than a NASCAR road course. So, it could be hard for some readers to keep up with.
The writing style did make the story flow quite well.
About a third (⅓) of the way in there is a HUGE reveal which sets up what might be a motive with misconceptions and assumptions swirling around.
But, that isn’t the only reveal. And, this was chock full of secrets.
The characters of Eva and Kat were complex and conflicted. As I continued on, I figured out why. The support characters were just that – support. I disliked Liam even before the end of the novel. There were things Eva kept praising him about how much he took care of her. Yet, it seemed more like “controlling” her. Eva seemed strong, yet weak.
There was an event in her past that was relevant, though some might find it was brought up far too often.
This was such an engaging novel, and the cover was tempting. It was hard to put it down for the night. And, once I got past chapter 36, I HAD to finish this novel.
This was a haunting, sad, and page-turning read. Every bit, if not better, than “The Night Olivia Fell”. So, I wasn’t too disappointed overall. I was glad that I was able to get a copy of it.
The title comes from a phrase – behind every lie is a reason, and behind every reason there is a person.
A four (4) star read that teaches us we can be strong, brave, and still broken.
Christina McDonald follows up her novel The Night Olivia Fell with the suspenseful Behind Every Lie and proves that she can dig deep into the human psyche and give us another emotionally charged story about family secrets, lies, and survival.
In one of the alternating points of view, we witness a terrifying mother’s experience—the loss of a child. While the two mothers chat downstairs, one of their daughters plunges from a second-story window to her death. To give more away would demand spoilers, and I won’t do that to readers.
But the novel doesn’t begin there. At the start of the story, one of the narrators, Kat, awakens after being hit by lightning. She is covered in blood and believes she killed her mother.
How those two threads weave together is the strength of this novel. McDonald takes us in and out of possibilities leading up to a conclusion that makes perfect sense and will be guessed by a few devout “thriller” readers.
The story shows us how one decision can carry through many lifetimes, decisions that seemed right and necessary at the time, and even seemed the only way out for these two women. I felt the emotional impact of what faced these women and can relate to the choices they made. The tension builds as the decisions lead to even more danger. Not all is what it seems.
The novel is well-plotted and twisty, and in Hitchcockian style, we know more than Eva does from Kat’s storyline, giving us an inside track to what Eva is up against.
View More: http://portraitsbyjustyna.pass.us/legg
I love how McDonald uses the Japanese repair method of kintsugi, the act of repairing broken pottery with gold lacquer. Kintsugi shows off the scars of the mended broken pieces instead of trying to hide them, a wonderful way of making an analogy to Eva’s many physical scars and her broken psyche.
I gave this novel four stars because, although McDonald can write some beautiful and appropriate descriptions for the tone of the scenes, she also creates analogies that stop me from reading. They can be awkward and melodramatic, and because I can’t quote from and an advanced reader copy, I can’t give you examples. Also, she doesn’t need to tell us how a character feels after showing us with body language and dialogue. This may sound picky, but I wish she’d trust the reader more with this.
Thank you to Net Galley and Simon & Schuster for the opportunity to read and review this advanced copy of Behind Every Lie.
Do you like twisty, turny plots that make your head spin and unreliable narrators? Then this is the book for you!! This is the first book that I have read by this author.
Eva is the ultimate unreliable narrator as she has been struck by lightning and can’t remember much, if anything, about the night that her mother was murdered, along with an unnamed man. She was, however, found by the police not very far from her mother’s house, outside in the storm, known to have been struck by lightning. When hospitalized she is unconscious at first, unable to speak and in an incredible amount of pain. She also exhibited red, feathery lines on her arm, defined by Wikipedia as follows “90% of those struck by lightning survive, the electrical discharge scars some of them with a tattoo-like mark, known as the Lichtenberg figure. … The blistering heat, light, and electricity can also damage your eyes.”
Eva can only remember going out to dinner with her mother, Kat, Lily, her mother’s best friend and her brother Andrew, in honor of her mother receiving an award for saving a child’s life.The rest is a blur of flashes in her memory.
The police consider Eva a suspect but in her mind she is quite certain she didn’t kill her mother though she has some disturbing flashbacks at times. She leaves the hospital, against the doctor’s advice, with her fiance, Liam, to his secluded home.
