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 …
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?
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Between the Lies starts with a terrifying idea and builds from there into a fast paced thriller that kept me guessing. Chloe wakes from a coma with no memory of what happened to her or even who she is. As if that’s not bad enough, the more time that passes, the more she’s convinced that those she should trust most are lying to her. Unreliable narrators can be quite effective in psychological thrillers and Chloe is certainly unreliable with her lack of memory and strange dreams, but she’s not the only one. It seems that everyone around her is keeping some secret or other from her, and their reasons may or may not be in her best interest. I did figure it out before the big reveal, at least in part, but the thing is I thought I had the answer more than once only to be led in another direction, so getting the answer ahead of time didn’t diminish my enjoyment. In fact, it made me want to keep going to see if I had it right. All in all, the story held my interest with its many secrets and twisted journey to the truth. Then we get one final twist that definitely had me sitting up and taking notice. The whole thing comes together perfectly and I recommend this one to fans of the genre.
Chloe suffered a terrible accident and she cannot remember anything. While recuperating at home, she begins to remember bit and pieces of her former life. This was a really good book with lots of twists, turns and surprises. It was very well written and I liked this author’s writing style. This is a real page turner that caught my attention from the first few pages. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this fantastic book in exchange for an honest review.
Every facet of Chole Daniels life is a complete mystery to her, she can’t even remember her own name, let alone the people standing in front of her claiming to be her family. The doctors tell her she has amnesia, so it may take some time to remember all the details of her life, but with time and healing it all may return to her… or not. In the meantime they are sending her home with the strangers that are claiming to be her family, hoping the return home will be just enough familiarity to spawn some missing memories. But the minute she walks into their home, a foreign feeling settles over her, one that has her feeling as though someone is lying to her… and she may not be as safe with these people as they claim. She just needs one little memory to hit and point her in the right direction…
Between the Lies will have you scooting to the edge of your seat and taking notice, this thrilling little tale is riddled with unsettling secrets and lies. And as they pile up, the more confusing things will become for not only the heroine, but also the reader, this one is certain to twist the thoughts and have you second guessing things at every turn. I must say this newest offering from Ms. Adams made for an impressive introduction, the dramatically thrilling story line kept me flying through the pages and teetering nervously on the edge of my seat throughout. If you enjoy thrillers I highly recommend you check this one out, it promises to rattle you to your core!
I requested an advanced copy of this title from NetGalley, and I am voluntarily leaving my honest opinion.
I love books with short chapters and this one fit the bill! It’s great for a summer read when you’re out and about and have time to grab the book and read a chapter or two in between errands. This was an entertaining read. Not the best book I’ve ever read, but the story seemed to lose power about halfway through the book. I felt like the ending was not as exciting as I was lead to believe and figuring out who was part of the accident/trauma was easy. So not a wonderful thriller, but an okay read.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Griffin Publishers for my advanced review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.
In this psychological thriller, Chloe wakes up with no memory, desperately seeking answers to the question of who she is. What she finds is half truths twisted in a plot to reframe her memories for self serving reasons that puts her life at risk. Perfect for readers who enjoy a good thriller.
Between the Lies by Michelle Adams
Chlo was in a horrendous car crash that apparently killed her husband and son according to her family. Unfortunately for Cloe she had a head injury among others and does not remember anything, not the crash, not her life before the crash not her family…… nothing. Bits and pieces are starting to come back to her and her family are filling in some parts of it but are they being truthful with her? This was a slow building psychological thriller that may have been a bit predictable at times but still worth picking up and reading. Thank you Netgalley and St Martin’s Press for this book and letting me leave my honest opinion. I would give this 3.5 stars out of 5.
Chloe Daniels regains consciousness in a hospital with no memory of how she got there. She doesn’t recognize the strangers who call themselves family — her parents and younger sister. She can’t remember her own name or any of the details about the life she was leading before she was involved in a serious car accident that left her catastrophically injured and wiped out her memory.
Her father is a psychiatrist who has undertaken to help Chloe regain her memories through therapy that she will continue at home after being discharged from the hospital. He administers her medication to her, and keeps her inside the house. She can’t leave the property — even if she could, she has no idea where she would go or what she was do.
