Friday 1 May 2015

Books Read: C.L. Taylor - The Lie

I know your name’s not really Jane Hughes . . . 

Jane Hughes has a loving partner, a job in an animal sanctuary and a tiny cottage in rural Wales. She’s happier than she’s ever been but her life is a lie. Jane Hughes does not really exist. 

Five years earlier Jane and her then best friends went on holiday but what should have been the trip of a lifetime rapidly descended into a nightmare that claimed the lives of two of the women. 

Jane has tried to put the past behind her but someone knows the truth about what happened. Someone who won’t stop until they’ve destroyed Jane and everything she loves . . .

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When Jane Hughes gets an anonymous letter out of the blue it sets about a whole chain of events that puts her life in danger and brings back a lot of painful memories of a traumatic event in her past.  Memories that she's tried to shut off as too painful to remember but it's also a reminder that her present life is one big lie and that no-one in her current life really knows who she is. 

Alternating between the present day and five years earlier, we follow Jane as she tries to work out who is sending her these messages as well as snippets being revealed of when Jane went on what was supposed to be a dream holiday with 3 friends to Nepal five years previously.  As the story progresses we discover what exactly happened on that fateful trip that tore the friends apart and why it has haunted her ever since, at the same time Jane realises that it's finally time to face up to her past and let those closest to her know the truth about who she really is no matter what the consequences end up being. 

I'm sure that if I'd had the time to do so I would have sat and devoured this book in a single sitting as it was a story that grabbed me hook, line and sinker from the very start but sadly for me I didn't have the time to do so but there were many times when I had to just read one more chapter as I couldn't stop reading there. 

The descriptive writing takes us on a dark, twisted journey as it explored the intricacies of the friendships between Jane and her group of friends and we actually get to see how toxic their friendships actually were and how easily the bonds could be broken to tear them apart creating jealously but most of all trust issues.  Who is telling the truth and which friends can you really trust?  As for the ending, it was not the one I was expecting which is a good thing as I like to be shocked and surprised and C.L. Taylor definitely managed that with this reader! 

Over the last year or so I have started to read a lot more psychological thrillers, including her debut psychological thriller The Accident which I really enjoyed, but I have to say that The Lie is definitely one of the best I've read and is currently my favourite read of the year for 2015.  

1 comment:

  1. ooh I have this on my kindle, can't wait to read it!

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