Never Lie by Freida McFadden is one of her most popular books, only second to The Housemaid. Never Lie was the second Freida McFadden novel I read, after I became hooked thanks to The Housemaid. Since, I've read several of her books, including The Housemaid's Secret, The Coworker, The Teacher, The Inmate, and The Locked Door. Never Lie has remained one of my favorites though. The twist at the end will make you understand why you should never lie. From this point on, the Never Lie review will contain spoilers. So if you haven't read it yet and you want to, come back later, or scroll to the bottom to read my thoughts.
Never Lie Summary
Never Lie begins with newlyweds, Tricia and Ethan, as they're on their way to a showing of a home. They're looking to buy so they can expand their family in the future. However, there is an intense blizzard and they end up snowed in at the home. The home is beautiful, and was owned by Adrienne Hale, who has been missing for three years, and assumed dead. Adrienne is the author of the bestselling novel, The Anatomy of Fear. Tricia is leery of the home. When they arrive, there's a light on upstairs, but no car. They also find a men's boot print next to the bookcase. Ethan tells Tricia not to worry and everything is fine, but she's not so sure everything is.
Adrienne's story is very interesting. She's a therapist who sees her patients in her home. We're introduced to three patients, PL (PTSD), Gail (OCD), and EJ (Narcissistic Personality Disorder). Up until the end, I thought EJ and Ethan were the same person, but as usual I was wrong. Adrienne also works at a free clinic in her spare time. This is where she meets Luke, and they begin dating. During all of this, she decides she no longer wants to see EJ, and tells him so. EJ isn't happy about it, and when Adrienne does something unsavory, he ends up filming it. It could destroy her career, so she allows him back into the practice-for free.
EJ still isn't happy though, and forces her to also prescribe oxycodone, which could also jeopardize her career. Luke is a computer genius, and can hack into systems. So Adrienne asks him to break into EJ's home and destroy the video. EJ is upset, and threatens to kill her. But he also has a video of Luke breaking to the home, which could destroy his career. EJ wants Adrienne to slept with him, but she decides murder would be better.
PL claims that a man with a knife came and killed her fiancé and all of her friends one night when they were staying at a cabin. Adrienne knew immediately she was lying and realized PL is the one who killed them because her fiancé was cheating on her with her best friend. Quite the unhinged reaction, but okay then. Since she knows PL is cool with murder and has done it several times, Adrienne asks for her help. PL abducts EJ from a casino and drops him off at Adrienne's, where she traps him under her floor. He suffocates and dies.
Back to Tricia and Ethan, Tricia begins to uncover the mystery as she listens to the tapes recording my Adrienne during all of her therapy sessions. She is still hearing things, and finds a sleeping bag in the attic. When Tricia's ring rolls under the sofa in Adrienne's office, she finds the trap door with EJ inside. EJ stands for Edward Jamison, and has nothing to do with Ethan. However, he is very upset when Tricia finds the tapes. Why? Because his mother was Gail, and he killed her, after expressing her fear of him to Adrienne. But, Tricia isn't upset at all. Tricia is short for Patricia Lawton, PL. All along, it was Luke in the house. He lost his job because everyone thought he killed Adrienne. But he didn't. Who did? Tricia. Tricia didn't like being attached to the murder of Edward, so she kills Adrienne.
Together, Ethan and Tricia decide to "get rid of the problem" and kill Luke. Can't have any loose ends, right? They also burn the incriminating tapes of Tricia and Gail. You also learn that not only was them being stranded at the house Tricia's doing, meeting Ethan was as well. Tricia is clearly a mastermind.
Alycia's Thoughts
Like I said previously, Never Lie is one of my favorites. The twists at the end were totally unpredictable, and my guesses throughout were all wrong. It was very fast paced, and held my attention the entire time. I never wanted to put it down. I give Never Lie five stars. Hurry and pick this one up soon! Let me know in the comments if you've read it, and don't forget to subscribe for more Freida McFadden content!
-xx Alycia
P.S.
If you're interested in Cultivate What Matters products, use my link for 10% off with discount code ALYCIAPLANS
Check out one of my favorite planners here (Ashley Shelly): https://ashleyshelly.com/ref/103/
And here (Silk + Sonder): https://shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=1461423&u=3765598&m=93424&urllink=&afftrack=
And here (Laurel Denise): https://shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=1858024&u=3765598&m=115887&urllink=&afftrack=
*I earn commissions from my sponsored links*
