LIE WITH ME (2018) by Sabine Durrant

Lie With Me by Sabine Durrant
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It took me two days to devour LIE WITH ME and I stayed up late to finish it. The narrator, Paul Morris, immediately brought to mind Patricia Highsmith's invention "The Talented Mr. Ripley".

Originally published in Great Britain in 2016, LIE WITH ME has garnered rave reviews around the world being compared to GONE GIRL and THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN, both of which I read and loved.

FIRST SENTENCE: "It struck me in the night that it might have started earlier."

THE STORY: The opening, on a wet day in London, sets the dismal tone. Some twenty years earlier, Paul Morris wrote a much acclaimed book, but has never been able to build on that success. Instead he manipulates the world around him through his charm and small lies. Now at the age of 42 he finds himself broke and having to contemplate moving in with his mother. Then an unexpected opportunity to spend a fortnight in Greece presents itself.

WHAT I THOUGHT: Although Paul lies casually to those around him, he seems to let the reader in on the truth of his life. He rationalizes his behavior, "Plenty of friendships, I am sure, are based on lies."

I was fascinated with the structure the author used to tell this story celebrating all the small triumphs of a rather selfish person. Beautifully written, the language describing Greece is painterly. Although this is a character driven psychological thriller, it is also a page turner.

Don't read any more reviews so you can discover LIE WITH ME with no preconceptions.

BOTTOM LINE: I'm guessing this will be a widely read psychological thriller in 2018. You don't want to miss the experience. Highly Recommended.

Genre: Psychological thriller
Hardcover: 336 pages
Publisher: Mulholland (January 11, 2018)
ISBN-10: 1473608333
ISBN-13: 978-1473608337

Disclaimer: An electronic copy of this book was provided to me by NetGalley/Mullholand for a fair review.

Sabine Durrant's first psychological suspense novel, UNDER YOUR SKIN, was published by Hodder in the UK and Simon & Schuster in the US in 2014. Her second, REMEMBER ME THIS WAY, was also published by Hodder in the UK and Simon & Schuster in the US in 2015. Both novels have been translated into more than 15 languages. Her third novel, LIE WITH ME, will be pucblished in the US on January 11, 2018. Sabine has written for the Guardian, Observer, Sunday Times and Sunday Telegraph. She lives in south London with her partner, the writer Giles Smith, and their three children.