This is one of my standout books of the year. It’s a great psychological thriller with plenty of intrigue. The writing is strong and easy to absorbed into.
My only negative is that the ending could have been better but it’s still a 5 star read.

Alex South works for as TV news reporter and is good at her job but has problems with her drinking. Whilst living in her hometown of Manchester before moving to London she meets Sarah. After Alex moves to London several young women are murdered - is it a serial killer?
The plot moves well and kept me wanting to read on.

I Never Lie is a fast-paced thriller packed with twists, turns and misdirection. The book is gripping and dark at times, very dark. I was engrossed from start to finish. The chapters alternate. Some focus on Alex’s life as she struggles to control her drinking and juggle her exciting new career reporting on a string of unsolved murders which she sees as chance to redeem herself after being disgraced following a drunken outburst on camera. Alternate chapters are from the diary of someone obsessed with Alex. The characters are really well written. I felt sympathetic for Alex and the problems she juggles. She is very strong person. I Never Lie is one of those books that make you question everything as more questions arise and the answers are confusing. I loved the ending, totally stunned me.

I read up to 50% of this novel before giving in. The novel appeared far too fixated by the problems linked with alcohol addiction. Moreover I couldn't see where the plot was heading and eventually, as I said, at 50% gave up. No doubt the novel picks up in the second half but I felt that I'd persevered enough.
Just not a book for me. Sorry.

Unfortunately I did not like this book at all, it focused on alcoholism and the drinking, hangovers and blackouts of the main character. I felt that the faact that murders were going on was just incidental. Not recommended unless you want to read about an alcoholic.

I found this a compelling read although an uncomfortable one. Alex the main character is at times infuriating and at others I found myself deeply sorry for the mess she find's herself in. The author creates many other believable characters who I at times rooted for and at others despaired off. The use of two different but similar geographical locations was interesting. The only downside for me was at times those terrible and fraught events seemed skimmed over.
That said I enjoyed it and whilst the ending wasn't a total surprise it was riveting enough for me to finish.

I enjoyed this book, our main character Alex is an alcoholic and a news journalist, after a ropey live on air screening her career has been teetering on the edge. Young females have been getting murdered..... very close to where Alex lives, reporting on these murders could be Alex's last chance to continue her career... However, her drinking is getting more excessive and could the answer to the murders lie closer to home than she realises.

This book was well written and soon picked up pace. I liked the fact that it alternated between Alex and our other main character who's story was told via 'dear diary' extracts. The storyline was well thought out and I loved seeing how it built up towards the end.

2.5 stars

This novel took me longer to read because I’ve had a busy week, also because it was hard to get into.

I don’t know what I can say about this novel except that it doesn’t really serve as a mystery or a thriller. It’s a novel more about alcoholism and I found that the author focused so much on that, that it stole what could’ve been a very well written thriller. I’m not an expert on writing, but I’ve read my fair share of thrillers. This book had lots of potential because I did enjoy the story, it just focused so much on drinking, that I didn’t get the goosebumps I usually do when reading a mystery or thriller.

The main character, Alex, kind of bugged me. She drank so much throughout the novel and that’s all that really happened with her. And the ending to the novel and what happened to Alex was just so out of the blue, that I was shocked at what was going on in the novel.

One think I liked about the novel was the very small about of suspense that was in it with figuring out who they killed was. Although it became obvious near the end of the novel, that was the only thing pushing me to finish it.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Canelo for providing me with an advanced copy of this novel.

A brilliant and well written book that will keep you hooked from page one. A gripping psychological thriller

I received a complementary copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
In I Never Lie we meet Alex South, a journalist who left her hometown of Manchester (and her fiancé) after her miscarriage, aspiring to start her life anew in London and focus on taking her career forward.
When women are found dead in a park in Alex’s neighbourhood, she jumps at the opportunity to cover the story, as this could really launch her career as a crime reporter. But Alex has her own struggles, she is an alcoholic and even though high-functioning, she soon finds herself blacking out and missing work and not being able to remember where she was or what she did the night before. And on top of that, all of the murders seem connected to Alex, in different ways. She has to juggle her drinking habits, her work and trying to discover what really happened to these women, and this is no easy task.
Every few chapters is a diary entry, from someone whose identity is never revealed, but it sheds an interesting light on Alex’s life and the murders.
I did like this book and if I had to rate it, I would give it a 3 stars out of 5. It is easy to read, it is contemporary and it is really close to reality.
The way Alex struggles with her alcohol addiction is very realistically depicted. She is in complete denial of her problem and thinks that she is in control of it. She keeps promising herself that “today is the day that I detox!” until something happens that throws her off the rails and she is back to square one. I feel like anyone who has some kind of addiction, whether it be drinking, smoking, gambling etc, can relate to Alex in that way. She is a humane and flawed character trying to do her best with the cards that life has dealt her, and in this way she is very relatable and likeable.
Now, I chose to only give this book 3 stars because, while it’s entertaining, it’s not riveting. There have been a couple of cliffhangers that have left me wanting to know more, but not enough for a thriller. The plot resolves itself very simply at the end and you can see it coming from a mile away. I was expecting more of a plot twist at the end, and it never came, so that left me slightly disappointed.
All in all, it is still a good read and perfect for the beach, since it is so easy to read. And if you are a fan of crime novels and thrillers, you might enjoy it!

