The Lies I Tell is a non-stop mind game between two damaged but determined women seeking restitution. Meg Williams cannot forget how she was suddenly homeless as a teen; Kat Roberts cannot forget the night that forever changed her life. Meg is a con artist while Kat is a journalist, and Kat has been tracking Meg for ten years. Julie Clark has crafted an intriguing cat and mouse game revealed in two narratives over different time periods with twists and turns to keep the reader engaged. Although the novel is a definite page turner, what makes it compelling are the characters. As Kat moves closer to Meg, the tension grows as does the complexity of these women and their relationship. Highly recommended. Thanks to Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley for an ARC in return for an honest review.

Two very different women trying to right past wrongs. Or are they all that different? This one will keep you wondering all the way to the end.

A twisty cat and mouse game between two women- a con woman and a journalist. No spoilers! Meg's life changed overnight and for the worse when Rodney, now running for political office, conned her mother out of their family home. She's spent all the years since plotting his downfall. She's run con jobs across the country against other men who did women wrong. Kat first encountered Meg when Meg took down a pedophile high school principal, but Meg took something from her too. Now, a chance encounter puts Meg back on Kat's scope even as Kat is struggling with her relationship with Scott, a fraud detective with a serious gambling problem. This moves back and forth in time and between the two women in a complex dance where you will find yourself, against the grain, actually rooting for Meg in spots. Clark does an excellent job of raising doubts about both Meg and Scott. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. I was a huge fan of The Flight - she's managed to do it again. I thought I knew where this was going but I was wrong- always the mark of an excellent read.

This book is a definite must read for the summer. It is a totally fascinating plot and hard to put down. Told from the perspectives of Meg who is a con artist with a conscience and Kat a reporter trying to catch her in a lie. The tug of war they play as the lie and scheme is brilliant. The author has done a really magnificent job of keeping the reader glued to the pages to see what will occur. This is definitely a book to own.

Thank you to Sourcebooks and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

The Lies I Tell by Julie Clark is a fast-paced thriller that you won't be able to put down! The story revolves around two women: Meg Williams and Kat Roberts. Meg is a con artist who has reinvented herself time and time again. Kat Roberts has been waiting for her to pop up again. It's been years since Meg ruined her life, and Kat is ready to expose her for the con artist that she is. To do this, she will have to get close to Meg. Can she con the original con artist?

Here is a captivating excerpt from the opening chapter:

"She stands across the room from me, in a small cluster of donors, talking and laughing. A jazz quartet plays in a corner, the bouncing, slipping notes dancing around us, a low undertone of class and money. Meg Williams. I take a sip of wine, savoring the expensive vintage, the weight of the crystal glass, and I watch her. There are few photographs of her in existence—a grainy senior portrait from an old high school yearbook, and another image pulled from a 2009 YMCA staff directory—but I recognized her immediately. My first thought: She’s back. Followed closely by my second: Finally.
As soon as I saw her, I tucked my press credentials into my purse and kept to the perimeter of the room. I’ve been to all of Ron Ashton’s campaign events in the past three months, watching and waiting for Meg to make her appearance—called there by a Google Alert I set ten years ago."

Overall, The Lies I Tell is an unputdownable thriller that will appeal to fans of Netflix's Inventing Anna or Cover Story. One highlight of this book is how fast-paced it is. I couldn't stop turning the pages to see what happened next. Another highlight of this book is how it features two great protagonists. The story mixed in a bunch of intrigue and lies, and it was hard to see who was conning who. Trigger warning: sexual assault. If you're intrigued by the excerpt above, or if you're a fan of thrillers in general, I highly recommend checking out this book when it comes out in June!

The Lies I Tell, Julie Clark's latest release, is a quick-paced cat and mouse game that will keep readers turning the pages! Kat is a former journalist-turned content writer who left investigative reporting ten years ago but never forgot what would have been her biggest story. Meg, a charismatic con-man, has finally returned to where it all began-Los Angeles. When Kat spots her at a politician's fundraiser she knows this is her chance but Meg has bigger plans. Meg uses her marks to impact a form of karma-each has been chosen to right a specific wrong. When Kat inserts herself into Meg's life things take a dramatic change. Told from alternating perspectives and timelines this is a perfect summer read and Clark's best novel to date! Pick this one up today-you will not be disappointed.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for my honest feedback.

