First Lie Wins

It’s not rare for me to like or even love a good thriller, but it’s been a hot minute since I’ve been this excited about one! Ashley Elston’s first foray out of YA and into the adult market with First Lie Wins shows that she knows how to please an audience, no matter their age!

Evie Porter is enjoying life, having just moved into her boyfriend Ryan’s home in a well-to-do neighborhood. She’s getting to know his tight-knit group of friends and they’re slowly warming up to her. All is going well, until an event that shakes her normally calm, cool and collected exterior and reminds her once again that whatever this life is that she’s living? It isn’t real.

How can it be when she doesn’t exist? “Evie Porter” does unique jobs for a man she’s never seen named Mr. Smith, and that’s simply the newest alias he’s given her. Little does her boyfriend know that he’s the new target. Unfortunately, this time she and the mysterious Mr. Smith may be at odds about their ultimate goals, and her life is about to get REALLY crazy!

That’s as much as I’m going to say about the plot. I recommend not reading the blurb - it says too much. The delicious part is letting those secrets and twists make their full impact!

What I loved, loved, loved about this book is that the writing is SMART. If you can just roll with this and not overthink the probabilities of the scenarios, it’s a fun, visceral ride watching Evie work through all the obstacles thrown at her - and boy, does she deal with some doozies! She’s resourceful, intelligent, and sly as a fox, yet has just enough vulnerability to make her a character you care about and root for. I was glued to the pages every moment I could be!

To me, this is such a visual book, so if you like movie thrillers, you’ll probably see the story play out in your mind’s eye. I know my first thought was: I want to see this movie!  As luck would have it, it’s being developed for film by Hulu, though I could also see it being perfect for a series. I’ll take either or both!

If you like a great cat-and-mouse, intelligently written, fun psychological thriller, look no further. I highly recommend it and am so happy to end 2023 with my favorite thriller of the year!

★★★★★ ❤️

Thanks to Pamela Dorman Books, NetGalley and author Ashley Elston for this digital ARC to honestly review. It’s available on January 2, 2024.