One of the biggest compliments I can give this novel is that I was surprised to realise it was written by a man about two thirds of the way through. As is the way with digital books, the actual cover is almost incidental and it was only by way of a technical glitch that I saw the author's photo at the end of the book when trying to relocate a current reading position.

The main voice is really well-written with a deft subtlety and relatability, despite the tragic events which just keep on unfolding around her. You can imagine the sheer bewilderment and even empathise with her subsequent defensive actions despite the reader having a degree of hindsight - always a wonderful thing.

I applaud any reader who guessed quite who has come to visit her at the start of the novel. I did start to work it out but as the book's title suggests, the narrative keeps wrongfooting you along the way.

A human look at a strong story behind the headlines and a timely reminder that more so than ever before newspapers/websites/blogs etc are in the business of selling copies/getting clicks, likes or shares, no matter what the actual facts may be.

The Liars Room is a typical psychological thriller that drip feeds you the information all the way through and although I did enjoy it my attention wavered at points throughout the book and it never quite captivated me as I thought it would. 3.5 stars for me.
This thriller is based in one room with two people who from the beginning you think have nothing in common or connected by anything but as the story advances this becomes very clear that this is not how it seems at all.
This was an intriguing storyline but did slow down at various points which made my enjoyment fade a little. This does include sensitive issues of abuse and rape and this is the fourth book in a row to feature this but although it does it’s not as graphic as the others I have read and for this thriller that did work.
I would like to thank Netgalley and Penguin Books UK for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest, independent review.

This is the first book I've read by Simon Lelic. Whilst a great concept for a story, with around 90% of the story set in one room with just two characters, it unfortunately didn't pull me in. I didn't connect with the characters, and felt I was just looking in rather than being there too. I also found that the ending was a little rushed after such a big build-up throughout the rest of the book.

The Liars Room was a great premise. It had the potential to be an edgy, stripped back thriller.

Two people, one room, two stories.

I loved the idea of trying to pick apart the lies and find the truth.

The book fell a little short for me. It didn't deliver the tension or pace I expected, it seemed to meander one minute and then thunder along the next.

While I still love the idea, and the writing was strong the story itself wasn't as powerful as I had hoped for.

Great character study and intense building up of tension with all the action taking place in one room between two people. I didn't really believe the voice of the teenage girl however.

Who knew that a story taking place mostly in just one room could be so thrilling and entertaining. The moment Jake entered the room for a consult, I knew something was wrong with him. I didn’t know what it was, but he seemed off in some way. And in just about two minutes he wasn’t the nice boy any longer, but a psychopath. Finding out what lies behind all the secrets surrounding Jake, Emily and Susanna was thrilling. I wanted to feel sorry for Susanna, but I was also mad at her for not helping her son more. Making better decisions, keeping it together. Great book, I highly recommend.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Books (UK)!

Couldn't put it down! A great concept, intriguing characters, kept me guessing! I loved it! I have already recommended it to friends!

An unusual read. At parts it was a bit dry and confusing but sticking with it to the end brought everything into perspective and completed the story well. I considered that it was a weak ending though. This is basically Susanna's story and is told relating the past and the present until the finale when all comes together.. I also found that the definition of the characters was lacking a bit and I could not easily feel for them.

I've been tempted to read Simon Lelics 'The House' since it was released, but just haven't got round to it yet, so when I started The Liar's Room I had no idea what to expect. It turns out that I loved it, and I will 100% be reading The House very soon.

My favourite thing about The Liar's Room was probably the darkness to it, the claustrophobic feeling. Like you're actually there, in the book, trapped in the room with the 'liars'. I also adored the writing, and I think that's what made me feel so involved to be honest. It's written like someone's talking directly to you. It is over detailed in some places but I think that really adds to the feeling of being right there in the room.

The only bad thing I have to say about it is that it was a little confusing - this could easily be down to the fact I was reading an ARC copy, but I did get a little lost in a few places and I had to go back just to check I hadn't missed something important.

The plot is absolutely crazy and it is definitely not one for the faint hearted. There were a few things that even I found hard to read, but luckily it doesn't go into to much detail. It's filled to the brim with tension though and I found myself quite often dying to skip to the end to find out what happened. When I finally got there, I really didn't see it coming, I knew something like that was bound to happen, but I think I was thrown off that scent pretty early on and I never imagined that would be how it ended. I love it, I loved the surprise and the thrill of it all. I cannot wait to read The House now!

