No matter what you see, no matter what you’ve heard, assume nothing.Adam and Sophie Warner and their three-year-old daughter are vacationing in Washington State’s Hood Canal for Memorial Day weekend. It’s the perfect getaway to unplug—and to calm an uneasy marriage. But on Adam’s first day out on the water, he sees Sophie abducted by a stranger. A hundred yards from shore, Adam can’t save her. … can’t save her. And Sophie disappears.
In a nearby cabin is another couple, Kristen and Connor Moss. Unfortunately, beyond what they’ve heard in the news, they’re in the dark when it comes to Sophie’s disappearance. For Adam, at least there’s comfort in knowing that Mason County detective Lee Husemann is an old friend of his. She’ll do everything she can to help. She must.
But as Adam’s paranoia about his missing wife escalates, Lee puts together the pieces of a puzzle. The lives of the two couples are converging in unpredictable ways, and the picture is unsettling. Lee suspects that not everyone is telling the truth about what they know—or they have yet to reveal all the lies they’ve hidden from the strangers they married.
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An alcoholic serves as the perfect unreliable narrator in this twisted murder mystery. The author does a great job of withholding clues from the reader to discover along with one of the five point-of-view characters. Unfortunately, I didn’t suspend my disbelief that the alcoholic never reacted–until too late in the story– to the murder of the woman vacationing in the cabin next to him and his wife. But two surprises deep into the plot help make up for that assumption. The device/foil to carry out the murder is over-the-top imaginative, but the author leaves a clue early on and so wins my admiration. He also gives a tip of the hat to Strangers on the Train, Fatal Attraction, and Presumed Innocent. All-in-all, this one’s a great reason to stay up reading all night.
An original concept that will pull you right in. Two couples who seem not to know each other vacation in nearby cabins by a lake. Each of the marriages is troubled. The first, Sophie and Adam, have come to the lake with their little girl, but on the first day Sophie, on the shore in broad daylight, is kidnapped as Adam, out in a boat with their child, watches helplessly. There’s also another witness, who is elderly with faulty eyesight. Sophie is later found dead. Her controlling Father is convinced Adam is lying.
This book is full of twists and turns that will leave you guessing. It is written in alternating chapters with each character’s POV in the first person. You may be tempted to think of “Rashomon” with their repeated and contradictory interpretations. My only problem with the book is that none of the characters is likable, but the concept is still very clever. I never figured out the ending. It is a page turner and fast paced. Loved it.
I love a suspense/thriller that keeps me hanging on the edge until the very end, and LYING NEXT TO ME by Gregg Olsen delivers. The murderer is well hidden until the final revelation. In retrospect, there was a well-concealed trail of breadcrumbs all along. I highly recommend this book.
Lee is a cat loving female detective that went through an ordeal at age twelve. She and her partner Montrose deal with small crime and occasionally criminal cases.
Meet Adam and Sophie and their daughter Aubrey, age three. They have headed to a cabin for some quiet time, cabin one. Then there is Connor and Kristen also taking time off and staying in cabin three. The middle cabin is being occupied by a grandmother and her two grandchildren.
There is the memorable Carrie, Adam’s boss and Sophie’s parents, Frank and Helen.
Sophie has been brutally kidnapped and there was a witness. There is also a man that is out of prison for a crime he swears he did not commit.
Lots of evidence, testimonies and gossip ….who is telling the truth?
Lee has to question her abilities since she knows Adam, he use to live here, knew her brother and found her all those years ago, when she had disappeared.
More of a psychological study than a murder mystery and dealing with narcissistic people of privilege that are circling each other like sharks, waiting for a weak link.
Well done as each character is a full blown person with neurosis, illness, needs and desires. And when you figure things out, you want to go back and reread certain statements and you see them in a different light. Great detective work and details and Lee is an excellent detective/person that cares about doing her job to the best of her abilities.
Lee is a very likeable character that should be in more books…handles her life and her xases without drama but with a lot of compassion and a need to know!
In true Gregg Olsen fashion, Lying Next to Me twists and turns enough to cause whiplash. When Adam’s wife Sophie disappears on vacation and is found deceased, you cannot help but be skeptical of all the witnesses. Lee, one of the main detectives, has known Adam since they were kids and would never believe he could hurt his wife after all he found her after she was abducted. His in-laws want his head on a platter but a witness clears him from the crime. But as the suspects keep crawling out of the woodwork, the truth becomes a well buried secret that will push the detective to her limits to uncover the real murderer. None of the characters are very sympathetic and all are worthy of being suspects. Even if you figure out the whodunnit, the story will still hit you like a bucket of ice water, shocking and unexpected. This book delivers what readers expect from Mr. Olsen and as always entertains. My voluntary, unbiased review is based upon a review copy from Netgalley.
This book starts off running and does not stop. A page turner from the first chapter to the twisted ending. These characters, the main two couples, Adam and Sophie Warner along with Kristen and Connor Moss, had me on a roller coaster of guessing what would come next or better yet what secret will be revealed in the next paragraph of the book! All is not always what it seems is the best way to describe these two couples. I kept flopping back and forth as to do I like Adam or despise him, at times it was hard to feel sorry for him that his wife is missing and at other times I thought this guy is missing the sensitivity chip.
