I could not get into this book, ultimately it was not form me and I could not finish it. It may be one for other readers

I've tried to read this book a few times and it doesn't seem to stick with me. I definitely believe this is a case of the reader and not the book.

📖My Thoughts📖

Thrillers can sometimes be a hit or miss. They either absolutely grab you right from the beginning, they have you on the fence for a while, or not have you whatsoever. This was a tricky one. It wasn’t awful by any means, don’t get me wrong, but it never really hit me like it should have. When I first started it, I almost had a hard time believing it was a thriller. There were moments it had my full blown attention, and some that I found myself really struggling to focus and keep with it. I think the hardest part was the fact that it just seemed to jump around so much that it was hard to keep track of the actual storyline. I like the idea as a whole, and I believe if the execution was done a little differently, that it would have made a world of difference. I really wanted to like this one and gave it the benefit of the doubt, but in the end it just fell flat for me.
Thank you Netgalley, Crooked Lane Books and Bryan Reardon for the opportunity to read and review this book. ⭐️⭐️

⚠️side note: I won’t be posting this review to any social platforms. I don’t post any reviews if I’ve given less than 3 stars.

Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

While I thoroughly enjoyed the synopsis of the book, I just kept getting lost within the pages due to the story jumping around so much. I tried several times to re read the chapters but found that was messing up the twists and turns. This certainly is a great thriller with flawed characters who aren’t quite who you think they are. The ending was not as evasive as I would like it to have been.


3 out of 5 stars


Thank you to NetGalley as well as the Author/publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

I found this just to be an average thriller, I wasn’t overly surprised by the twists and didn’t find myself really engaging with the plot or the characters much

I found the synopsis of this book very interesting - the problem was that I didn't find any of the characters likeable in the least. The writing also felt frenetic for me - I kept jumping along the narrative because that's how the story felt to me.

I received an ARC of “ Let Her Lie” through Net Galley.My thanks to the publisher and author.
“Let Her Lie” was one a book that I had a difficult time becoming and staying involved with. I did not particularly like the main character or the style of the book with its changes of time, character and place that gave it, to me, a disjointed effect. It was rather like a film that Theo , a documentary filmmaker might make for stylistic effect .
Theo had a bit Hit docudrama with his first film that was picked up by Netflix and went viral. It made Theo a phenom for a while. The flash star of Hollywood until his next project wrecked on a sex scandal of his own making. It was only until the reader gets about a third of a way into the book that the author reveals just what happened . In my opinion, the story should have started at the beginning and gone forward with Theo’s attempt at redemption with his new project about a serial killer , The Halo Killer. All the back and forth, layered with angst, a self- loathing and rage at the people with the power of dangle cash and withdraw it from his “ art” was annoyingly whining.
For a while the book concentrates , when it would concentrate on anything, on the jailed killer’s story. They it angled off to Theo searching for an near victim. Then over to Theo’ personal and financial binds. This gave the reader another tangent, other characters all while putting the Halo Killer on the side line. Just imagine having Clarice unfocusing Hannibal Lecter to check out the killer’s favorite wine merchant.
Summary: a promising story mishandled, an unappealing character and an untidy plot.

This book was very disappointing for me. I struggled to even give it 3 stars. It just lacked the thrill factor. I didnt connect with any of the characters. I found my interest wasnt giving me reason to read it. I felt that the ending didnt impress me either. I found the characters were the main reason I didnt really like this book.

The blurb of this book really drew me in. The actual book was good but a bit slow in parts. Not quite as thrilling as I was expecting. I really didn't enjoy the characters,


I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley in return for my honest review. Thank you for the opportunity.

This book had a very unique premise. It started off strong and the first 35-40% was really interesting. But what started out promising soon turned into a complicated and confusing story. I didn’t feel like there were enough aspects to classify this as a thriller. More of a slow-burning mystery, but the plot just got too out of hand and convoluted. There were also several parts that included suspending a lot of disbelief. Despite being under 300 pages, this took me longer to read than it should, and I found myself skimming just to get through it. Jasper’s character gave me the creeps, and I feel like his character alone could have made for a great story, but unfortunately overall this one missed the mark for me.

This book was okay. The beginning drew me in but then I struggled to finish it. Thanks to the publisher for an advanced copy of the book in exchange for my opinions.

I generally like Reardon’s writing and I appreciate that he made this plot unique by incorporating movie scenes into the story. I just never really got drawn into the plot and found that it was overly wordy and a bit convoluted at times, like there was too much going on.

Let Her Lie is the new book from Bryan Reardon and Crooked Lane Publishing..

"Theo Snyder is on top of the world. His film has taken the country by storm and he is on every A-list. Until a terrible choice shuffles him out. No one wants to work with him and he is desperate. So he decides to dive into the mind of a serial killer for his next project - Jasper Ross-Johnson, also known as the Halo Killer. Theo begins talking to Jasper in prison. He soon discovers there are things that Jasper is not saying. Theo's investigator is holding back. And there is some connection to the Miracle Baby. Things get dangerous for Theo and he hopes he can finish telling the story."

Lots of suspense in this one. There are some big jumps in logic. Theo seems to be having some odd conversations about what's real and what's really going on.
There's an underlying theme of addiction - for Theo, it's telling the next story - the hunger that makes him irrational.

This was a fast-paced read. Excellent story from Reardon.

I read the description for Let Her Lie and I was really excited to read this story.

Theo Snyder a dejected documentary film maker is looking to re-ignite his career by investigating the famous serial killer Jasper Ross-Johnson and hoping to uncover something new that hasn't been reported before. Theo begins visiting Ross-Johnson in prison and soon gets swept up in the killers mind games.

Unfortunately while the intriguing plot was there I don't think the story was executed well. I''ll be honest, I actually spent a lot of the story just trying to figure out what Was going on which made the book feel more like a chore than a treat.

The book premise was interesting and I did enjoy the beginning but things quickly unraveled. The plot became so convoluted and it became a chore to read. Plot holes were plentiful and the ending just didn’t make any sense. Overall, this was a big disappointment and I can not recommend this book.

I was hooked in the first few chapters but struggled to finish this story. I didn’t find the ending resolved enough of the mystery and I found the characters boring by the end. This one was just not for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I thought this was going to be a 4-5 star read. The beginning was so intriguing. I didn't want to put it down. Plus, it was going super quickly! I love all things true crime so I was overjoyed with the MC being a true crime documentarist. But about 75%, things just got wild. I swear it felt like the book had 3 endings. I was getting confused about who was playing who and what was real. Even at the end I was just baffled. Unfortunately, I won't be recommending this one.

As I read the first half of this book, I was giving it 4 stars - maybe even 5 if it kept up the pace. The premise was unique - the story told from a documentary filmmakers view as he laid out scenes for us. About halfway through, though, the story became so convoluted - - and the characters even more unlikeable than they had been (which is saying something!) that everything seemed to fall apart. The ending totally fell flat for me. It was disappointing that a book with such promise ended up not delivering - not for me anyway. But I'll give it 3 stars because of that 4 star first half.

Thank you to Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for an opportunity to read Let Her Lie

A serial killer in prison ... a disgraced documentary film maker ... a miracle baby ...

What I liked :
✔️ the format and overall approach to the story telling - a documentary movie producer who gets wrapped up in the story of a serial killer
✔️ interesting and unique plot

What I didn’t like
✖️ it never fully grabbed me - I honestly didn’t care about any of the characters that much
✖️ the ending was just way too complicated 🤷‍♀️

3.5 ⭐️