Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Review #74: The Lies we Told by Diane Chamberlain

Title: The Lies We Told
Author: Diane Chamberlain
Genre: Women's Fiction
Publisher: Mira Books
Format: Autographed copy from BEA!
ISBN: 978-0-7783-2853-7
Price/Pages: $13.95/374

My Description:

Maya and Rebecca Ward are sisters; both physicians and accomplished in their respected fields. Outside of that they are different as night and day. Maya is cautious, reserved, thoughtful and kind. Rebecca is a fierce, thrill seeker who never feels settled. An accident years before as teenagers left their parents dead and Rebecca the hero for saving Maya.

Rebecca's focus as a physician is to help disaster sights all over the world and bring relief to the survivors. It keeps her pulse pumping and she knows she is doing good. Maya's husband volunteers on one of the missions in an effort to give back to the community.
While helping, he convinces Maya to come out and help as well. Hoping to save her troubled marriage, Maya reluctantly agrees.

When she agrees she find herself immersed in the care of the devastated victims. A few short days after arriving, Maya takes a helicopter ride to a crash site to help and it goes down.
A search begins but she is never found.

Rebecca and Adam are left to pick up the pieces of their lives and move on without Maya. They turn to each other for comfort not knowing that Maya did survive and is being held in captivity with people she is unsure she can trust.


My Review:

Okay, so you are probably thinking. Wow, that's awfully dramatic! And yes, it is and it's a bit difficult to sum it all up without giving anything away. Trust me,I thoroughly enjoyed this book! My book club picked it out from my stack of BEA books. I was happy to read something from that pile and try something new! Knowing that Diane Chamberlain has written quite a few books, I was really excited to read this one.

It was extremely easy to get into, very absorbing. I would almost say a lighter version of Jodi Picoult! (no offense to either Picoult or Chamberlain) Chamberlain definitely could spin a tale and keep your interest. She dove into each character just enough that you felt for them and wanted them to turn out okay. But at the same time it had that soap opera appeal that was engrossing and tragic and heartwarming and romantic.

The book packs a punch with how much happens. It's not a "romance" though Mira it a part of Harlequin. It had mystery, thriller, and romance all wrapped up into one. No character was perfect or "the hero" or the damsel in distress. Each character was written realistically and flawed. I liked that. And SO much excitement and drama happens that I could not put it down!

Rating: 6 stars/ 6 stars
I'm giving it my all. For how much it surprised me and how much I enjoyed it, I really have to recommend it as a great read. Fast paced, dramatic, heart pounding, romantic and engrossing. You can't lose.

Book Club Note:
My book club meets tomorrow to discuss this one and so far, all the ladies that I have briefly talked to have LOVED it! So, go for it, book clubs, pick it up!

Author Profile:

Happy Reading and as always, thanks for stopping by!

red headed book child



9 comments:

Jenny said...

I have heard SUCH great things about this book and SUCH great things about this author, and your review definitely makes it sound like one I'd really like. I don't know why I haven't picked this one up to read yet!! I have it on my TBR... I need to read it soon. Great review!

Briana said...

This is going on my wish list within the next 30 seconds lol! Awesome review :)

Michelle (Red Headed Book Child) said...

Hey guys! Check out Diane Chamberlain on Facebook and "like" her. She linked my review on her page!

Stacy at The Novel Life said...

oh wow - 6 out of 6? i definitely have to get a hold of this one! it sounds like one of those that will keep me up into the early hours of the morning! great review!

Tales of Whimsy said...

Awesome review!

Marie Cloutier said...

Sounds like a winner! :-)

Peaceful Reader said...

This is a great review and I will add this book to my to-read list!

Priya Parmar said...

i have heard wonderful things about this book!

Sheila (Bookjourney) said...

Great review and I like that you gave it the book club plug. I will mention it to my group.