This is an absolute first. Earlier today I wrote about the July Kindle First Books and I've already read one of them! We were planning on going out of town this weekend to celebrate the 4th of July with friends but called off at the last minute because my husband's work schedule has been crazy this year so we took a few days to relax instead. We almost always go out of town over three day weekends, so it was nice to just sit at home for once!
One of my goals for this summer is to fit in some reading (as evidenced by my 2015 summer reading list), and I actually found the time to read TWO books this weekend. After reading the synopsis' of all of the Kindle First books, I downloaded Crooked Little Lies by Barbara Taylor Sissel and started reading it immediately. So immediately that I started and finished it in the same day!
Synopsis:Â On a cool October morning, Lauren Wilder is shaken when she comes close to striking Bo Laughlin with her car as he's walking along the road's edge. A young man well known in their small town of Hardys Walk, Texas, Bo seems fine, even if Lauren's intuition says otherwise. Since the accident two years ago that left her brain in a fragile state, she can't trust her own instincts"and neither can her family. Then Bo vanishes, and as the search for him ensues, the police question whether she's responsible. Lauren is terrified, not of what she remembers but of what she doesn't.
Unable to trust herself and unwilling to trust anyone else, Lauren begins her own investigation into the mystery of Bo's disappearance. But the truth can prove to be as shocking as any lie, and as Lauren exposes each one, from her family, from her friends, she isn't the only one who will face heart-stopping repercussions.
One of the reviews I read compared this book to The Girl on the Train because of the lack of a reliable narrator, so I had to read this book. I read The Girl on the Train earlier this year and enjoyed it so I was interested in reading something comparable. After reading the book, however, I'm not really sure I agree with the comparison other than both books are both mysteries. I love that the mystery genre has seen a bit of a resurgence lately (thanks in large part, I think, to the success of Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn), but all stories don't need to be compared to one another to be good.
All of that aside, I really enjoyed reading Crooked Little Lies. Like I said above, I couldn't put it down! If you're looking for something quick to read this summer I think this would be a fantastic option. The chapters are short, which makes this book easy to set down and pick back up. However, I didn't think the mystery was all that deep and I figured out what was going on pretty early. I found myself wanting to yell at the characters for not figuring it out themselves!
Once I finished the book I felt like the mystery behind the disappearance of Bo was secondary to the mysterious things happening to Lauren. Lauren suffered from a terrible fall a couple of years before the story takes place, which lead to some ongoing brain and memory issues. Lauren isn't always a reliable witness to the reader because of this, and the people in her city don't find her a reliable witness because she spent a year addicted to oxycontin, so there is always a fear she has fallen off the wagon. A large part of the mystery surrounds whether or not you can trust Lauren's recounting of events.
I'm glad I got this book for free via the Kindle First program, but I also think it's worth the $4.99 that it'll cost in August for anyone who wants it that's not an Amazon Prime member. There were some plot holes but it was definitely entertaining and is a great summer read!
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You don't need a Kindle to download and read Kindle books (although I love my Kindle Paperwhite!). Download the free Kindle Reading App to use on your computer, tablet, or smart phone!
