What if the serial killer on death row only killed SOME of the victims attributed to him?

Raisa Susanto is back! Callum Kilkenny is in this novel as well, plus some other characters from the first book in the series. The backstory on Callum as we know it changes when 72 hours before his scheduled execution the Alphabet Man claims he didn’t murder Callum’s late wife, Shay - & the serial killer’s story actually makes sense. But then of course that raises a very important question with a ticking clock… who did kill Shay?

Brianna Labuskes is an auto-read author for me now: I’m a sucker for a mixed-media novel with more than one timeline, & this was a story I didn’t want to put down. At first I wasn’t sure if I’d like getting invested in a character who I knew up front was going to die, but I loved the way Shay was authentically & imperfectly portrayed, & getting to know what her life was like when she met Callum made this unique & not just focused on the murderer. The repeating theme of sisterhood & its many forms was a connecting thread between vastly different women, & the linguistic angle keeps your attention with how beneficial it is to have a language analyst in a world where crime is often utilizing texting & the internet.

Thank you to NetGalley & Thomas & Mercer for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Truth You Told
By Brianna Labuskes

Description:
Psychological Thriller

💀Serial Killer
💀Forensic Linguist
💀Murder
💀Short Chapters
💀Past/Present Timeline
💀Based in Texas

“A serial killer on death row challenges a forensic linguist to solve his final puzzle.”

A fast-paced thriller that will having you guessing right to the very end. Enjoyed the plot twists in this suspense thriller and will be reading more books by this author.

Absolutely brilliant and highly recommend.

My rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.75

Thanks, NetGalley for a digital ARC copy of this book.

#netgalley #briannalabuskes #thetruthyoutold #psychologicalthriller

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

Labuskes did a great job developing the characters and weaving the elaborate web of how they were all related. Despite that, I struggled to get into the book. The summary peaked my interest, but unfortunately, I felt the book was a bit slow moving and I never really got into it. I did not read the first book in this series but I was still able to follow.

The Alphabet Man is a serial killer awaiting execution. A recent interview with him revealed a secret about his case, which caused a group of feds to work together in order to check the validity of his secret. Once they jumped back into the case and investigating, they realized there was a second, copycat killer!! More and more is revealed as they continue investigating, and the team wants answers! They're running out of time to make sense of all of the pieces, as the one person who knows the truth is about to be executed. Will they figure it out before it's too late?

Wow, oh wow. There are a LOT of people to keep track of in this one. It was *almost* overwhelming. Part of the way through, I wondered if I should've taken notes. However, despite feeling a bit overwhelmed at first, I was able to stick it out without any note-taking. Everything came together in the end, and I didn't feel like I missed anything. Just about everyone seems suspicious in this book, so you have to pay attention. It keeps you guessing! There's a lot of depth to the characters, which I enjoyed. It added a lot to the story. At one point in the book I asked myself if I was just submerged in a world of psychos😅.

Although I didn't guess the ending, I wasn't surprised by the reveal. I was oddly gratified at the end with Max (iykyk)......not sure what that says about me haha.

Quick read. Short chapters.

Definitely a good read. Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas and Mercer for the ARC.

Out September 2024

Sorry, but “The Truth You Told” is a DNF for me. I’m 1/3 of the way through and am finding this story about serial killers and FBI agents so convoluted, coincidental, slow-moving, digressive, steeped in backstory, and filled with uninteresting characters that I’m unwilling to spend any more time on it. My thanks to NetGalley and publisher Thomas and Mercer for providing me with a complimentary ARC. The foregoing is my independent opinion.

Pulse-pounding and addictive - can't put it down, so be sure to have nothing else planned and snacks by your hand. Second installment out performs the first, with taught and complex plot that you won't guess, seriously. Whew! What a read!

Really struggled to get into this book. I hate giving up but unfortunately I just couldn’t keep going. However, I will try again when I’m in a better frame of mind.