This book is about two women, Meg Williams and Kat Roberts who have known one another for a lot longer than either will admit. Meg has always been a grifter, living out of her car, using men to shelter her; she has a knack for getting what she wants and morphing into who she needs to be – what role she needs to play in order to manipulate people. Kat has been waiting for the right moment to execute her revenge on the woman who ruined her life and when the two women end up at the same political fundraiser together – Meg, now posing as a real estate agent, and Kat, a journalist, the game of cat and mouse begins. But defining who is the cat and who is the mouse in this situation is complicated, because both women are intelligent and out to right the wrongs that other people have brought upon them. A novel with a lot of delicious twists and turns, but also some real character exploration, The Lies I Tell is a great read. Thank you to Sourcebooks and NetGalley for the advanced review copy.

was completely captivated by this one! I started it in the afternoon and before I knew it, I was 25% in and hooked--I finished it that night.

The story centers around con artist Meg Williams and a reporter Kat Roberts who has waited 10 years for their paths to cross again. I LOVED the cat/mouse dynamic between these two that author Julie Clark immediately crafts. The reader then learns the backstory of these two, alternating narrators and timelines in three main chunks. The pacing of this is masterfully done, I was never bored.

Usually, a con artist isn't as likable as Meg is, there is more than meets the eye with this plot. While the ending and overall story isn't super twisty--I think I was only really surprised once--it is a highly engaging domestic thriller.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for providing me with an advanced copy and the opportunity to provide my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Lies I Tell by Julie Clark is a great summer thriller that leaves you with a smile on your face when you turn the last page. Meg is a con artist but that's not all that there is to her. Kat is the reporter ready to wreak vengeance on Meg for an event that occurred in her past. The two come together in an unexpected way that makes for a great story. Read and enjoy!

Meg is a con artist who has spent the past decade duping people all across the country. Kat is a journalist who has set out to expose Meg and all her schemes, for both personal and professional reasons. Kathy’s sat in wait for Meg to turn up again in her hometown and when she does, Kat moves in on her and creates a relationship to get into the mind of such a criminal mastermind. But as Kat grows closer to Meg and sees what she is up to, she starts to see there’s a motive behind who she chooses as her victims. So is Meg really the heartless criminal that Kat thought she was or is there more to the story?
The plot was paced well and like all fiction, there are parts that you definitely have to set aside reality or else you’ll be taken out of the story, but overall this was an enjoyable read and fans of the Last Flight will find themselves grabbed by this story just as much.
Thanks to Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley for this eArc in exchange for my review.

Fantastic novel!

Meg Williams is a con artist who becomes a new person with a new name and a new role in your life. She has a purpose--get close to you and take all that is important to you before you realize what is happening.

Kat Roberts had her life turned upside down because of Meg Williams. Once Kat realizes that Meg is back in town, she decides to try and infiltrate Meg's life using a false last name and other miscellaneous information. She intends to expose Meg for her cons and finally take her life back. The more time Kat and Meg spend together, the more confused Kat becomes about Meg's true intentions.

5 out of 5 stars. I couldn't wait to see how this ended!

Meg Williams is an unapologetic, successful grifter. Since she only goes after bad people, she makes a perfect antihero and will keep you rooting for her to the very end. She came by her way of life early on when she and her mother were forced to leave their home and live in their car thanks to a charming but ruthless man. When we meet Meg she is at a political fundraiser, posing as a realtor, and tracking the man who ruined her life so many years ago, Ron Ashton. The fundraiser is to support his run for state senator. Unbeknownst to Meg, her presence at the event is being tracked by a woman named Kat Roberts. Kat is a struggling journalist, and she first became aware of Meg ten years earlier. Kat had been pursuing a story about a teacher ousted because of inappropriate relations with his female students. Although Meg and Kat never met, they did have a brief phone conversation at the time of the teacher's dismissal, and that phone call landed Kat in a very bad place. It effectively destroyed her career at the LA Times and has affected her personally ever since.

I loved everything about The Lies I Tell. The characters of both Meg and Kat were skillfully drawn, and I would want to be friends with them both! Author Julie Clark, hit the best seller charts with her last book, The Last Flight, and I'm sure the same will be true with this latest novel. It is just terrific. Well written and painstakingly plotted. I really, really enjoyed the maneuvers that Meg made in getting her revenge against Ron Ashton, and the ending was perfect.

My thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for providing me an eGalley for review. The Lies I Tell is going to be a great hit this summer.

Meg Williams is a con artist. She has been using a variety of names over the past ten years fine-tuning her craft. Her ultimate target is Ron Ashton, a businessman and local politician who conned and swindled Meg’s mother into losing their large Brentwood, California home. Years of being homeless and living in a van has fed Meg’s desire for revenge. Kat Roberts, a budding journalist, discovered Meg’s exploits and thought covering her story would be her big break. But this quest turned disastrous for Kat and now she too has spent ten years searching for Meg and seeking her own revenge. The two are finally eye to eye. Let the games begin!

I became a fan of author Julie Clark after reading 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘍𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗜 𝗧𝗲𝗹𝗹 is a fast-paced, can’t-put-down, cat and mouse thriller about two women who are trying to fool one another. While Kat is a sympathetic character, it is Meg who is the star. She lies and steals, but you’ll be rooting for her anyway. I fully enjoyed this very clever tale of a woman who unapologetically does what she feels is warranted. I loved her response as to why: "It's the Girl Code. We have to look out for each other because no one else will."

Welcome, Ms. Clark, to my list of auto-read authors.

I received an ARC of The Lies I Tell in exchange for an honest review. I read The Last Flight by Julie Clark and really enjoyed it so I was looking forward to The Lies I Tell. I was not disappointed. Meg is a con artist. Kat is a reporter. But not only a reporter, Kat is someone who Meg wronged many years ago. Kat is determined to expose Meg. The story is told from Meg and Kat's point of view. The story also goes back in time to expose some of Meg's other scams. As you read you will be unsure of who you should root for, Meg to pull off the con or Kat to expose her.

I picked The Lies I Tell by Julie Clark based on my enthusiastic enjoyment of her previous book The Last Flight. What I loved about that book was the complex main characters and their interactions that somehow changed and molded both characters. The Lies I Tell is about two women whose lives cross almost accidently, but who change each other in ways neither saw coming.

The story is told from the viewpoints of Kat, a journalist who took a call from Meg ten years ago which lead to a life changing incident for Kat, and Meg, the con-artist who comes back to southern California to finally face the man who ruined her life so many years before. Both women have been hurt and each responds in their own way. Kat chooses to blame Meg. She searches for her and sets up alerts in case there is ever an opportunity to reveal her for what she is. The thing about Kat’s blame is that I could both see how misguided it was and understand her feelings at the same time. Kat can’t place the blame where it lies because she knows that she cannot hurt the person who is really responsible. I feel that in my heart and in my gut. I think most women will relate.

Meg has her own story of vengence. She wants to destroy the man who stole her family home and left her homeless and alone while she was still a child. Living in her car and trying to get by, circumstances bring her back to the one girl in high school she saw as a friend and what happened to her. Meg is definitely doing people wrong here and a few of her deeds are revealed in the story. Yet, when you read the details you have a hard time disliking her. I wanted both women to get what they wanted. What they wanted seemed to clash too much for that to be possible. Nothing keeps me reading a book more than wanting to see how the author manages to bring it all to a satisfying close.

Julie Clark has managed, again, to create a story that is complicated and powerfully shows the interaction of two women and how that has an impact on each other’s lives. Both women want payback. Vengeance. In most books, vengeance is a violent and bloody thing. Not here. Vengeance is more about trying to balance scales that never started out balanced in the first place. Male characters are religated to the place usually reserved for female characters. The are left reacting to what the women are doing. It is powerful to see a world where that happens. It is more rare than many would think. Look at the Bechdel Test for most movies and you’ll find the scores pretty low. Even in movies with a lot of female characters. The criteria of the Bechdel Test are (1) that at least two women are featured, (2) that these women talk to each other, and (3) that they discuss something other than a man. Two women talk about themselves and their needs. Men may be in the converesation but they are not the whole conversation. It seems like a pretty low bar.

I have now officially added Julie Clark to my list of authors to watch. Thanks to NetGalley and Julie Clark for allowing me to read the ARC of this story in exchange for my honest review. When this book goes on sale-buy it!