But in this psychological thriller from author Michelle Adams, Chloe’s memories begin to re-emerge through brief glimpses, dreams, and what seem to be flashbacks. Additionally, she becomes increasingly suspicious. Where do her mother and sister go? Why does her mother cower around her overbearing father? She develops the feeling that “something happened that nobody wants to mention.” When she questions her father about her life before the accident and how the accident occurred, she is convinced that “he is lying. There is something about my life before the accident that they don’t want to tell me.” She is convinced that the “truth is hiding between the lies.”
Interspersed in Chloe’s first-person narrative are the thoughts or perhaps the journal of another person with whom it is apparent that Chloe had a tumultuous history. That individual is plainly deranged . . . and dangerous, leveling threats against Chloe and declaring that he/she can’t survive without her.
Gradually, Chloe discovers that she had a successful career as an attorney, and a lovely seaside home which enabled her to swim in the ocean on a daily basis. She also had a husband. And a child.
At deftly-timed intervals, Adams propels the story forward by revealing details about Chloe’s life. Most of those details raise additional questions, of course, both for Chloe and the reader. Adams never allows the story to drag, keeping the revelations coming at a fast pace as Chloe grows increasingly determined to understand how she came to be in her car with her young son on that fateful night and why her memories of that evening do not comport with the details her family have provided. Her father’s associate, in which she has confided, joins her in her quest to find the truth as the tension mounts and it is becomes clear that the closer Chloe comes to knowing the full truth, the more danger she faces.
Adams challenges readers to ponder what they would do if they discovered that the people they should be able to trust are lying to them. Between the Lies is a compelling, absorbing, and intriguing psychological thriller that will keep readers guessing until the shocking truth about the accident is revealed.
Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Reader’s Copy of the book.
This book started out so good. It had me reading and wanting more until about the halfway mark. For some reason it started falling a bit short.
It is my first by this author and I was very sad that it was not as I expected. The mystery was easy to figure out. The thrill fell short. Family is not always the best to help you. Secrets have a way of coming out even when you least expect them.
I give this book 3.5 stars. I was not that impressed with the characters, most of them. I did think Chloe was a very strong woman. She had a great determination. Her parents I didn’t like at all. It was somewhat predictable and easy to figure out. The author may have meant for it to be this way but I like to be surprised.
Thank you NetGalley and St Martin’s press for the ARC of this in exchange for my honest review. I will try more of this author’s work but this one just fell a bit short for me.
I was mesmerized by the suspenseful tone throughout this book! Chloe was involved in a terrible car accident. When she wakes up, she has no memory of what happened before or during the accident. She only knows the little bits and pieces that her family has told her. Although still weak from her injuries, she tries to piece together what really happened to get her life back. The people surrounding Chloe all seem to have something mysterious and dark about how they are acting. Unfortunately, Chloe is not strong enough to be on her own and is stuck with them. The tone is set where it feels as if something terrible will happen any moment. So many lies!
Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for this ARC.
3.5 stars, Chole wakes up from an accident that put her in a coma but has no idea what happened. She now has to try to piece together the events of that fatal night.
For me this story started of strong. I really wanted to know what happened that night and what was happening with her family. The middle was slow for me, I was getting frustrated with the main character but I will say I didn’t guess the ending and I really liked the way it ended!
A physiological thriller buff will be pleased! Chloe Daniels wakes up in the hospital after being in a coma for an entire month as the result of an accident. She doesn’t remember anything about the accident, let alone who she is or who the people are in front of her calling themselves her family. So, she is taken home to live with them and to seek treatment with her father (a psychiatrist), to try to heal her amnesia.
But, something happened that nobody wants her to remember. Is her family working to try to get her to forget? Will her mind help her remember, regardless?
Is she in danger?
I found that the story lingered a bit too long in areas, JR I loved the quick chapters which led to making it a quick read.
I definitely wanted to get to the truth!
