Catherine Ryan Howard

4.25 Stars — Poor Alison Smith. She couldn’t wait to move to Dublin and attend St. John’s College with her best friend Liz, but her happiness was short-lived. Will, the charming boy Alison fell in love with freshman year, turned out to be a serial killer, and worse yet was that his last victim was Liz. A decade passes with Will locked up and Alison trying to forget that terrible time, when a copycat killer strikes. Will has new information to share that may help police, but the only person he’s willing to talk to is Alison.

THE LIAR’S GIRL is an absorbing slow-burn novel of suspense. I was easily wrapped up in the lives of the characters. The author has an engaging and descriptive writing style that makes the reader feel like part of the story. The mystery was constructed well and kept me guessing. I loved that final disturbing twist which brought everything together.

I listened to the audiobook which was narrated by Alana Kerr Collins, with smaller parts by Alan Smyth and Gary Furlong. Ms. Collins’ performance of Alison was fitting with her character – not overly dramatic, yet emotional and expressive when the situation called for it. Alan Smyth narrated Catherine Ryan Howard’s previous book DISTRESS SIGNALS, and I loved, loved, loved his performance. Though his part was smaller in this book, he was just as wonderful. I’d listen to anything he narrates.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this audiobook from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.… (more)

It's amazing anyone can go missing in 2023. I feel like there are cameras both on buildings and buses along with in each person's hand. It feels like it should be impossible. And yet, there are CCTV free zones. Spaces where someone goes missing in the blink of an eye.

Women are going missing in Ireland. In the middle of the night, in the middle of the day, it doesn't matter, gone between two breaths. Lucy's sister is one of those women. But Ireland, the police and the press, no one seems to want to know ore care. It isn't until one night, when her sister Nikki has been missing almost a year, that a young, beautiful 17 year old girl goes missing. Suddenly, it's on the news, the police form a task force - everyone seems to care.

But Lucy can't seem to move on. She's spiraling, looking for her sister, not willing to let it go - she must find her. She needs to know what happened.

I was completely sucked in to this story. I loved the perspectives of Lucy, the sister, Angela the police trainee, and the killer. I don't always like having the killer's POV but this one really added to the story, flushed out what was happening and was added in just the right spots to push the mystery even further. I felt so bad for Lucy, as she struggling to get more attention for her sister. I loved Angela, adding a bit of humor in the tense moments along with giving us the details about what the police knew (and didn't know).

This was such a good book, I can always depend on [a:Catherine Ryan Howard|3421464|Catherine Ryan Howard|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1446100553p2/3421464.jpg] to give me a great mystery with characters that shock me. The twist is good. I think I just might re-read this one sometime, just so I can do the audio (which I think would be amazing!)… (more)

I loved this as an audiobook - the story within the story. One little girl survived the night a serial killer attacked her family, killing everyone but her. She doesn't know why he left her alive. He also stopped his spree that night and Eve, the girl left alive, has never understood why. With no evidence left behind and no other attacks after hers, Eve was left to grow up without her family or the answers of why this guy killed them.

But that stops now. She's writing a story, telling her side of what happened that night, because she wants to catch him. This was such a dark but interesting story. The stories about what he did, the rapes and attacks were pretty rough to read. It'd dual POV and you also get the POV of the killer and a peak into his life now as well as Eve. I liked seeing it from both perspectives. It was a story that held my attention, kept me wanting to know more even if I guessed a few things right. It was such a fun ride! I really appreciate this author and her style.… (more)