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The Lie
The Lie
The Lie
Audiobook12 hours

The Lie

Written by C.L. Taylor

Narrated by Penny Rawlins

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

3.5/5

()

About this audiobook

Jane Hughes has the perfect life. There's just one problem: she doesn't exist. Jane Hughes has a loving partner, a job in an animal sanctuary and a tiny cottage in rural Wales. She's happier than she's ever been but her life is a lie. Jane Hughes does not really exist. Five years earlier Jane and her then best friends went on holiday but what should have been the trip of a lifetime rapidly descended into a nightmare that claimed the lives of two of the women. Jane has tried to put the past behind her but someone knows the truth about what happened. Someone who won't stop until they've destroyed Jane and everything she loves.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateJun 7, 2016
ISBN9781501913150
Author

C.L. Taylor

C.L. Taylor is a Sunday Times bestselling author. Her psychological thrillers have sold over a million copies in the UK alone, been translated into over twenty languages, and optioned for television. Her 2019 novel, Sleep, was a Richard and Judy pick. C.L. Taylor lives in Bristol with her partner and son.

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Reviews for The Lie

Rating: 3.6551724620689656 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

58 ratings10 reviews

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    4.5 stars.

    Weaving seamlessly between past and present, The Lie by C.L. Taylor is a riveting mystery about a vacation gone horribly wrong.

    Five years earlier, Emma Woolfe, Daisy Hamilton, Al Gideon and Leanne Cooper go on an extended in Nepal. The four women have been friends for years and although there is some tension between them, their friendship seems to be fairly solid. Hoping to take Al's mind off her recent breakup, Leanne proposes the women spend three weeks in Nepal and they soon set off on their journey. Initially, the trip goes off without a hitch; however, once they arrive at the Ekanta Yatra mountain top retreat, tension builds as jealousy and lies take their toll on their friendship. As their vacation takes a dark and sinister turn, Emma does not know who to trust and after a series of harrowing events, only two of the four women return home.

    While the four friends initially enjoy some aspects of the retreat, Emma and Al are not as enthralled by Ekanta Yatra as Leanne and Daisy. Isaac, the charismatic leader, is charming and sexy. The first cracks in the women's friendship appear after Daisy makes it very clear that she interested in Isaac and she becomes jealous when he pays attention to her friends. The friends are soon divided and Emma is essentially ostracized as Leanne, Daisy and Al close ranks. As the situation worsens at the retreat, she uncovers some very unsettling secrets about one of her friends. After one of her frenemies begins a concerted campaign to turn everyone against her, Emma begins to fear for her life. Conditions at the retreat continue to deteriorate but her loyalty to her friends soon puts her in grave danger.

    In the present, Emma, having changed her name to Jane Hughes, is living a peaceful life in Wales where she works at an animal rescue. Having recently entered into a relationship with Will Smart, she has finally achieved a measure of peace that is shattered once she begins receiving eerie messages that make it very clear someone knows who she is. Jane is also very troubled by the realization this person has inside information about what happened at Ekanta Yatra. Shaken and frightened, Jane/Emma grows increasingly alarmed as the situation escalates and once again, she does not know who to trust.

    With the chapters alternating between past and present, the horrifying events from Nepal are slowly revealed as Jane tries to figure out who could be stalking her. The tension slowly mounts as Jane reflects back on the events that occurred at Ekanta Yatra as her stalker continues sending her threatening messages. Knowing she must turn to someone for help, Jane takes Will into her confidence but his reaction to her story is unnerving. With every passing day, she grows more and more fearful until finally, she is forced to go to the police, who eventually uncover stunning information that shocks and terrifies Jane.

