The scene is set, and Paul a high flying barrister is on his way home when he finds the house in darkness. He then searches for his wife and finds her sitting on the bed, covered in blood and a dead man in the bathroom.
After that it goes down hill rapidly, and I have no idea as to why he behaved in the way he did. Certainly my first reaction would not be to bury the body.
I didn't like any of the characters and I found the narratives difficult to follow at times.
This was a really terrible book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher in return for an honest review.

The book started with such potential -a husband comes home to a traumatised wife and a dead body in the bathroom. Add in the complexity that he has just been appointed a court judge and doesn't want to jeopardise his new job nor his wife's freedom and seemingly I was on to a winner. Unfortunately, this wasn't the case. There are some attempts to define the trauma and the stress that the couple is under after hiding their crime, but this was mostly as an attempt to drive the thin plot forward, and there was no nuanced exploration of the couple's reactions. This wasn't helped by the fact that halfway through the book, the character of Alice changed from being a traumatised victim into a want to be Gillian Flynn-esque vengeful wife determined to exact the punishment she feels her husband deserves. But this is poorly executed and doesn't really fit with what we already know of the couple. To further muddy the waters the police investigation into the crime takes up a few chapters but is so brief that it could have been removed from the book and I wouldn't have noticed.
I had guessed who the villain in the piece was quite early on but the resolution to this was unsatisfactory because the twists in the book were not really related to the initial crime.

Not one for me I'm afraid.

My thanks go to the publishers and Net Galley for the advanced copy in return for an honest review.

The First Lie is an addictive, page turning thriller with so many twist and turns you feel like you are on ride at the fairground.

This was a great psychological thriller about a couple: Paul and Alice.

I really enjoyed the narrative and it kept me on the edge of my seat trying to figure out what happened and why. I found the overall story really interesting and was not expecting the ending.

There were some parts of the story that were a little bit of a cliché but overall the story was really interesting.

I personally loved the fact that Paul was a judge. Although I didn’t really loved him as a character, I found that his job was quite interesting consider the setting of the book. At the beginning I really loved Alice’s character and actually couldn’t stop reading as I needed to figure out what would happen to her but I ended up having some very mixed feelings about her in the end.

I also found really interesting how little details in the book turn out to be important moments and overall it made it a really thrilling read.

Great suspense and mystery I would definitely recommend it to readers that enjoy psychological thrillers, albeit there were some parts of the story that I didn’t particularly enjoy!

A real thriller with all the twists and turns you would expect. Well written using first person and third person narratives it weaves its merry way towards a dramatic conclusion with just the right amount of twist in the tale. At times it can get a little confusing but stick with it its well worth it

#TheFirstLie #NetGalley
Utterly gripping read.
Alice and Paul are a happily married couple and share a house together. Their life was going perfect until one night. Paul stepped out of his car and found that no lights of his house were on. He got suspicious that something has happened to his wife. He goes inside the house and upstairs he found his wife in their bedroom ensuite. She was covered in blood and a corpse is in the tub. His wife was crying. He suggested her that they had to get rid of that body.
They hid the body, cleared the blood as if nothing has happened there.
Who was that man who was killed? Are Alice and Paul telling the truth? What was the first lie?
I loved Paul, Alice and Katherine characters. They're brilliant.
Narration of the story is flawless and kept me hooked from the first page.
Thanks to NetGalley and Orion Publishing Group for giving me an advance copy of this awesome psychological thriller.

#TheFirstLie #NetGalley
Truly orginal and compelling reading.
Have you ever done a murder and buried a body and then tried to hide your secret?
Meet Paul and Alice, a lovely couple who loves each other until one day when their lives changed forever because of a murder. His wife did a murder. Who was that man?
Read this amazing book to solve the mystery.
I loved Alice throughout the book.
Thanks to NetGalley and Orion Publishing Group for giving me an advance copy.

A tale of how lives can change in the blink of an eye. High flying Barrister Paul Reeve lives the almost perfect life with his wife Alice all that’s missing is a much longed for child to make their life complete. When Paul finally gets the promotion he has been working for as the youngest Judge on the circuit he is thrilled, that is until he arrives home one day to find a man has been murdered by Alice. She claims that he is an intr5uder and acted in self-defence. Paul goes into protective mode and he persuades Alice to help him get rid of the body and remove any trace of what’s happened. This decision not only affects their relationship but also their lives.

I found ‘The First Lie’ an easy read but must admit to getting a little frustrated towards the end with how the storyline of the characters went.

Thanks to Net Galley for the ARC, this is my own opinion of The First Lie.

I found this book quite readable but the story was a bit dull and I had guessed the outcome before I got to it.

Oh, I so wanted to enjoy this book. I was excited to start it - man arrives home to find another man dead in his home and his wife covered in blood.
But, I'm afraid it didn't work for me.

