Thank you Publisher and Netgalley for this advanced copy.

People should know about this book. Fantastic worldbuilding and amazing character. Everyone should read this hidden gem

This author can world build like few others I've read before. Just fantastic world building. I felt a bit lost at the beginning, but soon got into it. It's well worth the time invested.
It has lots of action, intrigue and mystery. The twists and turns in the plot are intricate, and keep the reader guessing.

There is definitely an undertone of how we treat "the other people" which is so relevant to the society we live in today.

Reese was hilarious to me (his rules about driving a car cracked me up), but also tore my heart out from all he had gone through as an empath. He and Grayson together were funny, but this isn't really a romance, at least not at this point.

However the book worth jumping into this series and finding out what this world is all about, and seeing where these two take us. Also, I am going to jump back and grab the audiobook too, because the only thing that would have made it better is having Joel Leslie read it to me. :)

4.5 pieces of eye candy

This is an action-packed mystery with fantasy elements. We follow a pacifist empath and an empath hunter while they are trying to solve a murder. We discover more about the world and how empaths function with the characters in a not info-dumpy way, but the author still builds a compelling alternative world.

The book is set in a fictional Seattle, and I have to mention the fact that the atmosphere of a rainy grey city was very well achieved. Also, some of the topics explored in the book really matched the atmosphere of the setting.

The characters were interesting, but I didn't really connect to any of them. They had clear motivations, and the interactions were very well written, but it lacked something for me to care profoundly about what would happen to them.

The action is the biggest strength of this book. It was very fast-paced. Things happened all the time; the characters were in danger, looking for clues, solving puzzles that gave them more puzzles. Maybe the amount of action made character interactions feel less essential and sacrificed a little depth, but it was the opposite of boring in terms of the reading experience.

As for the romance, I was expecting at least some of it, but there isn't almost any romance. A lot of flirting, that's for sure, but not really a romance, so it was a bit disappointing.

___

Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC!

Amazing thriller, I couldn't put it down!

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the advanced copy of the book.

Thank you Netgalley and Carina for access to this arc.

This book was an interesting reading experience. From the blurb it sounded like an exciting fantasy adventure with a paranormal bent, so I grabbed it. I think the book certainly delivered all the expected excitement and more – a lot of action was happening throughout the story. Unfortunately one of the main characters (hint – it was not Reese) annoyed me more and more throughout the story and at the end when he decides to arrest Reese (no matter how short timed such arrest was) he made me so annoyed I really wanted to slap him.

In this alternate Seattle and alternate USA and I guess alternate World (although we are really not leaving the USA in this story so I am not sure if empaths exist elsewhere, if the story mentions it, I missed it and there is no way I am rereading it) some people manifested empath abilities. Of course what do we, the people, often do to those who are different from us? We try to restrain their rights, and stop them from living their normal lives as much as possible. Empaths in this world are *not* treated kindly and this is an understatement of the century.

As the blurb tells you the senator who was trying to push through the strictest anti-empathy bill in Senate is murdered and murders are continuing.

Reese gets involved, even though he cannot stomach violence and literally gets sick when he hears discussions about violence, let alone witnesses violence. But he loves his sister the detective and the sister loves him back so on the off topic chance she (Jamey) may need his help, he rushes there.

Reese also has a big mouth and absolutely no filter and sometimes he opens his mouth when he should not. But at all times when it happened, I thought that Reese living under constant stress due to how this USA treats the people with his abilities made him opening his mouth entirely understandable if not justifiable.

When The Dead Man appears on the scene of the murder and pretty much convinces everyone including Reese’s overprotective and tough big sister that Reese will be safer with him when they investigate the murder/s, the reader can see right away that in the sarcasm department The Dead Man AKA Ethan Grayson can very much keep up with Reese.

