First Lie Wins
Reese's Book Club Pick (A Novel)
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4.3 • 4.4K Ratings
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- $14.99
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
REESE’S BOOK CLUB PICK | #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
“This fast-paced read has everything you could want in a thriller: secret identities, a mysterious boss and a cat & mouse game that kept me guessing the whole way through.”—Reese Witherspoon
Evie Porter has everything a nice, Southern girl could want: a perfect, doting boyfriend, a house with a white picket fence and a garden, a fancy group of friends. The only catch: Evie Porter doesn’t exist.
The identity comes first: Evie Porter. Once she’s given a name and location by her mysterious boss Mr. Smith, she learns everything there is to know about the town and the people in it. Then the mark: Ryan Sumner. The last piece of the puzzle is the job.
Evie isn’t privy to Mr. Smith’s real identity, but she knows this job will be different. Ryan has gotten under her skin, and she’s starting to envision a different sort of life for herself. But Evie can’t make any mistakes--especially after what happened last time.
Because the one thing she’s worked her entire life to keep clean, the one identity she could always go back to—her real identity—just walked right into this town. Evie Porter must stay one step ahead of her past while making sure there’s still a future in front of her. The stakes couldn't be higher--but then, Evie has always liked a challenge...
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
There’s no job security when your career is blackmail. Evie Porter meets the handsome, wealthy Ryan Sumner when he helps her change a flat tire. He has no idea that Evie works for an underground syndicate that targets rich people with something to hide—like Ryan’s illegal business fencing stolen luxury goods. But there’s something Evie doesn’t know as well: Ryan has connections to her boss. Already a titan of YA fiction, author Ashley Elston makes her grown-up debut with this entertaining, cutthroat game of cat and mouse and a protagonist with so many alter egos she’s like a hundred heroines in one. If you love puzzles—especially ones that are hard to crack—don’t pass up First Lie Wins.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The anonymous narrator of Elston's ingeniously plotted adult debut (after the YA novel 10 Truths and a Dare) has long relied on charm and physical strength to complete a string of lucrative, increasingly dangerous missions from her mysterious boss. For her latest assignment, as in the past, she's been given a fresh identity ("Evie"), a destination, and the name of her mark, about whom she's supposed to learn everything and await further instructions. But the closer Evie gets to hunky Louisiana financial adviser Ryan Sumner—before long, she's his full-time girlfriend—the more unusual this job seems. Things get especially bizarre when one of Ryan's oldest friends shows up with a date who looks nearly identical to Evie and introduces herself by Evie's actual name. Might Evie's boss be setting her up? Is Ryan in on it? With the clock ticking, Evie and her MIT dropout/computer whiz sidekick, Devon, scramble to unravel what's really going on. Though a few plot elements, particularly those concerning Devon's hacking feats, strain credibility, Elston whips up plenty of suspense and delivers a satisfyingly serpentine finale. This promises more good things from Elston to come.
Customer Reviews
Great read
At first it was a slow start but about a quarter of the way in I couldn’t put it down!
Really bad
Not believable, really ridiculous and cheesy.
A total TEN
If you are looking for both an incredibly thoughtful, smart plot and the unraveling of it, then this book is for you. If you want an intelligent and satisfying protagonist (with +++ as a female), then this book is for you. If you are looking for a first-chapter page turner in a thriller that also happens to speak to morality and second chances, then start with the sample and you’re going to have your next read locked-in.
I’ve never actually taken the time to write out a review ever - even on Amazon or anything. But this book is GOOD because so many boxes are checked, apart from being an amazing story overall.
I don’t even gravitate toward series, but I sure hope this isn’t the last installment of this thoughtful, original story and its characters.