The Lying Game by Ruth Ware
I never used to read mysteries or thrillers, I didn't like heart pounding feeling they gave me so I steered away. But I have a friend who reads nothing but thrillers and frankly, now I'm addicted. I still read my tried and true literary fiction but now have tendency to mix in a blood curdling murder or two.
The Lying Game is the story of four bratty and self absorbed girls, Isa, Kate, Thea and Fatima who all end up at a questionable girls boarding school for different reasons. They exert their power over the other students by creating the lying game and only the four of them know the rules. It eventually gets them all expelled.
Seventeen years later Kate summons the rest of the group to her home near the school. She needs them. Bones have been found near her property on the beach. Isa now has a young baby, Fatima is a doctor and practicing Muslim and Thea, well she's yet to figure out what to do with her life. Within a day, they have all dropped their regular lives and appeared on Kate's doorstep.
I can't tell you any more of the plot, only that for the most part, The Lying Game is a page turner. But don't expect to like any of these characters. They haven't grown up or left their teenage aspirations behind. Isa, who narrates the story, has a wonderful partner, Owen at home and she criticizes him every chance she gets. She whines a lot and it gets annoying. Kate is a control freak and Thea may have anorexia. Meanwhile, Fatima won't drink alcohol and prays 5 times a day and yet she still inserts herself into this aging, immature clique. Maybe that will make sense to some readers but it didn't to me.
I've read several other Ruth Ware novels and here's how I would rank them. Number one is The Woman in Cabin 10, next is In a Dark, Dark Wood, third is The Lying Game and lastly The Death of Mrs. Westaway. If you are in the mood for an edge of your seat thriller any of these will fit the bill. They are all good, some just more satisfying than others. You'll have to decide.
I never used to read mysteries or thrillers, I didn't like heart pounding feeling they gave me so I steered away. But I have a friend who reads nothing but thrillers and frankly, now I'm addicted. I still read my tried and true literary fiction but now have tendency to mix in a blood curdling murder or two.
The Lying Game is the story of four bratty and self absorbed girls, Isa, Kate, Thea and Fatima who all end up at a questionable girls boarding school for different reasons. They exert their power over the other students by creating the lying game and only the four of them know the rules. It eventually gets them all expelled.
Seventeen years later Kate summons the rest of the group to her home near the school. She needs them. Bones have been found near her property on the beach. Isa now has a young baby, Fatima is a doctor and practicing Muslim and Thea, well she's yet to figure out what to do with her life. Within a day, they have all dropped their regular lives and appeared on Kate's doorstep.
I can't tell you any more of the plot, only that for the most part, The Lying Game is a page turner. But don't expect to like any of these characters. They haven't grown up or left their teenage aspirations behind. Isa, who narrates the story, has a wonderful partner, Owen at home and she criticizes him every chance she gets. She whines a lot and it gets annoying. Kate is a control freak and Thea may have anorexia. Meanwhile, Fatima won't drink alcohol and prays 5 times a day and yet she still inserts herself into this aging, immature clique. Maybe that will make sense to some readers but it didn't to me.
I've read several other Ruth Ware novels and here's how I would rank them. Number one is The Woman in Cabin 10, next is In a Dark, Dark Wood, third is The Lying Game and lastly The Death of Mrs. Westaway. If you are in the mood for an edge of your seat thriller any of these will fit the bill. They are all good, some just more satisfying than others. You'll have to decide.
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