The Liar's Room

By: Simon Lelic

Narrated by: Laura Aikman, Nancy Carroll

Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

A new spine-tingling thriller from the author of The New Neighbors that takes place over the course of a therapy session in which neither patient nor therapist are who they claim to be.

Two liars. One room. No way out.

Susanna Fenton has a secret. Fourteen years ago, she left her identity behind, reinventing herself as a therapist and starting a new life. It was the only way to keep her daughter safe.

But when a young man, Adam Geraghty, walks into her office, claiming he needs Susanna's help but asking unsettling questions, she begins to fear her secret has been discovered.

Who is Adam, really? What does he intend to do to Susanna?

And what has he done to her daughter?

©2019 Simon Lelic (P)2019 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“This thrilling suspense novel will have you on the edge of your seat.... Be prepared to read this straight through. It’s very difficult to put down." (Suspense Magazine)

"You’ll try to outguess the plot but always be one step behind as the secrets and lies gradually unfold in ever more dark and disturbing ways” (CJ Tudor, Sunday Times best-selling author of The Chalk Man)

“A central theme of the book - How much is a parent responsible for a child’s behavior? - is presented in a thought-provoking way that will stay with readers long after the final twist. Hand this one to readers who enjoyed Lionel Shriver’s We Need to Talk about Kevin (2003).” (Booklist) 

4

Following the crowd, I'm going 4.
This held my attention pretty well, though I lost patience with some of the author's heavy handed attempts at building and keeping the suspense going.

Excellent

Great twists and turns and insight into damaged people who really didn’t mean to do harm. Jake needed serious help and then they might not have been there. I enjoyed wondering what and how it would resolve.

REALLY GOOD!!!

Now this is the stuff! Way to go Simon Lilac (author) and super narrators!!! Worth 2 credits although only cost 1 😘

excellent

hats off to the author for keeping the suspense going as the story unfolds,I thought I had it figured out but I was wrong. well worth the credit.

Wanted to compare to G. Flynn’s, but........

The Liar’s Room is the story of a counselor, Susanna, who is seeing a new patient named Adam. From the moment she sees him, she can’t help think that “she knows him.” Something about him is triggering something from her past, but she isn’t sure what it is.... once the session gets started, it becomes one of the most difficult and wretched experiences of her life, bringing up a past she is trying to hide and wondering what Adam has exactly done with her daughter, Emily.

In all honesty, this book is nowhere near as good as Flynn’s three novels; halfway through, I thought it was close, but something really bothered me in the story. I developed a huge issue with the author’s views on feminism and how the media seems to make woman the bad guy. It’s not true and irritated me, so I can’t compare it to Flynn, because there were flaws here. Flynn’s books made sense from every angle and there were quite a few issues with this one.

The story, overall, was very entertaining and I had such a good time with this it. The narrators were great and I had zero issues with them. I’m not sure which voice actor voiced which character, but Susanna’s narrator will receive an A from me and Emily’s is an A- since she didn’t do as much of the story. The story itself will receive a B+. Really good, but it’s not the best.

ANIMAL ABUSE

I will NEVER read this author’s work again. I LOVE my cats!!!!
ZERO STARS! Absolutely DISGUSTING!!!

Not my cup of tea

I quit reading when it started talking about killing animals. It was too much for me.

Well, this was a waste of a credit!

Trigger warnings should accompany this offering: Rape, bullying, brutal treatment, depression. “The Liar’s Room” was one of the most distressing offerings in my vast Audible library. I read my notes incorrectly on author Simon Lelic (a mistake on my part). I keep an extensive list of EVERY audiobook with notes, narrators and authors to avoid, however, I should have clearly researched Lelic more extensively. I review each and every audiobook. I cannot say this is a mystery or thriller. I struggled through a brutally graphic scene and fast-forwarded through it. I barely finished this audiobook. The ending was ridiculous.