When Ethan Montclair wakes up one morning to find a note from his wife Sutton saying that she is leaving and for him not to look for her, he swings from disbelief to anger to fear – for her (she has been suffering from depression) and for him (what will people think?).

He calls round her friends then a lawyer before finally calling the police, who immediately start to question Ethan’s version of his supposedly perfect life – especially when Sutton’s friends suggest that things were not quite as good as they might have seemed.

As the questions start to mount up the lies start to unravelling.  The friends were right and Ethan slowly begins to reveal the truth – or at least his version of it.  And that is what makes this book so good.  Nothing is as it seems – no one is who them seem.  For a woman (me) who likes an unreliable narrator, this book is a perfect fit.

Told through “then” and “now” stories and the voices of Ethan, Sutton and the detective investigating their case, I spent most of this book questioning what I knew and the rest wondering what would come next.  It did all get a bit crazy and confusing at times, with some great twists, and I have to admit to having suspend disbelief a few times but the writing was so good and the characters so compelling I forgave that pretty quickly.

This was my first J. T. Ellison book so I’m not sure if this was their usual style or just for this book but I liked it.  There was humour there, which stopped the book being too heavy or serious, and I loved the chapter headings especially – they made me smile and they helped tell the story, showing just how twisted some of the characters were – as well as the fact some were short, really short at just a few paragraphs, keeping the story moving at quite a pace.

Anything I didn’t like?  Well, the characters.  Sutton and Ethan are self-absorbed, self-obsessed and so un-self-aware I found myself really, Really, REALLY, disliking them.  Normally, this would put me off a book.  Here, the writing and the story were good enough for me to forgive this.  Plus, it wouldn’t haven’t been as good without me (almost) hating them!

About the book…

They built a life on lies

Sutton and Ethan Montclair’s idyllic life is not as it appears. The couple seems made for each other, but the truth is ugly. Consumed by professional and personal betrayals and financial woes, the two both love and hate each other. As tensions mount, Sutton disappears, leaving behind a note saying not to look for her.

Ethan finds himself the target of vicious gossip as friends, family and the media speculate on what really happened to Sutton Montclair. As the police investigate, the lies the couple have been spinning for years quickly unravel. Is Ethan a killer? Is he being set up? Did Sutton hate him enough to kill the child she never wanted and then herself? The path to the answers is full of twists that will leave the reader breathless.

Enjoy!

Emma x

Source: Netgalley
Publisher: HQ Digital
Format: ebook
Published: 5th September, 2017
Pages: 426
Find on: Amazon UK / Amazon US / Goodreads

Note: I received a copy of this book in return for a fair and honest review.  All thoughts, feelings and opinions are my own