Full review to come on Instagram and Amazon. Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for a review copy.

A great thriller by A. R. Torre!

Follow along as a Psychiatrist and a Defense attorney work together to find the real Bloody Heart Killer. The BH killer would kidnap young boys who were popular in their schools and hold them captive before finishing the deed. The victims were always found with a hear carved into their chest which gave him the name, the Bloody Heart Killer. Six teens were murdered, but somehow number seven was able to escape. Follow along to see how the young boy was able to escape and who the real BH Killer wound up to be.

This is a fast read and has people pointing fingers in all directions. Highly recommend, you won't want to put it down.

I loved all the turns this book had. I’m really enjoying this author writing the triller genre and I can’t wait to see more like this.
I liked all the characters and the fact that you really never know who does it.

Such a fun thriller with twists and turns at every step. Definitely go into this one as blind as possible because it’s absolutely amazing!!! Highly recommend!

This book was interesting. Not quite what I was expecting, but I greatly enjoyed the story concept and the characters the author created.

Gwen has met her match with the latest request for her consult skills. None other than the Bloody Heart Killer himself. The consult comes at the request of the killer's lawyer. A man who has a lot more than time invested into this particular case.

With time not on her side Gwen has to establish if the man is guilty or innocent in her eyes. A decision that will either condemn or free two people at once. At what to Gwen will this decision come?

A very intriguing story. It has been on my mind even weeks after the fact. Definitely going into my reread pile.

Great book. Highly recommend and will most defiantly read more by this author and suggest to others!

Took me a bit to get into. I think the different perspectives threw me off a bit but OMG once I got used to it, I really enjoyed THE GOOD LIE. Even though you know things are going to get dark and twisted, I never expected the twists and turns.

A.R.Torre hits us with yet another gruesome thriller .If you haven't read her Deana Madden series please get up right now and read it .
OK I got distracted so back to this book .6 boys died in a gruesome manner but 7th survived and escaped the infamous serial killer. What are the odds ?
Can you guess the killer from the interesting cast of this novel (Well I could because I am genius)
A very well written, engaging and fast paced story line which keeps you wanting more

I really enjoyed this one!
I was fascinated by the premise and characters- a serial killer's behind bars but the lawyer father of one of his victims wants to defend him? Add a psychatrist who helps him profile the murderer and I am all in!
This was a tense, fast paced read that kept me engaged for the majority of the book, but I did find it challenging to keep track of the victims and characters at times.
It was a good ending, and whilst I didn't predict it, I wasn't totally wowed either.
A great start to reading this author for me.

This book grabbed me from the first page and didnt let go. I thought I knew what was going on but I was very wrong. The pace was fast and what an ending. !

I very much enjoyed Torre's The Girl in 6E but this is the first book of hers I've read since then.

Our introduction to therapist (who specialises in those with violent tendencies) Gwen is a little awkward given she realises a client has potentially killed his wife and himself. She looks back over her notes and discovers some warning signs she didn't pursue and her immediate sense is to destroy anything that could damage her reputation.

She's excited to be drawn into the case of a serial killer who's killed six young boys and attracted to the father of one of the boys - who's defending someone accused of their murders. Robert is certain the accused killer is not guilty and though Gwen doesn't understand why, she helps him build a profile of the victims and their killer.

I was pretty much hooked for much of this book. It unfolds from Gwen's point of view (first person) and Robert's (third person). They're engaging and seemingly fairly honest with us but some of their actions are a little confusing. I'm fine with flawed characters but they're both unlikeable at times and their actions often inconsistent.

Things ultimately come to a head once it's discovered the seventh boy (who claims he escaped the killer and accused Robert's client) was lying about his captor and escape.

It's then the book falls apart a little for me. What happens seems too coincidental until (of course) we remember how and when Gwen and Robert meet and then it seems to be a little more feasible. Although it did mean I questioned Gwen's abilities somewhat!!!

The pacing felt a little rushed as the book neared its conclusion as well. So while I enjoyed this book (including the detail about psychopathology and 'why people kill') and read it in a sitting, I was ultimately a little disappointed.

3.5 stars

I started the first few chapters of this story and wasn’t sure I was going to enjoy it. It jumps around perspectives from chapter to chapter without warning of whose perspective you’re in. However, after establishing the perspectives, it was very easy to maintain track.

I really enjoyed his book.

When Scott, a teenage boy and the would have been 7th victim of a serial killer escapes, he points the finger at his captor, open and shut case, right. So why does the 6th victims father, a high up defence attorney insist on the mans innocence and represent him in court. He hires on Gwen, a physiologist who works with violent clients, to make a profile of the killer to hopefully prove the man behind bars is not guilty. But if he’s not guilty, who is? And why would Scott point the finger at the wrong man?

Really hard to put down story. Kept me very engaged, wanting to know the answers. Twisty enough without being too over the top, and enough suspicion on characters to keep you guessing.

There’s also a small romantics plot line that usually doesn’t work for me in thrillers but I find was really well done. Not overpowering or disregarding the crime and the true story line.