    Full of deceit and treachery, The Lie is an intriguing thriller that will keep readers on the edge of their seats from beginning to end. C.L. Taylor does an absolutely brilliant job building the suspense as the events from Nepal are slowly revealed while the situation in the present gradually becomes more dangerous. A dark and gritty tale about a toxic friendship that goes horribly wrong, I highly recommend this spellbinding mystery to anyone fans of the genre.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Another reading group book crashes and burns. I disliked the characters from the beginning and after the first chapter in Nepal I skim read those sections. I found the present day sections more readable but this was a really boring book which I couldn't wait to finish.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The story alternates between past and present as Jane Hughes, who was Emma Woolfe five years ago until a holiday went terribly terribly wrong and not everyone made it home. Now someone is stalking her and it's upsetting her new life. She has to face up to the past to have a future.Entertaining but the ending felt a bit rushed.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    The Lie by C.L. Taylor is about a woman with a secret in her past and the past is about to catch up with her. Jane Hughes is living in Wales, has a job she enjoys at Green Fields Animal Shelter, and is dating William Smart. But Jane has a secret and a past that she would like to forget. Unfortunately, someone does not want to let the past stay forgotten. One day Jane gets a note and it opens up the door to the past. We go back five years to Emma Woolfe. Emma and her friends (Leanne Cooper, Al Gideon, and Daisy Hamilton) are thinking about taking a vacation to get Al over her recent breakup (especially after they had to help break up at fight at a bar). The four of them have been friends for a while, but there is some tension in the group. They decide to go to Nepal and spend time at the Ekanta Yatra retreat (can only be accessed by walking). There is more to Ekanta Yatra then meets the eye. It is not quite the retreat it was made out to be. The leader, Isaac woos the women and Daisy is infatuated with him (but jealous of the attention he pays to other women). There is soon trouble within the group. Emma believes there is something wrong at Ekanta Yatra. When Emma finds out what is really going on at this place, she is ready to leave. But leaving is not as simple as it sounds. Five years into the future and it is evident that someone knows about Jane’s (aka Emma’s) past and they are coming after her. We get to see what happened in Nepal and what the person after Jane really wants. Read The Lie to see how it plays out.The Lie sounded like such a good thriller, but it was not as exciting as it sounded. It is a dark (crude) tale that I really did not enjoy. The book contains fighting, stalking, foul language, intimate relations, drugs, drinking, etc. The book goes back and forth from the past to the present and it gets confusing. There are quite a few characters and it can be hard to keep them all straight (I just tried to focus on the main character). The pace slows down considerably in the middle of the book but picks back up near the end. Was it full of suspense and intrigue? Not so much. I did not like Jane (Emma) very much. She overreacts to everything which grew old quickly. I give The Lie 2.75 out of 5 stars (I have to admit that I being generous). It was obvious to tell was Ekanta Yatra was from the very beginning, but these idiotic girls continued to stay (even when it was obvious that there was something very wrong going on). Several parts of the story were very unbelievable (it had me yelling at my kindle). The best part of the book were the animals at Green Field’s Animal Shelter. The Lie was just not for me. I received a complimentary copy of The Lie from NetGalley in exchange for an honest evaluation of the novel.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    "Your past doesn't have to define your future, not if you won't let it" is one of the messages in The Lie. Told in the first-person perspective of Jane/Emma, the story alternates fluently between the present and the past. 5 Years ago, Jane was known as Emma. She embarked on the trip of a lifetime with three female friends visiting a "retreat" in Nepal. 5 years later, she's living a secluded life in Wales, working in an animal shelter and using a different name. What happened during their time abroad and why is somebody taunting Jane/Emma now after all this time?This was my first time reading a book by British author C.L. Taylor, and I really enjoyed it. The Lie was a very sinister and atmospheric tale of psychological suspense. At one stage, I was doubting everybody who was around Jane, completely unsure whom to trust. Jane was a very likable character, but there weren't many of those.I thought the book was extremely good at depicting the dynamics of groups. Firstly, the female toxic friendships that were shaped by competitiveness, envy and bitterness and secondly, the group dynamics at the "retreat" in Nepal, which showed how easily people can be manipulated and how dangerous a situation can turn once a follow-the-leader environment has been established. However, there were some situations in Nepal as well as in Wales where I felt the plot was losing some credibility. Nevertheless, it was such a tense, fast-paced and provocative story, which was refreshingly different, I really liked it and will seek out more by this author.Many thanks to Sourcebooks Landmark for my copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Loved this - a thriller in every sense of the word.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The Lie, by C. L. Taylor was a book I knew nothing about and it was not on my radar until I stumbled across a fabulous review of it on Goodreads. UK Authors are quickly becoming my newest obsession as they write some of the best psychological thrillers on the market today! This one sounded like something I would absolutely get sucked into so I knew I just had to read it, I was thrilled when I discovered it was still available on NetGalley :)

