I really loved Simon Lelic’s first novel ‘Rupture’ and since then I’ve always looked out for his writing. So does ‘The Liar’s Room’ measure up to the quality of his first novel? Well, in part. He is very convincing in his delineation of Emily, the teenage daughter of one of the liars at the centre of the story. She is not a particularly troubled or difficult girl: she is just mildly irritated by her counsellor mother’s protective stance; she has enough friends at school; she enjoys being noticed by Adam, attractive young man. It’s quite refreshing to read about a teenager who is recognisably normal! Lelic is also very good at portraying single parent Susanna’s increasing distress and fear when she realises that said Adam, in her consulting room, is not a bone fide patient. He has kidnapped her daughter and means both her and her mother harm. Why?
The plot cannot really be summarised effectively with spoiling a number of revelations along the way. Suffice to say that Susanna is not entirely whom she appears to be. Having withheld a good deal of information from Emily about their family, she is certainly one of the liars in the room and the troubled Adam is intent on exposing her duplicity. Adam, too, is a liar. He invents several childhoods, all slightly different in their traumatic details. Nevertheless, what remains at the centre of his mental instability is the feeling that he has always felt unwanted and unloved – the polar opposite of Emily’s upbringing. Throughout the novel, Lelic explores the damage that occurs when a child feels abandoned. The focus is, however, not entirely on the young. The reader also begins to understand why Susanna is so protective of Emily, why she carries a huge burden of guilt and why she is keen to rescue others from emotional damage. But, given her baggage, is she really capable of taking on this role?
This novel might have been more compelling had the author ventured out of the consulting room more often. Of course, we learn about events past through the retelling of life stories but everything comes back to the lengthy conversation between Susanna and Adam and this isn’t enough to sustain interest throughout. I’m not sure that I entirely believed in Adam’s motives either. For someone so desperate to ‘belong’, would he really be quite so ruthless in his treatment of Emily and Susanna?
My thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for a copy of this novel in exchange for a fair review.

Susanna is a successful counsellor with a secret which she has kept for 14 years. Now she is going to need all her skills for the last session of the week when Adam walks through the door to her office. And so begins a tale which goes back in time to places that Susanna wished would never been remembered again with many twists and turns along the way. What I liked about this book is that the story is credible but as a reader I was never sure what was coming next. Unlike some books in this genre, I never lost touch with the storyline and the pace was just right. Although I had not come across previous books from Simon Lelic, I am now committed to going back and finding some of his earlier work to put right that oversight.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What a superb, chiller-thriller. The story centres around Susannah a counsellor meeting a new client Adam. Adam confesses he is having dark thoughts about hurting a girl he likes and when he shows a photograph of the girl to Susannah she realises it's her daughter Emily......from there you are taken on a roller coaster of plot twists, gut wrenching emotions and an inability to put down the book until you find out just why Adam knows Emily and why he's so angry.

A superb stonker of a plot, testament to me reading this in one sitting. I loved the premise of the whole story being played out in Susannah's counselling room. I felt that really added to the atmosphere and dynamic tension between these two characters. The fact that the author can leave you sat on the edge of your seat and doesn't change locations shows the strength of this writing.

I don't want to give the plot twists away, but throughout the book you constantly find yourself guessing about the relationship between the two characters and then when you do find out (even if you do start to guess) it's executed in the writing really well.

Will be recommending this novel to both my book clubs as a must read when published

This is different from the usual thrillers I read,however still a book I really enjoyed. It switched quite a lot which made some parts difficult to follow at first but became clearer as you read on. Would be interested in reading other books by this author

This book was of no interest to me. It jumped around a lot and did not understand what it was all about.
Sorry did not enjoy this one.

Quite an unusual thriller, set in one afternoon with conversation as throw backs to the events leading up to this moment. You have no idea what is going on for a good half of the book but gradually you get the picture. I would have likes to have heard more from Emily as the time goes by. Not only would this have given us added suspense, but would have broken up the somewhat monotonous session going on in the counselling room.

Wow. I read The House also by this author and was super excited to read this one and i wasn't disappointed. A truly fantastic read that had me gripped from start to end. It's deep, it's dark, it's an emotional roller-coaster ride. Get comfy, no-one is leaving the room until the truth finally comes out!

I really loved this book! Excellent story with brilliant main characters. I would recommend this book.

I really REALLY enjoyed “The House” by Simon Lelic last year so was a right eager beaver when I got hold of a copy of “The Liars Room” and if I really enjoyed “The House” it has to be said that I LOVED this.