***4 Stars***


I don’t read a lot of mystery/suspense, but I really liked this one. The twists and turns definitely kept me on my toes and had me questioning everything and everyone ~ the WTF?!? Moments were many. Gwen and Robert were imperfectly perfect characters that I found fascinating as they went down the rabbit hole in the Bloody Heart case. They both had an agenda, which was only made more difficult as they got closer. But what I found I liked the most about the story was the psychological analysis side of things, which wasn’t a surprise since one of my favorite shows is Criminal Minds. And as for that ending...well, even I didn’t see it coming, at least not all of it.

~ Copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley & voluntarily reviewed ~

I had a hard time putting this down, but I found it highly disturbing. I have been finding that thrillers aren’t my things during the pandemic, so I am going to go with my reaction being personal to me. I cannot say I enjoyed this book but was captivated and needing to know the ending. I guessed many of the twists, which actually always brings me comfort.

The Good Lie is a twisty psychological thriller that will have readers hooked. The Bloody Heart serial killer has kidnapped and murdered six teenagers. His seventh victim escaped and named a local high school teacher as his captor. The only person who believes he didn't do it is the defense attorney who steps in to defend him in a damning case. Only, the DA is the father of the sixth victim. He has psychiatrist Gwen Moore create a psych profile to help clear his name. Why does the DA think the teacher is innocent despite being pointed out by a victim and his son being a victim? Many questions are brought into play. The story is filled with twists and an unpredictable ending. Highly recommended!!

⭐⭐⭐⭐ -- A twisty ride

I read this authors' Deanna Madden Series years ago and really enjoyed it, so I was excited to dive into this latest book. I was not disappointed. This was a dark, twisted and compulsively readable story I couldn't put down. I finished it all in one go! Well written. Well plotted. Full of twist and turns, and questionable characters. It kept me guessing right until the end. A solid 👍🏻👍🏻 from yours truly.

The Good Lie is a fantastic psychological thriller that I enjoyed reading. I feel like its been too long since I read a book as compelling as this one! This book had surprising & shocking twists with all the necessary elements to make it an absolute page-turner. The tension I felt between the first & last page never subsided & I loved that. The characters were just so good & fleshed out it was like watching it actually happen. I loved the plot, it was plausible, twisted & at the same time extremely chilling! It was difficult to keep this one down & go about my regular tasks. I thought I kind of knew where this was heading but was so wrong! I'm so glad I read this book that put this author on my radar. I will read her other books too! Off late with all the books being made into series I think this one would be such a big hit! But offcourse not more than the book(said every book lover including myself ever).

Thank you, NetGalley, Thomas and Mercer & A. R. Torre for this arc!

17 year old Scott has just returned home after being abducted by the Bloody Heart Killer, as serial killer. Dr. Gwen Moore is a psychiatrist who is an expert on serial killers. She is entranced by the release of Scott and is eventually retained by defense of the man Scott claims kidnapped him. However, the defense attorney has more at stake than anyone here, as he was the father to victim #6 of the Bloody Heart Killer so why would he be trying to free him?

Good book. Interesting to see the different perspectives and their stakes involved in this case.

Do you have a taste for a story that will twist and turn you, fool and bend you, and eventually will just blow you out of the water? Well, you are in luck with this twisted thriller right here!

First you learn of the Bloody Heart Killer, and all of the gorgeous, male victims he has kidnapped, tortured and killed, while also learning that the seventh victim of the killer has escaped and made it back home. Whew!! Right?! Only…

You meet Dr. Gwen Moore who’s a talented psychiatrist, specialist in the field of serial killers and violent offenders. (Whoa, what a creepy, scary, what are you thinking kind of job is that, right?!) Seeing her interactions with patients (one in particular) - which starts a crazy descent into madness that you will not be expecting!

Hot defense attorney voluntarily representing the man caught and accused of being the killer, but he’s the father of the sixth victim … whaaaaaattttttt?????? And how is he connected to the lovely doctor? Oh my people!

A. R. Torre is one of my favorite authors and she does not disappoint in this newest novel of mind bending thrills and … kills… This is definitely a fun, fast read that you should not miss partaking of this summer!

Thank you so much to #NetGalley, the publisher and the killer author A. R. Torre for the electronic ARC in exchange for my unbiased opinions. This was a 4.5 out of 5 star read and one I am definitely recommending to anyone liking suspense, thrill, mystery, fast paced, compulsively readable novels! Happy reading my friends!

The story begins when 17 year old Scott returns home after being abducted by the Bloody Heart killer, a serial killer who has already claimed the lives of 6 teenage boys. Psychiatrist Gwen Moore is retained by Robert Kavin in the defense of the main identified as the killer by Scott. The twist here is that Kavin's son was victim #6 of the killer yet he believes in the innocence of the man accused. This one was difficult to put down, I wanted to see it through to the end without taking a break. The characters are flawed, likable, and sympathetic and the story is believable, well all except Scott's story...