““I know. I got your auto-response.” Grayson read it out. “I don’t use my phone behind the wheel and neither should you. Hashtag drive like an empath. Are you capable of communication without sass?” Reece wrapped a hand around the rail, the cold blocked by the glove. “You’re driving right now. I can hear your engine. Sounds big. Upgraded. Like it eats too much gas while its distracted driver endangers the road.” “We don’t all of us drive like empaths. And I’m parking, so you can stop fretting.” Yeah, right. The Dead Man was on his phone and on his way. Reece wasn’t going to stop frettin’ anytime soon. “You still haven’t said what you want.””

Their dialogue throughout the story was very enjoyable for me. The writing overall was quite enjoyable actually. I enjoy sarcasm when it fits well with the character’s personality and I thought in this book it did.

You may pick up this book for romance, but at least for now you will be disappointed if you do so. I am pretty sure that by the end of the whatever book will be the last one Ethan and Reese will get back together but so far the most I saw was great chemistry and for the most part of the story the chemistry felt extremely antagonistic to me. I did notice Reese starting to care, but because the story so far is told mostly from Reese’s third person limited (and I think a little bit from his sister’s third person POV), to notice that Ethan even cared was harder but yes, I did noticed that he may have, a little bit by the very end of the story.

I am not really sure though if I believe they have a future, at least as of the end of this book. I felt like Ethan kept secrets from Reese for the whole book – yes, I know he believed he had a reason to do so, but not once, not once in response to Reese’ questions did he even imply that he is on Reese’ side, that he is a friend and Reese can trust him. I mean, I suppose kudos to Ethan for being honest, but the nerve of him to be angry that Reese actually did not share something very important with Ethan which could have helped Ethan to figure out something also very important in the development of this case earlier. OMG. Why would he share the secret with you Ethan? Why?

There is SO much I cannot tell you about the plot of this story, because a lot of things are really not what they seem from the very beginning and I am really not sure how I feel about it. As I said from the beginning, I certainly think that the book delivered on the excitement part. Should I call it a twisty suspense? I am not even sure. Is it a mystery? Maybe only as far as the specifics of how the villain/s executed their plans. I figured The Very Bad Guy almost the minute this person appeared on page, because it was telegraphed. I am not sure if the author planned to keep their identity a secret though. B

This is such a great book, a triumph of fiction ! It grabbed me right at the beginning and it was like riding a rollercoaster ,glad I started reading early in the day as I would have been a very late night. Looking forward to the next book.

Liar City is an amazing story and a fantastic kickoff to an exciting new series. The mythology is fascinating, with a veracious commentary on prejudice and fear. I was sucked into the story from the start and couldn’t put the book down - it’s been a while since that has happened.

The story is shared from the third person POV of multiple characters, with Reece, a pacifist empath who can’t keep his mouth shut, as primary protagonist. He’s sarcastic and jaded, yet can’t help but to care for everyone else, even those most cruel to him. Violence makes empaths violently ill, and Reece seems even more effected and gentle than most. The other key characters include his sister, Jamey, a detective with the Seattle PD and Evan Grayson, aka, the Dead Man. Jamey wants to protect her brother from the world and finds herself at odds with her boss and the community, even though she’s saved countless lives. Grayson is an enigma, an agent of sorts who works above all law and authority, but is feared and sometimes respected by both. He’s an empath specialist, taking out those who are dangerous and protecting those who need it.

Liar City is a murder mystery thriller at its core. Someone is leaving a trail of gruesomely killed bodies across Seattle. Ms. Therin tosses the reader into the investigation, giving glimpses into the world, and I throughly enjoyed watching things unfold. Some narrators, like Jamey and Grayson, know more than they are willing to share, and I loved guessing what may be going on. Other narrators, like Reece, share what they know, which is very little. The story is well-written, feeding just enough information to keep me invested without making it obvious what is happening.

Reece is an interesting character, an empath who appears to be evolving. I admit at times, I didn’t have much sympathy for the kid because he’s so sarcastic and sardonic. I completely understand his attitude as most of the public is awful and cruel to him and his kind, but he just can’t keep his mouth shut! However, as the story progresses, I found him endearing and quirky. And while there is no romance in the story, I am so ready to ship Reece and Grayson. They have a vibe, and I believe there is much more to Grayson than Ms. Therin has shared so far; I’m hoping Reece will be the one to uncover the secrets and give this Dead Man a heart again!

