This book missed the mark for me. Elizabeth goes by many aliases and never reveals her true identity because she’s still hiding from her past. But now, she finds herself being targeted and in harm’s way. Someone knows who she is, but who is it? It was clear to everyone who the culprit was, well everyone except Elizabeth/Beth/Liz/Liza/Lizzy. Whomever she needed to be at the time.

The story had the potential to be real good, but after the repeated introspective dialogues I was so sick of being in this woman’s head, listening to her thoughts, questioning everyone.

The suspense and thrills really didn’t kick in for me, and I quickly lost interest.

The narrator did a great job with the audio!!

Oh my! Bald-Faced Liar is a psychological thriller that had me on the edge of my SEAT the whole book. The whole time I thought one thing was going to happen, only to be completely blindsided in the end.

I was lucky enough to get an ALC of this book and the narrator was absolutely fantastic.

The female main character is strange in her own way, which makes her seem to be an unreliable narrator, which I thought added a great layer to the suspense.

Rating: 5⭐️/5

Bald-Face Liar with a blind pick up, read for me the cover immediately pulled me in and the title. I haven’t read before from this author, but I was intrigued by the synopsis.

We follow traveling nurse Elizabeth to a new home where she starts over in Santa Cruz. This character is very private and secretive. It immediately makes the reader wonder why she is the way that she is.

Elizabeth finds herself opening up to different people and wires get crossed with her reality.

I love that Elizabeth was so quirky and constantly tries to keep her life compartmentalized to the extreme. Elizabeth finds herself working from home after the Covid pandemic (yes it’s mentioned). Engaging in spying activities in her “free time”.

I loved the earriness and creepy vibes of a stalker premise. Coupled with the mysterious background and nature of Elizabeth. One with which is hard to prove and made for an unreliable character to the face of the public (police). The unknown background of this character.

I found this story to have good pace that made sense and kept me on the edge of my seat. There’s definitely laugh out loud moments as well as cringe creepy. I thought the development of the story in relationship was spot on and made Elizabeth more relatable and understood as the book went on.

This book was more character driven to me.

Check Trigger Warnings!

Thank you to Brilliance Audio for a pre release audio.

What a strange book. The story wasn't bad but the writing was very juvenile and the main character was just annoying.

This was a refreshingly originThis was a refreshingly original psychological suspense! A stalker thriller told through the lens of an unreliable narrator, it’s filled with morally ambiguous, layered characters. I especially enjoyed Elizabeth—eccentric, slightly unhinged, yet oddly endearing. Her past is shrouded in secrets, and it was a compelling ride unraveling the tangled web of lies she’s spun—and now lives within.

Bonus points for the sharp, unexpected humor sprinkled through the paranoia—it gave the story a fun twist amid all the darkness.al psychological suspense! A stalker thriller told through the lens of an unreliable narrator, it’s filled with morally ambiguous, layered characters. I especially enjoyed Elizabeth—eccentric, slightly unhinged, yet oddly endearing. Her past is shrouded in secrets, and it was a compelling ride unraveling the tangled web of lies she’s spun—and now lives within.

Bonus points for the sharp, unexpected humor sprinkled through the paranoia—it gave the story a fun twist amid all the darkness.

the setup…
Elizabeth May is a traveling nurse now living in Santa Cruz. It’s a job that perfectly suits her lifestyle as she normally never stays anywhere long enough to form roots, long term friends or connections. Even here she compartmentalizes her life, using different versions of her name…Eliza, Beth, Betsy, etc…as her identity with the volunteer animal shelter, her neighbors, the regulars at the beach. You get the picture. Long ago she fled from her Iowa hometown to escape a traumatic past. But now, she seems to have a sinister stalker that’s not only trying to expose that past but threaten her life.

the heart of the story…
At first, Elizabeth’s lies seem almost diabolical. She lies about everything, even the most inconsequential…her job, name, weekend activities…you name it. But as more of her past is revealed, you get a sense of the why and she feels a bit tragic. Elizabeth is so good at it, too. But the threat is real and she can’t be entirely open with law enforcement because of her mountain of lies. And she’s unapologetic about it.

the narration…
Soneela Nankani is another one of my favorite performers and she hit all the right notes in capturing the essence of the complicated Elizabeth May. She was excellent in her storytelling, too.

the bottom line…
Elizabeth’s a complicated character with a terrible and traumatic past that I might have run from, too. With so few people in her life, let alone knowing her real name, the suspects were limited and I went back and forth about them. I was drawn into the story from the onset even though the pacing slowed somewhat from some repetitive musings. But when it got back on track, I couldn’t put it down. This bald-faced liar kept me guessing.