I have not read a twisted tale like this in a while and I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed it. What a WTF last chapter!
If you enjoy mystery, thrillers and a WTF twisted ending then this book is for you.
Gregg Olsen Lying Next to Me
Title: Lying Next to Me
Author: Gregg Olsen
Genre: adult thriller/mystery
Pages: 396
Thomas & Mercer
Pub : May 21, 2019
I received this ARC from Netgalley in exchange for my fair and honest review. This was my first Gregg Olsen read, and wow it was quite a read. The book was full of twists and turns, who do you believe what actually happened that is the question. I did figure the storyline out finally before the end of the book but it was way toward the end. For those that enjoy suspense/thrillers you will definitely want to read this book.
A riveting, thought provoking suspense that pushes every one of the reader’s emotional boundaries. The characters are broadly developed and poignant creating the perfect balance within this manipulative narrative. While more avid readers of this genre may pick up on the plot twist early on, Olsen throws so many curve balls in the storyline that the entire experience is worth the read. 5 stars.
Thank you to #NetGalley for this ARC of #LyingNextToMe in exchange for an honest review.
Wow! By the time I finished this book I had COMPLETELY different feelings about certain characters (mainly Adam Warner) than I did when I started the book! I love how Gregg Olsen unfolds the story and the truth about what actually happened at the cabins slowly trickles out leaving the reader totally stunned by the end. There is so much I would like to say about this book, but I don’t want to give anything away. “No matter what you see, no matter what you’ve heard, assume nothing.” This statement sums this book up perfectly!
Gregg Olsen is the master at writing twisted mysteries. And this book does not disappoint. The characters are well developed and the author fleshes out their negative characteristics. They are narcissistic and absorbed in themselves. Betrayal is at the core of this story and you need to discover who to trust. I liked that each chapter was told from a different individual’s point of view.
Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for my advanced review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.
This book starts off with Adam, Sophie and their daughter Aubrey. A kid napping takes place then the local detectives come to question the people at the lake,
There was a couple of spots that I sorta read over to get to the most interesting part.
Several different characters are involved and it slowly takes place!
Something about impulsive heroines ‘losing it’ over nothing turns me off. Other than that, it was an enjoyable HEA story.
391 pages
4 and 1 / 2 stars
Adam and Sophie Warner and their young daughter are vacationing on Hood Canal. They are staying in a charming little cabin on the water. When Aubrey and her father fo out on the water in a boat, they witness Sophie being kidnapped from the yard of the cabin.
Detectives Lee Husemann and Zach Montrose attend the case. They ask many questions.Montrose thinks that Adam is good for the murder, for murder it turns out to be. Lee is not so sure. She believes that Adam is incapable of murder. It all stems from an incident in her childhood that still haunts her; when Adam rescued her.
Meanwhile, there are two other participants in the drama: Kristen and Connor Moss. This couple was also staying at the cabins.
Adam is kind of a creep. I found his behavior a little baffling. If he were to look closely at himself – something that seems impossible to this reader – he would see that he is more like his father-in-law than is bearable. He is self-centered. Well, to tell the truth, the possible suspects in this book are all messed up.
Backstabbing, lying, cheating and manipulation are all present in this novel. It’s great. There are lots of surprises. The denouement is exciting and well deserved.
Mr. Olsen has written another great tale. His writing combines the right amount of tension and drama to entrance the reader. He writes interesting and colorful characters. They are fleshed out enough for the reader to be able to imagine them as real people, but the additional information doesn’t at all detract from the story. Very well done, Mr. Olsen.
This is a wild ride! And you will definitely not figure this one out until it wacks you in the face. This is very intense, very fast paced, and has more twists and turns than a twisty straw. Gregg Olsen is such a vivid, brilliant writer and he brings this to life with the words leaping off the page. This book is so dark, so intense and so twisted.
This is the first story I’ve read by this author. I borrowed it from Amazon. I’m glad I did. Somehow I ran across the blurb of this book and it drew me in. Talk about a story with twists. I was hooked right from the beginning. It seemed cut and dried but mysteries are never that boring. The characters, throughout the story I couldn’t decide if I liked them or not. As the story goes on my liking Adam got changed. And the same goes for Kristen and Connor. This author has a real talent for making his characters chameleons. And the situations are anything but set in stone. I feel the flow of the story is really good. I love how realistic the characters are portrayed. Thank goodness I don’t have those in-laws. I will be reading or listening to more of his books.
Just when you think you have it all figured out, nope. The author keeps you on your toes. A great whodunnit with interesting character stories.
Loved this book. I found Gregg Olsen and I can’t stop reading his books. This one came up on kindle unlimited and I had to read it. As usual it was amazing I couldn’t put it down. If you love thrillers and haven’t read novels by Gregg Olsen you are missing out on a good read.
Great story with a great twist!
This was a great read and recommended. Full of unlikable characters living unsavoury lives – my favourite kind of read. You had to keep reading to find out how it was done.
Reads easily. Adam character is so weak.