This book started out with a very interesting premise--Leslie goes to bring her sister, Robin, home from Las Vegas to discover that she is dead. As Leslie is trying to figure out what to do, she meets a woman named Mary who has a strong resemblance to her sister Robin. Leslie convinces Mary to pretend to be Robin so that they could both get money from Leslie's dad's will. From there, the story turns into a twisty mystery full of tension and lies. I enjoyed this one up until the twist, then I found myself just frustrated by everything that had happened in it. Not because I didn't see the twist coming, but rather because it felt like the author took the easy way out. The book was also a slow read for me.

(4.5 stars*) I read this book in less than two days! It was definitely a page-turner; I needed to know what happened next. I was not expecting the twists in the story. I enjoyed the different points of view, which added to the suspense of the book. I would recommend this book to others!

I found this book to be quite a page turner. The first few pages did a great job of reeling me in, which is the best way for a book to start. The story was about a woman named Leslie who had been searching for her sister Robyn, whom she 'd last seen a decade ago. You see, their father had died and in order to collect the money they had to both appear together with the executor. When she does find her it is too late, or is it?
What follows is an intriguing novel about family, betrayal, distrust and also love. It was a fun book to read for me with lots of twists and turns and an unforgettable plot twist at the conclusion.

I very much enjoyed the acknowledgements, as well as the authors thoughts on how she came about the idea for the book. This is a first novel for the writer and I think she has a very promising future.

**I received this ARC in advance for an honest review. Thanks to #NetGalley and #PenguinRandomHousePublishing !!!***

I recommend this book and look forward to reading future books by this Author.

Loved it periooodt. And that book cover is amazing as well. Thank you Netgalley and publishers for.providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Wow, what a ride! This title of this book is perfect. The entire time I was reading, I couldn't determine where the lies started and the truth ended. My main complaint here is just that with all the lies these characters were telling, and all the ways they were using people, I found it rather hard to like them. The ending of this book is well-done, though, so I would recommend it. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

I really enjoyed The Better Liar. It was told from past and present and from different characters but was easy to follow. It wasn't what I would call a thriller at all, but more of a women's fiction book. There was a bit of a twist in the end but nothing like a thriller really. I really liked the style of writing and would read more by this author.

This book was provided by NegGalley for an honest review.

The book does a good job of making everyone guess what is happening even though we are provided with a lot of clues., twists and hints. The plot is definitely will keep you on edge. You will not be able to put it down and will read it through the night. I would like to suggest this book for anyone who likes psychological thrillers and unreliable characters.

WOW...to be honest, it took me a minute (or two) to connect with the characters. I’ve been having a sort of reading slump! I started reading this book at about 11:30 pm and I COULD NOT put it down until 3:00 am!!! This book follows Leslie, who is looking for her estranged sister, Robin. As I mentioned, I went into the book thinking that this would be a typical love/hate relationship between sisters. Man was I TOTALLY wrong about that!?! Something just seemed off with Leslie from the start! I just intuitively felt that something was hidden and as a reader you are not privy to all the information. What the author does so well, is tease you and make you want to know more

I rated this book 4 out of 5 stars. The pace of the story was good and I was dumbfounded until the end! Those two elements being met were the deciding factor in my enjoyment of this book. I do, recommend giving this book a read!!!

I truly wasn't sure what to expect. The cover was great and grabbed my attention immediately. Thoroughly Enjoyed this!!! Had to buy a copy!! I recommend this book to anyone who asks!

Random House, via Netgalley, provided an advanced copy and so I feel lacking in my responsibility to provide a review, because I am now 5 weeks after publication. Is it any excuse that I was interviewing for and then accepting and then starting a new job? No?

I'll make up for it a bit by choosing to err on the side of four stars instead of three, since I am legitimately torn between the two. I don't have much justification for the three, other than it just didn't feel like it'll be a top favourite book of the year for me, and choosing four reflects how pleased I was by the somewhat-departure from the norm for the sort of thriller I enjoy.

When Leslie goes to find her sister, in order to drag her home so that they can both be present (by requirement) to receive their inheritances from their father, she instead find her sister dead from a drug overdose. Shortly thereafter, she stumbles across a young woman, Mary, who looks remarkably like her sister and convinces her to pretend to be her sister, promising that Mary can then just walk away with her sister's half of the inheritance. What could possibly go wrong?

<spoiler>Well, what went wrong for me, somewhat, is that this setup, while being novel and intriguing for me, requires quite a lot of suspension of disbelief. And because of this requirement, I kept doubting and guessing, and... thus, figured out much of the ending very early on.</spoiler>

I enjoyed the setup and appreciated how much of the novel was a guessing game as to the characters' motives and psychological games, both for the reader and the characters. There were other elements here that I liked for their originality in the genre, but to mention them could constitute a spoiler. When I requested this one from Netgalley nearly six months ago, it was hyped as one of the big thrillers of 2020. While I'm guessing it's not going to be that, as I haven't heard it mentioned all that much in my regular bookish worlds, I do find that lack of attention to be surprising and disappointing. I enjoyed the read quite a lot - certainly enough to keep an eye out for Jones' next book!

The Better Liar by Tanen Jones- I just couldn't get into this book right from the start. Didn't like the tone of the writing, and couldn't follow the story, gave up about one third of the way in.

