The Introverted Bookworm

Title: All the Lies

Author: Nicola Sanders

Genre: Psychological Thriller / Suspense

Amy lives a glamourous lifestyle with her seemingly charming husband, Jason. However, all is not as it seems on the surface, because Jason is actually a controlling domestic abuser. Isolated and alone, Amy spirals further into despair, longing for a way to escape her situation.

When an opportunity arises for her to escape on a short cruise without Jason, Amy jumps at the chance. There she meets an unassuming fellow passenger, Liz, who bears a striking physical resemblance to her.  When a devastating accident occurs, Amy happens to be wearing Liz’s jacket; and the two women’s identities are mixed up, giving Amy a chance to escape her controlling husband, but at what cost?

Amy engendered my sympathy from the very start of the book. The story is told through her perspective, which really helped me to relate her sense of being hopelessly trapped. Stuck in an awful, frightening marriage, not only does she have to put up with Jason, but her mother is a snide woman, who always takes her abusive son-in-law’s side, relentlessly targeting her daughter with snide, disparaging remarks.

The characters who emerge once Amy has adopted Liz’s identity contribute towards creating the tense, strained atmosphere which pervades Amy’s new, fake existence as Liz. Amy had no choice but to sustain a complicated series of lies, and the author is very skilled in building an atmosphere that simmers with suspense and unspoken hostility. I could feel myself reacting to these family members quite strongly (Liz’s birthmother, Ruth, is a lovely, trusting woman, whereas Debbie, the stepsister, is hostile and manipulative).

All the Lies is a unique, compelling thriller that will keep you guessing right until the end. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys tense psychological thrillers. With its page-turning suspense, I guarantee that you will not be able to put this book down until you have finished it.