4.5*
Each Little Lie is another fantastic thriller from Tom Bale.

Jen Cornish is a single Mom just trying to hold things together for the sake of her seven-year-old son Charlie. One morning on her way to work, Jen makes a stupid decision to do a good dead, that decision rocks her world and could quite possibly destroy her life as she knows it.

I loved Jens character, even though I was shocked that she could make such a stupid and reckless decision that started this terrible conspiracy.
A father-in-law from hell and some other shady characters kept me guessing as to who wanted Jen to lose custody of her son Charlie.

Having read and loved See How They Run and All Fall Down from this author, I kind of found similarities that make Tom Bale’s books stand out from other fast paced thrillers. An exciting page turner that kept me wanting to turn the pages.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Boukouture for providing a copy of this book and this is my honest review.

Predictable, confusing, and not suspenseful. Not my favorite read of the year.

Each Little Lie by Tom Bale
Publisher: Bookouture

Thanks to NetGalley and publisher Bookouture for the ebook ARC of Each Little Lie by author Tom Bale in exchange for an honest review.

Jen Cornish is a single mother to seven year old son, Charlie. She has been trying to hold her life together.
One day, her neighbour drops a set of keys. She wants to do a good deed by returning them to him. Little does Jen know, a terrifying chain of events begin to spiral out of control. Jen is arrested for a crime she has not committed. She starts to wonder if she’s actually losing her mind, or is someone playing a cruel trick on her and is setting her up. She is desperate to clear her name with the police, but she needs to untangle a chilling web of lies first. But someone is watching her every move, Jen is not the only one in danger, her son, Charlie is as well. It only takes one split second to destroy your life forever.

This novel is extremely slow, and it is not the type of psychological thriller that I would normally read. I found it to be more a mystery novel. The characters are well developed, but I find that the main character Jen is extremely boring. The only reason that I have kept reading this book is because it still has kept my curiosity to know the outcome and what is going to happen to Jen and Charlie, and also to see if Jen clears her name with the police.
This is my first book that I have read by Tom Bale, and I am not very happy, I give this a book a rating of 2 stars, and I would not recommend this book. But reading other people’s reviews of this novel, I would definitely try and read another Tom Bale book as it sounds like his other books would be worth the read!

There is a somewhat cynical saying, "No good deed goes unpunished" and this certainly applies to Jen Cornish- a single mum fighting to stop her feckless husband from gaining custody. On seeing someone drop their keys & being unable to attract their attention she agonises as to the best way of returning them and decides to use the keys to go into the house & find some way to write a note saying she has them (not sure what possessed her to think this was a good idea but...) When the police appear and arrest her for criminal damage her life takes a nightmarish turn.

I really like the way Tom Bale takes ordinary people and because of an unexpected event turns their worlds upside down. Jen soon wonders who she can trust and as she attempts to clear her name she realises that it is not just her liberty that is at risk- what's happening to her son?

This book only missed a five star rating by my lack of belief in Jen's original actions and the fact the characters were a bit too black & white but all in all a good read. Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read this book.

This book is absolutely brilliant. It is a modern thriller and kept me guessing, almost to the end. The plot is very well thought out and works really well. I read the book in a day. Jen is a single mum, one day she does a good deed.. However it seems that she was set up and is shockingly arrested. No-one wants to hear her side of the story. So Jen decides to find out the truth herself, she soon realises she and her son, Charlie age 7, are in danger! Can she save him and herself? Read on!

Oh my days! Tom Bale just keeps bringing out the most amazing high tension, adrenaline fuelled thrillers that insist on knocking the socks off the one before. Each Little Lie has done EXACTLY that and what a breathtakingly, exhilarating experience it was too!

This authors strength is that he plays on our fears, not only for ourselves but also our families. He takes everyday situations and creates the most terrifying “what if?” storylines around them. They are emotionally charged, fast paced plots that barely give you chance to catch your breath before the next dramatic blowout occurs. When I started Each Little Lie, I was reminded of the film Crank with Jason Statham where he has to keep his adrenaline levels high to stay alive…..that was me reading this book!!!

I loved the fact that Tom used a female protagonist this time and a single parent to boot-there is nothing a mother won’t do to keep her child safe but when there’s no support from another parent the decisions made are even more important. I was screaming at Jen when she was making some questionable choices at the beginning of the book but we’ve all made those split second decisions that come back to haunt us! But even I was shocked at the direction in which her actions took her especially when things didn’t start to add up and the outcome for Jen wasn’t looking good! There were dodgy characters galore here and it was impossible to work out who were the good guys and who were the bad guys so I just sat back and let the action whisk me away on an electrifying journey to discover who is trying to get Jen sent to prison and why.

Tom Bale certainly knows how to write superb psychological thrillers which grip from first to last. Although there has been a surfeit of thrillers in recent years in which the main character's life is thrown into disarray by some seemingly unexplained circumstances, and not all have thrilled, in Bale's case his contributions to the genre are enthralling, fast-paced and fascinating from start to finish.

What on earth possesses her to do THAT?! I mean, seriously, in this day and age why would anyone think that would be a good idea?! From this point I was then just purely frustrated - like when you're watching a really bad 'horror' film and the dumb, gorgeous blonde does EXACTLY what she SHOULDN'T damn well do! Unfortunately for me, this happens at the beginning of the story and my frustration only grew.

