Liars, Inc.

by Paula Stokes

[shannonmiz]

4.5*

Obviously, books full of secrets (and, as the title suggests, lies) are going to be pretty tough to review. Because, um, you don't want me to tell you what happens. I mean, maybe you do, but I am not going to do that anyway, so just read the book!

I am not a huge fan of contemporary thrillers, to be honest. I kind of requested it on a whim, because it sounded unique, and I had heard amazing things about Paula Stokes. I am quite happy to report that this book did not disappoint! I don't know if I will be reading more thrillers because of it, but I sure will be reading more from Paula Stokes because of it!

Max has a big old problem in this book, and that is that Max is accused of killing his best friend Preston. So okay, not the best of days for our pal Max. Oh, and he just turned eighteen, so there's that extra special "adult charge" thing happening. Bad timing for Max (and Preston!). And to add to the mess Max is facing, he had lied about Preston's whereabouts (at Preston's request, so he could meet a girl), so he is just pretty much screwed.

Let's break things down, since I can't say much about the rest of the plot!

The Characters:

Max: Max is... an eighteen year old guy. Basically, that means he destined by biology to make some questionable decisions. That being said, he is a great character. He is very well written, and sympathetic, even when you want to smack him around for some dumb choice he made. Honestly, it made him seem incredibly realistic. You make a bad choice, and keep digging yourself in deeper and deeper until you don't know how to get out of it. Yeah, that's Max, in a nutshell. He's had an incredibly rocky childhood, filled with foster homes and orphanages, and you just want the kid to catch a break!
Parvati: I was always on the fence about her. One minute I liked her, the next I didn't, and the minute after that I was suspicious of her. And repeat. But her character absolutely worked in the story, even if I was always wary of her. She was written quite well, and she was just the perfect amount of shady for this type of book.
Preston: I loved that Preston and Max became friends, even if they had some shady side business of charging people for lies and cheats. Of course, then he goes missing and the police find the body so... yeah.
Everyone else: I loved Max's family. Loved. They adopted him as a teen, and he has three younger sisters. Max had such a soft spot for his younger sister, which was really sweet. The family understood that raising Max as an adopted teen would be hard, but they were there for him, and it was pretty great.
The Relationships:

Max and Parvati were a couple from before the start of the book, so there was no courting, or romantic shenanigans. Her parents basically despised Max, and they weren't allowed to see each other, so of course they took to shady encounters wherever the chance popped up. Preston was friends with them both, and they made quite the fun trio until Preston up and vanished. Preston and Parvati came from a world of success and prestige, and Max... did not. But that never seemed to bother either one of them as they befriended Max. I didn't always feel a huge connection between Max and Parvati, but they had been in this relationship for quite some time, so it's safe to assume they were past the "butterflies" phase.

As for Max and his family, the relationships were portrayed very realistically. Obviously, being adopted as a young teen is not the norm, and Max's relationship with his family were civil, but strained. But it was easy to see that his parents, especially his mom, would move heaven and earth for him, and it was incredibly sweet.

The Plot:

So I cannot say much about this, clearly. Hell, it was hard to say stuff about any of this book without giving stuff away! But it moves at a good pace, even though it isn't all action (which was great for me, as there was a ton of great character insight along the way) it is never, ever dull. And there were some fun, lighter moments throughout the book that really helped, since the tone of the book was obviously going to be dark with a murder investigation. The witty moments really broke up the tough stuff perfectly, there was just a fantastic balance.

I will say this: I was guessing the entire story, and I was not right ever. Well, I was all pleased with myself because I had a theory, and was sure I'd figured out the plot. Well, color me embarrassed, because nope. I mean, my theory was right, but it was this minor twistlet in a huge plot twist that basically blew my mind. It is simply one of those books that I couldn't put down because What happens next!? I didn't know who or what to trust, and it was such fun!

Bottom Line:

Liars, Inc is a perfect book if you are looking for a very well-written mystery that will absolutely satisfy with some fantastic plot twists, and very realistic characters. I am so glad I took a chance with it, as it is fun, witty, and absolutely twisty!

*I received a copy of this book for review*

This review was originally posted on It Starts at Midnight