I really enjoy Gregg Olsen’s literary style and the way he is able to breathe new life into familiar themes with amazing characterizations and a plotline reminiscent of a 40’s noir mystery. He has a finely tuned ear for good dialog and an uncanny sense of how people think and act and their motivation for doing what they do. His latest offering, LYING NEXT TO ME, is no exception providing a modern slice of domestic noir that is sure to keep the reader immersed until the very last page.

LYING NEXT TO ME is one of those tales that billows forth like a tornado rolling across a Kansas cornfield taking the reader into a climate of darkness and impending doom. The narrative is tight as it careens from one twist to another keeping the cast of characters as well as the reader guessing and cautiously skeptical about what is really going on.

If you enjoy masterful storytelling with multiple points of view that is just a cut above others in the genre, you should definitely consider adding LYING NEXT TO ME to your TBR list.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to review Lying Next To Me.

“No matter what you see...no matter what you’ve heard...assume nothing!” This statement from the book pretty much sums up the entire story; a thrilling page turner that will keep you guessing until the end. The story is about the disappearance of Sophia. She and her husband and three year old daughter are on a holiday weekend getaway. Sophia and Adam were having some marriage difficulties but nothing that some time away couldn’t heal. The weekend had just started when Adam and his daughter witness someone dragging Sophia away. The police are called and a search begins but Sophia is nowhere to be found. This begins a series of twist and turns as the search continues.

Overall, the premise of the book was a great idea but the final execution was lacking some. The book is told from different viewpoints and maybe if there had been some Sophia’s viewpoint it might have added some additional insight to the story. Or maybe the ending was just too rushed and adding additional pages would have helped the ending flow better. It is a great story and even if you think you know who did it, when the ending comes it is still a shock seeing it all put together.

I have always enjoyed Gregg Olsen's books and this one was no different.  Of the four main protagonists Sophie was the most enigmatic possibly because she was only a brief participant. When she is murdered her husband is devastated but reassured by the knowledge that one of the lead detectives has been friends with him since childhood.

Lee Husemann is a police officer with a past. Having been the victim of serious crime herself when much younger and on the receiving end of intense media pressure on a previous case she is determined to make sure justice is done for Adam and his daughter as well as Sophie.

This is an excellent book, the differing points of view kept me reading 'just one more chapter'! I have to admit I worked out what happened well before the end but it was very satisfying to see it all come to pass almost just as I thought and there were a few bits which surprised me which  is always good! There was one bit (no spoilers) in the very last section which may have been a typo, if not I definitely missed something big!

I was able to read an advanced copy of this book thanks to Netgalley and the publishers in exchange for an unbiased review and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys a multi-view murder mystery or likes to work it all out as they go along.

I enjoyed the book very much! I liked the changing POV's, helped me to get into the character's heads, and I liked the way and speed in which the mistery revealed itself piece for piece. Very entertaining!
I'd definitely recommend the book!

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing a copy!

Sorry but this book wasn't for me, first I have read from this author and don't think I will read more.

It was a bit like trying to walk through mud to get into the story line and I didn't like the characters.

Thank you to Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

"No matter what you see, no matter what you’ve heard, assume nothing." What an ominous statement! With that thought rolling through my mind, I began Lying Next to Me. The story is about the disappearance of Sophie Warner. Sophie, husband Adam and their three-year-old daughter, Aubrey, were spending Memorial Day weekend together. Sophie and Adam were experiencing a rough patch, but it was hoped a few days together would make things better. They barely got a chance to begin patching things up, however, because while Adam was on the water the first day with Aubrey and was away from shore, they were close enough for Adam to see Sophie abducted. There was absolutely nothing that Adam could do.

There are only three cabins where they are staying, and in one cabin, a woman with her small grandchildren doesn't see anything. There is a couple in the other cabin, Kristen and Connor Moss, but they, too, are of no help. Adam is very hopeful that his friend, Lee Husemann, happens to be the detective on the case. At the very least, Adam is comforted by the fact that Lee will pull out all of the stops to try and determine what has happened to Sophie.

There is one eyewitness, and with his help, Lee begins putting together the pieces of the puzzle. Of course, Adam claims innocence. However, the story is delivered in more than one point of view, and one of those is Connor. His dialogue is quite interesting and slowly things begin to fall into place. While Lee knows at least one person is lying, she is die-hard determined that Adam is innocent all across the board.

After all, nothing you believe to be true actually is, so by far, most readers will be left guessing. I literally could not work it out and was shocked, to say the least, when the killer was revealed. All the while, not only is Adam and Lee's past revealed, but Connor's involvement is pivotal. Lastly, the phrase "unreliable narrator" with the various characters could never be more apropos than in this book. With quick dialogue, great intrigue, terrific pacing, more than one red herring and a stunning conclusion, this book by Gregg Olsen is an excellent read.

Many thanks to Thomas & Mercer and to NetGalley for this ARC to review in exchange for my honest opinion.

I have to say ... as a fan of Gregg Olsen I was looking forward to this newest book ... this one didn't do it for me. Disliked the characters ... found it to be predictable ... not the worst I've read but definitely not the best. Just average for me.

This was a very disappointing read. I found the detectives instant distrust odd. I found their reasoning knee jerk response just unbelievable. This was a great idea, I think, with execution that just didn't make sense. Maybe an additional 30 pages could have had the detectives searching for the guy who did it and coming to their conclusion in a different way - but as it stands, I just didn't find the detectives believable from the get go and it made the rest of the story, although interesting, not what it should have been.

