A confident start to a new series

There seems to be a recent spate of authors from this side of the pond who are writing USA based thrillers in what (to me) sounds like a very authentic American voice. Take Steve Cavanagh and Adrian McKinty – both from Northern Ireland (although McKinty resides in the US). And now we have Scottish author, Ed James with the first in a new series.

I listened to this novel on audio, and it was excellently narrated by Jared Hendrickson. I liked that the story is largely told from three different viewpoints, our protagonist, Max Carter’s, the kidnapper’s, and Senator Holliday’s. It was fast-paced, and whilst the prologue gave some clue to the kidnapper’s motivations, it really was the tiniest of clues, and the author did well to reveal things only very gradually.

The story unfolds with all the twists and turns you’d expect from a novelist as experienced as Ed James, and I was surprised by the length of time that still seemed to be remaining when the story was apparently drawing to a close. It turned out that there was still plenty more story to tell.

A confident start to a new series, and I’m looking forward to the next.

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Political thriller

A fast paced political thriller, but who can you trust? Switching between the main characters the story of why the Holliday children were abducted and a search for the truth captivates. Why has Senator Holliday vanished, what does he have to hide and will it save his children? The action keeps moving on and at times the story becomes complicated. Max Carter is an interesting character and hopefully in future books you will come to know him better. A good start to a series, one that I will definitely look out for more of.

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A fairly good start to a series.

Political thrillers are definitely my favourite genre, so I’m disappointed to only give this three stars overall. I enjoyed this first in a series,..... but I don’t have a great sense of Max Carter as my “hero”. Others may not agree with me on this of course, so I do have to point out that I enjoyed the story, the pace and the intricacies of the characters. Though I must admit,Most of my sympathies lay with the “bad guys”. I will definitely be looking out for number two in the series and look forward to being totally engaged with Max Carter.

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Review

I always enjoy a new series and Tell Me Lies was no different. I quickly became engaged in the plot and wanted to know what had happened to the children. 

In Tell Me Lies we are introduced to Max Carter. Although the details of the case he was investigating seemed to be more prevalent than details about his character, I could see that he is a family man who cares deeply for his wife and daughter and this influences his actions on this case. There is definitely more to come from him and I look forward to seeing how the character develops. 

James has engineered a complex plot in this novel and I was interested to see how it would all come together. There are sections of the novel that are set a few years previously and at first I found it difficult to see how this was related to the plot in the present  However, when everything is revealed, I found myself hooked in an investigation which is very relevant to events in the news at the moment and gave me lots of food for thought. 

Jared Hendrickson narrates the audio version and whilst it took me some time to get used to his accent, I did find the narration easy to listen to whilst still conveying the tension in the novel. 

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Really good listen

This book was non stop.
A kidnapping of a senators children, the reason at 1st unknown. Hard to decipher but Max Carter a FBI agents is brought into the case.
He dives in deep and as the case starts to unravel he sees from all sides.
Really good listen.

Good start to a new series

This is an exciting, high octane political thriller which is told from various POVs, including the kidnapper, but it is still easy to follow. Many of the characters have secrets, hence the title. I don’t feel that we learned a lot about Max Carter but it is still a brilliant start to new series, and I look forward to seeing how Max’s character progresses in future books.

A gripping story line but something didn't connect

I listed to this on Audible, and my first thought now I’ve come to review it is; I think I would have preferred to read the book than listen to it! I really wanted to rate this book, but unfortunately I was left feeling a bit disappointed. The storyline is certainly gripping - a Senators wife is drugged on the doorstep of their home and their 2 children abducted. Then it’s a who, what & why to find out the truth. There were parts of the book that I was excited by, gripped by the storyline and I was excited to listen to more. But then there were too many times where I was simply a bit lost with the story and dare I say it, bored?! I just didn’t feel I connected with the characters and some of their behaviour was very strange! I mean I’m not sure anybody would behave like that if your kids had been abducted? I also had real issues with the actors voice:-( I listened at a speeded up version (x1.25%) after a few chapters in as his Southern drawl had me falling asleep at times (and I run miles when I’m listening to Audible.. so that’s not great) The accents between characters weren’t always so clear. The voice he used to portray Megan made me grate my teeth and the British accent for his dad was pretty cringeworthy. In summary, and as I started with, a great storyline but I’d go for the book as opposed to listening on Audible!

Great story!

I enjoyed listening to this story about an American senators children who are abducted. Without giving the story away, there are other cleverly interwoven stories that add to the suspense and wonder of the overall story. I found the characters interesting and well developed. The narrator helped to bring the story to life.! Would recommend.