Jane Hugh works and loves being in the animal sanctuary. She has a steady man in her life, she seems to be happy. I would have to say that overall I liked this book. I enjoy a wide range of books and find that mixing things up works best for me. I have been reading way too many romances lately so I was immediately interested in this book because I was in the mood for a mystery. The fact that the cover promises that it will be "Dark and creepy" was really just an added bonus. I have to say I am not keen on plots involving anything resembling a cult, and this lessened my enjoyment of The Lie. This is a personal dislike and not something that should dissuade readers without that opinion from reading the book. Jane has a contented life or so it appears to the outside world. She has the job of her dreams working with animals in a rescue center. She lives in a cottage Wales and she has met a man she really likes. I really loved the pace, the plot and the energy of the book up to them arriving at the holiday destination of a lifetime, it's hard to share without spoilers, but it's not quite what everybody expected. At this point in addition to the group of friends a number of new and flawed characters are introduced and I can confidently say I did not take to one of them.

And I sit there and think: what. Seriously? What is the point of Daniel going through everything in this book and looking forward to the new stage of his life if the next chapter of Helen Dunmore's novel features him chased by a mob and jumping off a cliff to his death?

Retailers:

I would recommend this book to others. It was a good story that was a little different than the norm. This is the first book by C.L. Taylor that I have had a chance to read and I plan to look for her work in the future. Thank you to Net Galley, HarperCollins UK, Avon and author C.L. Taylor for an ARC of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. The Lie is a suspenseful novel about a British woman who is being stalked five years after a horrifying experience while on vacation in Nepal. It is immediately clear that the events are connected. The tale is told in first person narrative from the point of view of the protagonist Emma (aka Jane). The chapters alternate between the Nepal adventure five years previous and the present day.

The portrayal of Felicia, shifting from the girl she was to a woman who has learned how she must live is sublime. Details handled so very, very well. This book is full of such wonderful details, but there were moments when my attention was pulled away. I suspect that if I didn’t live in West Cornwall I wouldn’t have been distracted at all; but I do, and I was. And I suspect that if so much of this book hadn’t been so very good then I wouldn’t have minded so much. The Lie is an utterly gripping psychological thriller that you won't forget for a long time. Dark and creepy and wonderfully written, I can't praise C.L. Taylor enough for how she has wrote this one.During the 1980s and early 1990s I taught poetry and creative writing, tutored residential writing courses for the Arvon Foundation and took part in the Poetry Society's Writer in Schools scheme, as well as giving readings and workshops in schools, hospitals, prisons and every other kind of place where a poem could conceivably be welcome. I also taught at the University of Glamorgan, the University of Bristol's Continuing Education Department and for the Open College of the Arts. Another issue I have with the book is that the relationship between two major characters undergoes a drastic unilateral change almost overnight. This was a little too unbelievable for me. This is an important point as this switch is central to the plot. I can't talk about this without delving into spoilers so please beware that the resolution and most of the mysteries in the book will be spoiled if you continue to read on. Five years ago Emily was persuaded to go on a holiday with three of her friends to Ekanta Yatra a retreat in Nepal. The retreat is not all it appears to be and soon friendships will become a thing of the past. This was supposed to be the holiday of a lifetime but it is slowly turning into Emily's worst nightmare from which there seems no escape. I've had this on my to-read list for a while, I finally got around to reading it and I'm so glad I did.

The seeds for the ending were planted early. A misjudgement led to a lie, and that led to tragedy. It was so sad, knowing for so long that an unhappy ending was inevitable, and it was heart-breaking when it happened. This is a creepy read which just oozes menace in every chapter. Five years ago four friends – Emma, Al, Leanne and Daisy went on holiday to a spiritual retreat in Nepal, but it was a holiday that ended in disaster and we know right from the start that not everybody returned although we don’t know the full horrific details until much later in the book. Five years later Emma has a new identity - Jane – a new job and a blossoming relationship. Her past is a highly guarded secret, or is it? Someone seems to have discovered the truth about her. Who that is, we are not told. First, some positives. There are a lot of characters in both stories, and for the most part, you just do not know whom Emma can trust! Can she even trust her best friends in Nepal or her boyfriend in present-day Wales? Who can say? Not me! The tale also has a markedly sinister feel to it, which I really like. Emma, the protagonist, is very likeable, which to me is always a plus. I am not one of those readers who doesn’t mind a story where there is no one to root for. The novel is told from the first person perspective of Daniel Branwell, a young man who has returned from France after a stint in the Army. His narrative voice from the start is not a realistic male one, and it certainly sounds far too feminine to be anything close to plausible at times. Both of Daniel’s parents are dead, and his only company is an elderly woman named Mary Pascoe who lives nearby -‘Even with her milky eyes she still seemed more like a bird than a woman… I was glad that the humanness in her seemed to have been parched away, so that she was light enough to fly’ – and his memories. From the moment I read the sample for The Lie on my Kindle, I was convinced I would love it. The writing was utterly fantastic, the visuals arresting. When I finally got my hands on the book, I devoured it, loving every moment of it – the astonishing writing, the fantastic visuals. And then I got to the final chapter and I just sat there for a long moment, contemplating throwing the book across the room.Pat Barker matches her for historical accuracy and the ability to delve deep into the human psyche, but Dunmore’s haunting, lyrical and mesmeric prose to describe carnage and loss elevates her into a different league. (The Weekend Australian, March 1-2, 2014)