I’ve read Greg Olson before. His books are generally quick, fun to read “whodunits” that I enjoy. I wasn’t disappointed and had fun going through the twists and turns surprises to find the murderer. Plenty of suspects too, and with sufficient reasons!

This book was good. It could have been great —- the characters could have been developed more fully, the plot could have been a little less transparent — but it was just good. A solid book in the thriller genre. I enjoyed reading it.

I enjoyed this book from beginning to end. I would absolutely recommend. I enjoyed the various points of view giving us different sides to the story. Great book!

Wow! By the time I finished this book I had COMPLETELY different feelings about certain characters (mainly Adam Warner) than I did when I started the book! I love how Gregg Olsen unfolds the story and the truth about what actually happened at the cabins slowly trickles out leaving the reader totally stunned by the end. There is so much I would like to say about this book, but I don't want to give anything away. "No matter what you see, no matter what you’ve heard, assume nothing." This statement sums this book up perfectly!

Thank you to Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for providing a copy for review.

I don't usually enjoy thrillers written in the first person, but in this book it worked remarkably well. Getting inside the head of the victims and suspects was the only way to use flashbacks and emotional turmoil to best effect. This is one book where the suspects could not tell anyone what their true thoughts and feelings were, especially not to the police.
As a result, every character in the book felt well-developed with interesting backstories, including the police officers.
Placing the crime in the small town location was a master stroke - the killer knew the police and their strengths and weakness way ahead of planning the crime.
The gripping opening chapter will get you hooked and even if the pace slackens off in the middle which is bound to happen when there are 80 short chapters, the turning points and reveals make sense and are logical.
I didn't work it out until almost half way through the book!
Recommended.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. This was a great read for a new author for me. I really liked the characters in this book and shall certainly be looking out for other books from this author.

This was a very interesting book it diffently is very good if your into a mystery book always making you think what is going to happen next!

Adams wife Sophie disappears. Did she run off? Was she taken? Was her life picture perfect like everyone believes? Is she even alive? This story is well written and each chapter jumps narrators to keep you guessing and not give too much away!

Unconvincingly written and disappointingly “one-note”, Lying Next to Me has such a promising blurb – but for me, it failed to deliver. Initially, I wondered if Gregg Olsen was inspired by the case of Heather Teague, who went missing over twenty years ago in Kentucky. A witness with a telescope saw Heather, who was sunbathing by the side of a lake, approached by a man who dragged her into the woods at gunpoint. To this day, there have been no signs of her whereabouts. All that was left of her was a small scrap of her bathing suit, discovered by investigators as they combed the scene.

It’s a case that has always haunted me.

This novel will not. It’s certainly readable, and it starts with a bang. Adam and Sophie Warner and their three-year-old daughter are on holiday. While out crab fishing with his little girl, Adam sees his wife abducted on the shore. Though he rows back with everything in him, by the time he returns, there’s no sign of her – and the search begins.

Right from the get-go, it’s clear there’s more to Adam than there seems. He’s not acting like you’d “expect” and even in his inner thoughts, there’s a veil over his feelings, as if he’s playing a role. Interestingly, Adam knows one of the two lead detectives on Sophie’s case.

Lee is the sister of Adam’s childhood best friend, and their history is a fraught one – tangled with an instance where Adam saved her life, in the most harrowing of circumstances.

There isn’t a likable character in this bunch. Adam is a hapless asshole, more interested in drinking whisky than parenting his child. Sophie’s parents are akin to caricatures – her father particularly is such a blustering blowhard that he”s impossible to swallow as a functioning human being. There is zero nuance to his character.

Even Lee is unsympathetic, due to the deeply stupid things she keeps doing. Her misguided crush on Adam seems more befitting of a 13-year-old girl than a police detective. It’s not endearing. I just wanted to shake her.

By the end, I didn’t care what happened to any of them. Even Sophie. While the “twist” is a good one, I couldn’t muster up anything but vague sympathy.

I think I might have appreciated it more if we’d had more time with her – or any time at all – she remained a mystery, and since the entire book is based around her disappearance, it’s weird that she’s a question mark. We’re meant to wonder what happened to her and why, and Olsen gives us nothing to go on.

While there were promising elements to this tale, for me, it didn’t quite get there, and I think it would have benefited from more time taken to flesh out the characters and make them more well rounded.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. I appreciate it, as always!

This mystery/thriller by Gregg Olsen is full of twists and turns. It has well developed characters. The story kept me engaged throughout. I really liked it.

Talk about your unreliable narrators! LYING NEXT TO ME is told through the eyes of several characters, none of which is telling the whole truth. Three families are staying a lakeside cabins when one morning, while Adam and his daughter Aubrey are our in the dingy, they witness Aubrey's mother being abducted be a strange man. what follows is a slow unraveling of what, how and who was involves in the abduction. Really excellent plotting and a great story. Definitely Olsen's best.

A couple needing an escape from their every day lives, and their rocky marriage, take a vacation with their three year old child. But on the first day of their vacation, Adam sees Sophie grabbed by a total stranger. Out on the water and too far away to help, he watches as his wife is kidnapped. Adam is terrified for his wife’s safety, but at least he knows the investigation is in good hands, with his old friend Lee Husemann leading the investigation. As Lee investigates the abduction, she wonders if there is any connection to the other couple vacationing in a nearby cottage. They claim to have no knowledge of the incident, but Lee wonders. A twisted tale that only goes to show that you never really know the people you trust the most