    I promptly dove into The Lie and within a few pages I was completely hooked. I loved Jane/Emma and I loved the dual time lines, it was done very well here and was easy to follow along with. So much of this story is believable, what these girls went through was crazy and creepy but it’s also something that has you thinking, “this could actually happen”, and that made it all the more sickening and scary. There was one small part in the story where I thought the reactions of some characters to a specific ordeal our main protagonist goes through was slightly unrealistic. This was the ONLY reason I gave a 4 star review. I totally dig bizarre, over-the-top stories and can find extreme behaviors completely believable within a story as long as it’s plausible within the storyline and characters that the author has created. That didn’t happen here for me unfortunately, it just didn’t work.

    Don’t get me wrong though cause I loved this book and devoured it in just over a day! I was on the edge of my seat as both timelines raced towards their climactic finish. I had so many theories of who was coming after Jane in her current timeline and was super happy to discover that I hadn’t figured it all out in the end. I had NO idea how the timeline from 5 years ago would end, I couldn’t figure out how they were going to get down that mountain or what would happen to get them to that point. I read at a fevered pace; sweating, heavy breathing, digging my nails into my palm…… all the signs that I was reading an incredible psychological thriller! I would highly recommend this book to anyone who loves thrillers, especially ones a little on the darker side. I would also venture so far as to say this would be an awesome Book Club read; there are some thoroughly toxic friendships here that would be a lot of fun to discuss.