This thriller had all the classic ingredients—secrets, revenge, and a dual timeline—with a cast of morally grey characters that could have made for a fascinating story. Unfortunately, despite the complex personalities, the plot felt slow and predictable, and the suspense didn’t quite build as I hoped.

The dual timelines had potential to deepen the mystery, but the connection between them felt a bit forced, leaving the overall tension flat. The revenge theme, which usually adds a thrilling edge, lacked impact here.

The morally ambiguous characters were interesting, but their inner conflicts weren’t explored deeply enough to keep me fully invested. Even the narration couldn’t quite bring the story to life.

A decent listen if you like character-driven stories with slow pacing, but I was left craving more excitement and sharper twists.

Bald-faced liar
Victoria Helen Stone
⭐️⭐️⭐️

Elizabeth May (also known as Eliza, Beth, Betty, Liz, May, devil girl, liar…) has finally found a home that feels right after moving to a new city every six months for most of her adult life. She’s got friends and connections, a great job and a quick google search of all her aliases doesn’t reveal her past secrets at all. She’s starting to feel safe, free; that is until things begin to feel very, very wrong. There’s a stalker on her trail and he knows just how to isolate and terrorize her by leaning in to the plethora of lies she’s woven into her everyday life.

•••

Eliza’s backstory was wild, I didn’t expect it and I think the trauma she experienced and the way she was let down by all the adults in her life really made her choices make sense. I could fully understand her mistrust in the police after what they did to her as a 5yo and how they flippantly disregarded her pleas for help in the present. I would have turned to other means as well.

I usually don’t mind a little tongue-in-cheek, dark humor to break tension in a thriller but I feel like this was a little too bubbly and upbeat. It was kind of giving “murder she wrote” and maybe it a generational thing? The different type of humor? It just didn’t resonate with me. I spent much of the book waiting for it to get a little darker and it did but was softened by the use of that kind of humor.

I enjoyed this book and I’m interested to read more from Stone but this was probably just not my favorite.

Audio Arc provided by @netgalley and Brilliance Publishing

From a master storyteller, Victoria Helen Stone (long-time favorite), author of the popular Jane Doe series, returns following (2024), Follow Her Down with her highly anticipated 10th suspense psychological thriller, BALD-FACED LIAR.

Check out her feature in Park City News.

My apologies for the lengthy review, but I get a little carried away with the books I am most passionate about, as I want everyone to read them!

Stone's 10th thriller is among her best.

With each Victoria Helen Stone (VHS) story, you expect flawed characters trying desperately to survive against the odds, a wicked plot, dark humor, twists, and a race against time to the finish line. She does not disappoint!

Stone, a versatile writer, has also penned romance novels under the pseudonym Victoria Dahl, with a total of 29 published works in this genre.

In her latest work of fiction, a woman is hiding from her past, where lying has become a part of her life—her means of survival. But her lies may have caught up with her in this psychologically rich, twisty, emotional, unputdownable thriller. The suspenseful plot will keep you on the edge of your seat, guessing the identity of the stalker and the motive until the grand finale.

The title "Bald-Faced Liar" is a poignant reflection of the protagonist's ongoing struggle with truth and deception, a compelling and central theme in this gripping narrative.

An exploration of childhood trauma, identity, acceptance, and survival. Victoria Helen Stone is at the TOP of her game with BALD-FACED LIAR. Highly impressive. You will find so much more than a thriller. Emotional, compelling, and psychologically rich.

About...

Set in beautiful coastal Santa Cruz, CA, Elizabeth May (nurse extraordinaire) is a traveling nurse with a habit of lying about every detail of her life, and sometimes she even forgets all her lies and her many aliases.

She often feels like a freak. She remembers the pain, the fear, the torture, and relives it in her dreams every night. The horror movie. Her frequent name changes are a reflection of her need for anonymity and her desire to escape her past—a past that continues to haunt her.

