Never Lie-Storyline and Book Review

Never Lie is yet another suspense thriller from author Freida Fcfadden. Like her other books, this book is also a page-turner, and the story is gripping, keeping the reader engaged throughout the book.

Tricia and Ethan leave their home to see a house (to buy) on a snowy winter day. The house is vast, isolated and away from the hustle and bustle of the city. Ethan develops an instant liking for the place and is convinced that this should be their future home. But Tricia has her apprehensions. The mere sight of the house gives her the creeps.

On reaching the house, they realize that their agent is not there. They find a key to the house outside the door and decide to enter. The house belonged to Dr Adrienne Hale, a psychiatrist, who disappeared without a trace some years back. With the police being unable to solve the case, eventually, the case was closed, and the house is now available for sale.

Soon after Tricia and Ethan enter the house, Tricia starts noticing strange things, such as a stranger’s foot marks, crashing sounds, turned-on lights in one of the bedrooms, etc. She tries sharing their anxiety with Ethan, who doesn’t seem to notice anything and is happy making himself comfortable in the house until the weather improves.

With their car already under snow and a blizzard that shows no sign of abating, the duo decides to stay a night in the house. Tricia is anxious and is unable to sleep. To keep her entertained, as she goes about looking for a book to read, she discovers a secret lock that leads her to a hidden room in which Dr Adrienne kept records of their conversations with her patients in tapes. Unable to control her curiosity, Tricia takes some of the tapes and starts listening to the recordings.

The story proceeds with alternate narrations from Tricia, Dr Adrienne and transcripts that Tricia hears, through which the reader learns about the events that led up to the disappearance of Dr Adrienne.

Ethan is unaware of this and is busy cooking meals, doing office work, etc. and doesn’t for once think that there is something strange about the house. It is only when both Tricia and Ethan hear odd sounds from one of the rooms that Ethan gets alarmed, and they decide to take action.

Finally, they unveil the mystery behind the strange happenings in the house. After this point, the mystery surrounding all the characters, including Dr Adrienne’s disappearance, is also revealed.

My Review:
This book was certainly a page-turner and kept me hooked till the end. I absolutely didn’t predict the end. But it wasn’t because the author cleverly wrote the story. It was because what was revealed at the end just didn’t add up. If you go back and read the story, you will realize that many things that you were made to believe in the beginning actually make no sense. You will indeed be left wondering what the author thought when she created the character narrations.
The author makes a desperate attempt to portray certain characters as suspicious and tries to create suspense out of events that are unimportant to the story’s plot. She tries to emphasize certain events and things through repetitiveness, but in the end, they mean nothing and add no value to the story.

So, I would conclude by saying that the story is certainly gripping and engaging, but the end is disappointing.

Read about other exciting books here.

I always read my books on Kindle. That way, I can carry all my books wherever I go 🙂

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