    I received a complimentary, advanced copy of this book from the author, HarperCollins and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is a book of two intermingled stories. There is the present day, in which Jane Hughes works in an animal sanctuary, lives in a little cottage and has a boyfriend. She's living a happy enough life but there is still the shadow of the other story, the one 5 years ago in which Jane and her three friends went on holiday to Nepal and ended up having a nightmare time.I found the story of Nepal interesting and quite disturbing, but I preferred the present day story in which Jane finds herself scared for her life. I enjoyed how the whole story unfolded and think it was done well by the author, without revealing too much all at once and leaving me wanting to read on to find out what happened in Nepal and what will happen to Jane now. It's not a scary book in the traditional sense, but it did leave me feeling aware of how easily life can go off course. On balance, I don't think I enjoyed this one quite as much as The Accident, but it's close enough. C.L. Taylor is a really great writer and I hope she's writing a third book.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A tense thriller from author C.L. Taylor, The Lie is a story of friendship, deception, secrets and betrayal."A couple of weeks ago I found a picture of the four of us, taken by a stranger outside Kathmandu airport...We all look so fresh faced and hopeful in the photo, and we were. It was supposed to be a holiday of a lifetime."Best friends since university, Emma, Al, Daisy and Leeanne, are heading to Nepal for the holiday of a lifetime, where, in between exploring Kathmandu and treking in Chitwan, they are planning on spending a week relaxing at an isolated spiritual retreat. 'Ekantra yatra' initially seems to be everything the brochure promised but within days the friendship between the four girls sours, corrupted by the charismatic leader, Issac.Five years later Jane Hughes receives an anonymous note, 'I know your name's not really Jane Hughes'. Whoever sent it knows the truth, 'Jane' is really Emma, but do they know she has been lying about more than her identity?Jane/Emma has been keeping the whole secret of what really happened in Nepal for five long years. When the anonymous note is followed by sinister texts, purportedly from Daisy, Jane reaches out to Al, the only other member of their foursome who returned from 'Ekantra yatra'."I was lying to myself when I said that your past doesn't shape your future. Or maybe it was wishful thinking. Your memories are the one thing you can't run from, the one thing you can't change."As the narrative shifts between the past, revealing what actually happened five years previously at 'Ekantra yatra', and the present, Taylor skilfully builds suspense in both timelines. As Jane/Emma's carefully constructed life in Wales is falling apart in the face of escalating threats from her stalker, the friendship between the four best friends begins to disintegrate in Nepal. Within days of their arrival at 'Ekantra yatra' it's clear the retreat is not what it seems. Manipulated by Issac who preys on their insecurities and petty resentments, the girls turn on each other with frightening ease and as their friendship implodes, the danger escalates."How had our holiday gone so wrong? We'd arrived at Ekanta yatra as friends, friends with issues rumbling beneath the smiles and excitement, but ours was a friendship that had outlasted uni and survived relocation, jobs and relationships. Or so I thought. And yet the bonds I believed were strong were only ever superficial and, like a game of Jenga, all it took was one false move and everything collapsed."With a strong premise, supported by interesting characterisation, The Lie is a well paced, dramatic and atmospheric tale of psychological suspense.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    The Lie – Brilliant Psychological ThrillerThe Lie is the second book from Cally Taylor who debuted with The Accident in 2014 which was a wonderful debut. If Cally was a musician who had an excellent debut album we would be talking about the difficult second album but fortunately for us she is a writer who gets even better with her second book. The Lie is an absolutely brilliant thriller that keeps you guessing all the way to the end, with plenty of twists that keeps you guessing. The telling of the story from 2 aspects again appears in this thriller and is a fantastic device. I do feel sorry for Cally Taylor’s child, when he asks for a bed time story from mummy it must scare the living delights out of him!Emma, Daisy, Leanne and Al became friends at University up in Newcastle and even when they all relocated down to London after graduation they remained close. They are all stuck in jobs that they do not enjoy and seem to be stuck going nowhere even in their relationships with others. To blast the cobwebs away from their lives they decided to go on the holiday of a lifetime to Nepal to a retreat, Ekanta yatra, Leanne organised the trip for them all. Four of them leave for the holiday of a life time but there are only two who return as the others were dead.Five year later the two survivors are no longer in contact with each other, Emma angry that Al sold their story to a newspaper, both moved away from London. Emma has reinvented herself as Jane Hughes, who works at an animal sanctuary in Wales called Green Fields. Since getting back from Nepal Emma has tried to move on from what happened and that her two friends died there. She is in a new relationship and maybe something is going well for her for a change.Emma receives a letter and a couple of emails that shakes her to the core telling her that Daisy is alive and it is her that should be dead. Facebook messages and text messages also start arriving that shakes her up, along with a new volunteer at Green Fields who seems far too interested in her. It is when she is a victim of a hit and run accident that things start to turn serious and she is advised that she could be in danger as the police investigate. It is when Green Fields is set alight that she finally has to face the demons of her past and can she save the innocent victims the animals while protecting her own life?The Lie is a downright dark and very twisted psychological thriller that is a compelling rollercoaster of a read especially as the tension builds to a crescendo finale when we finally receive the answers to the questions posed throughout the book. With the multiple twists in the examination of friendships and cults you really do enter a dark and very creepy world. The characters are well developed well written and the story really does grip you by the throat and not let you go until the end. I certainly would not want to get on the wrong side of Cally Taylor because The Lie is an example of her thinking she has a seriously twisted mind that would make her revenge a very painful cold dish being served. The Lie is a dark twisted totally creepy psychological thriller that will have you gripped from the beginning to the end. Who knew friendships could be as dangerous as those in The Lie after reading this I shall be reassessing my friendships for sure. A fantastic read that will raise Cally Taylor’s reputation as a writer even higher.