This was a very enjoyable book. Easy to relate to all of the characters. Really showed the cyclical events beginning with early trauma.
Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Sara Lennox is the daughter of a con man, and knows how to lie as easily as telling the truth. As she plots to escape the witness protection program, she gets drawn into the life of her neighbors, a family with big problems of their own. With spare, beautiful writing, Buckley describes the lives of children and grown-ups living on the edge of desperation, each coping with their past mistakes and current secrets. THE LIAR'S CHILD is an intricately woven story, bleak and mysterious and well worth reading. I also recommend Buckley's prior work, THE GOOD GOODBYE.

Sara moves to the Outer Banks part of the witness protection program. In the apartment next to her’s, she discovers 12-year-old Cassie and her younger brother Boon, who have been left to fend for themselves during a hurricane. Sara makes a split decision and drives off with the children into the storm.

Carla Buckley’s the Good Goodbye is one of my all-time favorite books, but this one just did not move me. I found that the first half drew me in, but the second half seemed to be all over the place and lack purpose. There were characters, Hank and Joyce, that were only introduced in the second half and I did not understand how they added to the story. In turn, several of the characters from the first half were completely forgotten about in the second. I felt like there were too many minor storylines and characters with no real focus. I finished the book without really understanding the overall point of it. Sadly, this one just wasn’t for me.

Many thanks to Netgalley, Ballantine Books and Carla Buckley for my complimentary e-copy ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I received an ARC of this book thanks to Net Galley. I have read all her prior books and this one did not disappoint. Carla Buckley is an accomplished writer who thoughtfully takes her words to create an intimate relationship with her characters to pull the the reader into the story.

With this novel, she has created a secondary story within the story. Sara Lennox, is hiding out in the Outer Banks, part of the Witness protection program until the feds can extricate her to testify. A chance encounter with her neighbors children and an impeding hurricane leads her to take Cassie and Boon with her as she flees the storm. We begin to learn more about Sara and the similarities of her back story with that of these children as they attempt to keep safe and outrun not only the storm, but Sara's handlers as well.

The novel thoughtfully addresses the complexities of family dynamics and a parent's desire to do whatever it takes to keep their children safe as she takes us the reader on a wild ride. The ending gives some answers, but leaves much to the readers imagination or perhaps to a followup novel based on Sara, Boon and Cassie's lives as to what takes place in the years that are not written about.

Definitely a novel that should not be started if you don't have the time to read it in one sitting, because once it grabs your attention you can't let the characters go!

Random crossings of people, place, and time. Footprints left upon the sands of our lives.

Carla Buckley presents a tightly knotted theme in The Liar's Child. She presses upon the thought of unexpected presences that show up briefly or long-term........fleeting moments of contact. in which one's aura leaves its indelible mark. And we are forever changed.

Sara Lennox has been on the run. Plain and simple. She stares down the darkened hallway of prison time or the suffocating existence of a federal protection program. Pick your poison. She hoists a shot of protection and finds herself in a beach town in Outer Banks, North Carolina. All compliments of the government. Sara drags her suitcase up four flights of stairs at The Paradise apartment complex which has seen better days. But then, so has Sara.

With very few options, Sara finds a job cleaning rental units nearby. Payment in cash and no background checks. At the end of the day, climb all those stairs and then pour a glass of cheap wine. Rinse and repeat. But Sara begins to get a feel for the comings and goings of her neighbors. The thin walls allow her an unwanted litany of shouting and arguments from next door. She observes the two children, a girl about twelve, and a young boy about five who seem to be on their own most of the time.

Phantom parents, Diane and Whit Nelson provide background music for this little ensemble. As readers, their backstories begin to take focus thanks to Carla Buckley's innate ability for drawing upon strangely complicated characters who spread themselves vividly across the pages of this book. The dialogue is spot-on in regard to these kiddos, Cassie and Boon. Cassie's pubescent presence will make your teeth ache with intense frustration. But Boon, oh Boon, you'll find endearing.

But Buckley ain't done yet, Folks. We're at the seashore and a hurricane of mammoth proportions is on the horizon. And one of the parents has taken off on a solo excursion of life leaving behind said children and said partner. Stormy weather and high winds abound on the outside of The Paradise and from within.