I wanted to love this book but in reality, it fell short of my expectations. I didn't connect with the characters and just found it a stumbling, fumbly read. There were some chapters I flew through but others seemed to drag. Unfortunately not one of my favourite reads this year.

I think I probably wanted to read this as it compared the author to other writers I've enjoyed. Sadly it didn't really come up to expectations.

Alex came to London after a miscarriage & splitting up with her long term boyfriend. She is beginning to make headway as a crime reporter and when a second woman is found dead close to where she lives, she manages to be right there on TV telling the nation. She is a success- if she was really an alcoholic she wouldn't be doing so well. OK so she did have a bit of a problem with alcohol but a day or two's de-toxing & she'd be fine- wouldn't she?

The book tells Alex's reporting of the murders & also diary entries from Sarah, who is obsessed with Alex.

I thought the story would be on solving the murders. Instead its main focus is on alcoholism. It deals well with the subject and shows the daily battles of addicts in detail. However, it wasn't really what I wanted to read about & I found the first half pretty slow going. I disliked the main characters & found it hard to empathise with them. It picked up towards the end, but I can't score it higher than a three stars.

Thanks to Netgalley & the publishers for letting me read & review this book.

This really is a compelling psychological thriller.and an insight into how a functioning alcoholic gets through her life. It's hard to know if Alex is endangering herself, or others. Is she a victim? Or the perpetrator? Or an interested bystander? So many questions. What is her relationship with Sarah? Why did she befriend her in the first place, and then ignore her. I found it fascinating to see how Alex could convince herself that today she wouldn't drink, she could be sober. And then her magic water bottle would appear, or she'd reach for the wine. And Sarah's dysfunctional relationship with her mother - I hadn't expected a well to do family. Many questions are thrown up as you go through the book. And while I didn't warm to any of the characters, I had a real interest in what was going to happen. Highly recommended. #netgalley #IneverLie

I have not actually finished reading this book yet (work gets in the way!), however, based on what I have read so far, I just wanted to say I am hooked (so much so, that I was reading at 5.45am this morning before the kids got up, to find out what is happening!) Without giving anything away...
Is Alex involved more than it seems? What about Greg, or Charlie, or Nigel? Why was Sarah so attached to Alex? Whose dating profiles are real, whose are fake... who is the killer?!!!!
Can't wait to finish the book, and hope the ending lives up to the suspense it has created so far!

Alex South is an alcoholic and was a good TV news reporter until she does a live report whilst drunk. When a woman is found murdered not far from where she lives, the disgraced reporter offers her services to report on the story and assures them that she is no longer drinking. Her reports are well received and she soon becomes a household name again but little do they realise that she is barely getting through the days and relies on sipping vodka through the day from a water bottle. As more women's bodies are found, Alex's past starts to resurface and becomes entwined in the case. Can she keep on top of the reporting whilst keeping her past - and those connections from her bosses.

The story itself is great and tells of the daily struggles people face when living with an addiction - it demonstrates that getting the next fix is uppermost in their minds regardless of whatever else is happening in their lives and it really does consume - and control a persons thoughts and life. Sometimes it takes something drastic until the realisation of the damage addictions can do is seen.

I understand that the constant references to alcohol and how the character is feeling and thinking are a big part of the story but, honestly it got rather annoying very early into the book.

I requested this book as the description really got me, I love a book that gets me gripped early on and one I struggle to put down!
I found this one a little slow to begin with, although I liked the story line I didn't find that it had me hooked, certain parts of it made me want to keep reading but then I started to lose interest again so it took me a while to get to the end.
I understand with alcoholism that every day may seem the same to an extent but I found it a bit repetitive, overall I think it was a good read but not really for me as I like something a bit more gripping.

