Book Review: Lie to Me

LIE TO ME | J.T. Ellison
09.05.2017 | Mira Books
Rating: 5/5 stars

Sutton and Ethan Montclair live the perfect life. They’re both successful authors, own a stunning home, and have an abundance of everything you could need in life. As authors, they have built the perfect story, but what’s truly hidden behind their façade is a couple consumed with regret and betrayal. The truth begins to seep out when one morning Ethan awakens to find a note from Sutton saying she has left him and not to come looking for her.

I leave a trail of destruction in my wake that is a sight to behold, wave after wave of hate that will overwhelm you until you sink to the bottom of my miserable little ocean, and once you’ve drowned I will feed on your flesh and turn your bones to dust.

Ethan is lost and confused by the note, or so he would have their closest friends believe. When he finally turns to the police to report Sutton missing, Ethan has a lawyer in tow. Despite coming off as the loving husband, the police immediately name Ethan suspect number one in Sutton’s disappearance. One of the investigators on the case doesn’t agree with the mounting evidence leading her and her team to Ethan and a sinister plot, but will her hunch save an innocent man or free a possible killer? What really happened to the baby the Montclair’s recently lost? And where has Sutton gone?

Here’s the deal. Brass tacks. If you give a society enough information, lay down enough threads, someone will have to follow the right one. It’s human nature. It’s the way our minds work. It a linear fashion, point A to point B to point C. So few of us have the capability to go from A to Q to H. It takes a special person to think that way.
I’m that special person.
But you already knew that.

Ellison lays the story of the Montclair’s out to the reader in short, gripping chapters. The novel is broken in to three parts: Ethan, Sutton, and Everyone. As the reader flies through Ethan’s portion they are lead more and more to believe he must be behind Sutton’s disappearance. The character of Holly, lead investigator, serves the role of devil’s advocate to what appears to so clearly be the truth and fights to prove Ethan is an innocent man being set up. In order to not give away any spoilers, I won’t delve in to the Sutton and Everyone sections of LIE TO ME, but I will simply say Ellison has a gift for making the reader change opinions on the main characters effortlessly through a series of twists and turns that keep you on the edge of your seat. This was my first book by Ellison and I was blown away by her writing style. While I was successful in guessing whodunit, I was not prepared for the path that brought me to the truth. In a literary world where domestic thrillers have become abundant, LIE TO ME is a standout piece with depth, deception, and good old fashioned revenge.

A special thank you to the ladies, Kourtney and Stacey, behind the Salt Water Reads Book Club over on Instagram for choosing this as their November 2017 selection. Job well done!