The Five Year Lie

A Domestic Thriller

By: Sarina Bowen

Narrated by: Kathleen Early, Gary Tiedemann, Jason Clarke

“I devoured this book in one day, and I guarantee you will too.”—Julie Clark, New York Times bestselling author of The Last Flight and The Lies I Tell

“An expertly woven story of love, revenge, and murder. In a world where so many books feel so similar—this was a refreshingly unique read and an addictive blend of love and mystery that I couldn’t put down. This is storytelling at its finest and I can’t recommend this book enough.”—AR Torre, New York Times bestselling author of Every Last Secret

Bestselling romance author Sarina Bowen’s debut thriller, about one woman’s search for the truth after receiving a text from her deceased ex.

She thought it was love. Then he vanished.

On an ordinary Monday morning, Ariel Cafferty's phone buzzes with a disturbing text message. Something’s happened. I need to see you. Meet me under the candelabra tree ASAP. The words would be jarring from anyone, but the sender is the only man she ever loved. And it's been several years since she learned he died.

Seeing Drew’s name pop up is heart-stopping. Ariel’s gut says it can’t be real. But she goes to the tree anyway. She has to.

Nobody shows. But the text upends everything she thought she knew about the day he left her. The more questions she asks, the more sinister the answers get. Only two things are clear: everything she was told five years ago is wrong, and someone is still lying to her.

The truth has to be out there somewhere. To safeguard herself—and her son—she’ll have to find it before it finds her. And with it, the answer to what became of Drew.

For fans of Laura Dave and Julie Clark, but with a heart-stopping romance that only Sarina Bowen can execute, The Five Year Lie is a spine-tingling thriller that will have you guessing until the very end.

©2024 Sarina Bowen (P)2024 HarperCollins Publishers

Suspenseful

Engaging characters, excellent flow. Stayed up late to see how it would end, then didn’t want it to end.

Fantastic Thriller

Loved the plot! I found the plot to be interesting & believable. The confusion came with the character's POV narration. Switching back and forth from 1st person to 2nd & 3rd person POV caused me some mental whiplash & took away from the story. Not understanding why the whole story couldn't be told in 1st person POV 🤔. Loved the side stories, and the relevance to real life & 'cultural/societal norms'. Loved Arielle's motherly instincts & perspectives...cleanliness was so relatable 🙂! Lots of suspense & mystery. Some romance. However, I almost passed this story by, because the clip that I heard was not 1st person POV, which for me, makes it harder to connect with the characters. However, after reading some of the reviews online, I learned that some parts were in 1st person POV, so I gave it a try. Narration, otherwise, was great! Enough closure for me at the end. Great 1st domestic thriller!

Perfect engaging listen!

Easy to listen to. Great voices and good and interesting story line. Couldn’t wait to get in the car or sit by a pool to keep listening

The male narrator for Drew almost ruined it

The story and female narrator were great. The male seemed like he hadn't read the rest of the book and took a sleazy approach to Drew's narration. I almost quit the book a few times because of how overly growly and icky his tone was. It sounded more like the narrative of a predator than a good guy. I feel cheated out of those sections of the book because the narrative was completely lost behind the horrible performance. I'd like to read those sections separately so I can hear Drew's internal dialogue without it being tainted by this narrator's inaccurate and overdramatized version.

Enjoyed the plot

I'm a delivery driver and I looked forward to driving and listening to this book. The story was very interesting. The narrator was great. but I thought it odd she had to play so many male voices, especially Zane, but she did a good job with all of them.

Loved it!

I really enjoyed this book. The narrators did an amazing job telling the story and voicing the characters.

I think the story has a very compelling premise and setup, and the way it is told, in two different timelines, works pretty well. The main part is told in present time, but there are a few chapters set five years ago, so it wasn’t really difficult to follow, and the pieces were still connecting in a very linear way, so that was very smart. The story unfolds in a crescendo pace, and in the end it delivers a satisfying conclusion.

I really loved every single thing about this book. It has great characters, a very interesting approach to technology and surveillance, and a very good mystery with a twist. I couldn’t put it down when I read it and I didn’t want to stop listening once I got it in audio. I highly recommend this book. It’s a very good book.

One of her best.

Great story, I loved the mystery mixed with the romance. Well written and entertaining from the beginning to the end.

Mystery/Thriller with a wonderful romance.

I loved switching up genres from my usual Romance to this Thriller (with some romance as a trope in this story).
The major portion of the 1st person POV is the heroine's- Ariel.
The hero Jay/Buzz, etc (!!!) also has his POV told.
There's a mysterious 3rd POV that is told in 3rd person. ????? All 3 narrators are fantastic.
I love that Ariel, the heroine is fairly average, somewhat intelligent. She's not at all prepared for what unfolds.
I was kept guessing throughout this story. I was constantly thinking, OMG, now what. I was pulling for Ariel to get a break . I was hoping that a certain someone was a good guy. I had my eyes on a a couple/few that seemed pretty shady.
I love how the ending tied up a lot of loose ends. I would love to have another Thriller from Sarina Bowen. I highly recommend this book. The audio is so well done. This book works great reading with my eyes & listening to the audio.

Just wow!

I love Sarina!!!! All of her books are a must for me but she is in a whole new level now and she owns it! Can’t wait for more.

Read it

I am definitely looking forward to see what else the author wrote, Even hope there is more to go on by the story for a part two