Hello everyone and welcome to a brand new edition of Lil Red’s Book Club! In a spoiler free setting, as always, we are going to be discussing an ultra twisty thriller by Freida McFadden called Never Lie. As you all know, I fancy myself an amateur detective when I read and this book really through me for a loop. I saw the one twist coming from a mile away but the major reveal left me absolutely SHOOKETH. This is one of the best Freida McFadden books I’ve read in recent memory and I finished it on one day. Once I started I literally couldn’t stop to save my own life! Before we begin our chat, I will be placing a trigger warning on Never Lie for graphic violence, mentions of sexual violence, and disturbing content. You ready? Let’s get to it:
Tricia and Ethan are newly married after a brief whirlwind romance and have only known each other for less than a year. Despite not knowing everything about each other, they are moving full steam ahead and plan on purchasing a new home. In fact, they are heading to a showing of a remote estate when the snow starts to fall. They barely make it to the sprawling mansion as the conditions turn dangerous and their car peters out in the lengthy driveway. Their real estate agent is nowhere to be found, surely ditching their viewing due to the blizzard, and Tricia and Ethan are stuck. The only option is to find shelter in their potential dream home and wait out the storm.
As they explore their lodging for hopefully just the night, they learn that this is no ordinary home at all. It once belonged to the famous psychologist and author, Dr. Adrienne Hale. She was well known for her critically acclaimed book The Anatomy of Fear but even better known for her disappearance roughly three years ago. Her body has never been located and the world thinks her boyfriend, Luke, was to blame for her demise. Tricia is thoroughly creeped out to spend the night in a dead woman’s home but Ethan is in love with the house and wants to put an offer in. This is going to be a long night.
Throughout the evening, strange noises throughout the home startle the young couple and they search the premises for who or whatever is making the ruckus. Their mission proves to be futile and Tricia decides to take her mind off of her fear by tucking into a book from Dr. Hale’s library. She opts for her favorite, The Shining by Stephen King, and when she attempts to pluck the book from the shelf, a secret room is revealed. A room that houses all of the recordings Dr. Hale has made as she sees patients.
Tricia is a curious one and believes that she can solve the doctor’s murder based on the tapes that are hidden away. As the snow continues to fall, she dives into the saga of the sessions leading up to Dr. Hale’s disappearance. Upon her discovery, she learns about a problematic patient named EJ. A man who threatened and stalked the doctor in the weeks before she fell off the face of the earth. The man’s voice on the tape sounds familiar to Tricia but she just can’t place it. The one thing that she knows for sure, though, is that the doctor’s killer is still out there. And he might just be in this very house. Will Tricia solve the case of the missing doctor before it’s too late? Or will she, too, become a victim while stranded in the snow? Read Never Lie to find out!
Holy WOW was this book good and it is, easily, one of my favorite Frieda McFadden books yet. I rarely finish a book in just one day and that honestly tells you everything you need to know. Never Lie was fast paced, eerily claustrophobic, and featured a major twist that left my jaw on the floor. Funnily enough, I was bragging about having everything all figured out about halfway through and I was dead wrong. Never Lie was Red Herring central and it lured me into a false sense of complacency thinking I knew it all. The rug was pulled right under my feet and I landed flat on my fanny when I learned how wrong I was!
Whenever I read a Frieda McFadden book, I never feel a real connection to any of the characters because they all lightweight suck lol. That was very much the case with Never Lie and I could not be bothered to give a hoot about any of the key players. That’s okay, though, because McFadden’s writing style is all plot based. Every character in this book played their part to keep the story going at a rapid pace and it didn’t even matter how unlikable they were. All that mattered was getting to that end reveal and I think you will all agree if you read Never Lie that it was a doozy and then some. Highly recommend!
Overall, I am going to award Never Lie with the coveted ten out of ten stars. If you are a McFadden fan, this is a must read. You are going to love it!
What are you currently reading? What is your favorite Freida McFadden book? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah
