JP Pomare

This puzzling and intriguing debut is packed with secrets. It’s told in past and present tense...with two main characters—Kate AKA Evie and Jim (although it looks like Jim became Bill in the final book 😂 ).

It instantly pulled me, but it took a bit to get settled into the story. Once I did, I was swept away in all the suspense and wild mystery. Trying to figure out what was going on!! The author keeps us in the dark about a lot of things, but we know that Jim snuck Kate out of show more Melbourne and changed her name to Evie in order to protect her...at least that’s what he told her. Now they’re hiding away in a remote area. Evie feels more like she’s in prison than being protected. He locks her in her room at night; he doesn’t allow her access to the computer/internet; and he makes secret phone calls. It drove me crazy trying to figure out who Jim was! Can he be trusted? Is he really looking out for Evie or does he have heinous intentions?

The chapters in the past tense lead us up to an accident in Melbourne, involving Evie and her boyfriend. She claims she has no memory of the incident, so she relies on Jim to help her remember. But she’s convinced that he’s manipulating her memories and hiding information from her. Is he...and why?

Who do we believe? At times Evie seemed reliable and I thought Jim was sneaky and unstable, but then the dynamics would shift. So many different scenarios ran through my mind, as I impatiently read to the finish. This ending stunned me. It was clever, tidy and incredible!

Thank you to Edelweiss and Penguin Publishing Group/G.P. Putnam's Sons and JP Pomare for this digital ARC, in exchange for my honest review!

My Rating: 4 ⭐️’s
Published: March 5th 2019 by G.P. Putnam's Sons
Pages: 368

Excerpts:

“There is a stranger inside everyone, an animal that doesn’t think but responds only to its instincts and impulses. Some people will let the stranger take over once, possibly twice in their entire life. It’s only afterward, when your body has cooled down and your mind has returned, that you realize you had no control, that you realize something else took you over.”

show less

This one had me on the edge of my seat a lot of the time. It's riddled with lies and deceptions and soaked in threat and guilt. It opens with a woman pushing a man in front of a train on the Melbourne Metro, then most of the rest of the novel is about how the anger and hate behind that push was generated. It's not a linear path and it's filled with surprises.

On the whole, I found the plot elaborate but just about believable, if you take into account that events are driven by an obsessive, show more detailed-oriented, sociopathic narcissist.

The psychologist herself was a little harder to take. Every time she took what was obviously the wrong decision, I wanted to shout at her: "You're a practising clinical psychologist. Have you no insight into yourself?". Her teenage son showed a lot more good sense than his mother did most of the time.

By the end of the novel, I understood that, although the plot was driven by the evil manipulations of a narcissist, the success of the plot depended on the inability of the psychologist to control her risk-taking urges.

This was a solid, memorable story, with one of my favourite villains and least favourite heroines of recent time.

I recommend the audiobook version. Aimee Horne's narration is perfect. If you're an Audible member, this book is included in your membership. show less

Thanks to the books Audible includes in my membership, I’ve developed a fondness for listening to J.P. Pomare’s psychological thrillers.

‘Tell Me Lies’ by J.P. Pomare is a gripping psychological thriller that delves into the intricate complexities of family dynamics and deception. Margot Scott, a Melbourne psychologist, believes she’s constructed an ideal life until a troubled client’s session takes a sinister turn, leading to a chilling accusation that threatens to shatter show more everything she holds dear. As secrets from her past collide with present perils, Margot must navigate a labyrinth of lies to safeguard her family and uncover the truth.

As a former therapist, I found the protagonist’s role as a psychologist particularly intriguing. While I may not condone some of her decisions, they contribute to the story’s suspenseful and dangerous atmosphere. The narrative begins with a shocking scene that lingers in my mind, piquing my curiosity about its connection to the unfolding plot. The well-developed characters and masterful twists craft a suspenseful and emotionally charged tale that keeps me guessing until the final, shocking revelation. This is one of my favorite stories by J.P. Pomare so far.

As an Audible Original, ‘Tell Me Lies’ is expertly produced with Aimee Horne’s exceptional narration.

I have photos and additional information that I'm unable to include here. It can all be found on my blog, in the link below.
A Book And A Dog show less

I came to 'Home Before Night' with high expectations after having read 'Tell Me Lies' which opened with a woman pushing a man in front of a train on the Melbourne Metro and then spent the rest of the novel on what generated the anger and hate behind that push. It was a story riddled with lies and deceptions, soaked in threat and guilt and it kept me on the edge of my seat.

'Home Before Night' starts with a new mother leaving her baby with her husband on the beach to cool off in the calm show more shallows. Then she gets caught in an undertow and the father has to decide whether to stay with the baby or rescue his wife. The action is vivid and intense. And that's only the prologue.

The action rolls forward nearly two decades and we're watching a divorced single mother worrying because her teenage son hasn't returned home before curfew on the first night of the new lockdown.

The atmosphere was filled with anxiety. There was a strong sense that something was wrong but I didn't know what. I didn't know enough about the mother to assess her reactions or enough about the son to guess what he was up to but there was more going on than just a missed curfew.

As the story went on there are hints about crimes and cover-ups in the parents' past. There are doubts about the son's new girlfriend and her cultish family. There are doubts about just about everyone and everything and by the time I was halfway through I knew that lockdown was the least important part of the tale and that guilt, lies and betrayals were driving the increasingly dark plot which was clearly headed towards a violent confrontation.

Even though I was looking for misdirection and I knew I didn't really know what was going on, the twist, when it came, caught me completely by surprise and was different and worse than I'd expected.

I listened to 'Home Before Night' on a long, but not-quite-long-enough, car ride. I was so wrapped up in the story that I had immediately to sit down for another ninety minutes to find out how the story ended.

So, 'Home Before Night' had a strong, engaging plot with clever misdirection and a surprising premise which hooked my curiosity and held it to the end. There were points in the book where it seemed to me that the pacing was off. These were mostly moments of introspection when the mother or the son were going through the options of what could be going on and what they should be doing next. These moments went on a little too long and felt a little clunky. Perhaps it was because the introspection was being used for plot exposition rather than character development that made the text drag a little.

Even so, the book was fun and I'll be back for more. I have J. P. Pomare's latest book, 'Trapdoor' (2023) and 'In The Clearing' (2019) in my TBR pile. show less