Meg Williams. Maggie Littleton. Melody Wilde. Different names for the same person, depending on the town, depending on the job. She's a con artist who erases herself to become whoever you need her to be—a college student. A life coach. A real estate agent. Nothing about her is real. She slides alongside you and tells you exactly what you need to hear, and by the time she's done, you've likely lost everything. Kat Roberts has been waiting ten years for the woman who upended her life to return. And now that she has, Kat is determined to be the one to expose her. But as the two women grow closer, Kat's long-held assumptions begin to crumble, leaving Kat to wonder who Meg's true target is.
I loved Ms. Clark's previous book "The Last Flight", so I was excited to read an ARC of this newest book. I was not disappointed. I never thought I could like an anti-heroine, but like her, I did. There was a reasoning behind what she did, she was sort of a "Robin Hood for women". There were lots of twists and turns and for once I was rooting for the :bad guy" to win. I definitely recommend this one!

What’s it about (in a nutshell):
The Lies I Tell is a thoroughly engaging psychological thriller about what it looks like when a need for revenge becomes a quest for justice. Or is it still just revenge after all?

Initial Expectations (before beginning the book):
I’ve heard awesome things about this book from people who have already read it. The cover is intriguing, and it shows a picture of a woman’s face torn in half, or based on the blurb, it could be the top part of one woman’s face and the bottom part of another. The blurb refers to cons, seeking justice, and many identities – it definitely sounds like it has all of the components of a wonderful thriller.

Actual Reading Experience:
I just loved this book. It was everything I was expecting and much more. It’s full of twists and turns as someone tries to con a con just to be conned by the con, or were they? Is it more about expectations, or is it a reality? I’ll never tell, but if you followed that, you could imagine how absolutely and delightfully twisty turny this story is. It reads so fast. I couldn’t believe how far I got in just a short time. And I loved every short minute of it!

But, the twists, turns, and fast pace are just a small part of what made this book an excellent read for me. I loved how character-driven it was and how Kat and Meg make the story the fascinating read that it is. The depth that making this story character-driven brings is incredible with its many layers and complications, making me question more than once if I was on the side of what was right or if I had ventured to the dark side of morality.

The story is told in first-person narration through both Meg and Kat. I never confused which narrated, even if I didn’t catch the name at the chapter head. Their voices are uniquely their own. It is also told with a dual timeline, which is absolutely necessary, and both timelines are equally as engrossing. Of course, saying more about this story would compromise your enjoyment of discovery when (not if) you read it, so I’m going to stop here. Just know, this is one of my favorite thrillers this year!

Characters:
Meg is an anti-hero of sorts. As a teen, she all but blended into the background, enjoying only one sort-of friendship. Life had dealt her a raw deal, and she did what she had to survive. Taking on different names and occupations in various towns across America, she follows the girl code she learned from that one high school friend, “Girls have to look out for each other because no one else will.”

Kat has struggled to find out who her adult self is. Placed in a job her mother arranged for her, she worked to make a place in journalism for herself. Kat becomes obsessed with the woman who turned her boyfriend in for his relationships with teenage girls. This case was being written about by the journalist she fact-checked for. That obsession created a path for her from which there is no going back.

To Read or Not to Read:
If you love domestic or psychological thrillers and if you love revenge versus justice stories, The Lies I Told is a book you will kick yourself for not reading.

A thrill for sure. Kat is determined to expose Meg for the schemer and liar she is. Meg is a chameleon, who changes colors whenever necessary. She is very adroit at manipulation, lying, but she does do some good.
As I read further I kept asking who is toying with whom more. The narrative tilts one way and then back toward another.
It’s a great read about trust, revenge, redemption, and persistence.

"The difference between justice and revenge comes down to who's telling the story." (P. 274)

This binge-worthy novel follows the lives of two women, both with their own revenge in mind.

A couple trigger warnings: date rape and statutory rape.

Meg has done her research and waited for the perfect time to get back at the man that broke her mom's heart and left them homeless. This con artist, vigilante has perfected her game over time and is back to follow through on a promise she made to herself.

Kat is a young, go getting fact checker dying to climb the ladder. But one tip changes her life. Now with her own revenge planned out she must learn the ways of lying. But is she the one conning the con artist or will she get played?

I didn't think Julie Clark could write another book as gripping as The Last Flight but wow. I was lucky enough to get this approved novel on Netgalley and absolutely devoured it. When it came out as a Book of the Month pick for June, I had to add it to my library!

Julie Clark DOES IT AGAIN!

This was phenomenal! I absolutely loved the cat and mouse aspect. I loved that I felt like I was kept on the edge of my seat and couldn't want to find out how this ended.

Just click preorder now!