Member Reviews
I family psychological thriller but will keep you at the edge of your seat. I chose this book because of the cover to cover always makes me pick up a book and this one definitely did |
Tracey S, Reviewer
This was not my type of book and I was very disappointed in it. I had such high hopes for this book |
Carley W, Reviewer
That blurb caught my eye and I couldn't wait to dig in. Sadly, the book didn't deliver. There were too many characters to keep track of, too much clutter, unlikely scenarios and the middle part dragged. |
this was an engaging read. It started off with a bang, but in the middle it got a bit slow. The cover grabbed me first but the book left me a little disappointed. |
Laura B, Reviewer
Anna wakes at night to discover her daughter and husband missing. She believes they have both been taken but the police think her husband has snatched Josie. A text message seems to confirm this but Anna still isn’t convinced. Nick’s drugged body is found and when he regains consciousness he is devastated to learn of their daughter’s disappearance. The kidnappers demand money and Anna then Nick go on missions to deliver the ransom. Then Anna runs away…why? Nick then gets a text to say that Anna has snatched their daughter but he rejects it. This book is told as the drama unfolds so is fast paced and the reader is left as confused as the characters. Can Anna and Nick trust each other? Which one of them is hiding a secret that has put their daughter in danger? My overall impression of this book is positive but I admit to having very mixed feelings about the narrative structure. The drama and action throughout the plot is brilliant. The revelations will keep you guessing the whole way through. However, I didn’t particularly like the way it jumped between Anna and Nick’s experiences. I felt the confusion was uncomfortable although this was obviously the style that the author had chosen and the evocation of emotions was that which Jake Cross wished to convey to his audience. This is a purely personal opinion and the author is successful in conveying the characters’ range of emotional responses. I enjoyed the character of the lead police officer Miller and how she interacted with the main characters; in particular, her dialogue made her feel very real. I look forward to reading more from Jake Cross in the future. |
I received an ARC copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for my honest,opinion of it. Anna wakes up in the middle of the,night to her daughter and husband missing. It was just okay for me. Not alot of suspense and a few annoying things such as the police officer calling Anna dear constantly. |
This book is very suspenseful. Has you on the edge of your seat! Fast paced, edge of your seat action from page one. |
The book opens with Anna, waking up in the night, to find her five year old daughter Josie missing and also Nick, her husband. Everyone thinks that Nick has taken her even when he is found injured and drugged. Anna will stop at nothing to get Josie back but to do this she has to face events from her past. The tension mounts as we wonder who has taken Josie and will they get her back. A tense and gripping thriller which I enjoyed, Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book. |
What would you do if you woke in the middle of the night to find your husband and 5 year old daughter missing . This is what Anna woke up to she phoned the police but they thought that the husband had taken the daughter but then Nick turns up so who has their daughter. They then get a ransom telephone call but why have they taken Josie . Is it something Nick did or something Anna did or is it someone doing it just for Anna’s fathers money . Plenty of twist and turns . A good read . |
Unfortunately this book would not download to my kindle so I missed out on reading it - I'm gutted - the blurb sounded so good! I may have to purchase it once I am paid.. I am so sorry but I do appreciate that I was approved. I have left a 3 star review as I do not want to stuff up his book ratings. |
Thanks again to Bookouture for the opportunity to read and review this book. The Family Lie started out so promising. A little girl kidnapped during the night and her father disappeared too. Very intriguing. I'm unhappy to say that my concentration dwindled with the amount of theories and characters introduced. A little tweaking and it would be an excellent read. |
Gripping, thrilling and wildly entertaining. The Family Lie is packed full with lies, betrayal, deception and secrets. I loved it. What better than a family drama full of surprises. This book was a page turner for me. I was always wanting to know what would happen next and was eager to find out who took the little girl and if the father was responsible. Where have the girl and her father disappeared? It would be a mother’s worst nightmare to discover her child and husband both gone without a trace. And to make matters worse, could the husband truly be responsible for your child’s disappearance or is something more sinister at play here? A captivating thrill of a book that will grip you and demand your attention for the wild ride. Thanks for stopping by on my stop of the blog blitz. I hope you enjoy the book! |
I didn't find the flow of this book as easy as I would have liked. I found it messy in places. The story on whole could be really good with abit more tweaking. 2.5* |
What a chilling start!! I’d dread to wake in the middle of the night to find my husband and one or both of my boys missing!! 😱😱 Where are Nick and Josie?? Have they both been taken together?? Has Nick taken Josie?? WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO THEM?!?!?!? I really felt for Anna, she’s woken up in a total nightmare of a situation and I think it would break anyone to be honest. I would never want to believe the worst of my husband and I can see that in Anna. She loves Nick, she knows him the best. Could he possibly have just upped and left with Josie? I really didn’t know who to trust in this twisty turny tale. Everything pointed towards Nick being the guilty party but with each chapter, the seed of doubt grew bigger but then I doubted everyone’s integrity and honesty! The more and more I read, the more I pointed my mental finger every-which-way I could, the finger of guilt was spinning like a roulette wheel. Jake Cross has created a tense read in The Family Lie. I was engulfed by the story from beginning to end, tapping away at my kindle wanting to know if young Josie was alive. This is a mother’s worst nightmare and Jake Cross has shaken this mum with his story. |