In the end, I absolutely enjoyed every minute of Liar City. It’s unique, exciting, and a fantastic story. I have already stalked the author on social media asking for the next book!

Audiobook Review:
Overall – 5
Performance – 5
Story – 5

Very interesting beginning to a new trilogy.

This is only the second book I’ve read by Allie Therin. Much like the first book I read, I struggled a bit in the beginning but things just kept getting better and better. I received an advanced review copy of the ebook from NetGalley but I didn’t get it read before it released. When I found out the audiobook was available, I knew I had to listen to it instead of reading the book with my eyes. Joel Leslie is a favorite of mine and he did a fantastic job performing this story.

I’m pretty much a dedicated romance reader and that includes romantic suspense. While this book definitely isn’t a romance, there is enough of a hint of one coming in a future book that it totally satisfied the romance reader in me.

This was a pretty complex story with a lot of characters and a lot of moving parts; it’s also pretty bloody in places; none of that bothered me a bit. However, I do sometimes find it hard to write a good review of an audiobook when it’s like this one. Suffice to say that I ended up loving this story and I’ll be reading or listening to the next one when it becomes available.

I understand that this is part of a trilogy so I wasn’t upset that not everything was answered by the end of this book. I don’t consider it a cliffhanger though, because the things that would have left me crazy for the next book were answered by the end.

I can only add that Joel Leslie’s performance of this story did not disappoint me one bit and he remains firmly on my list of favorite audiobook performers.

A review copy of the ebook was provided by the publisher via NetGalley but this did not influence my opinion or rating of the book.

Posted at Smexy Books:

Do you ever read a book with a certain expectation based on the way it is marketed, only to be disappointed, and yet … still love the book anyway? That is what happened to me with Liar City by Allie Therin. Liar City is the first novel in her latest paranormal series and is set firmly in contemporary times. What expectation did I have? Romance, of course. I waited and waited and then the last page of the novel hit me in the face like the back of a door. Don’t get me wrong – the seeds of a romance are there. We just have to be patient.

Liar City begins in a world where empaths exist, but are feared, persecuted, and controlled. Reece is an empath whose sister is a detective on the police force. Though she has used his abilities for cases before, it is not Jamey but a mysterious stranger who calls Reece to a murder scene at the beginning of the book. Being a pacifist like all empaths, even thinking about murder is difficult for Reece. His sister protects him from such crimes. But when she hears the stranger’s name, Alan Grayson, his fearless sister is afraid. Grayson is the Dead Man, an agent of government who seems to work with no restrictions and deals exclusively in cases involving empathy.

Reece is prickly, impulsive, and bit annoying, especially in his dogmatism about driving safely (which becomes an amusing running joke). As he says himself, “Pacifist and polite aren’t actually synonyms.” He navigates a world in which he is always under suspicion for getting in people’s heads. Dead Man almost immediately attaches Reece to his investigation of the murders, whether to keep his eye on him, protect him, or use him, we are not really sure. But it does mean that we get scene after scene of verbal sparring as they get to know each other. We do learn a bit about Dead Man, but he is much more mysterious. He has speed, strength and equanimity that appear almost supernatural, but there is no evidence in book one that he is anything more than human.

One of the impressive aspects of this book is the creepy political landscape that surrounds empaths. They are not common: only two live in Seattle, for example. But that doesn’t stop politicians, journalists, researchers, and capitalists taking advantage of the controversies related to empaths. The investigation of the murders unfolds this complex world right before our eyes.

