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dlight's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
lilyraiti70's review against another edition
4.0
Happy Publication week to this wonderful book.
I have to admit, this is my first book by this author. Now, I am totally hooked and look forward to reading her backlist, as well as wait in anticipation for what she brings out next.
From the bestselling author of Six Minutes and The Good Teacher comes a compelling family drama of marital secrets and family tensions set within an investigation of sinister unsolved killings.
What if your search for the truth puts your family at risk?
Swipe for synopsis
A brilliant, Aussie domestic noir! Set in the fictional town of Kinton Bay on the NSW coast, we follow a community looking for answers, both to an unsolved murder twenty years earlier and to the towns violent colonial past. Highlighting Australian history and the injustice of Colonialism.
There’s just so much to love about this book. So cleverly written, I suspected everyone, only to find out I was so far off base. This author has a way of creating authentic, twisty scenes, with sharp, short chapters, you’re swept along, greedily inhaling all the mystery and drama.
A wonderful added surprise to me, was the undercurrent of a range of contemporary issues. The strength of community comradeship, political corruption, intergenerational trauma, sexual assault, environmental activism, gay hate crimes (particularly in the 80s). All these (and I’m sure there are many I’ve missed) are seamlessly woven into an exceptional psychological thriller.
Out tomorrow! Do yourself a favour and grab yourself a copy!
Many thanks to the wonderful team at @allenandunwin for my advanced reading copy.
I have to admit, this is my first book by this author. Now, I am totally hooked and look forward to reading her backlist, as well as wait in anticipation for what she brings out next.
From the bestselling author of Six Minutes and The Good Teacher comes a compelling family drama of marital secrets and family tensions set within an investigation of sinister unsolved killings.
What if your search for the truth puts your family at risk?
Swipe for synopsis
A brilliant, Aussie domestic noir! Set in the fictional town of Kinton Bay on the NSW coast, we follow a community looking for answers, both to an unsolved murder twenty years earlier and to the towns violent colonial past. Highlighting Australian history and the injustice of Colonialism.
There’s just so much to love about this book. So cleverly written, I suspected everyone, only to find out I was so far off base. This author has a way of creating authentic, twisty scenes, with sharp, short chapters, you’re swept along, greedily inhaling all the mystery and drama.
A wonderful added surprise to me, was the undercurrent of a range of contemporary issues. The strength of community comradeship, political corruption, intergenerational trauma, sexual assault, environmental activism, gay hate crimes (particularly in the 80s). All these (and I’m sure there are many I’ve missed) are seamlessly woven into an exceptional psychological thriller.
Out tomorrow! Do yourself a favour and grab yourself a copy!
Many thanks to the wonderful team at @allenandunwin for my advanced reading copy.
mandylovestoread's review against another edition
5.0
What a fantastic Aussie crime book! I have read and enjoyed Petronella McGovern's previous books and enjoyed them. I think The Liars might be my new favourite of hers. It was a long books at over 400 pages, but it was so enjoyable that it didn't feel it.
Set in a coastal NSW town, 4 hours from Sydney, The Liars has so much happening at any one time. Kinton Bay is just starting to recover from COVID Lockdowns and the tourists are coming back. The whales are back and businesses are starting to make money again. So when 15 year old Sienna Britton and her friend Kyle find a human skull at the caves in Wrecking Point, nobody is very pleased. Especially as she posted a video on her You Tube channel and it starts to go viral. She believes it is from the towns colonial past, but the adults know that it is more likely to be one of the people that have gone missing from the town over the last 20 years. Her parents are worried that their pasts are going to be exposed, secrets that they have kept, even from each other, for 20 years.
But Sienna will not give up. She believes that their town was founded by a man who attacked and killed Aboriginal men and women and he should not be seen as a hero. the more she investigates, the more danger her family are in. Her mother, the reporter, discovers that the cases of these missing people have not been investigated as thoroughly as they should have been.
It is a small town murder mystery that will have you hooked. Told from multiple points of view and time periods, the story of Kinton Bay is a toxic and dark one, full of secrets and lies. You don't want to miss it.
A big thank you to Allen and Unwin for sending me an advanced copy of this book to read. Publishes in Australia, August 30th. Add it to your TBR now.
Set in a coastal NSW town, 4 hours from Sydney, The Liars has so much happening at any one time. Kinton Bay is just starting to recover from COVID Lockdowns and the tourists are coming back. The whales are back and businesses are starting to make money again. So when 15 year old Sienna Britton and her friend Kyle find a human skull at the caves in Wrecking Point, nobody is very pleased. Especially as she posted a video on her You Tube channel and it starts to go viral. She believes it is from the towns colonial past, but the adults know that it is more likely to be one of the people that have gone missing from the town over the last 20 years. Her parents are worried that their pasts are going to be exposed, secrets that they have kept, even from each other, for 20 years.
But Sienna will not give up. She believes that their town was founded by a man who attacked and killed Aboriginal men and women and he should not be seen as a hero. the more she investigates, the more danger her family are in. Her mother, the reporter, discovers that the cases of these missing people have not been investigated as thoroughly as they should have been.
