REVIEW: The Good Liar by Catherine McKenzie #allthebookreviews @amazonpub @LUAuthors @CEMcKenzie1
The Good Liar
by Catherine McKenzie
Thanks so much to Lake Union Publishing and Amazon Publishing for these wicked copies.
Jessica and I both fell in love with McKenzie - scroll below and see why!
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing / Amazon Publishing
Published: April 3, 2018
Paperback
380 Pages
Standalone
Genres: Thriller, Mystery, Fiction, Suspense
Goodreads Synopsis:
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?
Three women in the aftermath of an explosion. Cecily, who lost her husband and is dealing with being the "hero" when caught by a photographer in a timeless shot capturing a pure moment of shock as she stands there staring at the wreckage, not knowing if her husband was dead or alive at the time. Kate, who ran away from her responsibilities and just wants to start over. Franny, the girl who just found her birth mother, just to lose her in the explosion. Written in past and present perspectives along with interview transcripts for a documentary being done about them at the year anniversary of the explosion, the author takes us on quite the ride and brings these three women together in a way that I certainly did not see coming.
While reading this, it touches on quite a few things that had my head spinning and thinking of a non-fiction book I read last year that FASCINATED ME. Sorry, y'all... I'm gonna have to keep you in suspense, because anything I say (and I want to say a LOT) can spoil this for you and well, we don't want that ... do we? 😈
What I CAN tell you is that relationships are HARD. Marriages, friendships, families.... everyone has secrets. EVERYONE. McKenzie does a fantastic job looping you through each of these women, slowly unraveling their secrets chapter by chapter. While she didn't quite grasp my attention right at the get go, by the middle, I did not want to stop. I highly recommend you pick this one up.
While I've had Fractured on my kindle for ages, this is actually my first read by this author and it certainly won't be my last ... moving Fractured right UP my ridiculous TBR pile.
★★★★
Jessica's Review:
I had never read anything by Catherine McKenzie and I will now be going back to find her other books! THE GOOD LIAR did not disappoint. If you're looking for a slower build thriller that focuses more on the characters, then this is one you need to pick up!
We follow the lives of three women, Cecily, Franny, and Kate. Their lives are forever changed after an explosion destroys a Chicago building. Cecily's husband and best friend were inside when it happened (she was also supposed to be in there), Kate moved far away to out run it, and Franny watched it all unfold on TV knowing that the woman she believed to be her mother was in there.
The anniversary is quickly approaching and they feel that they have moved on. However, the memories of the event begin to haunt them. They all have secrets to keep, but what are they willing to do to keep them under wraps?
While this did have a slower pacing to it, there was just enough suspense and intrigue to keep you flipping the pages. McKenzie pairs short chapters with multiple POVs and that definitely help my attention. Who else is a "just one more chapter" reader? That made for "one more" transforming into "8 more". While some readers won't be overly shocked at the twists, I really enjoyed them and loved the journey that McKenzie took us on to get to them.
I feel that the synopsis did a fantastic job at describing the book without giving away too much information. Lately I've been reading a lot of books that fall victim to mismarketing, and I don't know about you guys, but that can really ruin a reading experience. When you're expecting an edge-of-your-seat-thriller and it ends up being more of a suspense, then it can take away from the book. This one is a good mix of suspense and mystery!
I give this a solid 4/5 stars
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