Grade: A-

This author continues to delight me ( even with themes I don't normally read) and while this is a different setting and tone than the Magic in Manhattan series it's equally addictive. Reece, an empath (who reminds me of Rory from the MiM series) feels others emotions, by touch but also he is able to intuit body language clues. And he's recently developed the ability to know when someone is lying by how their speech sounds to him. As an empath, he abhors all kinds of violence (because he can feel the pain of the person upon whom the pain is inflicted) and is thus horrified to find out that an empath may be the cause of a triple homicide. His sister Jamey, a police officer, is on the investigation team, as is Evan Grayson 'The Dead Man' as he's known in most circles, a man whom Reece can't read at all, his emotions being completely hidden. The ensuing story is fast paced, action packed, full of twists and revelations and a conclusion that opens up interesting avenues for the future. There is no romance in this first of the series, though a connection develops between Reece and Evan. I can't wait to read more!

Thanks to Harlequin Publicity Team and Harlequin Books for the complimentary hard-copy and the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary e-ARC. All opinions provided are my own.

Where are my urban fantasy lovers at?

If you’re an Ilona Andrews devotee, Allie Therin’s Liar City is definitely something to check out. Book 1 in a series, this has a slow burn that has barely started heating & I’m so invested in seeing where it goes.

Reece Davies is an empath in a world that largely fears them & their abilities. His abilities are both a beautiful thing & something that costs him—including when he wants to help his police officer sister solve a murder at the beginning of the book.

From the beginning, the mystery Reece is embroiled in is complicated, with many players & secrets. Helping Reece along in his journey (also arresting Reece, questioning Reece, frustrating Reece) is a terrifying figure called The Dead Man, aka Evan Grayson.

Liar City is a great first book in this series with quality banter between leads & a compelling murder mystery. It does feel a bit too big sometimes—as in trying to cover too much, include too much—in this book, but that might also have been my mood.

But I’m such a fan of Allie Therin’s writing & I can’t wait to see when things finally start catching fire between the leads!

4⭐️. Out now!

CWs: death, violence, pain.

[ID: Jess’s white hand holds a paperback of the book in front of a white bookcase, a white book cart, a roll top desk, a yellow wall, & a white curtained-window.]

4.25 stars

This took me a very long time to read. I picked this up months ago but I wasn’t ready to read it. I really enjoyed Allie Therin’s other books so I knew I would enjoy this but once I finally committed to reading this I was so confused!

This is a great book, there’s no doubt about that. It’s a different story than most and the multiple POV’s were actually exciting and drove the story along. The story felt a bit all over the place at first and I felt like I had to really push myself to keep going for a bit. Once I finally started to wrap my head around things and Reese gets to be alongside Evan I was finally invested!

I loved the multiple POV’s, which totally surprised me. I thought it was refreshing and so unique but most of all I think it worked best for the storyline. I knew who the main characters were but I loved seeing others having their own moments too.

Reese is such a lovable character. His sister, Jamey, was one of the best characters ever. Their bond was beautiful and I adored them. Evan Grayson, or the Dead Man, is a total mystery and I just wasn’t sure what to think of him but somehow by the end he won me over.

There was no romance in this book and I was ok with that. This romance is not going to be an easy one and it wouldn’t have fit in this story. Therin is setting this relationship up and before I read the last page I saw the beginning of it. I can’t wait to see where it goes!

I am happy I kept reading this book and if you go in thinking there will be a love story then you’ll be disappointed. Just have faith, I know Allie Therin will get us there. This is a interesting story that once it gets moving is breathtaking. If I didn’t struggle in the beginning this would have been 5 stars. The ending left me wanting the next book now. Alas, I’ll have to wait, but I know it will be worth it.

