Saturday 21 May 2016

The Girl Who Lied - Sue Fortin



The truth hurts…

Erin and Roisin were once friends until a fatal accident ruined both their lives. Now, Roisin has discovered a secret—one Erin has kept for over a decade—and she’s determined to make Erin pay for her lies.

Erin wants nothing to do with Roisin. She has a new life in London and no intention of going back home. Yet when her father is mysteriously and critically injured, Erin has no choice but to return and face Roisin—and her past. Erin knows if the secret of what she gave up got out, the consequences could be devastating.

When Roisin suddenly disappears, suspicion soon lands on Erin. She would do anything to protect her family, but just how far is she willing to go when time is running out…?

What did I think?

What would you do if your deepest, darkest secret was about to be revealed?  How far would you go to protect the ones you love? These questions were posed to Erin when she returned to Ireland after thinking that she left her past and her secrets behind for good.

The book starts with Erin Hurley receiving an email from her old schoolfriend, Roisin.  Roisin is a part of Erin's past that she wants to forget, but Roisin won't give up and keeps pestering Erin claiming that she knows Erin's secret and even has proof.  Erin is determined to ignore Roisin in the hope that she will go away but when Erin's Dad has an accident and she returns to Ireland, it's only a matter of time before she bumps into Roisin.  How much does Roisin really know and will she really reveal Erin's secret?

Erin has a very strained relationship with her Dad and you could feel her conflicting emotions as she visited him in hospital.  As the days went on it was almost like she defrosted and you could see the little buds of love starting to reappear on her family tree.  Whilst Erin is visiting her Dad we are treated to flashbacks of Erin's school days.  Days that were far from happy thanks to Jody Wright calling her Curly Hurley and Bunny because of her curly carrot coloured hair.  There's one in every class, isn't there?

As with any small town, it was inevitable that Erin would run into Jody and his teasing hasn't lessened as the years have passed, he still has his schoolboy humour and is completely ignorant of the hurt his words have caused.  Jody's cousin, Kerry, on the other hand is warm and caring and it isn't long before Erin is drawn to him and finds that the attraction is mutual.  Erin doesn't want to get close to anybody but Kerry has really strong feelings for her - feelings that would see him going to any lengths to protect her.

When Roisin's threats don't abate and she suddenly goes missing, I felt like I was reading a game of Cluedo.  With so many people caring about Erin, any one of them could have caused harm to Roisin, including Erin herself.  The way that Sue Fortin leads us up to Roisin's disappearance was brilliant; any one of four people could have met with Roisin and seen her come to an unfortunate end.  I certainly had my money on one of them in particular but, yet again, I was completely wrong!

I really enjoyed this as a story about family relationships and how blood is thicker than water.  Roisin's disappearance was an added bonus that added an extra thrilling dimension to the story.  Although some of the story was guessable, it was so completely engaging that it left me with a lump in my throat and tears running down my face at the end.  The Girl Who Lied is a superb book that drew me in from the very first page then put me through the emotional wringer and left me reaching for the tissues at the end.

I received this e-book from the publisher, HarperImpulse, via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

My rating:




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