Although I really enjoyed THE NIGHT OLIVIA FELL, this one fell flat for me. The premise, coupled with Eva's actions, was just too unbelievable. Because the book took off fast, I didn't get to know or care enough about Eva before she started on this whirlwind investigation. But the thing that bothered me the most is that the characters' reactions just didn't seem believable. Atone point, Eva meets s relative she never knew existed, someone who cherished her, and yet his reaction was just "Oh, how lovely to see you again" - none of the extreme emotion one would expect and then Eva just leaves this person without a backward glance even though she should have wanted to stay by his side and ask a million questions. It just didn't hold together for me.

I loved this unputdownable book! All the stars!
It was a thrilling, unnerving read. The characters were realistic. The plot was gripping and fast-paced. Run, do not walk, out to get this fab book.
Thank you NetGalley.

This fast paced thriller kept me constantly guessing. Once I got used to the point of view of the different time lines it was a fast read. I guessed some of the twists but not all. Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this thriller. I give it a sold four stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to review this book.

Eva's mother's death opens up a secret world she knew nothing about. When she wakes up in the hospital after being struck by lightening, nothing is as it had been before the storm. Her mother is dead. She is a suspect. As she tries to find out what happened, she discovers that her mother isn't who she thought she was, and neither is she.

Behind Every Lie is deliciously twisty while keeping the reader grounded in the realistic. When one lie can only lead to another, how long before the truth comes out?

Twists and turns galore. Most of them I found predictable, some of them not, and one of them actually surprised me. I enjoyed that some reveals were not saved to the end and the details slowly disclosed as the story progressed.  I enjoyed alternating between the past and present to contribute to different POVs and character development.

I would recommend to others. It kept my interest through the end but, like so many thrillers with female main characters, rape as a plot device is not my favorite. At least this one addressed some of the problematic reactions to it.

5 Stars across the board! 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟
If I could pick the best thriller of the year, Christina McDonald would definitely win with Behind Every Lie! Anyone looking for a intense, gripping and just a mind blowing story, then this is the book for you! Christina's book is full of so many twists and turns that I was on the edge of my seat with every page I turned. Backstory Eva Hansen wakes up in the hospital and she has no idea how she got there. All she knows is what the police are telling her and that is that she was found unconscious down the road from her mother's home. Her mother has been murdered and she is the number one suspect! Eva doesn't know who to trust, can she even trust herself? This is written in past and present POV'S and it is perfect for this storyline. I have read many thrillers but I would highly recommend this book to anyone. I really do believe that this book is not just for thriller and suspense lovers. Anyone will get caught up in Christina McDonald's writing style. It is so beautifully written and the characters are so well done! I won't be forgetting this book anytime soon and it will definitely be a re-read! Thank you @Netgalley, @SimonandSchuster and @ChristinaMcDonald for this ARC. I'm so excited to see What Christina does next! Check out Behind Every Lie February 2020 and I will most definitely be buying the hardcover for my collection!

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 Absolutely loved this book, couldn’t put it down! So many brilliant twists and turns, keeping me in suspense throughout. With some heart wrenching and jaw dropping moments along the way. I just love Christina’s style of writing and the way it draws you in and you can picture the setting and characters just perfectly with the description given.

The story starts with Eva Hansen waking after being struck by lightning to find out her mother has been murdered. The book then takes you on an emotional rollercoaster of a journey to find out what happened. The chapters jumped from past to present perfectly, each time I thought I had things sussed I really didn’t!

Thank you so much Christina McDonald, Net Galley & Simon and Schuster for this ARC. I really can’t recommend this book enough, especially if you love a good suspense thriller! Be sure to add to your to read list for its release in Feb 2020.

Book Description- Eva Hansen wakes in the hospital after being struck by lightning and discovers her mother, Kat, has been murdered. Eva was found unconscious down the street. She can’t remember what happened but the police are highly suspicious of her.

Determined to clear her name, Eva heads from Seattle to London—Kat’s former home—for answers. But as she unravels her mother’s carefully held secrets, Eva soon realizes that someone doesn’t want her to know the truth. And with violent memories beginning to emerge, Eva doesn’t know who to trust. Least of all herself.

What a great read! I was hooked from page one and literally could not stop reading. What is the truth? What are the lies? Are memories to be trusted? Is Eva guilty of murder? She was found covered in blood, her mother dead and she was struck by lightning! Are people who they really seem? Did she murder her own mother in a savage rage? Are flashes of memories real or mixed up due to her head injury and lightning strike? After her mother’s death, Eva finds a letter written to her by her mom with a cryptic message. Wanting to find out the truth, Eva begins a journey that unfolds more and more pieces of the puzzle that has become her life. You will enjoy this book. I received a free copy of this book and and voluntarily leaving my review.