**ARC received via NetGalley
**All thoughts and opinions are my own

"Liar City" is, by far, one of the best books I've read this year (and I'm posting this review in March, so think what you will). I feel super privileged to have been able to access it before its official pub date, and I am here to apologize for not having written and posted this short review earlier. The book is fairly action-packed, heavy on the mystery as well, with a pretty exquisite world-building that reminded me of X-Men a little bit.
The story plays a lot around the idea of how people react to fear, and although it is a paranormal series, I found this part of the plot super realistic and thought-provoking. The protagonists are also one of my all-time favourite pairings: the main character, Reece, is absolutely fantastic, full of anxious energy and quirks and just so loveable, and the banter between him and his enigmatic partner-in-crime, Evan Grayson (who literally gives new meaning to the word inscrutable) was impeccable.
Their CHEMISTRY is the best and if I could bottle up all of their interactions, I would go on to inhale them excessively like I do boba. While it is barely but surely hinted at in this first installment (more books! more content! yay!), author Allie Therin gaves us crumbs (crumbs of crumbs even!) of their slow burn romance and I am in love and ugly sobbing, waiting for them to fall head over heels with each other. I now firmly believe academic papers should be written about how amazing chapter 31 was and how thrilling that ENDING felt.
Anyway, in case you missed the memo: you should totally read this.

This was a fun and compelling read. It took me a little while to get into it (part of that was just life happening) and I think that probably took away a little bit from the pacing for me. The events of the book basically take place over one day (or maybe two?). My advice to anyone reading this is to stick with it and move through it quickly. I think it would enhance the experience.

Other things to keep in mind:
- You can totally feel the romance brewing but this is the type of molasses slow burn that is clearly going to play out over the length of a trilogy. So, manage your expectations there. That said, I really did enjoy the interactions between Reece and Evan and how their dynamic shifted subtly over their time together. And because this whole thing really is just one day (again, maybe two?) it's a reasonable pace for that potential relationship.
- This book has many different POVs (although not Evan's). Which I think is pretty unique for what is billed as a romance (I mean, it's published by Harlequin!) I can see why the author made that choice and I'm not mad about it.
- It's pretty obvious the whole empath and anti-empathy thing is allegory for a lot of the alt-right, QAnon type stuff going on in the world today and to be honest, sometimes that was really hard and sad to read. But it was a neat concept and I think it was executed pretty well.

The bottom line is that by the end of Liar City, I was totally hooked. I will 100% be reading the next book (and I will be re-reading this book before I do.) For me, it really picked up around 40% and I could not put it down after that.

Thank you to NetGalley and Carina Press for the ARC!
I really loved this book! It started slow, and I was quite confused at the beginning with all the "mysterious" abilities that Jamey and Reece have that they're trying to hide. I think this was because of my lack of knowledge on what a "typical" empath can do, but overall this didn't detract from the book! As a Seattleite myself, I loved all of the references thrown in to real places (though the most fictional part of the book was how much driving they did between the city and the east side without hitting traffic lol). Overall, I had a great time and I really enjoyed the ending! I'm not sure how the story will continue on in the trilogy, but I look forward to reading about the characters' future endeavours.

An urban fantasy where everyone's morals and ideals lives in shades of grey even the empaths. I'm so glad that this is a trilogy because the world Therin has created so far is an intrigued mix of the familar and the fantastic and there's too much up in the air to be fully resolved in one book. The enegmatic Agent Evan Grayson and the quirky Reece who's contemptence is cleverly hidden by him allowing others to underestimate him or take him at face value. I think it's important to realize that while this is through Carina Adores, there is no on page romance besides chemistry occurring the length of this book. While the current story ends with a happily for now in relation to the mystery, you can sense that there's more both with Reese and Evan Grayson but also with the supporting cast. I can't wait for the next book in this trilogy and I'm looking forward to how this world develops.

Wow! What an exciting ride! Liar City is one of the most thrilling and captivating paranormal suspense novels I’ve read in a long time. Allie Therin’s combination of riddles, secrets & lies create a maelstrom of mystery that’ll have you on the edge of your seat and keep you guessing. I can’t wait to see what’s next for this series!

Set in an alternate reality Seattle, empathy is a trait that’s threatening to disrupt society. Empaths like Reece are openly judged and misunderstood, creating widespread fear and panic leading to further discrimination and mistreatment. You’re either for them or against them in this classic battle of good versus evil, but as events play out, Therin cleverly blurs the lines, making it hard to differentiate one from the other. I challenge you to see if you always know who’s on the side of right!