This novel is told from two points of view, Eva’s, and Kat, her mother. It is also told in two storylines, the past, told through Kat’s voice, and the present, Eva’s voice. This can be confusing at first, but hang in there and all will be explained by the end.
Eva also travels to London where she believes there are clues to unravel her history and this murder, so you have two cities where the novel takes place. London was Kat’s home before settling in Seattle. Everyone has secrets, including Eva and her relationship with her mother had at times been rocky, they have very different personalities. Eva felt “I couldn’t trust anything. Not what I remembered, not what I thought I saw, Not myself.”
I enjoyed this book because it really kept me guessing until the end. There are a multitude of characters, including; Eva, Kat, Lily, Liam and Jacob, her childhood friend. This is one of those books that would be best read in several consecutive sittings, at least that was the only way that I could keep track of what was going on.
This was a 4 ½ star rounded down to a 4 because you really have to suspend some belief because of the large cast of characters and the multitude of puzzle pieces that must come together for a resolution.
I would still recommend this book to mystery/thriller readers who like an intricately plotted novel. I look forward to the next novel from this author.
I received an ARC of this novel from the publisher through Edelweiss.
The novel is set to publish on February 4, 2020. This was a Traveling Sisters read.
BEHIND EVERY LIE by Christina McDonald is a riveting novel of psychological suspense that had me hooked from the first page. I really enjoyed the author’s debut novel, THE NIGHT OLIVIA FELL, and couldn’t wait to read her next book. I was definitely not disappointed. BEHIND EVERY LIE is a fast-paced and emotionally-charged story filled with secrets, lies and complex family relationships. It is told from the alternating perspectives of Eva Hansen and her mother, Kat. It also alternates between Eva’s present and Kat’s past leading up to when two time frames intersect. Eva wakes up in the hospital after being struck by lightning. She is informed that her mother has been brutally murdered and she is a possible suspect. She has no memory of her mother’s death, but police tell her that there is evidence to place her at the scene. As Eva sets about trying to clear her name, secrets are revealed that cast doubt on everything Eva knows of her mother, her family and her own past. As the story unfolds, there are shocking twists and turns that kept me guessing right up until the dramatic ending. I truly enjoyed this gripping and intense book and look forward to whatever comes next from Christina McDonald. Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the chance to read an early copy.
Funny, I started this book and then it clicked this was the author who wrote The Night Olivia Fell, which I loved. The first pages of the story drew me in and each page kept me wanting to keep reading to find out how the story ends. There will be secrets and lies that unfold and it had me guessing until the very end how it was all going to play out. If you want a thrilling book, check this out! Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
1/2 Stars
I enjoyed The Night Olivia Fell, so I was looking forward to this read. This book is filled with so many twists and turns, that it makes for a quick read. If it wasn’t for bad luck, I’m not sure Eva would have any luck. She is found in a park not far from her mother’s home (who was just found murdered) bloody and struck by lightning. She remembers nothing. Thus starts this tale from Eva’s point of view along with her mother’s Kat.
I would have been fine with a few less twists! After a while they seemed to bog down the storyline. I did not feel any connection between the characters, nor did I find the characters particularly like-able. I felt like I was going back and forth between the different twists.
I do like the author’s writing style and will definitely read her again. Thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books for this ARC. Opinion is mine alone.
Another great psychological thriller from the author of The Night Olivia Fell. This one grabs you from the beginning and hosts a variety of characters which are revealed throughout. Trying to figure out whodunnit is entertaining and surprising. Twists abound and keep you reading all the way to the surprising finish!
Behind Every Lie by Christina McDonald was a definite 5 star read for me. The characters were developed slowly, but fully, in a way that I felt like I really knew them. The way the author describes the settings and action really paints the picture and the experience of the characters. I enjoyed the way that the story is told from both the mother’s (Kat) and daughter’s (Eva) perspective as well as how it went from past to present. This helped to keep me on the edge of my seat and allowed for the reader to think they know how things will come together, but then things would go in an unexpected direction. The complicated mother-daughter relationship is explored through this book as are a number of other difficult themes, but it wasn’t too much for one book as it all worked. This novel was very well written and, while I thoroughly enjoyed the author’s previous book, The Night Olivia Fell, this one is even better.