Alex is a functioning alcoholic...she works as on ‘on air’ crime reporter for a 24hr news channel, ......she wants to get pregnant so has many hook up’s with men from dating apps, she has recently appeared drunk whilst reporting live on tv!!.....things aren’t great!😵 then young women start to get murdered near where she lives...she gets the role as lead reporter....THEN 3 men she has relationships ( current and past ) with are in the frame, shes blacking out...she detoxes every day...and fails...a woman who she met at AA becomes obsessed with her.....things are going from ‘not great’ to awful!! .....who is the murderer? Is it her??? Is it someone
In her life???....
A relentless story with no let up as the story starts and continues at a break neck speed
Not really a warning but maybe a trigger for some as alcohol and alcohol dependancy and the problems, physical and mental, are frequently described throughout and not in a sanitised way, in a raw, real and revealing way
The authors obvious experience of working for the BBC shines through and as a sideline the workings of a news channel and news presenting are really interesting and offer a lighter few minutes in the story throughout
The characters are explicit in their nature, some irritating ( as meant to be ) and some affording sympathy and empathy
A satisfying conclusion to the story and epilogue and all round a good read, told with passion and a ‘keeping it real’ tone and writing style that I liked
9/10 5 stars

Split between the current day, and diary entries, this was a really believable and authentic portrayal of alcoholism and the battles people can face with this. I enjoyed the two voices and the original way the story was told. My thanks to the author, the publisher and Net Galley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

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

I Never Lie was very well written. Kept me interested the whole time and couldn't put it down! Will definitely look for more books from this author.

I really enjoyed this book, and finished it in a few sittings.

Alex is a highly functioning alcoholic who is in denial because she (barely) holds down a job as a TV reporter. There is soon a spate of murders in the area she lives, Alex gets dragged into the story.

The book explores alcoholism and how this affects not only the person but the people around them.

I found the characters realistic and the premise very believable.

A great, fast paced read with a lot of interesting characters. This books sends a powerful message about alcoholism and online dating. A great page turner for anyone after a quick read!

This is quite heavy in places and certainly makes you think.
Overall though it is a interesting thriller.

I'm sorry but I didn't much enjoy this book. It wasn't very thrilling at all, and was more a novel about alcoholism than anything else. It was rather sad and disappointing.

This book was a great read. I loved the layout of the plot and the way the story unravelled itself. The characters were very relatable.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Jody Sabral for the copy of this book. I agreed to give my unbiased opinion voluntarily.

Once I started reading this book, there was no putting it down. But I can't figure out whether to classify this as a murder mystery thriller or a book that talks about a very serious, common and close to home issue- alcoholism.

I don't need to give a short description of the story, since you will know that already, and I want to write a review that is completely spoiler free here, because I want you to read this book. So I'm not going to talk about the murder mystery much, but about the subject that I thought the author wanted to highlight in the book, via the story of a murder mystery- the struggles of dealing with an addiction. I loved how the author has taken this subject from the point of view of the person suffering from it, and she has also explored multiple reasons of how and why a person can go down the route of an addiction. She has shown all the darkness and social stigma associated to being an addict- in this case an alcohol addict and at the same time, she has tried to make sure not to brand her characters as good or bad, but as a shade of grey. I think she wants the readers to think, about these characters and how we perceive them. She wants us to ask ourselves, do we know who we are? This was the part that I liked about the book so much, because it is a subject that is very personal to me as well. You can read a slightly more detailed review on my blog (I've added the link below), but I enjoyed reading this book.

The murder mystery element started with a very Jack the Ripper style storyline, but the ending wasn't what I expected to be- just in terms of the whodunit factor. But overall, I thought the writing was good, simple and fast paced (easy to read for readers like me whose first language is not English:)), and the underlying message was a strong one. Will recommend this if you can deal with the trigger warning of alcoholism.

This was a great book! A trip into the dark world of alcoholism and how it affects both the person involved and everyone around them. I loved the twists and turns and wasn’t really sure who the murderer was until the end of the book. Something completely different.

Found this story quite slow paced. The main character, a very dislikeable alcoholic, who we never really find out how she came to be the person she was. There was crime, there was passion, just at a really dull speed. Sorry, but not enamoured with this read.

Alex South is a functioning alcoholic- but only just. After leaving her fiancé and Manchester for London she is experiencing blackouts and cannot always account for her movements and actions. After nearly losing her job as a news reporter following an on screen incident she gets a second chance when a series of local murders occur and her local knowledge is required.
The book is fast paced and easy to read. The ending is quite unexpected although I did partially guess the outcome. Alex is a flawed character, she is not ready to deal with her alcoholism and effectively is in denial So some of the events are almost inevitable.

Sitting on the fence with this book - liked some of it but not all. You wanted to shake Alex to make her take control of her life.

I loved this book. The story has two points of view, today's and diary entries before everything happens. The story starts with a murder of a young woman in London field, where the main character Alex who is a reporter and an alcoholic live. It follows through to the murderer all the while wondering if it is Alex or not. It keeps you quessing to the very end. Alex is a complicated character with many problems that lead to lies, but this further the story. You meet other characters and how they affect her life. Would recommend this book.

An interesting and compelling read. Alex, a high functioning alcoholic who manages to hold down a stressful job in the public eye (just) and who I guess on a good day if you met you’d never know she had a problem. On a bad day she can crash and burn, coupled with blackouts. Add that to the mix of a serial killer murdering woman all using a dating app . I have to confess I didn’t warm to her character but its a good read with some great twists

This book was not my cup of tea, if I'm honest, and I did not enjoy the story. Not sure if I would read anything else by this author.

I quite enjoyed this book but found it difficult to like Jody as she seemed intent on destroying her TV news reporting career and her life with alcoholism. At times, it was difficult to be sympathetic with Jody, especially when she was suffering blackouts, stealing alcohol, promising tomorrow would be the day she would detox and sleeping with unsuitable men in the hopes of having a baby. Not knowing anyone with alcohol problems though, it was an interesting insight into this horrible addiction.

The storyline was good, with Alex chasing leads as the various murders occur, and I enjoyed the book but found it difficult and uncomfortable to read at times. I enjoyed the twists and turns and wasn't really sure how the story was going to conclude. Thanks Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book.

I found it difficult to get into this book which is a shame as the premise seemed right up my street. The pace dipped a bit in the middle and I found myself getting a bit bored. I also found Alex extremely unlikeable and though I appreciate that was probably intentional and a reflection of her alcoholism I found it prevented me from feeling any empathy toward her and thus caring what happened. That being said I think there is potential there and would read more from this author. Thanks to Canelo Books, Netgalley and the author for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Although I have never been an alcoholic, I am sure there are many who share the battle that Alex fought every day. The plot was engaging, but at times seemed unrealistic. I found myself cautioning Alex, and at times others, thinking hard about what advice I would give her to help her out of the hole she was digging herself into. Many thanks to Jody Sanral and NetGalley for providing me with this recently published book.