This novel sets a stage that looks promising. Hooks you in and gets you reading and I usually do not undertake a story regarding a kidnapped child. Five-year-old Josie is kidnapped from her bedroom in the middle of the night. Main character Anna wakes to find rain pelting the window, husband missing, patio door. But no Josie and no Nick. It doesn't take long before she's called in the police, but almost immediately they suspect something other than a kidnapping. For one, the husband is gone as well. Isn't it more likely he took off with his child? Now begins a long and tedious search, which goes on, and on, throughout which we are introduced to secondary characters, police, detectives, investigators, condescending and suspicious. And here's where one of my problems enter. I really don't like any of them. Particularly the one who refers to Anna as "dear." And then they find Nick, apparently knocked over the head, drugged, and dragged along for the ride. But where was Josie? The narrative begins introducing twists that throw you off the original scent, scatters the few ideas you might have held for the antagonist(s). And as the storyline plods along, gets further afield. Here are circumstances the reader could not have known about. Although I can appreciate that the parents might veer in the opposite direction in their effort to get to Josie, Nick comes off weak and largely ineffectual, Anna unsympathetic. Seems neither police nor parents make informed decisions. The writing seems a bit awkward at times, the dialogue gawky, some of the scenes inappropriate (come on--he put his hands between her legs? And she accepted it? Not!) Must admit, this book was not for me, although you may enjoy it. I received this ebook download from the publisher and NetGalley and appreciated the opportunity to read and review. |
A complex and twisty tale with plenty of red herrings. This story isn’t bad at all but it was overwritten in places. Sometimes it is just too much description and others just the overly formal correct grammar and sentence structuring that make it feel just a bit odd. Now this obviously is my opinion on the style which isn’t my type but may work for you. The story itself and how it plays out was actually pretty good. There were quite a few surprises and twists. I was happy with the conclusion. So, even with the writing style not being mine, it kept my attention. Thanks to NetGalley, the author and Bookouture for a copy in exchange for a review. |
The Family Lie is a thriller that for me didn’t quite hit the mark, the storyline was good it just lacked any kind of suspense build up. We start this book off with action and lots of it. Anna wakes up to find her husband, Nick and her 5 year old daughter, Josie are missing, the patio door is wide open and the window in Josie’s room is open. Anna calls the police and think her husband has abducted her daughter until Nick is found the next day, drugged and unaware of who anyone is until the drugs wear off. This thriller set off at a right pace and I couldn’t wait to turn the page but all of a sudden the drama disappeared and there was no suspense, several times I could have put it down and not finished it but I made myself read it. It is a good story in the sense of the the who, what, where, when and how it was just the way it was told, the detective calling Anna, dear all the time wound me up as did Anna calling her 5 year old daughter little lady all the time. I would like to thank Netgalley and Bookouture for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review. |
Nadine H, Reviewer
I enjoyed this book but found it a bit slow. A complex story with plenty twists just didn’t grab me as much as I hoped it would. |
This is my very first Bookouture Books On Tour blog tour and when I saw this book, The Family Lie by Jake Cross, I was very intrigued. Then, when I read what it was about, I was super eager to join. The story begins when Anna Carter wakes up to strange sounds coming from the baby monitor. Then she notices that her husband, Nick, is not in bed. She goes into her daughter, Josie's room to see what's causing the noise she heard on the baby monitor. The window is open, the floor is wet from the rain, and Josie is gone. Anna goes through the house room by room looking for both Nick and Josie, but she finds no one. She also sees that the door is open on the patio along with the gate leaving the yard. Upon further investigation, Anna realizes that the wetness on the floor she thought earlier was rain is actually blood. She then calls the police and reports both Nick and Josie missing. The police arrive and ask a lot of questions and something doesn't feel right. While Anna really believes that someone took both of them, but the police think otherwise -- they think that Nick has Josie and they are gone. Because this is a thriller, you know that's about all I can tell you about the story without writing a spoiler. I'll tell you though, this book was a serious page turner. I kept wanting to know what was next -- who took the girl and whether her father was responsible. I wanted to know where had they gone, were they together, did the husband have the daughter, or was it something darker than that? So many of this family's truths really caused readers to have immediate opinions on the "who dun it" of this story. The Family Lie was a very engaging and tension filled story all the way through to the end. I couldn't believe I blew through this book as fast as I did, but you can't help but to keep turning pages to get to the truth. The author did a great job with the main characters and I'd definitely read another Jake Cross thriller! Thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for an eARC of this book. This did not influence my review. All opinions are my own. |
This book was very suspenseful. It had you on the edge of your seat the whole time. Ann’s nightmare is a nightmare that no mother wishes to go through. She wakes in the middle of the night and both Nick and her 5 yr old daughter are gone. Nick ends up being found drugged and their daughter is no where to be found. Is it a coincidence or is their past coming back to haunt them? |