Thank you to the Author, Publishers and Netgalley for sending me an ARC copy of The Liar's Room to review - all opinions are my own

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this book

a well written disturbing book, about a family torn apart by the actions of people around them...dont want to give to much away...

how do you pick up the pieces of your life and carry on with the guilt festering inside...and then someone enters your life though you dont realise to what extent until its too late...

A very tense read. Love be the back and forwards. You literally can’t stop reading it. I’ve devoured this over 2 day s of my holiday and recommend buying it. I’m buying it for my daughter’s birthday.

A very puzzling read .. but one I'm glad I stuck with.

Susanna Fenton is a counsellor and shares office space with a dentist. Apart from her co-worker, she has no friends and lives a rather self-contained life until the day she meets a new client and her past rushes to catch her up.

It's quite obvious that Susanna has secrets .. secrets which she has buried well. When Adam, her latest client begins to probe into her life, it seems that he knows something the reader is unaware of. The atmosphere quickly changes from counsellor and client to being taut, tense and mysterious. Slowly, bit by bit, we learn why but it's not until the final pages that clarity takes over. I found this to be a strange read to begin with. I was unsure of where it was heading and what it was all about, but I was glad I stayed with it until the very end. I wouldn't rate is as highly as the author's preceding novel, The House, but it was an interesting read all the same.

My thanks to publishers Penguin for approving my copy via NetGalley. This is my honest, original and unbiased review.

This is one of those books where you have to hang onto your seat and follow the ride wherever it takes you, and oh my goodness what a ride it is!

Susanna is a counsellor and on the day we meet her she has two new clients to meet. When the first one, Adam Geraghty walks through the door he seems familiar but she can’t work out where she knows him from. And then he starts to talk…

Susanna is probably more on her guard than the average counsellor because she has a deep and dark secret. The type of secret that is worth saying goodbye to her old life, and starting somewhere else with a brand new identity, all evidence of the past covered over. So now she leads a narrow life which consists of her, and her daughter Emily who is now fourteen years old. Susanna loves Emily and sees her role in life, above all others to keep her safe.

So much of this novel is the conversation between counsellor and counselled which gives the book an incredibly claustrophobic feel. The dialogue between the two is captivating and made all the more so because we know Susanna has something she is trying to hide, but what it is and why she needs to keep it quiet is eked out in a way that had this reader conjuring up different scenarios, most widely off-beam. On one level it is fascinating to watch the game that is being played out in front of our eyes. The weighing up of options on the one hand with the absolute determination to keep the upper hand on the other gives us an immediate view of how liars operate which felt quite unlike anything else in the genre. Yes we often come across manipulative characters and we even see them in full flow but to have an entire book that is based upon a sustained conversation is very unusual indeed.

Although some of the themes have quite naturally been explored by other writers, this is an author so sure of his penmanship that the reader is left to draw their own conclusions to what these might be and he doesn’t go down the well-worn path of what is often trodden by writers in this genre; prepare to be surprised.

The Liar’s Room is clever, very clever. Yes, once I got quite a way into the book, I was able to discern some of what had either happened, was happening or would happen, but I was a long way off the entirety of the answers to all the myriad of questions. This is both spell-binding and compelling and terrifically well written and has firmly cemented Simon Lelic as an outstanding writer. I was already a fan having read and loved The Child Who and more recently The House, and The Liar’s Room has just added to my admiration of an author who can create some basically unlikeable characters but with enough credibility to keeping it real which meant that I couldn’t feel a bit of sympathy for them on at least on some level.

This would undoubtedly be a terrific book club read which I’m sure would provoke some lively discussion because of the strong reactions it is bound create.

I'd like to say a huge thank you to the publishers Penguin who allowed me to read a copy of The Liar's Room ahead of publication in paperback on 9 August 2018. Thank you also to Simon Lelic for keeping me up way past my bedtime in order to find out what happened, and then later still as I pondered what I had just read.