Adding to the excellent mystery and suspense is some top-notch sexual tension between Reece and Evan. To be clear, this isn’t a romance; I don’t want anyone to go into it with those expectations, but that doesn’t mean it’s devoid of romantic elements. The chemistry and banter between Reece & Evan hint at the possibility of more, and watching them dance around that potential is extremely satisfying. (Just go there already! 😆)

Reece is an empath, one of two living in Seattle. His abilities allow him to read other people’s emotions if he touches them, but it also makes Reece anxious and constantly stressed, overwhelmed with concern for how others may feel. Yet despite the fact that Reece and other empaths are total pacifists, basically incapable of hurting anyone (or even wanting to), they are also the subject of much anti-empath hate. Reece can’t go out without special gloves to stop him from reading someone against their will — not that Reece could even conceive of doing such a thing — and anti-empath groups are lobbying for legislation to take away empath rights.

One night, Reece gets an anonymous call sending him to the scene of a brutal murder, one involving the senator who sponsored the anti-empath bill. Normally, Reece wouldn’t get anywhere near someplace like that; he is far too sensitive to other people’s pain to be around so much violence. But the caller tells Reece that his sister, Jamey, the police officer handling the case, needs his help and there is nothing Reece wouldn’t do for Jamey. When he arrives, it is to a scene of a horrific murder and a catatonic witness. Even worse, the case is quickly taken over by Evan Grayson, the so-called Dead Man, someone Reece thought was just an urban legend. All empaths know stories of the Dead Man, know that crossing his path could be the end of you. He is an empath hunter, a man with seemingly endless power and influence, and one whose voice and expression is dead of all emotion. Not only does Grayson take over the case, grabbing jurisdiction from both the police and the FBI, but he tells Reece that the only way to protect him from whatever is going on is for them to stay together.

The two men spend the day running around the city, trying to get to the bottom of the murders. While Grayson gives up no information about himself and little about the case, Reece slowly begins to learn more about who is behind the murders and why. He is also coming to realize more about himself as a empath, and some of those things are terrifying him. Reece always thought he understood exactly who he is and what he is capable of, but it turns out that may not all be true. As the killer gets increasingly violent, Reece and Grayson come closer to learning the truth about who is behind the killings, how they are happening, and why. But with the killer setting their sights on Reece and Grayson, not to mention a city full of people who hate empaths and want to see Reece destroyed, making it out alive will not be easy.

I absolutely loved Allie Therin’s Magic in Manhattan series, so I was really excited to see what the author would do with a contemporary story. And wow, did this one blow me away! I was caught up from the first moments and I just could not put down this twisty, fascinating story. Clever and original world building is something that just gets me so excited and this book is full of it. I have read plenty of stories featuring people with empathic abilities, but Therin gives such an interesting take here. It is not just that empaths have the ability to read other people through touch. It is also that they are so incredibly sensitive to others’ feelings that it impacts pretty much everything about them. They are pacifists, unwilling to harm anyone, even to defend themselves. At one point, when someone grabs Reece and is shocked because he falls down so fast, Grayson points out that Reece would let them bash his skull in before he would lift a hand to protect himself and possibly harm someone else in the process. Reece is so upset about the idea of violence, he practically passes out when he sees a book depicting torture on the cover. He can’t even watch football, because the players are being hit. But it is not just abhorring violence. Reece won’t talk on the phone while driving for fear of accidentally causing an accident. He won’t let Grayson park three inches out of his parking space (and won’t even discuss parking in a fire lane), because it is harming someone else, even in a small way. All of this makes Reece a man who lives with a lot of fear, anxiety, and stress. At the same time, he can’t help but sometimes let his occasional prickliness or sarcasm out, even when it gets him in trouble. It is a nice juxtaposition for his character, and I found him so interesting, even when his lack of any sense of self-preservation made me want to scream at him. Then, layered over all of this, we have the anti-empath sentiment, the hate groups and those who see empaths as nothing more than lab rats and certainly not people deserving of rights or care.