From police, prosecutors, and therapists. She was examined, interrogated, hypnotized, guided, and prayed over. It started as manipulation and a persuasion to lie to help someone. Was she a victim?

She moves every few months, from state to state, creating vignettes of life in each one. That worked for fifteen years before she landed this short-term gig in Santa Cruz, and she has been here for the last two years.

Her shady Romanian landlord offers her a nice discount for the work she has done for him since her arrival. Grigore cut a hundred dollars off her rent to keep an eye on the apartment upstairs and the cottage next door, since she is home all day. This gives her something to do between her work and also something to stress about— trying to keep up with these tenants/visitors coming and going like a revolving door. Also, her shady landlord may be of assistance later on. (Wink😉)

(Beth, Eliza, Elizabeth) is almost forty, has never had kids, has been married, and now her life isn't perfect. But she is making it work and is a survivor.

She has come to this little beach hideaway, and this seems to be the best medicine for what ails her. She must stay safe, and she enjoys people-watching, seeing people come and go, and imagining their lives behind closed doors. Her resilience is truly inspiring.

But the truth is, NO ONE truly knows her. So she does not have to leave this place. She will never go back.

There are dangers to stuffing all your bad feelings down as deep as you can. However, on the other hand, she knows that opening up allows control to fall into the hands of others.

She must keep herself safe. She is resourceful and always looking over her shoulder. She is fun and has a warm personality. She needs to remember what lies she tells. She needs to stay under the radar. She even uses humor and plenty of snark as another coping mechanism. Keep everyone at a distance. Do not get invested in anyone.

She can never get too close to anyone if they stumble upon the truth about her past. Her use of humor and snark is not just a coping mechanism, but also a way to keep people at a distance, preventing them from getting too close and discovering her secrets.

Then she discovers she has a creepy stalker, which destroys her carefully laid life, and now she is forced to confront the present and her traumatic past, which started her on this journey in the first place. A false facade.

Why is this happening now, and who remembers her from Iowa? She cannot go to prison. She second-guesses everything, trying to backtrack how she slipped up. Are there others involved in the case? Who is dead, alive, and what is their motive? Is she next? It is time to pull off the biggest lie of her life.

What about Mike, the sexy environmental chemist/neighbor? Of course, she tells him she is an accountant when she meets him.

What about her online friend, Tristan? Can he be trusted?

She can never trust anyone with her most secret feelings. She cannot even trust herself. Her struggle with trust is palpable, and it's hard not to feel empathetic towards her. Will she be discovered and have to relive her trauma? INTENSE!

My thoughts...

Victoria Helen Stone never ceases to amaze me with her awe-inspiring talents, creativity, and her well-drawn characters. Plus, I love her settings and vivid descriptions. All her books are well thought out, and there is always something beneath the outer shell of her main characters, which is usually a woman showing great strength when things get intense, and there is nowhere to turn.

With BALD-FACED LIAR, Stone has created a complex main character in Elizabeth, blurring the lines between right and wrong and how a traumatic childhood shapes your adult life.

An exploration of the capacity of the human heart to harm, manipulate, to heal, and ultimately, to hope. Victoria is a savvy writer who delves deeply into her characters’ motivations.

A riveting page-turner, intense, delivering thrills, twists, superb characterization, emotional depth, and entertainment that we all come to expect from her work. Well done!

The author brilliantly builds suspense as the stalker comes into play, causing Elizabeth to question everything in her life, including her sanity. She keeps readers guessing as to where she is taking us, but hang on for the ride!

Elizabeth is in a terrible position, so you feel for her. Yes, she was just a girl. Yes, she ruined several lives. But she cannot forget, and it tortures her. How can she ever trust anyone after a childhood defined by false memories and community hysteria? All the damage was not only to her but to many. What is the cost of a lie?

The "cost of a lie" refers to the negative consequences, both emotional and relational, that can result from lying. These consequences can include guilt, anxiety, decreased self-esteem, and damage to relationships. Additionally, lying can lead to a loss of trust, both in oneself and in others, and can create a cycle of further deceit.

Her coping mechanism is DENY. Deny. Deny.

Elizabeth has many personalities, and we see all sides throughout the book. From vulnerable and fearful, to strong, resilient, and courageous. Inspired by the Satanic Panic (you must read up on this as haunting, unsettling, disturbing, and intriguing).