Christina McDonald has done it again! Imagine waking up in a hospital room, having been struck by lightening and discovering you are a suspect in your mother's murder. This is just the beginning! This book will take you on a wild ride as the protagonist tries to remember two traumas she has experienced while at the same time trying to find out who murdered her mother, even willing to accept that it was her. This story is told from alternating perspectives between mother and daughter, alternating between the past and current time. I read this book in a 24 hour time frame because I could-not-put-it-down. If you like thrillers this is a must read! You will not be disappointed!

Christina McDonald is quickly becoming a favorite author, as The Night Olivia Fell was equally as riveting.

Thank you the author for providing early access to this ARC for me to review.

Christina McDonald is an amazing author. Having read "The Night Olivia Fell" her debut novel I needed to read this one too. Her writing is wonderful you really feel the connection that the characters have to each other. The story jumps from past to present throughout. Eva is struck by lightning and wakes up to find that her mother has been murdered. Eva needs to find out who had done it. She needs to find out the truth but someone is trying to make that impossible for her. Eva doesn't know who to trust. And as she starts to unravel her mothers secrets she starts to wonder if she can even trust herself. A suspenseful must-read!

I loved this book! It was beautifully written and the vivid descriptions made it easy to envision what was going on. There were many twists and turns that kept me enthralled and unable to put this book down. Christina McDonald created another winner. Can’t wait to see what she has in store next.
The story is told from 2 points of view. Eva, present day and her mom Kat both past and present.
The story begins with Eva in the hospital after having been struck by lightning and she was found down the street from her mother’s house where her mother lay dead. Eva is a suspect and since she has no memory, she can’t be sure that she did not kill her mother. She went through an awful tragedy and is still trying to heal. She thought she found refuge in her fiancé Liam, who she recently moved in with. Eva is desperately trying to remember what happen the night her mother was murdered and she gets some flashes and is trying to piece together the night from what she has been told and what she thinks she is remembering. She finds something in her mother’s house that leads her to London to seek answers for her past and hopefully find out who and why her mother was murdered, along with hoping that she wasn’t the one wielding the knife.
Kat gives us a glimpse into her life beginning 25 years ago when Eva was just a toddler. She lived with a very powerful man who abused her. She finally was able to escape him and she tells of her journey from London to ultimately Seattle and why she chose the path that she did. She gives us insight into the reason and culprit of her murder.
Thank you Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

First book I’ve ever read where the story is dependent on the title character having been struck by lightning. Struck by lightning minutes after her mother is murdered. Struck by lightning and suspected of murdering her mother. Because, it seems when you are struck by lightning the memory can go, can give you flashbacks, can make you a different personality. This is actually a really good thriller where Eva feels the need to discover her mothers secrets here and in England to solve the murder she may have committed. It’s a fast paced read, lots of tangents to follow but resolves itself well and believably. Recommended!

A solid mystery with some good twists and a surprising end. My only complaint is a personal preference- I am not a big fan of using rape as a plot device.

I just know Christina McDonald is forever an author that I will always automatically read. So far as I finish up her second book-- I love how she creates such dynamic mother / daughter relationship stories. The type of relationships that don't often seem as they appear. The deeper you dig, the more you find out about not just one character but each one.

I think my absolute FAVE part of this entire book was the way it was written. I loved the past and present POV's and how it wove the story together. I particularly enjoyed knowing what was going on and then turning around and watching Eva unfold it all. I thought the story-line as a whole was nicely paced. Not too rushed - not too slow.

Literally there was twist after twist after twist. Now, it may not blow your mind and you may sit there and say "yeah, I knew that was coming" but you know what? Maybe that is true. But I think if you're like me, you'll still appreciate how believable and real it all seemed.

No matter if you're the type of reader who enjoys being surprised or even if you are the reader who can see a story-line coming from two miles away, I think every type of reader will enjoy this book. I enjoy the way Christina McDonald makes us see the things that we do when we read her books. I am most definitely a forever fan.

I just love every book she writes and this one was no exception! It draws you in and keeps you “swiping” the pages to the very end. No spoilers, but this is a book you can’t put down even if it means sacrificing sleep!

Thanks to NetGalley for a Kindle ARC of Behind Every Lie.

When Eva Hansen wakes up in the hospital after being struck by lightning, she is given the devastating news that her mother is dead. Murdered. And she may have killed her.

As she works to clear her name, Eva must unravel her mother's past, exposing herself to shocking secrets, and a dangerous person out for revenge.

I really enjoyed the premise, a woman traumatized after getting struck by lightning has little memory of what happened the previous night. This makes her an unreliable character, nothing new in novels, but at least her unreliability is due to surviving a shocking ordeal, not because she's mentally ill.

As Eva's paranoia and confusion increases (is it the result of the lightning or is she trying to block the moment she killed her mother?), the readers are left doubting (or not) the veracity of Eva's memories. Coupled with a recent sexual assault, Eva is understandably fragile.