There are elements that make this an OK read, in that there are short chapters written from different perspectives, somewhat maintained my interest. My biggest issue with the book is the lame main characters. The wife is just soo annoying! And a judge covering up a murder, really? Then there's the bodycount that keeps building. It just became unrealistic and not in a good way. For those who can get past the irritating characters and weird relationship between Paul and his wife, this is an OK read.

I'm grateful to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to preview, just, not one for me.

I'm afraid I found the characters unlikeable with unrealistic responses and the plot unsteady and unbelievable. The story did not flow well and jumped about right up to the meaningless ending.

This was a strange one for me, I'm unsure how to review if I'm honest.

Even though the blurb and actual storyline suggest otherwise, infiund this to be quite a lightweight read, great for a holiday being poolside!

Don't get me wrong, it was enjoyable, just an easy read that I suppose I was expecting to be a bit deeper and grittier.

I found the characters and plot unbelievable in all honesty and I didnt quite get the two police officers role within the story, they were unnecessary in my opinion.

Whilst the whole plot is completely and insanely crazy the ending was just too inconclusive, it needed to be wrapped up better, it felt that by this point the author was unsure of where to take it.

Overall a good book to pick up for a quick read but it's not one I'd recommend if like me you like to get your teeth into it!

2.5*

Thanks to netgalley and Orion Publishing for the ARC.

I wish to thank Orion publishing and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. I enjoyed this book about Paul and Alice Reeve. A well off couple who appear to have everything in life. Paul, a circuit court judge and his adoring wife, until one night Paul comes home to find Alice with a dead man. She has killed an intruder in self defense. They decide to get rid of all evidence of the man.Can they really move on fromThis, was this a random attack or is their lives destroyed. The plot got a little far fetched at times but the book kept me engaged until the last page. Worth the read.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and author for this ARC.

I thought this book was an ok read, just not very believable. I didn’t particularly like either of the main characters and felt their actions within the story were unrealistic. Sadly this was a book that didn’t wow me, and one where none of the twists in it surprised me. Towards the end I found myself losing interest. 3 stars

I don't really know how to write a review for this book; I feel quite confused about it. It seemed to me to be very much an American novel and I was always caught out when the different parts of London were mentioned.

It was an easy read and I can say I did quite enjoy it and think it would make a good, lightweight holiday read. Having said lightweight, the premise for the plot is in fact murder so that seems quite contradictive.

The descriptive passages were really well done BUT the whole plot and the characters were quite unbelievable. I can't believe that Paul and Alice would have reacted the way they did in the first instance, a man of his standing with so much to lose. He obviously did it to protect Alice but their relationship didn't seem to point that way at all. Above all else the two police officers were cardboard cut-outs and seemingly quite unnecessary to the plot.

Overall I guess it was a book that helped to pass a wet weekend.

I really enjoyed this book by A J Park. It’s an exciting thriller about a couple Paul and Alice who’s lives are thrown into turmoil when an intruder enters their home and is killed in self defence by Alice. As the couple try desperately to cope with what happened they get caught up in another murder investigation as Paul’s college friends seem to have all been killed by the same person. Is Paul in danger or is he responsible and why have all of these people been targeted. I was gripped.

I don't think this book stood a huge chance with me, because I just didn't buy into the initial premise. He's a *judge*. Not just in the legal system, not just a lawyer, he's an actual judge and I was pretty much shouting at the book after the first few chapters.
I decided to give it a chance, but Paul's character became more and more intensely unlikable, and I just didn't believe the relationship he had with his wife. The detectives are weird, side-characters who I think I was supposed to care about but they just seem ineffective and unnecessary to the plot, such as it is. The story veers about wildly in the final chapters, and in getting to the end my response was 'wait, what?!'
Paul was despicable. Alice was completely fruit loops. And the story made no sense. I think this author's writing style is really just not my cup of tea.

The First Lie is crazy. Absolutely batshit insane crazy.

I enjoyed this book but the relationship between Paul and Alice is lacking. There’s just something missing between them, I couldn’t believe they could trust in each other when their relationship seems to have lost its spark. The descriptions of the court were fantastic, written so well I could put myself in the building!

Maybe a few too many cliches for me but it’s worth picking up if you’ve read everything else.

Thanks to Orion Publishing Group and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Mmm. This is a difficult review to write. On the one hand this was quite an enjoyable read, yet on the other hand the scenario Alice and Paul found themselves in was completely implausible. Admittedly, it is possible that stressful situations lead to irrational decisions, but it maybe pushing the envelope too far when one of the main protagonists making that decision is a criminal barrister. I won’t elucidate any further the actions of the main protagonists along the rest of the story arc because this would entail revealing too much of the plot for a mere book review. Then there was the ending... too inconclusive for my liking. Whilst life is not necessarily wrapped up in neat little bundles, The author seemed to have lost direction by the final denouement. Nevertheless, if you can suspend reality for the sake of pure escapism, this could be the read for you.

The First Lie is the book that is impossible to put away. Mysterious characters and quick and mind taking plot will definitely keep everyone reading it in one go. Fully recommended!