The "satanic panic" of the 1980s was a period of widespread fear and hysteria surrounding alleged satanic cults and ritual abuse of children. While it began in North America, it quickly spread to other parts of the world. The panic involved numerous false accusations, unjust criminal trials, and the disruption of countless lives.


Psychological thrillers delve into the human mind, frequently focusing on the inner turmoil and intricate relationships of their characters. Books and films delve into themes of obsession, manipulation, and the blurred lines between reality and delusion. The author skillfully guides Elizabeth through the various emotions and complexities, as well as her innermost thoughts, as she struggles to move beyond her past, her identity, and her new life.

Interview...

Stay tuned for my fascinating and fun #AuthorElevatorSeries QA with Victoria on pub day, June 1, where we go behind the scenes of the book and this mega-talented superstar author! I am truly honored to feature her for the second time. The first was back in 2018, the year I introduced my Elevator series with her, Jane Doe. Here we are seven years later, and still a favorite.

Elizabeth (aka Eliza, Beth, Bess...) is a total riot! I think fans are going to adore her as you follow her on her wild adventure called LIFE.

As always, Victoria Helen Stone shines and is one of my favorite authors, having read all her books and anxiously awaiting her next masterpiece.) I love her dark humor! Highly entertaining.

Movie-worthy! Be sure and add this gem to your summer reading list. Ideal for book clubs and further discussions. I hope we see her again in future books to catch up!

Audiobook...

I have since listened to the audiobook, narrated by the talented Soneela Nankani, for a highly entertaining, suspenseful, and engaging performance. Thanks to Brilliance Audio for providing an advanced listening copy.


Recs...

BALD FACED LIAR is for fans of well-written character-driven psychological suspense, Jane Doe, and the author, as well as those who enjoy works by Kaira Rouda, A.J. Banner, Sally Hepworth, Laura Lippman, Freida McFadden, and Jenova Rose.

Many thanks to the author, Lake Union (publisher), and NetGalley for a digital and paperback advanced review copy in exchange for an honest review. Also, my Kindle First Read Pick

Blog review posted @
JudithDCollins.com
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
My Rating: 5 Stars +
Pub Date: June 1, 2025
June 2025 Must-Read Books
June Author QA Interview

Thank you TLC books for inviting me to review this book! Thank you Spotify for the review copy.

Bald Faced Liar is a great read, well paced (and really great narration that made it a sucked me in kind of story). There was great pacing, a captivating backstory (give me more!), and solid development of the plot, setting, and characters. Bald-Faced Liar is a sharp, darkly funny psychological thriller that blends paranoia, secrets, and humor in all the right way. Fast-paced and full of surprises, this binge-worthy read had me hooked from the start—and that unforgettable ending sealed it as a five-star favorite.

I listened to this one on audiobook and I loved the narrator. The book itself was interesting. It was a fun thriller, but the twists weren’t very twisty and I saw the ending coming for a large portion of the book. When Elizabeth was a small child she got caught up in a witch hunt for satan worshipers and was coached by an older girl to report sexual abuse and satanism by their daycare providers who were prosecuted and sent to prison for two years until the older girl recanted and so did Lo. Lo was labeled “Devil Girl” as she grew up and was bullied horribly. She has spent her adult life as a traveling nurse moving from place to place and lying to everyone she meets. She has acquaintances in her current town but everything starts to get weird when she starts to be harassed from someone calling her a liar and clearly is talking about what happened when she was 5. When she reports the incidents to the police they clearly think she is just seeking attention. This book was ok, definitely a fun ride. I think I would have enjoyed it more if I wasn’t reading so many books with this theme of a narrator being set up to look crazy. I gave this one 3.5 stars which I rounded up because I really did like the narration.

I’ve enjoyed a couple of Stone’s other books, but this one did not do it for me. 80% of the story was the main character panicking about her stalker, and the reveal felt both obvious and far-fetched. There were also a lot of scenes that had no role in the plot, like the MC’s spying on the neighbors. I liked the last 20% of the story best, and would have liked more scenes with the landlord because he added a bit of levity.

The narrator did a good job, so at least the listening experience was good, even if the pace was tedious for most of the book.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Brilliance Publishing for the ALC in exchange for an honest review!

I thought it was intriguing but then it got slow and repetitive. I didn't feel any suspense or thrills and for me it just got boring. I was not able to continue. I had to DNF.