I enjoyed reading this book and was interested that the main character was an alcoholic. Our society today seems to accept drinking and it is good for an author to explore when things might just have gone too far. It was a well written story and I really didn't see the ending coming at all. Plus I did read the book in the space of a couple of days so I was quite addicted to the story!

I really liked the idea of this story. The struggle with alcohol was really well written. The feelings of an alcoholic and the desire for alcohol came across really well. The book was a bit long and dragged out to me and got a bit lost in places. That is the reason I have given it 3 stars.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

“Is she the next victim... or is she the culprit ?” I thought this books was going to be gripping, scary and unputdownable- sadly it just failed short of that. It wasn’t a bad book by any means and I did enjoy the writing style and the premise of the story. However, I wasn’t gripped or nervous or shocked or felt any emotions that I usually feel whilst reading a thriller, and that’s what let’s this book down.

The main character is thoroughly unlikeable. A “functioning alcoholic” who doesn’t actually function very well, and who is selfish, self serving and cold. Alcoholism is a big theme in this book and actually is one of its downsides- alcoholism becomes its major plot and takes away from the thriller it’s supposed to be. I understand that the author is trying to highlight how alcohol is such an addiction and it completely takes over and ruins lives and careers and relationships, but it’s to the detriment of the crime part of the book.
The novel is quite slow at revealing details about the crime, about the victims and the possible suspects of the crime, and I felt I had to really plough on before anything really happened. And I figured out who the killer was very early on as the author makes it quite obvious, which also disappointed me. The tag line of the novel didn’t help. It was easy to put two and two together and come to my own correct conclusions.

In short, I didn’t hate the book but it just wasn’t what a thriller should be. It didn’t grip me, it didn’t make me nervous or scared or excited and as for the “shocking twist at the end that you won’t see coming”, it wasn’t shocking because I did see it coming, ages before it happened.

I thank the author, Canelo and Netgalley for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review

First of all, thank you so much to Ellie Pilcher for inviting me to take part in this blog tour and to Canelo Publishers for the free digital copy of I Never Lie in exchange for an honest review. As soon as I received the invitation to review this novel from Ellie and read the synopsis, I immediately knew I had to accept. It felt a bit "Girl On The Train-esque" and I do adore an unreliable narrator so this novel was a must read in my eyes. Now I normally hate comparisons to famous books like Gone Girl and Girl On The Train but let me assure you, the publishers have not promoted it in any way as being similar to these blockbusters, it's completely my own interpretation of an alcoholic female character as being somewhat familiar territory. Luckily, I was delighted to discover that the alcoholic lead is the only thing that I Never Lie has in common with Girl On The Train. This book stands completely on its own as a gripping story of a troubled woman trying to get back on her feet (and being hopelessly in thrall to her addiction) and it was a thrilling, highly enjoyable read.

As with most mysteries/crime fictions, to say too much more about the synopsis would be giving far too many spoilers about the novel and I'm certainly not one to ruin things for everyone! Our female protagonist is Alex South, journalist flying high in her career until one live drunken report which threatens to ruin everything for good. You see, Alex is an alcoholic who was already drinking excessively when living in Manchester with her boyfriend but after a devastating miscarriage and break-up, she moved to East London where she continues to deny she has a problem at all. When a body is found in a park close to her home, she seizes the opportunity to revive her career and begs for the opportunity to investigate and get involved. Then the bodies of further women are found who have been killed in the same manner and when Alex continues to be lead journalist on the story and begins to blackout from drinking binges, she begins to realises that there may be far more demons that she has to face other than the ones in the bottle.

Jody Sabral has had a lot of experience working as a journalist and this completely shines through in her writing. Not in that it's matter-of-fact and quite clinical in the story-telling but in her knowledge of the industry and how processes work, particularly in the field of crime reporting. The narrative itself is intriguing and although it isn't action-packed, I don't think it needs to be to tell an exciting story. The whole novel is much more character focused which I really love in a good mystery and is much more about Alex's internal struggles and colourful past rather than vivid descriptions of murder scenes. Alex is not particularly likeable and sometimes I did get frustrated and just wanted to shake her but she felt completely believable as a normal person with flaws and a seemingly unconquerable addiction.

One of my favourite parts of I Never Lie had to be the diary extracts from an unknown woman which are interspersed with Alex's story. Who is she and what connection does she have to Alex and to the murders in East London? Jody Sabral is an expert at slow, gradual reveals, red herrings and unexpected twists and just when you think you have it all figured out - you find you're completely wrong. I'm definitely excited to read something else by this author!