The Liar's Child is an intensely good read. If you've read The Good Goodbye by Buckley, you know that she works magic with a storyline. Buckley captures the inner workings of these individuals who keep tripping over their lies and she keeps it high interest until the end. Just plain good stuff page after page.

I received a copy of The Liar's Child through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to Random House Publishing (Ballantine Books) and to the talented Carla Buckley for the opportunity.

Finally a properly marketed book. Described as a drama with a pace of a thriller, a psychological fiction with suspense elements and it is all that. Which is to say it isn’t yet another one of those women murder mystery thrillers, although it has a lot of the correct ingredients. And awesomely enough isn’t at all overpowered by estrogen like these things sometimes tend to be. So having established the genre…for a drama it worked very well. The liar’s child title refers most specifically to Sara, the woman with a murky past, raised by a criminal of a father, she finds herself in a witness protection program in North Carolina, in the ironically named Paradise apartments, with a difficult, make that messed up, family as her neighbors. And then global warming slams the area with an epic storm and there go best laid plans…of Sara, her neighbors, and (technically) everyone in the vicinity of the brutal weather. But it isn’t just a woman on the lam story, it deals heavily with parents/children relationships and the lies they tell each other out of love, fear and various best and worst intentions. The novel moves at a great clip and features dimensional characters and good writing, so it makes for a very dynamic engaging read. The ending was slightly too abrupt, you sort of expected more return on all that emotional investment, particularly it would have been nice to hear more about how Sara’s life turned out. But it worked. And actually made for a very nice introduction to a new author. Who, of course, isn’t new, and has a few of what seems like similar books out already. Time to check the library catalog. But yes, this was very enjoyable and entertaining and a great way to spend a rainy afternoon. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.

Sara is a con-artist being relocated by witness protection in the Paradise, a worn-down apartment building on North Carolina's Outer Banks. She's not interested in her neighbors, and fully intends to shake her minders before she ever testifies. But her next-door neighbors are a troubled family whose drama spills into her life. Crisis occur and lies are told, and as everyone desperately makes plans for the future, a hurricane heads straight for the island and everyone's plans run seriously astray.
This story is excellent on many levels. The character study of Sara, the family dynamic of the family next door, the mystery of a mother disappeared, and the thriller elements of fleeing both pursuit and a hurricane. Absolutely fascinating cover to cover, unpredictable and an unusual ending that really works. Highly recommended.

I am a huge fan of Carla Buckley so I was thrilled to get the chance to read this novel. This story is that of Sara, new to WITSEC, and Whit's family, including children Cassie and Boon. Their lives intertwine on the Outer banks and Paradise. After a terrible situation involving Whit's wife leaving their son in the car, the reader is quickly swept into the difficult family life of these young children. Sara is living in the apartment next door and trying to find a way to escape from her situation. When Whit's wife abandons them, his children begin to struggle and so does he. Told in alternating view points, this story tells a well crafted tale of the lives of some interesting and complex characters. When a hurricane heads towards the Outer banks, things become difficult as Sara must decided the right thing to do when her life choices seem to be pointing her in the wrong direction. Full of surprises and twists, the characters and storyline were great. Thank you so much netgalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I adored Carla Buckley’s past novels so much that I went into The Liar’s Child completely blind! I very rarely do that, but I knew Carla Buckley is a sure thing for me! And boy was I right, I was totally captivated from start to finish!

I love when a novel can surprise me! There are twists and turns spread throughout The Liar’s Child that are expertly timed— seriously shocked me! The storyline was multi-layered and each layer is filled with a huge variance of emotions! The Liar’s Child is a 4.5 star novel that is unputdownable! This novel would make a great book club selection- I have already told my friends to pre-order this gem because I’m dying to discuss!!! As per usual, I am looking forward to Carla Buckley’s next novel.

Not simple plot nor one dimensional characters. Twists abound in this often sad novel with a satisfying ending

Sara is hiding from an unhappy and complicated past. She’s living at the Paradise, an apartment complex on the Outer Banks where no one is neighborly, a fact that suits Sara just fine. But when a huge storm bears down on the coast, Sara is drawn to neighboring children Cassie and Boon, who appear to be living hell. Sara takes the children to save them from what she believes is a terrible life. But there’s more to this story than anyone knows and a happy ending looks very unlikely, if anyone is alive to see the end that is