Michelle Adams main character Chloe has amnesia as the result of a car accident. Her young son died in the accident and she is estranged from her husband, Andrew. This novel is filled with flawed characters. Her father, a psychiatrist is trying to reshape Chloe’s memory. The reader immediately dislikes Chloe’s father. Her mother has her own problems. I am not sure there is a truely likeable character in this book. In Chloe’s search for the truth, there are lots of twists and turns. It is a book that I will be thinking about for awhile.. Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. 3.5/4
The premise of this story had me very intrigued. I can’t imagine waking up in a hospital and not remembering anything. Not who I was or who the people were who said they were my family, so I was excited to see how Chloe was going to handle this new world she found herself in.
It seems like poor Chloe was fed lie after lie after lie. And by the people who were supposed to protect her the most. How stressful it must have been to want to learn who you were, but being given nothing but vague answers and the runaround every time you wanted to visit something from your past that might help trigger a memory.
As intrigued as I was with Chloe’s story and in finding out what had happened to her, I couldn’t form a real connection to her, her actions frustrating at times. I kept reminding myself she had been through a terrible ordeal, with injuries so severe she has total amnesia, but it still didn’t buffer the fact that she came across as a very wishy washy character to me.
The storyline kept me guessing as to who was behind the accident Chloe had. Ms. Adams does a great job of giving the reader just enough information to pull us through each section, desperate to find out what is the truth and who is telling lies. The random letters that pop up between chapters were the most intriguing parts of all and had me constantly changing my mind about who I thought was behind everything that had happened.
I did enjoy the story, even though it dragged along for me at times. Readers who love a good mystery and love to play the guessing game will truly enjoy this book.
Many thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press or providing me with an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.
3.5 stars
The plot of Between the Lies was interesting. Chloe Daniels wakes up in the hospital with amnesia. She also has no memory of what happened the night she got into a horrific car crash that left her with a brain injury. Moving in with parents and younger sister, Chloe is mending. Her parents are providing details of her life but Chloe senses that something is missing. So begins her search to find out what secrets her parents are hiding. Also, she is determined to remember what happened the night of the accident. But there is danger with her remembering. Someone close to her doesn’t want that to happen. Can Chloe remember what happened that night? Will she find out the complete truth about who she is?
While I liked the plot of Between the Lines, I felt that it couldn’t keep my interest. There were several times during the course of the book where I couldn’t pay attention to the book. I had to force myself to read it. Also, I felt that there was a lag in the middle of the book.
Chloe: I felt awful for her but I admired her determination to get to the bottom of everything. There was a point in the book where I did think that she should slow down. I also felt that she was too trusting. There was a certain character in the book that made warning bells go off every time she was with that person.
Chloe’s father: Talk about disliking someone right off the bat. I knew that he was hiding something from Chloe right from the beginning. My dislike for him grew as I read the book. As a parent, I could understand his need for wanting to protect Chloe. But the way he went about it was all wrong. It was wrong. When everything was revealed at the end of the book, he came across as a controlling, weak man.
Chloe’s mother: Out of all the characters in the book (minor and major), she was the one who had my pity the most. Well, other than Chloe. She wanted to tell her daughter the truth. But she was forced to follow her husband. She was abused by Chloe’s father for the entire book. When she found her backbone, it was almost too late.
I did enjoy reading Between the Lies. I thought that the mystery/thriller angle was well written. I know I have said this before, but it isn’t often when a book keeps me guessing. I was surprised by the secrets. I didn’t figure out who was responsible for everything until I was 84% into the book.
There were parts of the book that I didn’t like. These did factor into my rating. Like I said in at the beginning of this review, the book couldn’t hold my attention. There were several times where I had to force myself to read it. I also felt that there was a lag in the middle of the book. I didn’t like Chloe’s father and I felt that her mother needed to grow a backbone sooner than later.
The end of the book was fantastic. The author was able to wrap up all the storylines in a way that satisfied me as a reader. There were no storylines left hanging. Everything was ended or explained. Which was wonderful!!
This was a great book on wondering how much you actually know. You think you know the whole story at the beginning but really you know nothing. Chloe is just trying to learn the truth but everyone is keeping it from her. They are also giving her a different truth. Who can she trust? When you finally find out what happened it makes you really question the people in her life. This book is heartbreaking in many different ways. The book also keeps you guessing.
