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    Crooked Little Lies
    Crooked Little Lies
    Crooked Little Lies
    Audiobook12 hours

    Crooked Little Lies

    Written by Barbara Taylor Sissel

    Narrated by Natalie Ross

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    On a cool October morning, Lauren Wilder is shaken when she comes close to striking Bo Laughlin with her car as he’s walking along the road’s edge. A young man well known in their small town of Hardys Walk, Texas, Bo seems fine, even if Lauren’s intuition says otherwise. Since the accident two years ago that left her brain in a fragile state, she can’t trust her own instincts—and neither can her family. Then Bo vanishes, and as the search for him ensues, the police question whether she’s responsible. Lauren is terrified, not of what she remembers but of what she doesn’t.

    Unable to trust herself and unwilling to trust anyone else, Lauren begins her own investigation into the mystery of Bo’s disappearance. But the truth can prove to be as shocking as any lie, and as Lauren exposes each one, from her family, from her friends, she isn’t the only one who will face heart-stopping repercussions.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateDec 29, 2015
    ISBN9781511359429
    Crooked Little Lies
    Author

    Barbara Taylor Sissel

    Barbara Taylor Sissel is the author of five novels, including Evidence of Life and Safe Keeping. With heartfelt emotion and page-turning suspense, her stories focus on ordinary families and what happens when they are abruptly confronted with extraordinary circumstances. In addition to writing, Barbara is an avid gardener and the mother of two sons. She lives and writes in a small garden cottage on a farm located in the beautiful Texas Hill Country.

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    Reviews for Crooked Little Lies

    3.5/5

    50 ratings7 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Really enjoyed this book especially as it’s not my usual type of read
    • 4/5
      4.5 stars.

      Part psychological thriller and part mystery, Crooked Little Lies is a suspense-laden novel by Barbara Taylor Sissel. A chance encounter with an eccentric young man who later vanishes plunges lead protagonist Lauren Wilder into a perplexing and confusing search for answers about his disappearance.

      Lauren's recovery from a horrible accident has been slow and arduous and while mostly healed, she is still troubled by the lingering effects of a brain injury. She is frustrated by the ongoing memory problems that continue to crop up and although she has overcome her addiction to pain killers, her family still finds it difficult to trust her. A wrong turn puts her in the path of Bo Laughlin, a man in his early twenties whose unconventional lifestyle makes him vulnerable to being taken advantage of. When he disappears, Lauren is compelled to search out Bo's sister Annie Beauchamp and the two women track down leads they uncover during their search for the missing man.

      While Bo is only briefly mention at the beginning of the story, his presence is keenly felt throughout the investigation. While at first it appears his life is an open book, Annie and Lauren uncover the bits and pieces that he kept hidden. Although nothing nefarious is discovered, these unknown associations and tidbits reveal facets of his personality and day to day life that add to the heartbreak of his disappearance. His intelligence and kindheartedness are often overlooked due to his eccentricities and these unexpected revelations create a well-rounded, three dimensional character that is easy to care about.

      Lauren has overcome incredible odds in the nearly two years since her terrible fall and although she still deals with a little pain from her physical injuries, it is her memory issues that continue to be an ongoing problem. Her memories are sometimes confusing and she occasionally experiences difficulty remembering the details of daily life. She is easily distracted and forgetful which leads to some very stressful confrontations with her husband Jeff and their kids, Drew and Kenzie. Her family's trust is fragile and they easily doubt her after her erratic behavior becomes eerily reminiscent of her recent drug addiction. As the situation intensifies, Lauren becomes paranoid and suspicious of her husband and sister and she has great difficulty distinguishing reality from her vivid dreams. Her fear, distress and concern are palpable and Lauren is a somewhat unreliable narrator because she cannot separate fact from fiction but this just makes her more sympathetic and appealing.

      Annie is an equally likable character but she is a little abrasive as she tries to find out what happened to Bo. There is never any doubt that Annie deeply loves her stepbrother and as she sifts through the days leading up to his disappearance, she experiences guilt and doubt that she did not do enough to help him. Annie is quick to reject offers of help but she feels an instant connection to Lauren. The two pursue leads the police dismiss but disturbing information about Lauren's past and her associations with persons of interest in the case eventually raise Annie's suspicions.

      Crooked Little Lies is a complex and riveting novel that has many surprising twists and turns. The storyline is compelling, well written and unique. The characters are brilliantly developed and their doubts and fears are believable and easy to relate to. Barbara Taylor Sissel expertly builds the suspense surrounding Bo's disappearance to a fever pitch and the novel's conclusion is dramatic and rather shocking. An excellent mystery with a strong psychological element that I highly recommend to fans of the genre.
    • 1/5
      at 27% I'm calling this one. I absolutely cannot finish this. One part of the story is focusing on Lauren who is recovering from a brain injury and an addiction. This is not appeasing at all. It is very dramatic to be considered a psychological thriller. I'm definitely not intrigued enough to drag through. It's taken me weeks just to get to 27%
    • 4/5
      A Kindle First selection. Finally a Kindle First Selection that lives up to my expectations. I thought it was going to be a drama, and it WAS A DRAMA! There were a couple of times in the book that it hinted at something supernatural being behind the events that were occurring, but thankfully it didn’t turn into a horror story at any point. The story certainly has lots of twists and turns and keeps you guessing until the end. I would put this up there with a Mary Higgins Clark novel. The story revolves around two characters Lauren Wilder, who had a traumatic brain injury and as a result an opiate addiction and Bo Laughlin, a young man who seems to be on the Autism spectrum who disappears shortly after a run in with Lauren.
    • 3/5
      This is another book that I received for free from Amazon.com. And while it was an enjoyable enough book, I found it to be utterly predictable. One of my biggest literary pet-peeves is when drama and suspense feels forced, and there were moments in this book where I felt like even the characters themselves were bored with what was going on. If they're bored, I'm probably going to be too. I wouldn't call this book suspenseful, but it's still a decent read. I wanted the best for the characters and the resolution was fulfilling as the reader. However, there was so much buildup that I felt it was over all too quickly. I would recommend to a friend.
    • 3/5
      It had some potential in the characters, but all-in-all not a great book. Unbelievable story line, out of character plot twists. Too bad.
    • 4/5
      This was a quick read. The writing was okay, there were even some places where it stood out, but others where it dragged a bit. The story is interesting. The main character, a suburban mom, has suffered a brain injury and is now recovering from her addiction to painkillers. How she perceives herself and how others think of her, is mostly what the story revolves around. There are some interesting, although a bit predictable plot twists. I would recommend it as a quick read, the beach maybe?