I raced through this latest spine tingling thriller by one of my go-to authors. It is the second in a series but can easily be read on it’s own. A diabolical serial killer on death row wants to set the record straight about the murders attributed to him. He had used some unique cryptic ciphers to taunt the FBI. Now he claims he wasn’t responsible for murdering the wife of FBI Forensic psychologist Callum Kilkenny. FBI forensic linguist Raisa Susanto will focus on the killers patterns for clues to substantiate if they have her killer. She and Kilkenny would like to put this horrific event in the past. Raisa has awful family dynamic with strained relationships. I’m a numbers person, I like things to be logical, so I appreciate the study of linguistics that Raisa employs in her cases. The plot had me revising my theories and the outcome throughout the book. I can’t wait to see where the next case takes these characters. They are interesting and complicated.
An uncorrected proof of “The Truth You Told” Raisa Susanto #2, by Brianna Labuskes, Published by Thomas & Mercer, was provided by NetGalley. Expected publication 09/10/2024. These are all my own honest personal thoughts and opinions given voluntarily without any compensation.

After reading the first book in the Raisa Susant series, I could not wait to start this one. A big thank you to Thomas & Mercer Publisher for generously granting me this ARC. which is set to hit shelves on September 10th, 2024.!✨

<i>The Truth You Told </i> is a complex thriller with an intricate, page-turning plot. The story is narrated through two different perspectives, one in the present and the other in the past, leading up to the plot's crucial moment. The dual POV enhanced the overall experience of the book and made it an enjoyable read.

I loved the story's well-crafted plot from the beginning until the end. Despite the abundance of details, I never felt the story was dragging on. Every detail added value and depth to the story, and the characters were so well-developed that I felt like I knew them personally. The author did an exceptional job of creating relatable characters. Even the side characters played an important part in the plot. The ending nicely tied everything together, and while the twist was not mind-blowing, it was still clever.

I liked this book as much as the first. Four stars.

So much going on in the book. It is a sequel but I didn't read the first but that was okay, which I appreciated. A thriller that lives up to the work Thriller.

I love this author as she writes fast paced books that engage you early and keep you guessing till the end . This was another fast paced thriller and I loved it

4.5 star rating

"Forensic psychologist Callum Kilkenny lost his wife, Shay, to the very serial killer he’d hunted for five years. When Nathaniel Conrad—known as the Alphabet Man, for his love of tattooing codes onto his victims’ bodies—was condemned to death row, Callum thought the game of cat and mouse was over. But just before execution, Nathaniel drops a bombshell: he’s not the one who murdered Shay.
After analyzing the killer’s taunting, coded letters to authorities—one for each victim—FBI forensic linguist Raisa Susanto believes him. The discrepancies bear it out. So, was it a copycat? A partner in crime? Or something more sinister? If Nathaniel knows the answer, Raisa fears he’ll be taking that closely guarded secret to his grave."

I did not realize until a few chapters in that this was a sequel. It did give enough backstory that I was able to easily figure out characters and the relationships between them. I found the dual timeline fascinating, and I felt like it made the story move at a nice pace. I like the inclusion of newspaper articles, the letters, the interview transcripts, etc. interesting. I felt like this was a very character driven story which drew me in from the start. The writing was phenomenal, and the author developed the characters in a way that added layers and depth to the story. I will say the story was so compelling with multiple twists and shocking developments that the ending felt a bit rushed. I felt like the ending wasn't super well developed and there were a few loose ends and unanswered questions. If I would have gotten all the answers this would have been a 5 star rating.
Regardless, I highly recommend this book to any mystery/crime readers.

*I received an ARC of this book through netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review*

I did not realize that this was book 2 of 2 at first. So I’m not sure if you need to read the first one or not.
But I did enjoy the read. It was like an episode of criminal minds which I have always enjoyed. You must pay a lot of attention to the detail tho. It’s all about the chase and trying to figure out who the killer is. There is no big plot twist at the end but it didn’t need one. It came together nicely

I was so intrigued by this book and it did not disappoint. It's a great mystery with well written characters and a very solid plot. It never felt like the story was dragging, it had a great pacing and it was constantly interesting.

It relied very heavily on the characters and, while I find it can be a risk in these types of book, it worked so extremely well. Every character was flashed out just enough for you to care and doubt them at the same time; I sure had my moments of suspicion towards all of them. There was a great number of characters, which can be confusing, but they were all essential to the story and not a single one of them felt out of place.