So into this whole fascinating situation, we have The Dead Man, Evan Grayson. Grayson is a man thought to be nothing more than an urban legend by many, the boogeyman who will get you if you are not careful. The story is told in multiple POVs, primarily Evan and Jamey, but also a few other side characters. But never Grayson, as he is intentionally kept a mystery that is slowly unveiled through the book, though never completely. He is an agent, but it is never totally clear who he works for. He has seemingly endless influence and people jump at the snap of his fingers. He also has seemingly endless information, always one step ahead of everyone, putting pieces together in a way almost no one else can. Everyone is terrified of him, even those who should be on the same side. Grayson is ostensibly the enemy, yet the more time he and Reece spend together, the more clear it is that at least part of him is protecting Reece. But it takes time to learn from what, and just where Grayson’s loyalties lie.

Overlaid with these two really interesting characters, we then have this case, these multiple murders that kick it all off, and more to come throughout the day. We know pretty early on who the killer is, but why, how, and who may be driving it all behind the scenes is another mystery. It is a really fascinating story and I was so eager to see how it all played out that I could barely stop reading. This is a long book (over 400 pages), and I can see that some folks might find the story a little too meandering. But for me, I found the slow unveiling of information to be so engaging and it just kept me on the edge of my seat.

I will note that this story is not a romance; we get just the barest spark of an emotional connection between Reece and Grayson, just an ember that has the potential to grow into more. But beyond Reece noting that Grayson is objectively handsome and a sense that he finds him attractive, there is nothing physical or romantic that happens between them at all. By the end of the story, the men have found some sort of understanding, a sense of caring what happens to the other, and just maybe, the idea of wanting to see each other again. It is so tantalizing, this slowest of slow burns. I am dying to see how things could play out for them. So don’t go into this expecting a romance, even an HFN, because we are for sure not there. However, if you want a really engaging and fascinating dynamic between two incredibly interesting and unusual characters, this book delivers.

Most of this story is very closely focused on Reece and Grayson, but I also want to throw a shout out to Reece’s sister, Jamey, who is an incredible character. First off, the love and care she has for her brother comes through so clearly. But she is also a total badass, fearless and strong and taking on anyone who dares to threaten Reece. She is incredibly smart and insightful, putting pieces together on the case in a way few others can. And she has her own secrets, ones that reveal themselves throughout the story and tie so nicely into the bigger picture in such a clever way. I absolutely adored Jamey and found her such a wonderful complement to the larger mystery investigation, but also to Reece and Grayson as characters.

I found this story so much fun and it just drew me in and kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. I loved learning all the secrets along the way as Reece and Grayson and Jamey learn the truth about what is going on. I love that everything isn’t totally black and white. And I really adored these characters. If you are looking for a unique, fascinating, and creative mystery/paranormal, definitely check out Liar City.

I was reading this book and I thought that the empaths could a metaphor for other type of persone who are badmouthed and used in a political way to cause fear.
This is a well plotted and intriguing story, a bit slow at times but it kept mey attention alive till the end.
We know what will happen but it will take time before our heroes have their HEA.
Allie Therin delivers story with a fascinating background and well developed characters.
4.5 upped to 5
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

2.5/5 stars. I thought this was poorly executed and am surprised by all the five star reviews because this book has issues that would normally lead to complaints.

The worldbuilding was superficial and insufficiently explained: I felt like the author started with elements she knew she wanted to include (common traits of empaths, empaths being persecuted, empath-specific government agencies) and then added the minimum amount of connective tissue necessary to get from our existing world to one where these elements exist. Empaths are so rare that there are only two known to exist in Seattle, a city with a population of more than 700,000 people, yet in “one generation” (I’m convinced the author doesn’t know a generation is defined as 20-30 years) they’ve become the most feared element of American society to the point that an entire systems of laws and economic infrastructure has sprung up in response. And this has happened even though empaths can only feel someone’s feelings by touching them – something easily avoided and that’s nowhere near the mind-reading it’s treated as. While some of this is excusable as a metaphor for how society scapegoats minority groups and gives them outsized importance in narratives about society’s problems, I simply can’t buy that such a uniform, universal worldview would arise about such a tiny segment of the population in only one generation or that the ability to detect feelings through touch would lead to being universally shunned. No explanation is ever given of how this ability materially differs from simply having high affective empathy.

