First Lie Wins: The No. 1 bestselling gripping thriller with THAT TWIST YOU DIDN'T SEE COMING

Provided by Headline Publishing Group alongside The Reading Agency.

‘First Lie Wins’ is a book full of aliases, deceptions and double crossings. It was a run away success in the United States and featured in the New York Times bestsellers list. With this in mind, I had high expectations of an entertaining and suspenseful read.

Evie Porter is one of the assumed names of the financially embarrassed protagonist who, on behalf of her corrupt and shady agent, Mr. Smith, weaves her way slyly into the life of a good looking businessman pending further instructions. The reader soon discovers that Evie’s fictitious relationship with Ryan is developing beyond the state of neutrality demanded of her role. At the same time, details of Evie’s previous dishonest undertakings for Mr. Smith and her other pseudonyms are gradually disclosed. Disconcertingly encountering another trickster bearing a strong visual resemblance to herself and then finding herself embroiled in a murder investigation, Evie suspects that she is being framed. Is she really a victim or simply a perpetrator? What will her fate ultimately be?

For me, Elston’s plot was at times overcomplicated and convoluted resulting in my being somewhat bamboozled. I also found it difficult to like or have any empathy for the primary characters. However, it was overall a quick and acceptable read. It should in my opinion appeal to crime fiction fans who appreciate added twists and turns en route to the denouement.

Evie is an enigma who, in one sense, doesn’t really exist. The character “playing” Evie adopts different identities to suit her circumstances. In her current role she appears to have everything going for her – a wonderful boyfriend, a nice house and a group of good friends. This is the story of how this all pans out.

This is arguably one of the most gripping books I’ve ever read. I finished it in 3 days which, being a slow reader who reads every word, is unheard of for me. It is a complex plot with plenty of twists and turns. Often the creative thought involved in manufacturing these scenarios just astounds me and I wonder how authors manage to dream up these convoluted situations – obviously a superpower that I have not been endowed with.
Meticulous planning is one of Evie’s strong points. Often you only find out later on that some of her earlier behaviour on a mission was part and parcel of that planning. It really is very cleverly worked out.

However, despite the list of things that are outstanding about this book, there were a number of negative issues.
Evie, the main character is very under-developed. I never really felt that I got to know her as a person and, what I did know, I didn’t particularly like. She seems more like an automaton than a real person. Devon, on the other hand is not really given any character either, but this lack of personality has a tendency to shroud him in intrigue – a character who we are intentionally kept from getting to know.
I found all the different persona from Evie’s previous lives a little confusing.
Also, I did not always see the point of what she had been asked to do on her various missions, nor did she always seem to carry it out very successfully, despite her claims to the contrary.
One thing I found disappointing is that Evie was not capable of achieving most of her success alone. Devon, a sidekick that she recruits early on in her somewhat dubious career, seems to be an essential part of it, probably even the greater part of it, yet he remains very much a background character.

I found it difficult to rate this book because, despite the fact that I found it utterly gripping, I was vaguely aware while reading it that there were some things that didn’t quite work. It was only when I came to writing this review that I realised how long this list of flaws actually was. However, I can’t deny the fact that I was hooked throughout so have plumped for four stars.

Apparently this is Ashley’s adult debut (she has previously only written YA books) so unfortunately I can’t go and read her other books for adults. If I could, I would. It is a very gripping thriller, which is flawed in so many ways yet none the less compelling for that.

It’s rare for Oundle Crime to be able to read the same book, so we felt lucky to be chosen by Hachette and the Reading Agency to receive copies of this to read and review. Previously, Elston has written Young Adult fiction, and this is her first novel for adults. Perhaps not surprisingly, none of us had read anything by her before, but this novel was described as “smart and sharp, fast-paced and twisty” by bestselling author Megan Miranda, and that was a good enough recommendation for us!

The protagonist is Evie Porter, a young woman who lives with her boyfriend Ryan in a small town in North Louisiana and seems to be enjoying a very happy life. But the reader knows something isn’t right, because in the opening chapters Evie relates how she met Ryan and how quickly their relationship developed. It sounded contrived, because it was.

As Evie is beginning to settle into her new life, she meets one of Ryan’s childhood friends, James Bernard and his new girlfriend, Lucca Marino. And that’s when the shocks start coming, because Lucca Marino is Evie Porter’s real name and the woman she meets is a complete stranger. All this happens in the first fifty pages and you quickly learn the essential whys and wherefores – that Evie is in town at the behest of her boss, Mr Smith, with the aim of bringing down Ryan.

From this point the story is told in two timelines – present day, and ten years earlier when the real Lucca (Evie) begins to work for Mr Smith. Back then Lucca was a reasonably successful small-time thief, but a run-in with Smith changed all that. Now she works when and where he tells her and too much water has gone under the bridge for her to walk away, even though she’d like to, now that she’s met and fallen in love with Ryan. How Evie extricates herself from all this is a twisty, enjoyable story that keeps you on your toes.

Our verdict
Okay, let’s start by saying one of our number didn’t read past page 97 and really disliked this book. Two more read it, but didn’t enjoy it. The rest of us, however, thought it was great and even a little surprising.

The story is cleverly plotted, giving you enough information to keep you on your toes and wanting more. In the early part of the book, you have to take a few leaps of faith in relation to Evie being quite so clever, but as you read, it seems logical that she is. She’s a likeable anti-heroine. A thief, but someone who knows the difference between right and wrong, can think on her feet and understands the value of meticulous planning. It’s an interesting mix.

All the characters are lightly drawn, so they are difficult to visualise (even Evie), but in the end we decided this wasn’t an essential requirement for this sort of book. That was partly because the plot is really driven by the looming presence of the mysterious Mr Smith … the man who pulls all the strings and has Evie well under his thumb. He is almost a caricature of evil, completely ruthless and not someone you’d want to cross – exactly what this story called for.

Evie has never met her boss, Mr Smith, but has to find out who he is if she’s ever to escape. Over the years she’s come to know another of Smith’s employees, an IT specialist called Devon (who becomes more important as the story progresses) but otherwise Smith has done a remarkable job of keeping everyone apart. The final unmasking of Mr Smith is handled well, with a few measured clues dropped into the story at just the right moments.

As the story goes back and forth the pieces of the puzzle are slowly revealed. You learn more about Ryan, and why he was being targeted by Smith; and more about Evie and how she got enmeshed in Smith’s business operation. It’s not long before you are as keen to see Smith destroyed as Evie is, which is one of the reasons you keep turning the pages.

At the end of the day, we thought this was a really enjoyable, twisty thriller. There’s lots going on and the story pulls you in quickly and doesn’t let you go. Our majority view was that it was great fun to read and we’re happy to give it 4 Stars.
Review by: Oundle Crime