The double timeline was so fascinating, just like the various excerpt that were shared every now and then (newspaper articles, letters, notes, forum chats) — they made it so easy to get involved in the case and start theorizing with them. It felt like everything you needed to solve the case was laid right in front you but you still needed that one missing piece, putting you on the same page as the characters all throughout.

There was no big twist or anything like that and the end felt a bit underwhelming. I liked the reveal overall but I feel like some threads were left hanging there; some of the characters' ending felt a bit rushed and left me wanting more, but it definitely wasn't bad, and it's just a small detail in a very good book.

Now— I had no idea it was the second book in a series when I picked this up and, while you can feel there's more to the story you don't know, it did not make it any harder to read this one. Some things are, for obvious reasons, brushed over as, I suppose, they are more detailed in the first book, but it was still very easy to follow along the storyline of this one. I will surely go back to read the first one and then read this one again to see how that changes my reading experience, and I would suggest reading that first to have more information, especially on Raisa, but going into it without that was not a big issue to the overall enjoyment of the story.

The Truth You Told by Brianna Labuskes was a fast-paced thriller that is the second in a series. I wish I had read the first book, as multiple references are made to it and enough of the plot was revealed to make reading the first book anticlimactic. That said, this book was really a fun read. The characters were smart, but not omnipotent. The plot was fast-paced and had lots of twists, a vital part of any good thriller. I enjoyed the main character and her job as a linguist is an interesting addition to the investigation. I would recommend this book for anyone looking for a fast-paced and interesting thriller.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Did this book take over my every thought today? Yes.
Did some of the twists leave me slamming my kindle closed as my jaw dropped because I had to process what I just read? Also, yes.
Was I absolutely 1000% percent certain I knew who-done-it twice only to be proven wrong? Yes, again.
Did the ending send me into a spiral of “oh my gah”, “no freaking way”, “are you serious right now”, and “who the heck is this author? Because I’m reading more”…. Absolutely yes.

This is not a quick thriller. You have to pay attention or you will become lost. It is written from dual POV, which I love, but with a twist. One POV is present day Raisa, a forensic linguist for the FBI and current partner of Callum Kalkinney, FBI forensic psychologist. The other is Shay, the murdered wife of Raisa’s partner, in the four years between meeting her husband and her death at the hands of the serial killer he tracked for five years. The present day is 10 years after Shay’s murder, beginning 72 hours before the killer’s execution.

The emotional connections the author builds through the characters are deep and allow the reader to connect with their grief as well as their urgency to find answers. Watching Shay and Callum’s relationship through her eyes while simultaneously seeing his current state, even ten years after she is gone, will absolutely break your heart. The conclusion left me feeling like he could actually feel the closure of her loss and move forward with his life.

I’m thankful for this ARC from NetGalley and the publisher and my review is voluntary.

Great book. Loved the storyline and all the characters. Will be reading more of her books in the future!

I absolutely devoured this book! Just when I thought I had it figured out, the ending took me off guard! I loved the flashbacks to see little bits of the past. Definitely recommend!

A very poignant read that made me nostalgic for family. I enjoyed the characters as they tried to get to the bottom of the case. Had a somewhat medium pacing which I felt could have been a bit faster, but didn’t detract from the story. Overall, an enjoyable read and I would recommend it to those who enjoy thrillers or mysteries.

Thank you to Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review.

The Truth You Told had me hanging onto every word. It’s the 2nd in a series about FBI Forensic Linguist, Raisa Susanto.

After receiving a tip from her imprisoned (possible spoiler for book 1!) sister, Raisa and her colleague, Callum Kilkenny, travel to Texas for the execution of the serial killer found guilty of murdering Kilkenny’s wife. While there, they complete additional investigation to determine whether a copycat killed some of the victims.

I had not read the first book prior to coming into this one. If you haven’t, stop and go read The Lies You Wrote for more character development and history on Raisa. If I’d started with book 1, I think I would’ve enjoyed this more. As it stands, this is a 4 star book for me. Recommend!