Never Lie

Trust nobody, suspect everybody and never lie.
Newlyweds Ethan and Tricia are isolated inside a cavernous old house they are viewing in the middle of nowhere in the midst of a heavy snowstorm. The owner, renowned psychiatrist Dr Adrienne Hale, mysteriously disappeared 3 years ago leaving everything she owned behind including cassette tape recordings of every session spent with three key patients.
I loved the creepy, chilling setting - no mobile signal, no wi-fi, impassable banks of snow outside. I loved how the plot unspools through the dual, first person narrative over two timelines – Adrienne (before) and Tricia (present). I loved the mysterious manifestations, the revelations and realisations, the building tension and suspense.
Twist, show more after twist, after twist, Secret and Lies is cleverly constructed and impossible to second guess.
“The only way two people can keep a secret is if one of them is dead”. show less

Newly married Tricia, and her husband, Ethan, are looking to purchase a new home. They’re guided to a huge mansion-style house in a remote location. Their realtor is not there. It’s a blizzard so they go inside to wait. But when the storm gets too treacherous for them to leave they stay and begin roaming the house to get better acquainted with it. Tricia doesn’t want to be there. She has a sickening feeling about this house. But Ethan continually placates her fears with reassurances, so she goes along with her adoring husband and they hunker down at the house until the storm abates. They soon learn that the infamous author and Psychiatrist, Adrienne Hale, who vanished into thin air a few years ago, used to live there. Tricia even show more finds taped recordings of the doctor’s sessions with patients that she secretly listens to. But as Tricia enjoys some of the luxuries of Dr. Hale’s home, including her numerous books, she can’t shake the feeling that someone else is in the house with them. Is she imagining things, or is this house harboring secrets within its walls that could prove deadly?

I wanted to read this book based on my two prior successes with Freida McFadden’s books, and because of the positive reviews. Unfortunately, this one did not work for me at all. I didn’t care for the characters, and being that the majority of the book was centered around them and that house, it felt oddly claustrophobic to me. I wanted to get out of there and pull more people, places and things into the plot. And overall I had to suspend disbelief too much to truly enjoy it. Not a terrible book, but not my cup of tea. show less

this kept me guessing all the way through, even when i was actively trying to work out who was who, and what they might have done. i got through this so quickly, especially as some chapters were told in the format of audio transcripts from dr. hale's psychiatry sessions. i knew going into this that there would be a twist of some sort (which might be why it's a four star, not five for me), but i absolutely didn't anicipate that it was going to be what it was, or that there would be multiple plot points catching me off guard.

3.75/5 rounded up to 4 stars.
This is my first Freida McFadden novel and i'm interested in reading her other novels....and thats totally not because theres a whole bunch now being sold at Costco when they brought back books for the holiday season.

I was getting annoyed at the main character ignoring all the red flags of her husband but turns out she is a big ass red flag herself. Everyone in the story is a red flag, besides Luke who was innocent this whole time but he is now painted as the one who killed his girlfriend but the cops didnt think to interview all of her patients?!?! Unreliable narrator, this was thinking back.

Never Lie focuses on how lies and secrets can slowly damage trust between people. One of the main themes is that hiding the truth doesn’t protect anyone; it makes situations more dangerous. The characters don’t “grow” in a traditional way. Instead, readers learn who they really are as their secrets are revealed, showing how fear and guilt shape their choices.
A key literary element is suspense, which McFadden builds by holding back important information and revealing it little by little. The isolated, snowbound house works as a symbol for being trapped, both physically and mentally. The story also uses recordings and shifts in time to create tension and let readers see how the past affects the present. Since the book has no show more illustrations, its emotional impact comes from tight pacing and descriptive writing that makes the reader feel the characters’ anxiety and discomfort. Also, the ending is amazing. Best ending to a book ever. show less

I have been curious what all the hubbub was about with the popularity of these thrillers. The answer is a quality story with a twist stacked upon twist exponentially. Granted, some struck me as a little implausible, but it doesn’t pull the reader out of the story. It is not a morality tale, rather I would describe it as deliciously wicked.

This caught me completely off-guard. I was sure I knew what was going to happen, but I was wrong, wrong, wrong! I love when a thriller surprises me!
Tricia and Ethan are searching for a new home, but get caught in a blizzard on their way there. Their agent isn't there, but they are able to get into the house for shelter. Tricia is very uneasy about it. The owner was Dr. Adrienne Hale, a psychiatrist who disappeared 4 years ago. Interspersed with their story is Hale's story, and the revealing tapes of her sessions with patients.
As the story progresses, the clues get dropped, but I was still surprised at the finale. I dropped one star, because I wouldn't think that some of the characters would do what they did, even though not doing it show more would have tarnished their reputation.
Another twisty psychological thriller from McFadden! show less