Leslie Voigt Flores is looking for her sister Robin, who left their home as a teenager and has not really been back since. Ten years have passed since Robin left. She has contacted the family a few times to ask for money and has made a few drunken phone calls, but other than that, Robin and Leslie are estranged. Leslie has been taking care of their ill father in New Mexico. When their father dies, Leslie finds out that she is required to locate Robin in order for both of them to inherit $50,000 each. It should be easy to convince Robin to come home for that amount of money, but the problem is finding her. She's been using an assumed name to dodge her creditors, but Leslie tracks her down to the Vegas area. But Robin is a heroin user and she OD's just before Leslie's arrival.

Leslie wants her share of the money, but she doesn't really have a plan once she finds out Robin is dead. But then she meets Mary, a waitress who bears a bit of a resemblance to Robin. Leslie convinces Mary to leave town with her and pretend to be Robin, only long enough to obtain their inheritance. Mary gets to keep Robin's share of the money on the condition that she help Leslie get her share.

This book took some twists and turns that I wasn't expecting. It's a great read!

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of The Better Liar by Tanen Jones.

After a long search, Leslie finally found her sister Robin, but she found her too late, Robin is dead. Of course she is, Robin was never going to make life for Leslie easy, and now how is Leslie going to get her money from her. Enter Mary, a young waitress who looks a lot like late Robin. Together they hatch a plan for Mary to pose as Robin so that they can split the profits. What could possibly go wrong.

UGH, DNF. Sorry, the premise alone, I can't. I did try, but when "Robin" (Mary) reconnects with an old love interest, and this love interest doesn't even bat an eye at the differences in her, I said "nope." Even after thirty years, I think we're smart enough to be able to see recognizable characteristics in a loved one, especially after being intimate with them. It's a fatal enough flaw to keep me from continuing.

I went into this novel completely blank (I only knew that the cover completely drew me in) and did not regret it, I enjoyed the twisted ride all the way to the end. The Better Liar by Tanen Jones kept me at the edge of my seat and home all weekend until I finished it.
If you enjoy a story that is cleverly written, full of dark twists with unreliable characters with hidden agendas and secrets, then this is the story for you.
Thank You to NetGalley for allowing me to read read this ARC for an honest review

"The Better Liar" is an excellent mystery/thriller novel by Tanen Jones. This novel kept me guessing all throughout the book, and had a good twist at the end. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys mysteries and thrillers!

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

I received a free e-copy of The Better Liar by Tanen Jones from NetGalley for my honest review.

One heck on a twisted book! Leslie's father dies and she is due to inherit $50,000 from his will. Money that will help save her from loosing her home because she lost her job. There is one problem though. She and her sister, Robin are supposed to sign the estate paperwork together with the lawyer. Ten years ago, Robin ran away from home and Leslie hasn't seen her since.

Things get even worse when she finds Robin dead in her Las Vegas apartment. Desperate, Leslie discovers an aspiring actress named Mary, who resembles her sister, Robin and comes up with a plan. She hires Mary to pretend to be Robin and accompany her back to Albuquerque to sign the papers. They will each inherit $50,000 each. Sounds like a well thought out plan that can help both Leslie and Mary. So simple, yet so complicated. So many twists, turns and lies that will make your head spin.

My rating 2.5 stars. Slow burning mystery.
I have some mixed feelings about this book and how to rate it.
The beginning started out pretty good... we have Leslie, one of the main characters, finding the dead body of her sister Robin, which she hasn't seen in ten years. The story takes off from there. There are three main characters: Leslie, Robin (her dead sister) and Mary. You get snippets of information about the characters throughout the story here and there, but you really never get to know too much about them.
I kept reading thinking the story would get better, (a good build up of story or something) and we would find out more history about the characters but I just didn't feel that... just a lot of dialogue of what was happening now, mixed with a little of the past and a whole lot of assumptions. The ending is what I really didn't like about this book. I kept wishing the book would get better as I read and there would be some real meat and substance. Then at 93% into the book the author threw in a twist, and I sure didn't see that twist coming. After that the book really went down hill from there. It was the ending that really disappointed me. I invested my time waiting for something to happen that lead me down to that ending… and that ending really let me down. I was irritated by it actually. Like really, that’s it? I think I'm in the minority here on my rating, because others really enjoyed this book.
It really wasn't a bad debut book, but it just fell short for me. I would like to thank Ballantine-Random House Publishing Group via NetGalley for the advanced readers copy in exchange for my honest review.

This is one of the worst mysteries I have read in a long time. The only interesting part came in the last 20 pages. The dynamics between the two psychologically impaired sisters was ridiculous. I made myself finish it but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

This is easily one of my favorite thrillers. Mind you, I have not read many and have even DNFed some as well.

I put up walls around me and become suspicious of the characters, the author did a great job at destroying those walls and I ended up rooting for about everyone here. I put my trust in Mary and Leslie and if you ask me if I regret it, I can't give an honest answer.

What I loved the most was definitely the delivery of the major plot twist. The plot itself was something I had figured out, but the moment it was revealed I was screaming. I appreciate it when an author can impact me with a scene even if I know it's coming.

3 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Lots of great reviews for this one, but unfortunately, this one was kinda dull. I enjoyed the first half and then it went downhill.

I’ve been pretty open about the fact that I can’t do slow burn thrillers. I like fast paced with some jaw drops. This book had neither for me.

The story is told from 3 POV’s: Leslie, Mary and Robin. Leslie and Robin are sisters. Their father dies and leaves them a chunk of cash. In order to claim it, they both must be present. Unfortunately for Leslie, Robin has died. She meets Mary - who can definitely pass as Robin in order to claim this money. This book could have been so much better. The plot had so much potential, but it just fell flat.

As I said, some people loved it. If you like slow burns with mostly unlikeable characters, give it a whirl!

Thank you to NetGalley, Ballantine Books and Tanen Jones for my advanced copy to read and review.