It is a small town murder mystery that will have you hooked. Told from multiple points of view and time periods, the story of Kinton Bay is a toxic and dark one, full of secrets and lies. You don't want to miss it.
A big thank you to Allen and Unwin for sending me an advanced copy of this book to read. Publishes in Australia, August 30th. Add it to your TBR now.
thelifeoflaura's review against another edition
3.0
A wife burning with resentment. A husband hiding the past. Their teenage daughter crusading for the truth. Who can we trust?
The close-knit community of Kinton Bay is shocked when fifteen-year-old Siena Britton makes a grisly discovery near a cave in the national park. Siena believes it's a skull from the town's violent colonial past and posts a video which hits the news headlines.
None of them foresees the dangers that the discovery will create for their family. The dangers of past deceits, silences and lies that have never been resolved.
A really interesting read. On the surface it just seems like an intriguing thriller on an event that happened in the past, but underneath there were lots of different events at play.
While I did enjoy reading it, I did feel, at times, that there was a lot going. There was the history with Meri and Rob and what went on when they were kids, what was happening with their friends and the mystery of missing boys. Then there is Siena and her design to explore the history with her friends grandmother, trying to raise awareness for the traditional people of the land. Along with some other stories.
It flowed really nicely and each of the story lines were interesting, I just found I couldn’t settle in quite as much as I would’ve liked to.
The close-knit community of Kinton Bay is shocked when fifteen-year-old Siena Britton makes a grisly discovery near a cave in the national park. Siena believes it's a skull from the town's violent colonial past and posts a video which hits the news headlines.
None of them foresees the dangers that the discovery will create for their family. The dangers of past deceits, silences and lies that have never been resolved.
A really interesting read. On the surface it just seems like an intriguing thriller on an event that happened in the past, but underneath there were lots of different events at play.
While I did enjoy reading it, I did feel, at times, that there was a lot going. There was the history with Meri and Rob and what went on when they were kids, what was happening with their friends and the mystery of missing boys. Then there is Siena and her design to explore the history with her friends grandmother, trying to raise awareness for the traditional people of the land. Along with some other stories.
It flowed really nicely and each of the story lines were interesting, I just found I couldn’t settle in quite as much as I would’ve liked to.
theresey01's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
tasmanian_bibliophile's review against another edition
4.0
‘They didn’t talk about the cave in Wreck Point National Park. No-one did.’
The small Australian town of Kinton Bay is shocked when fifteen-year-old Siena Britton finds a human skull in the national park. Siena believes that it is a skull from the town’s violent colonial past and wastes no time posting a video which hits the news headlines. Her parents, Meri and Rollo, are less certain. They remember a classmate went missing after a party in 1998. Meri, concerned to protect her children, has a location application on their phones. This gives Meri a sense of security, but it may not protect either Siena or her twin brother Taj.
As the past makes its way into the present, the local police revisit several missing person cases. Further grim discoveries have the town on edge: have multiple murders been committed? And by whom?
Ms McGovern’s latest novel takes us into a community at war with itself over differing views of history and exposes some toxic secrets. Siena’s desire to expose tragic events of the past puts both her and her family in danger.
Contemporary Australian crime fiction with a twist. I could not put it down. Highly recommended. My thanks to Better Reading Preview for an advance reading copy.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
The small Australian town of Kinton Bay is shocked when fifteen-year-old Siena Britton finds a human skull in the national park. Siena believes that it is a skull from the town’s violent colonial past and wastes no time posting a video which hits the news headlines. Her parents, Meri and Rollo, are less certain. They remember a classmate went missing after a party in 1998. Meri, concerned to protect her children, has a location application on their phones. This gives Meri a sense of security, but it may not protect either Siena or her twin brother Taj.
As the past makes its way into the present, the local police revisit several missing person cases. Further grim discoveries have the town on edge: have multiple murders been committed? And by whom?
Ms McGovern’s latest novel takes us into a community at war with itself over differing views of history and exposes some toxic secrets. Siena’s desire to expose tragic events of the past puts both her and her family in danger.
Contemporary Australian crime fiction with a twist. I could not put it down. Highly recommended. My thanks to Better Reading Preview for an advance reading copy.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
shelleyrae's review against another edition
4.0
“They never talked about the cave in Wreck Point National Park. No-one did.”
From Australian author Petronella McGovern comes her third gripping novel of psychological drama and suspense, The Liars.
On the outskirts of Kinton Bay, hidden in the dense bush of Wreck Point National Park, lies the Killing Cave. In recent decades it’s served as a haven for teenagers looking for somewhere to party but 15 year-old Siena Britton is determined that its history as a site of an unrecorded massacre of First Nations families by shipwrecked colonists who then went on to found the town, be acknowledged and reclaimed. When she and her boy friend Kyle, discover a skull near the cave’s entrance Siena is certain she’s found proof and uploads a video to ensure the tragedy can’t be swept under the carpet, sparking the concern of her parents and the wrath of the town.
