Book Review: Lies | T. M. Logan

Twisted, dark, heart-wrenching, deceptive, distorted fun—do not start this book if you don’t have time to stay up late into the night reading it! Lies by T. M. Logan is that hard to put down! When we began this read, I thought it would be a good old-fashioned domestic noir novel. But it blew my expectations out of the water. My mind thought of dozens of scenarios, but not a single one I thought of was THAT twist! I loved it!

What’s Lies about?

Joe Lynch is driving his son William home when they spot a car that looks just like mum’s. It is the same make, the same color, and has the same sponge-bob window shade as mum’s car. It has the same license plate as mum’s car… Just as Joe and William realize it is Joe’s wife Mel driving, it pulls off the road into a parking garage.

Joe and William follow Mel into the garage. And then things become stranger. The garage is attached to a hotel, and Mel is nowhere in sight near her car. Following her path inside, Joe and William finally spot her talking to their friend Ben. But something about the conversation seems off… Why are they in a hotel? And why do both Ben and Mel look so upset? Joe knows that he has brought his son into a moment he shouldn’t have.

Back in the garage, Mel rushes out upset and Joe decides to confront Ben. And then things go from bad to worse. In the midst of a confrontation, Ben hits Joe and Joe pushes him back. Ben falls to the ground and doesn’t get back up. William begins to have an asthma attack, and Joe makes a split second decision that will change his life—he leaves Ben where he is and rushes his son home.

He tries to go back to look for Ben, but Ben and his car are nowhere in sight. And then the nightmare begins… Someone is watching Joe and taunting him with the truth. But how can Joe believe the truth, when he learns everything he knew was based on lies?

What did I think of Lies?

The concept of lies and lying is an interesting one to ponder. How do we know if someone is lying to us? I find that most of us think we would know if someone close to us is lying. We can read them, read their tics, know their tells. The problem is, we often don’t recognize when we are being lied to by our closest confidants, because we don’t want to believe they are lying. Once you know someone’s lies, will you ever see them the same again?

Joe is an incredible character. He has so much love to give and such a pure heart. Even when faced with a mountain of lies, Joe wants to believe the best in Mel. Joe is almost too good for the outside world. He always tries to do what is right. When he lies, it is because he truly thinks he is protecting someone he loves. And this pureness of heart is exactly why Joe can be lied to so easily.

I absolutely loved Joe as a father. For everything that frustrated me about him as a husband (seriously, Joe, she is in a hotel with another man in the middle of the work day!), Joe redeemed himself as a friend and as a father. Joe is truly one of the good ones. Believing others can change, and believing that if you act with goodness, the truth will prevail.

Of course, I wouldn’t have called this book dark, twisted, and disturbing if it didn’t have some absolutely mind-blowing twists! But here we are! This book managed to shock, delight, and amaze this thriller-lover with every single turn in the plot. I am beyond excited to have discovered this author, and now I’m even more excited to learn that he has another book out! I hope you all love this one as much as I did!

Book Bestie Approved

This was a Book Bestie read with my book friends! We were all so excited by this book the whole way through. As each of us hit the goal points, we’d post to one another, just giddy with excitement over where this book was headed. And of all the scenarios we all thought of, no one guessed that magnificent twist!!! What a delight to have a buddy read like this one. I can’t wait for you all to read it!

Thank you SO much to St Martin’s Press for sponsoring our copies of this book. All reviews are honest and our own.