Still chasing the high of Victoria Helen Stone's JANE DOE.

BALD-FACED LIAR starts off more suspenseful than the rest of the book: Beth is spying on people and imagining their lives (why is this couple fighting? She's so fit for just having had a baby. Is their marriage an open one? Did the wife have a girlfriend on the side? What happened to the other woman?). Those renters are soon gone, as other guests arrive, and we learn that Beth/Liz/Lizzie/Betty is a habitual liar, telling a different story to everyone she meets, as a result of what she went through as a kid.

That was a weak part of the story for me: a possible love interest reacting poorly to hearing someone call her Betty, instead of Beth. The nicknames are so similar, both versions of Elizabeth, and don't many people have several nicknames? And I guess that's my critique: her lies are overblown, to the point that this one was too slow-paced for me.

Part of it may relate to Soneela Nankani being such a pro narrator - I was listening at 3x, and would have liked to have listened faster (my usual pace is around 2.25-2.75x, though I will listen to various titles anywhere between 1.5-3.5x). She was easy to understand and follow, even sped up.

Don't get me wrong, this isn't a bad book - it was engaging enough for a day of travel. But I'd have liked more suspense, or more action, or more twists...

I enjoyed the concept of this book but in actual reading I found it confusing. The protagonist isn’t very likeable and makes ridiculous choices that a regular person couldn’t sustain. The stalker plotline was very predictable and the ending felt unearned. Thank you to NetGalley the audiobook.

Whew—talk about trust issues! Bald Faced Liar is a twisty, nerve-sizzling ride where paranoia is practically a main character. Elizabeth May (if that’s even her real name 👀) has mastered the art of disappearing… until someone decides to blow up her carefully crafted life.

Victoria Helen Stone gives us a smart, complicated woman who’s been through hell and still finds a way to fight like hell. The suspense? Deliciously slow-burn.

Thank you Victoria Helen Stone, Brilliance, Lake Union, and Netgalley for the advanced copy!

#baldfacedliar #netgalleyarc #netgalleyreview #netgalley #arcreview #arc #arcreader #review #somanybookssolittletime

Living a lie becomes a matter of life and death for Elizabeth May, a woman hiding from her past. But can you truly ever escape the past? I binged this audio because I love a good psychological stalker thriller. It was a suspenseful and twisty book that I couldn’t put down. The narration was well done and made for an excellent audiobook. Highly recommend!

“𝗦𝗼 𝗜 𝗿𝗮𝗻, 𝗜 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗜 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝗿𝘂𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗜’𝘃𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗱. 𝗡𝗼 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝗵𝘂𝗿𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗮𝘆. 𝗘𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗺𝗲.”

𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴: 3.5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

𝗣𝘂𝗯 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗲: 6/1/25

*Thank you @NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing, @amazonpublishing, and @brilliancepublishing for sending this ebook and audiobook for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

Dual immersion read: audiobook 🎧/ ebook 📖

𝗦𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘆:
Nurse May is an ER nurse on the run from her past, never staying in one place too long- and never telling the truth. Eventually her past catches up with her in this twisty thriller.

𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀:
😈 Snarky FMC
🤥 ER nurse/medically accurate information
😈 Twists and turns
🤥 Coastal setting
😈 Dogs 🐕
🤥 Short chapters

𝗠𝘆 𝗧𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀:
I admit I went into this blind, knowing it was a thriller. I was pleasantly surprised with the ER nurse element being an ER nurse myself- I also loved the FMC personality and snarky attitude. There was an air of mystery regarding her past that was eventually revealed halfway through. This started out strong, but slowed down midway. The twists and turns were good, not great. Definitely a solid read for thriller lovers… might be a bit average for avid readers. I loved the short chapters- I’m a huge sucker for those, especially in thriller/mystery novels. The audiobook narrator was ok, I felt like her narration was a bit robotic but I was still able to picture the FMC with her voice. I’d recommend this as an 👀 read though.

#BaldFacedLiar

This was a reasonably interesting summer binge. I love stalker thrillers. I do feel like this book fell into the trap that nine out of ten books about characters with shady pasts fall into, but it was a quick, bingeable read with a nice setting. The way things played out with the MC's landlord was amusing, if not entirely believable! The audiobook was easy listening, and I binged it in a day. A great performance!