Can you hide a secret with the whole world watching?When an explosion rips apart a Chicago building, the lives of three women are forever altered.A year later, Cecily is in mourning. She was supposed to be in the building that day. Instead, she stood on the street and witnessed it going down, with her husband and best friend inside. Kate, now living thousands of miles away, fled the disaster and … away, fled the disaster and is hoping that her past won’t catch up with her. And Franny, a young woman in search of her birth mother, watched the horror unfold on the morning news, knowing that the woman she was so desperate to reconnect with was in the building.
Now, despite the marks left by the tragedy, they all seem safe. But as its anniversary dominates the media, the memories of that terrifying morning become dangerous triggers. All these women are guarding important secrets. Just how far will they go to keep them?
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Catherine McKenzie has done it again with her latest novel, The Good Liar. In yet another page-turner, three women, linked by trauma, transform from images seen through the camera’s lens into human and relatable characters as their layered lives come into focus. As you settle in for this tense and compelling ride, you’ll start to question who ‘the good liar’ really is — Cecily, Kate, witnesses, the media, friends, family, or maybe even Catherine McKenzie herself.
Lines will be crossed and secrets revealed when tragedy intersects three women in The Good Liar, a guilty pleasure you won’t be able to put down until the very last page. A must read!
Put The Good Liar at the top of your summer must-read list. Catherine McKenzie isn’t just a talented storyteller; she has a knack for asking the questions every woman secretly asks, and answering with a story that expresses our collective dreams and fears. The Good Liar brilliantly weaves three stories about regular women coping with the aftermath of a tragedy. But this book is far more than a first-rate page turner; it’s an exploration of the cost of keeping secrets, how the bonds between women both chafe and comfort, and how in the midst of the terror and beauty that is life, we find grace.
This was a little challenging as I was reading another book at the same time. I had to keep reminding myself of the storyline and characters. That was my mistake, so I put the other book down and quickly got caught up into this story. It was captivating, a tragedy, an unfaithful husband, an adoption story with internet intrigue, and a good friend’s loyalty complication, not to mention grief. What more could one ask for? I enjoyed the read!
A read the will keep you turning the pages.
– Angst
– Tragedy
– Secrets
– Characters that keeps you guessing
– Secrets, so many secrets
– Twists and turn right until the last page
– Did I mention secrets, ones you will now be able to guess
First, I want to thank Catherine McKenzie, Lake Union Publishing, and NetGalley for providing me with this book so I may bring you this review.
Good Liar by Catherine McKenzie is a powerfully written book!! If you ever wanted to know the human-interest side of the terrorist attack this is the book you must read! Catherine in the prologue had me scared right along the main character Celily as she navigated the 15th floor and the streets of pure terror as the Triple Ten attack was happening.
Catherine did an amazing job with the descriptions, details, the characters thoughts, feelings of the what actually happened that day and the aftermath. She showed compassion, empathy towards her characters. This subject matter and her characters seemed close to her heart.
However, this book was not just about the devastating attack and everyone trying to heal from it. There were other storylines involved too. Like the Celily’s husband wasn’t the perfect husband everyone thought he was, the interview Fanny May did with Teo regarding her finding her Birth Mom prior to the attacks, etc. So many lives changed due to this terrible tragedy.
My heart melted for the young nephews in this book of Aunt Kate! They were so adorable!
I would definitely read anything Catherine McKenzie writes again!
This was my first book by this author – it won’t be the last. She’s a great suspense writer.
A gripping page-turner with emotional depth that follows three women managing the aftermath of a tragic explosion. Who is the good liar?
I loved this story and could not put it down. Expect the unexpected in this incredibly well crafted story about second chances.
Just finished reading Catherine McKenzie’s “The Good Liar.” Wow, what a story! A story that keeps twisting and turning and will have your head spinning. McKenzie does a great job of pacing the story with increasing tempo as the end approaches. And just when you think you have the mystery figured out the floor drops out from under you.