I read The Liar’s Room in a couple of days. It’s a quick and easy read but wasn’t one of my favourite books of the year. I didn’t like the main characters and found the ending to be somewhat predictable. Sorry but this book wasn’t for me.

Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin and the author for the chance to review.

Due to a past tragedy Susanna has moved away from home and successfully rebuilt her life with a new identity. She has a fourteen-year-old daughter, Emily, and now works as a counsellor. When new client Adam walks into her consulting room, her world is about to come spectacularly crashing down. He seems familiar but she doesn't know why. Then he begins to tell his story and Susanna is forced to confront her own harrowing past once more.

Having read and enjoyed Simon Lelic's previous book, The House, I was looking forward to this latest novel. What appealed to me was the idea of two seemingly unconnected people trapped inside a room with no way out. While one holds all the cards, the other is forced to link the pieces together. What follows is a story of devastation, loss and grief. The reader can't help but feel horrified as events unfold through the eyes of Susanna, Adam and Emily.

There's a tense, almost claustrophobic, feeling throughout, which gradually builds to an exciting climax. It's obvious right from the start that Susanna and Adam are both hiding the truth from themselves and each other. What ensues is an emotional battle of wills. One room. Two liars. No way out...

The Liar's Room is a fast-paced, intelligent psychological thriller with many layers. Its themes are retribution and compassion. It draws the reader in, grabs hold and pulls at your heartstrings. I'm so pleased I had the opportunity to read it.

* My thanks to Simon Lelic, NetGalley and Penguin UK for providing me with a copy of this book.

Really enjoyed The House by the same author and if anything I enjoyed this even more. Susanna us a counsellor but she's been keeping secrets from her friends and even her daughter. Adam is a new client and knows all about her past and is holding her to account. Great read.

Thanks to Netgalley, Simon Lelia and Penguin Books for the ARC of this book in return for an honest review

This is an interesting psychological thriller which held my attention. I felt that the characterisation of the leading characters could have been fleshed out a little more but the various twists made for an entertaining read

Susanna is a counsellor who changed her identity years ago for her daughters protection. She has her own office and a receptionist that she shares with the dentist down the hall. 

Susanna meets with Adam, a new client. She has the sense that he is familiar to her but dismisses this initial instinct. The meeting begins kind of awkwardly but not entirely out of the ordinary for an initial meet with a new client. It quickly becomes apparent that this is no ordinary meeting or that Adam chose Susanna as his counsellor by chance. He confesses that he wants to hurt a girl. (spoiler happens) and Susanna finds out that the girl that is in a great deal of danger is her own daughter.

The Liar's Room is a suspense filled thriller that builds and builds. Predominantly the book is set in one room and is intense and surprising.

You would think that from this, I would give the book 5 stars, but I wasn't pulled in and invested in the story. It was good and the writing flowed well, I cannot fault that. Unfortunately for me there was something about it- that I can't put my finger on- that made me reading the story, rather than 'In the moment' and when I read a book I want to feel 'In the moment'.

The author builds up tension really well and the claustrophobic atmosphere in the consulting room is felt by the reader. The back story unfolds in clear narrative and keeps the reader trying to piece together the relationship between the “client” (Adam) and the counsellor (Susanna).

Unfortunately there was an overriding frustration that Susanna didn’t take the opportunity to “escape” from her consulting room on more than one occasion where, in my mind, it would have been possible. For the reader to gain the most from this book, it is essential to be convinced that Susanna is truly trapped. Also, the story which leads to Adam’s state of mind and his visit to Susanna I found a little too harsh but also slightly too contrived.

Having said all that, I think the book is well written and will appeal to those who are seeking a page-turner thriller.

What a thriller!
Thank you NetGalley for providing me with a tense and thrilling read, which had me fraught with tension and desperate to work out just how all the pieces we were being shown pulled together.
Susannah is a counsellor, and loving mother to her child Emily. We know she has secrets but the details are deliberately vague.
When she meets her new patient, Adam, we start to get the sense that there’s more to this meeting than we first thought. As these two liars sit in Susannah’s room we start to unpick their stories and establish who’s telling what lies, and why.
A rather murky tale but, surprisingly, I found myself feeling sympathy for all those involved.
I only wish we’d had a slightly different ending as I was keen to see the impact of this revelation on certain characters.