Book Review: All the Beautiful Lies by Peter Swanson

3***

As a big fan of Swanson's two previous books, I was really excited about All the Beautiful Lies. The premise sounded simple enough, but I trusted that Swanson would use his ability to create a twisty, clever tale out of a seemingly unoriginal idea. In a way, I was not disappointed, because it certainly was twisted. Unfortunately, I just wasn't my cup of tea. There was no character with any charisma and even though it possessed the same compulsively readable quality as Swanson's other books, it didn't feel very clever. I was annoyed with Alice and Harry, who came across almost as caricatures and their actions were always predictable. I felt about this book a little like I felt about The Girl Before by JP Delaney. It didn't feel like the thriller I was expecting, rather a bit more sordid in the sense that I feel Swanson fell into the 'sex sells' trap. It was fast-paced, but ultimately not very satisfying or surprising. I will definitely read Swanson's next work, because I enjoyed his previous ones, but this one did not feel quite up to par, though I hate to give him a less than stellar review:-/