The Perfect Lie

By: Karen Osman

Narrated by: Imogen Church

Length: 9 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

The latest heart-racing psychological thriller from the author of the best-selling The Good Mother. Perfect for fans of Lucy Clarke, Paula Hawkins and Lisa Jewell.

Claire Carmichael leads a charmed life. She has two beautiful sons, Jamie and Joshua, and a handsome and successful husband who loves her. Even when she was in school, Claire had it all. She was clever, likeable, and after passing the initiation tests, she was welcomed into the society of popular girls - the Queen Bees. So when a scandal threatened to ruin Claire's reputation, the Queen Bees closed rank to protect her, no matter who else got hurt. Claire may have moved on from her school days, but for one person who she hurt irreparably, those memories are as fresh as blood. And all it takes to reap their revenge, is one perfect lie.

©2019 Karen Osman (P)2019 W. F. Howes Ltd

WHOA!

This book captured my attention from the very beginning and I hung on to every word throughout. While I picked up on one of the plot twists, the other evaded me.

Ok but predictable

I was somewhat entertained by the story, there were a few parts where I lost interest as I found it very predictable. It is one of those books where you go on because you want to see how the author will make events unfold — to see if perhaps any unique twists will tossed in. The character development could’ve been stronger, especially the relationship between the main character and her husband so all of the details and certain parts of the book could’ve made more sense and be more impactful. Essentially, this book is about a woman called Claire who is a 43-year-old mother with a 5-year-old son, Jaime, and another son, Joshua, who is almost 17-years-old and she has been with her husband since high school. The plot goes back and forth from present day to her high school years when she joined a popular group of girls that called themselves the “Queen Bees” which involved being selected/nominated and inducted into the circle. Part of the induction required the nominee to perform a task/dare that is randomly selected i.e. walk into the teacher lounge and scream “FIRE” or go on a date with a specific person and kiss them etc. Present day, Claire is a solicitor/lawyer partner in a practice that she started with her best friend but took several years off to raise her youngest son. Once Jaime was old enough to start school, Claire goes back to work full-time and then things seemingly start to go downhill in her home life. Things that happened during her “Queen Bee” days slowly start to come into play. Traits and descriptions of main characters had a very weak link between their past and present so as I briefly mentioned, the development of their personalities didn’t propel the plot enough for me. Overall, I would not recommend this book but if it is already in your cart and you are right about to get it, I wouldn’t stop you per se, just so you can make your own assessment.

New Ending

Loved everything but the ending. Performance was brilliant. Characters were believable and relatable. Nice job.

Excellent

The only thing that makes me upset is that one, I wanted a better outcome for the wronged person in the story and two that there isn't another book to this story. It was good, juicy even. started off slow making me think that it's boring but then once it gets going you don't want it to end. I need a sequel. loved how the author ended it, clever.

Review

The story was good but very slow.
The book could have been about 3 hours rather than 9

Awesome!

This was a great "read"! I did predict certain portions, but still definitely worth it. Didn't want to stop listening. Imogen Church is an amazing narrator, hands down one of the best.

truly remarkable

Its Amazing how such a small period of time( high school) can have such a big impact on a person's life! Thoroughly enjoyed the characters, the narrator, and the story line.

No Surprises, Labored Storytelling, Tedious

The big reveal was lost on me because it was pretty obvious about halfway through the book what was going to unfold and why. The lead characters are all self indulgent and clueless. The only redeeming quality was the very consistently good narration by Imogen Church. That is all.

Just a great plot!

I loved the intrigue of this plot! I could not put the book down. Fast paced and interesting all through. Kind of an abrupt end!

Great Book! Excellent Narrator!

I can’t believe I waited this long to listen to something performed by Imogen Church. She is the best narrator I have ever heard, and I have some favorites. Imogen reading with an awesome storyline like that could be a 6 star rating. The storyline is really good and I usually like some of it being told in past tense. The twist is really horrible (for the characters) but awesome for us. I don’t know how anyone could regret this purchase! I look forward to reading other books by this author and listening to more read by Imogen Church.