My frustration prevented me from engaging with the main characters and the plot. Overall, it was okay. I will continue to recommend Tom Bale as an author but maybe not this particular book.

Normally I really enjoy Tom Bale, and this book certainly hasn't done enough to put me off future reads, however I may have to do something I normally hate doing - read reviews first.

Thanks to Bookouture for allowing me to read this arc in exchange for an honest review.

The start of the book was good but then the story turned from possible to ridiculous. I couldn't take any of it seriously and the characters were more like characatures of themselves. Gerard was way too bad a father and grandfather. Freddie way too weak for anyone to have fallen for and many of the other also failed to ring true.

Great psychological thriller based on lies, but the characters were quite likable.

Why is Tom Bale so good?? In this book, he takes an everyday single mom and throws her into a conspiracy where she is framed for a crime she didn't commit. As she tries to get to the bottom of what happened, she learns that people she thought she knew aren't who she believes, and that those who feel she has wronged them will get their revenge however they see fit.

This book wasn't for me. Couldn't engage myself with the character or story and feel disappointed in myself as I had read great reviews. 3 stars reflects what I had read so far.

Let me tell you something about the book!

You are a nice person. You help people. And imagine when being nice is turned against you. Can you be nice again?

Jen Cornish is off to work when she notices a distant neighbour losing his keys in the yard. She runs after him, but he doesn’t see her. Then she enters his home just to leave a note when she notices a table full of small figurines that probably cost a fortune. She sees one broken in the trash can, takes it in her hand and then puts it back in the can. She quickly leaves a note and then leaves the house locking the door. Next thing she knows is that police is at her door arresting her for burglary. Arresting her for destroying all those unique figurines. The broken figurine from the trash can is found in her home.

Can she prove her innocence?

Her biggest fear is losing her son. Jen is a single mother in the middle of a process of divorce and can’t imagine her little boy living far away from her. He is all she has, he is everything worth fighting for. All she knows is that she is innocent. But she has no idea how to prove it.

Who is trying to set her up? She doesn’t even know the neighbour. She doesn’t have enemies, well, maybe her ex-husband and his dominant father. But why?

I like Jen as a character. She is a nice person who helps people. But more of being nice, she is a mother, ready to fight for her child till her last breath. And when the future looks not bright for her son, she fights. Her own investigation takes her on a journey hard to imagine, among people who are everything but friends. Can she trust people ever again?

This is a fast-pacing story, full of action, conspiracy, people with masks on their faces. Not literally with masks on their faces, but people that act like friends and turn out to be worst enemies. Tom Bale is a great author and I love his stories. This is my second novel from him and won’t be the last. I enjoyed the action and mystery in this story. And, boy, it certainly doesn’t lack twists and turn-overs.

I enjoyed the pace of this book. The different characters kept me guessing for awhile but wasn't so suspenseful that I couldn't figure it out.

I received this book from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

A good thriller with an interesting storyline, which holds the reader's interest. The characters are believable and you're routing for the main character throughout.

Great book, well written and a fantastic ending. Highly recommend
Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC in return for an honest review.

The blurb for this book sounded great and I was really looking forward to reading it. Sadly however I struggled with this book and found myself skimming through it towards the end to finish it . I found the main character extremely annoying and struggled to feel any sort of empathy for her. The story was too drawn out. Sorry but not for me .

My thanks to the publisher Bookouture and Tom Bale for an advanced E Copy, my review is based on my own honest opinion .

Jen is one day arrested for a crime she didn't commit. If not Jen, then who's done this? Why would they want to frame her when she doesn't have enemies?
The waters get muddy in Each Little Lie and Jen is surrounded by manipulators and liars at every turn. Can she find out the truth before she is charged and taken away from her son forever?

3.5☆ A Good Deed that went horribly wrong!

Each Little Lie is a Physiological Thriller based on lies, secrets, deception and manipulation. It's a slower paced read that builds up anticipation.

Who would of thought that doing someone a good deed could change your life forever!!

Well Jen never believed it would or she would never of done what she did!

Single Parent Jen leaves her house as she always does... but this one particular day she sees a stranger drop he's keys!
She knows where he lives but they have never met before.

So she does the right thing and tries to get he's attention to let him know he dropped them.
But unfortunately for Jen he fails to hear her.

Ok so here is where it all goes wrong!!

Rightly or very wrongly in Jen's case... She uses the man's keys to enter he's house to write a note letting him know she has the keys.

Good deed done!???
Not quiet.... The police appear and arrest Jen for breaking into the man's home and vandalising he's home.

Jen now has to figure out why she is being set up! Did she really do if and can't remember? She doesn't know the man for him to accuse her, so why would he blame Her? Did she lock the house back up?
Is she at risk for going to jail!

So it is at this point where Jen enters into the man's home that I feel the story was heading down a route that was in no way believable. Which was a shame.
Ok in books anything is possible I get that I really do.
But for me in order for a thriller to be really good it has to be believable.
I have to be invested into the reality in order for me to feel the uneasy feeling you feel when you read a thriller.

I just didn't really get that with Each Little Lie.
It was a good read it was just missing that unnerved feeling.
I did enjoy the story and I liked Jen I really did I just felt something was missing.

I would recommend this book because I do feel it has lots of potential and other readers will definitely enjoy the plot more.

I loved this book. Read it while on holiday and stayed up all hours trying to finish it. Characters are realistic and storyline ran smoothly. definitely an author to follow and can't wait for the next one!