The Liars Room is a considered, intelligent and claustrophobic thriller set for the most part in a single room where two people face off in a psychological battle of wills heading inexorably towards their own hidden truths…

When Susanna welcomes new client Adam into her office it isn’t long before she has a distinct feeling of disquiet, for good reason as Adam has a very specific purpose for this visit and it doesn’t bode well for Susanna’s daughter…

I’m not going to give any more specifics of the plot away than that – why Adam is there, his connection to Susanna, what happened in her past,, to her family, all of this comes out over the course of the story, it is extraordinarily addictive, more and more emotive as things become clearer and is utterly gripping. Some brilliantly thought provoking themes explored here, from rather different angles than the standard and I was enthralled from first page to last.

I loved that this ultimately was not a novel in which you could “take sides” in the way you might usually, all the players in this drama have their own realities, it is an authentically engaging character study, a story of perspective and personality.

Really really clever. Often unexpected. It will make you think about current issues in a slightly different way, plus it has one of those endings that will linger and play on your mind. I have actually changed my own mind about how I felt about everyone in it several times since I finished it. The Liars Room is that sort of book.

Highly Recommended.

This is a deep, dark, psychological thriller based on two main characters. Susanna and Adam have a battle of wills as they try to outsmart each other trapped in Susanna’s small, claustrophobic consulting room.

There are numerous questions about Susanna’s previous existence, which she left behind to protect her daughter, Emily. Susanna feels as if she knows Adam even though she has never seen him before. She recalls the past revealing why her previous life was torn apart.

Adam seemed to me to be pure evil and the author developed that chilling, sneering psychopathic character so well it sent shivers down my spine.

Usually I do not read such deep, disturbing novels but this did have me gripped from start to finish.

Highly recommended. Thanks to NetGalley, Penguin Books (UK) and Simon Lelic for this ARC in return for my honest review.

This was a very interesting read, although it was a little predictable. I would recommend it to my friends and I did enjoy it!

Dark, this book is dark!!!
The book centres on Susanna, a lady with a terrible set of family secrets who is now a counsellor in her new life and Adam a young man who comes to her for a counselling session....but he knows who she really is and what her family did....Susanna now has a daughter....Adam knows her......to say more would be to ruin the story so I wont! However the blurb that is on the front of the book
ONE ROOM
TWO LIARS
NO WAY OUT
sums it up brilliantly
As I say its dark, very dark, tense, taut and at times haunting
Its probably best to say that very sensitive issues are covered in the book and could be trigger points for people, they are handled well but with no watering down of the subjects ( tbh think of anything that could be a trigger point and it is probably covered!!)
It is a nerve jangling read as you are drawn into Susanna’s past horrific life and then equally drawn into to Adam’s disturbed present life
The narrative is superb and the description of human emotions especially from Susanna are among the best I have read
A book that will stay with you long after you have ( with a bit of relief ) come to the conclusive and shocking end
9/10 5 stars

This book was very different to my usual detective thrillers but oh how it gripped me right from the beginning! So much so, I read it in one session only stopping for some lunch! Set mainly in Susannah's counselling office with flashbacks to what happened in the past with her son Jake and what happened very recently with her daughter Emily. It was a very chilling story but with some heart wrenching moments as well. I loved Susannah's character and felt her despair and pain as the hours ticked by with Adam. Adam who switched between normal (ish) to Psychopath in the blink of an eye. A real page turner with a twist at the end. Fabulous read.

ONE ROOM.

TWO LIARS.

NO WAY OUT

Misconceptions - This is a twisty,gripping story about misconceptions,secrets,lies,redemption and forgiveness.There is a hell of a lot more to this book than the synopsis leads you to believe.Yes,the main story is Susanna and Adam`s intense battle of wits as they try to outsmart each other during the hours that they are trapped together in Susanna`s tiny,claustrophobic consulting room.Who is Adam? why does Susanna feel like she knows him even though she has never set eyes on him before that day and what does he want?. Susanna is also very worried because her teenage daughter Emily is not where she said she would be and isn't answering her mobile. Susanna has always gone to extreme lengths to protect Emily including fourteen years ago, ditching her own identity ,reinventing herself and starting a new life. Why did Susanna run away from her previous life and what was she protecting Emily from?.

Throughout the story Susanna`s thoughts slip back into the past and she gradually reveals the tragic events and misconceptions that tore her life apart and made her run away with baby Emily.My feelings about Susanna changed many times as both stories unfolded but I can honestly say I liked the present day Susanna more than the version of her in the past. I most definitely didn't like Adam,he was a spine chillingly,creepy character who could flip from boyish innocence to sneering psychopath faster than the blink of an eye.As the tension builds and the drama unfolds in the tiny room there is no way of knowing how it's all going to play out,who is going to win the battle of wits and what has happened to Emily.

This is a riveting,thought provoking psychological thriller that would result in some very interesting discussions if it was read by a book group due to some of the issues that are raised throughout the story.I enjoyed The Liar`s Room just as much as I did The House which was one of my favourite books of last year.The Liar`s Room is a very,very good book,highly recommended by little old me.