Excellent book.
Even if you’re able to figure out who’s lying about what, you won’t be able to figure out all the lies until the very end.
I loved this read! Catherine MacKenzie is a new author for me and I intend to read more of her work.
The story of three women whose lives were all impacted differently by an explosion in Chicago includes richly developed characters, unexpected twists and turns and a wonderful game of psychological cat and mouse.
If you are tired of the over-proliferation of Gone Girl-type books, I think you’ll enjoy a thoroughly original take on suspense.
Never saw the twists coming!
Make sure that you block off your weekend so you can finish this book! Once you begin, you won’t want to stop. This was a gripping book that I didn’t want to put down. The alternating viewpoints added to the story and made the story intriguing. A book of twists for your next read by the fireplace!
Really good!!!!
This book was a page turner. It’s the story of three women and how a tragedy affects them. Lots of twists and turns
Surprising page turner.
At 10:00 a.m. on October 10, a building in downtown Chicago suddenly explodes, forever altering the lives of three women. The story is told by Cecily, whose husband died in the explosion; Kate, who fled and began a new, secret life in Canada; and Franny, who lost the biological mother she’d just found.
The narratives are also presented against the backdrop of a documentary reporter’s interviews on the occasion of the one-year anniversary of the explosion. All of these women are harboring secrets about that day and the story slowly reveals each. I really liked how the narratives transitioned between characters and the interviews, which often served as a bridge. It was a unique approach that worked well, especially with the multiple narrators used for the audio edition. I always knew who was speaking as the voices were distinctive and well matched for each character. The audio performance was well done.
I very much enjoyed this story that threw a lot of curves throughout but especially at the very end. I thought I’d figured them all out but the epilogue was a stunner. It’s one of those that makes you want to go back and revisit parts of the book (which I did) to see if the clues were there. This is a cleverly written story with lots of psychological angles and is wonderfully served up by the audio performance. My first by the author but not my last.
I’m not really sure if this book was confusing or if it was just me. But I had trouble keeping the characters straight in the first half of the book. The title should actually be “The Good Liars”, as there are more than one. This book addresses the issue of whether or not it is a good thing to keep some people from the total truth, when the truth may cause more harm than good. And once we lie, we must live with it forever, and the lies grow and grow. But this seems to be human nature. I usually don’t like cussing in the books I read, but in this context it seems appropriate. When the characters use it, they show raw emotion and their true humanity. The ending may not be a surprise to some, but it does make you stop and think for a moment.
Can you hide a secret with the whole world watching?
When an explosion rips apart a Chicago building, the lives of three women are forever altered.
A year later, Cecily is in mourning. She was supposed to be in the building that day. Instead, she stood on the street and witnessed it going down, with her husband and best friend inside. Kate, now living thousands of miles away, fled the disaster and is hoping that her past won’t catch up with her. And Franny, a young woman in search of her birth mother, watched the horror unfold on the morning news, knowing that the woman she was so desperate to reconnect with was in the building.
Now, despite the marks left by the tragedy, they all seem safe. But as its anniversary dominates the media, the memories of that terrifying morning become dangerous triggers. All these women are guarding important secrets. Just how far will they go to keep them?
This book made me feel like I was actually there, I could feel and hear the explosion. Great characters, twists, turns, suspenseful, unbelievable ending.
Good thing Cecily is always late, specially on this day while meeting her husband, because while walking towards his building there is an explosion and more than 500 people are killed. Then the lying starts and the secrets of these woman in Cecily’s life come to the surface. Ten years later a documentary is on the horizon and we get to hear from each woman, Kate, Frannie and of course Cecily. This documentary is known as the triple ten due to it happening on October 10th at 10am. I would recommend this book, although it’s a slow start, it picks up quickly.
Thank you Net Gallery and Lake Union Publishing.
I look forward to reading more by Catherine Mckenzie.
Cherie’
#netgallery #thegoodliar