Unfolding from the perspectives of Siena, her parents Meri and Rollo, local DCI Douglas Poole, and an anonymous killer, The Liars is a layered novel that explores family secrets and community tensions as a murderer stalks the town.
Siena’s mother, Meri, isn’t sure what upsets her more, the fact that Siena has been to the Killing Cove, the site of her own adolescent regrets, or that her daughter’s activism highlights the compromises she has made in her own journalistic career. Meri is a complex character with unresolved issues from her past that affects many aspects of her present.
Rollo understands when the local business owners complain that Siena’s crusade could affect the tourist trade they rely on, his own whale watching company is struggling to recover after the pandemic, but he is worried that the skull his daughter has found could be a threat to more than just his livelihood.
DCI Poole’s perspective centres the investigation to identify the skull, the subsequent questions it raises about the fate of four missing persons, and the concern that Kinton Bay is home to a serial killer.
I enjoyed the development of the mystery, or more properly mysteries, since there is more than one secret exposed, and more than one murder to be solved. McGovern’s plotting and pacing is well thought out, and distracted by several red herrings, I didn’t guess the identity of the anonymous character for some time.
Exploring themes of regret, resentment and revenge, McGovern raises a number of issues in The Liars including the whitewashing of Australian history, corruption, media bias, homophobia, and violence against women, which the author handles with realism and sensitivity. She also touches on themes of identity, family and friendship, which are also reflected in the information about whales that introduces the five sections of the novel.
With its intriguing mysteries, complex characters and thought provoking contemporary themes, The Liars is a compelling read.
From Australian author Petronella McGovern comes her third gripping novel of psychological drama and suspense, The Liars.
On the outskirts of Kinton Bay, hidden in the dense bush of Wreck Point National Park, lies the Killing Cave. In recent decades it’s served as a haven for teenagers looking for somewhere to party but 15 year-old Siena Britton is determined that its history as a site of an unrecorded massacre of First Nations families by shipwrecked colonists who then went on to found the town, be acknowledged and reclaimed. When she and her boy friend Kyle, discover a skull near the cave’s entrance Siena is certain she’s found proof and uploads a video to ensure the tragedy can’t be swept under the carpet, sparking the concern of her parents and the wrath of the town.
Unfolding from the perspectives of Siena, her parents Meri and Rollo, local DCI Douglas Poole, and an anonymous killer, The Liars is a layered novel that explores family secrets and community tensions as a murderer stalks the town.
Siena’s mother, Meri, isn’t sure what upsets her more, the fact that Siena has been to the Killing Cove, the site of her own adolescent regrets, or that her daughter’s activism highlights the compromises she has made in her own journalistic career. Meri is a complex character with unresolved issues from her past that affects many aspects of her present.
Rollo understands when the local business owners complain that Siena’s crusade could affect the tourist trade they rely on, his own whale watching company is struggling to recover after the pandemic, but he is worried that the skull his daughter has found could be a threat to more than just his livelihood.
DCI Poole’s perspective centres the investigation to identify the skull, the subsequent questions it raises about the fate of four missing persons, and the concern that Kinton Bay is home to a serial killer.
I enjoyed the development of the mystery, or more properly mysteries, since there is more than one secret exposed, and more than one murder to be solved. McGovern’s plotting and pacing is well thought out, and distracted by several red herrings, I didn’t guess the identity of the anonymous character for some time.
Exploring themes of regret, resentment and revenge, McGovern raises a number of issues in The Liars including the whitewashing of Australian history, corruption, media bias, homophobia, and violence against women, which the author handles with realism and sensitivity. She also touches on themes of identity, family and friendship, which are also reflected in the information about whales that introduces the five sections of the novel.
With its intriguing mysteries, complex characters and thought provoking contemporary themes, The Liars is a compelling read.
indoorg1rl's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This book was so rich and multi-layered, I couldn’t help but immediately charmed by it from the first page.
Fifteen-year-old Siena Britton found a skull at a secluded place the locals called the Killing Cave, which she believed to be part of the remains from the town’s violent colonial past. Her parents, Meri and Rollo, weren’t so sure as their classmate went missing in 1998 after a party at the same cave. Siena’s discovery opened up old secrets, and soon she and her family were in danger.
Despite being set in a rural town, the story in this book was far from being idyllic. Siena, as a teenager, was so alert and observant; she was full of desire to expose the injustice that was brought upon the Aboriginal community by the town founders.
I loved how Siena’s outspokenness were so in contrast with her mum, Meri, during her teenage years. The multi-generational storytelling was exceptional, and I thought it was so clever that the mature characters in the book were portrayed to revert back to their teenage-self way of speaking when confronted by their abusers, implying that past trauma had the power to transport people back to a darker time when they felt small and helpless.
The ending left me (and I’m sure, many other people) unsettled, but I wasn’t too annoyed by it. It put me into a state of contemplation, for sure.
All in all, this was a rare example of a book that ambitiously tackled so many prominent topics at once, and was successful at it.
Thanks to Allen & Unwin for a #gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.