Most aspects of the worldbuilding are presented without the explanation they badly need (like why it’s illegal to impersonate an empath; I can forgive the author for not realizing that such a law would almost certainly be unconstitutional for the same reasons as the Stolen Valor Act, but I don’t feel like any thought went into how or why such a law would even arise in these circumstances, except that it was needed for plot reasons).

Worse from a storytelling perspective is that Reece’s own experience of empathy does not make sense, nor do the generalizations about how “all empaths” think and behave. Reece is so worried about anyone feeling physical pain that he cannot even talk about violence or be exposed to it in any way, even in fiction. Yet his powers are supposed to be primarily emotion-focused, and he doesn’t care at all about hurting people’s feelings by acting like a snarky asshole, which he does basically 100% of the time. It isn’t that he thinks about how his actions will hurt others but decides to act anyway for specific reasons – he just doesn’t think about it at all. This makes no sense, especially in comparison with his reaction to physical pain (which, again, is not the primary focus of his abilities). He’s also extremely moralistic but only about following existing laws (he refuses to text and drive but drives with plenty of other distractions anyway) or superficial and frankly stupid things like angrily insisting that window washers be given nets even though that’s not how window washing safety systems work. But the book never explores how he developed any of these character traits or why his empathy doesn’t affect him in more significant ways. One would expect that being born with a widely reviled power that dramatically changes your relationships with almost everyone, and that makes you think differently about human interactions, would have deep, fundamental impacts on your thoughts, values, and belief systems. But instead Reece is just your bog-standard snarky asshole character with some additional pacifism.

Characters also constantly react to him as though these behaviors are universal to all empaths, which makes even less sense. I was frustrated that the author didn’t do even the bare minimum to establish how Reece’s abilities led to this set of character traits, and that we’re supposed to believe that having the ability to detect feelings through touch would give everyone these exact same traits. Why on earth is it completely predictable empath behavior to insist that window washers be given nets???

None of this was helped by the frequent use of unnecessary storytelling shortcuts. Reece’s POV is supplemented with brief POV sections from other characters, including side characters who only appear once. This is done only to give the reader information Reece doesn’t have – and all of that information is eventually conveyed through Reece’s POV anyway. The most egregious of these is a fairly early scene of a side character encountering the murderer, which is the first time the reader learns who the murderer is, and which significantly decreases the impact of the scene where Reece finally figures it out for himself. The addition of these side character POVs makes the book worse, and I’m perplexed that more readers aren’t complaining, since this is being marketed in the romance genre where side character POVs are extremely rare and usually disliked.

The book also begins each chapter with an excerpt of a document giving us some background or flavor. Some of these are just snippets of pop culture that do add to the worldbuilding, but others are a cheap way to provide exposition that could have been worked into the narrative. And some are segments of documents that none of our POV characters have access to, so the reader learns information from them way before the POV characters do. It felt like the author either didn’t want to do the necessary work to figure out how the POV characters could give the reader all the information, or didn’t trust the readers to be able to be able to figure out these (very obvious) things without extra help.

Finally, I know this author has warned everyone that it's an extremely slow burn romance, but this first book didn't feel like a romance to me at all. What felt like 90% of the book is either dialogue or exposition, and we barely get to know Reece as a person, much less Evan. There's maybe the barest hint of attraction between them, but that's it. So I really don't recommend this if you're hoping it's going to have some pre-relationship pining, longing, attraction, etc. Reece noticing a few times that Evan is attractive does not count.

The poor worldbuilding is something I might overlook enough to give the next book in the series a try, in case it improves, but the lazy writing killed any interest I had in continuing with this series.

The 2.5/5 rating is because I got a bit more enjoyment out of the book than those I’d rate a 2.