Dead men don't send texts…
On an ordinary Monday morning, Ariel Cafferty's phone buzzes with a disturbing text message. Something's happened. I need to see you. Meet me under the candelabra tree ASAP. The words would be jarring from anyone, but the sender is the only man she ever loved. And it's been several years since she learned he died.
Seeing Drew's name pop up is heart-stopping. Ariel's gut says it can't be real. But she goes to the tree anyway. She has to.
Nobody shows. But the text upends everything she thought she knew about the day he left her. The more questions she asks, the more sinister the answers get. Only two things are clear: everything she was told five years ago is wrong, and someone is still lying to her.
The truth has to be out there somewhere. To safeguard herself—and her son—she'll have to find it before it finds her. And with it, the answer to what became of Drew.
Title : The Five Year Lie
Author : Sarina Bowen
Format : eARC
Page Count : 432
Genre : mystery / thriller
Publisher : Harper Paperbacks
Release Date : May 7, 2024
Reviewer : Hollis
Rating : ★ ★ ★
Hollis' 3 star review
Having read so many of Bowen's romances, I was very interested to see how she'd tackle a romantic suspense/thriller-y mystery and.. well, it was pretty not bad.
The strength of the story is very much in the beginning stages where we wonder where things are going, and why, which is helped by the flashbacks from her presumed-dead baby daddy and what happened to him leading up to his disappearance and subsequent death. And what sets it all off is probably the most clever bit for me : a cell tower sending texts, which were all sent within a one hour window five years ago, but were never delivered. Now that is an intriguing hook. And the fallout impacts more than just Ariel.
As for the corporate espionage and sleuthing, it was all mostly interesting, but it fell apart a little for me in the lead-up to the reveals because I found it hard to buy the reality of the players involved. It just didn't really line up for me. The premise of it, however, feels very real and very scary and the use of it, the catalyst that sends Drew in Ariel's orbit all those years ago, is awful. I thought that in particular was very well done.
So, clever hook. Scary crime. It worked. Everything else though, the romance, the characters themselves? Eh. Kind of standard. Not really memorable. Plus everything just felt a little too convenient for all involved.
But this was an easy read and I wouldn't say no to more thrillers from this author.
** I received an ARC from Edelweiss+ and the publisher (thank you!) in exchange for an honest review. **
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