But, is she a killer?

The timeline is set between the present, and the past, where readers are given an inside look at how Eva's mother, Kat, survived a tumultuous marriage and the choices she made that ended up with her dead.

There were some twists, nearly all of which I figured out, especially one I wished the author had kept hidden awhile longer but I understood the need for it to be revealed early because it drove the story forward.

When I started reading, I didn't like Kat, but in the end, I understood her more. I didn't want to be friends with her but I respected the choices she made and what she had to do to protect her daughter.

Eva read like a shallow character in the beginning, always needing to lean on her boyfriend for moral and mental support. But, in the end, I was pleased to see she found her strength and stood up for herself, her body, and her mental health.

The climatic finale is dramatic, and requires a bit more suspension of disbelief than I expected to give but I did so because I enjoyed Ms. McDonald's writing and the story so far.

This was a decent story about a mother and daughter, the lengths we will go to protect a child, and how people will always run from their past, yet rarely escape it.

4.5 lightning struck stars

This complex thriller kept me guessing! Just when I thought I had some things figured out, there was another twist.

It’s a great opening premise, the main character, Eva, is in the hospital after being struck by lightning. Her mother was murdered the same night and Eva can’t remember anything. This frustrates both the police and Eva. All the clues point to Eva being at the house that night, but is she guilty of the crime? Eva sets out to discover the truth, including a visit to London, her mother’s original hometown.

Along the way, the reader isn’t sure if her paranoia and strange behavior are symptoms of the lightning strike or is Eva pretending that she can’t remember? I didn’t quite know who to trust and there was quite the web of deceit! Some secrets are buried very deep for good reason.

There is an alternating storyline with Eva’s mother from the past and we start to get some clues that there are secrets in Kat’s life and it seems that someone doesn’t want Eva digging too much into the past. As Eva digs deeper and some memories start to return, the story builds to a stunning conclusion that I did not predict!

This is another mother-daughter domestic tale from Christina McDonald that I truly enjoyed. The pacing was excellent, and it is definitely a page-turner.

*I will update my Goodreads review the week of publication

I love getting lost in a great thriller and Christina McDonald’s latest novel is the perfect example of why! Behind Every Lie will grab you from the beginning and keep you hooked until the last page! Christina McDonald does a fantastic job with creating so many possible scenarios for the who, what, where, why, and when that your conspiracy theories will be plentiful (and in my case all incorrect)! Behind Every Lie is extremely well planned out and masterfully executed! Even though this book comes out a month into 2020, I can guarantee it will be one of my top 3 thrillers for the year! Behind Every Lie is a complete and total 5 star read! I can’t recommend this novel (and author) enough—a definite must read!

Having recently read The Night Olivia Fell, I was beaming about the opportunity to read and review Behind Every Lie. I admit, I was guarded going into this book. After all, my personal bar had been set pretty high after The Night Olivia Fell and I wondered, could lightening really strike twice with the same author (you’ll understand this pun a little better when you read the book)? Fortunately, luck has nothing to do with it. When you can write a deep story as compelling as Behind Every Lie, you don’t need luck, you just have a gift for writing. The way Christina McDonald develops characters throughout the story and describes places is like taking a master class in creative writing. You can’t put this book down and your heart breaks as the story unfolds. If you needed a tissue (or two) for The Night Olivia Fell, I recommend keeping a box handy for Behind Every Lie.

The story begins with a cloudy reflection of a grisly crime scene. Eva Hansen wakes in the hospital after being struck by lightning and discovers her mother, Kat, has been murdered. Eva was found unconscious down the street. She can’t remember what happened but the police are highly suspicious of her. Eva, not suffering from the effects of memory loss, tries to figure out what happened during the period her mother was murdered.

Determined to clear her name, Eva heads from Seattle to London—Kat’s former home—for answers. But as she unravels her mother’s carefully held secrets, Eva soon realizes that someone doesn’t want her to know the truth. And with violent memories beginning to emerge, Eva doesn’t know who to trust. Least of all herself.

Told in alternating perspectives from Eva’s search for answers and Kat’s mysterious past, Behind Every Lie explores the complicated nature of mother-daughter relationships, family trauma, and the danger behind long-held secrets.

This book will be released February 2020 and I definitely recommend adding it to your TBR. It will be thinking about this one for the next few days.

Oh wow!!! This was definitely a fantastic read. I was a little worried if it would be as good as her first book The Night Olivia Fell, but I think it surpassed it. I was hooked from the first page. Suspense right from the beginning. This story goes back and forth from the present to the past, which I don't always enjoy.
However in this book I was eager to go back and forth trying to fit all the pieces together as each timeline was just as interesting and suspenseful as the other.

Christina McDonald has quickly become a favorite author and I can't wait for her to right more!!