*I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.*
So many twists and turns and goodness and lies and deceit abound in this book. Chloe is a car accident and awakes in the hospital after being in a coma. Now she is surrounded by people who claim to be her family but she has no memory of them or of her life. When she is released from the hospital she goes home with them and even though they give her snippets of her so-called life. She is definitely uncomfortable and knows there are lies and darkness but does not know why. Twists and turns kept me on the edge and turning the pages faster than I thought possible. Definitely a recommendation from me!
Between the Lies is a story built on an unreliable narrator and the never ending feeling of doom and gloom for our main character, Chloe. Chloe is a woman suffering from amnesia. Though she is constantly reassured by her father that the treatments she is undergoing will get her to the truth of her life, what happened to her and why can’t she remember who she is.I do love amnesia stories for this very reason, the narrator can’t necessarily be trusted but as the reader you have to decide if you can trust their gut reactions, because if they don’t know facts surely they can still follow their instincts.
We quickly learn about Chloe’s situation, she’s living with her parents and that her father is “treating” her condition. The story unfolds at apace that keeps the readers attention. As she uncovers more, we start to see just how much she is being manipulated, all in the name of “protecting” her.
“And even though I’m confused about most things, there is one thing I do know: you can’t bring the dead back to life. The old Chloe is gone , and I’m afraid I might never get her back. I’m more afraid that my family don’t want me to.”
The memories she’s lost include just about everything in her life. She has to trust the people calling themselves her family, but as an adult it’s clear something bad happened and she isn’t been told what that is. The author creates her background through unveiling characters, people she’s had in her life, some as red herrings and some that she should pay closer attention to. Even as certain truths come to light, she has to remain on guard. Throughout the story readers are shared a variety of letters obviously written to Chloe, and cleverly Adams leaves them unsigned, adding to the mystery.
It all culminates in a really well built psychological thriller bringing Chloe’s life full circle. This is a great read from a new to me author. 4 Stars and recommendation!
Okay I admit it, I read some of the other reviews before writing mine. I really wanted to know how others felt about this book because was conflicted and flustered and all a flutter. The book?? Man I loved it I haven’t read this author before so I was quite surprised when she came into my world with this story. I love me some action and suspense, throw in the amnesia victim who doesn’t remember anything but someone is dead and I am in like flynn!! Chloe wakes up from said crash with no memory. Her family?? Truth?? Okay forget all of that and focus on this key fact that author’s forget, when they tell us it’s a suspense. . . we want suspense and MAN does this author provide it. This author gives us characters that don’t sit on their morals and wait for the police to do the work, not Ms Cloe. Nope no siree she went and found her won answers. Love her strength, desperation and determination. Mostly I like that this author brought a true suspense to the table and kept us twisting and turning until the very end. This story is well written and has you jumping from one person to the next as the culprit and enjoying this author’s ability to string you along and you read between the lies to get to the truth.
There are good books. There are good authors. This was both. It threw me into the main character or Chloe. It was written so that I felt I was her, fighting my way through the lies.
Without giving spoilers, it is a story of Chloe who was in a car wreck. She is left with amnesia. She moves in with her parents who are helping her heal. Or are they?
First, I want to thank Michelle Adams, St. Martin Griffin and NetGalley for providing me with this book so I may bring you this review.
Between the Lies by Michelle Adams is one of the best books in this genre I have read all year. It was fast paced, suspenseful, thrilling, exciting, a lot of twists and turns you won’t see coming, tragic at times, and a book that you won’t want to put down. Between the Lies is a book that truly lives up its title.
Michelle does a phenomenal job taking her readers inside Chloe’s amnesiacs mind post car accident. The detail of how she is feeling and coping is just incredible. You could tell she was really passionate about this character and wanted to bring out the best in this scene. It was an incredible original story with a lot of depth to it.
There is a good lesson in this book that I walked away with. Trust has to be earned not given. Don’t believe everything everyone tells you. Chloe found this out the hard way.
One thing is for sure Michelle is an incredible storyteller with an amazing imagination!!
This book had an amazing cast of characters and thrilling storyline I would love to see this be made into a Netflix Original Movie. I think it would do really well.