Review: The Five Year Lie by Sarina Bowen

The Five Year Lie

by Sarina Bowen

Pub: May 7, 2024

Genre(s): mystery, thriller, romantic suspense, contemporary

4.5 stars

GOODREADS

On an ordinary Monday morning, Ariel Cafferty's phone buzzes with a disturbing text message. Something’s happened. I need to see you. Meet me under the candelabra tree ASAP. The words would be jarring from anyone, but the sender is the only man she ever loved. And it's been several years since she learned he died.

Seeing Drew’s name pop up is heart-stopping. Ariel’s gut says it can’t be real. But she goes to the tree anyway. She has to.

Nobody shows. But the text upends everything she thought she knew about the day he left her. The more questions she asks, the more sinister the answers get. Only two things are clear: everything she was told five years ago is wrong, and someone is still lying to her.

The truth has to be out there somewhere. To safeguard herself—and her son—she’ll have to find it before it finds her. And with it, the answer to what became of Drew.

With a heart-stopping romance that only Sarina Bowen can execute, The Five Year Lie is a page-turning, spine-tingling thriller that will have you guessing until the very end.

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Ariel and Drew had a brief but intense romance several years ago. It ended abruptly when Drew left without a goodbye. Months later, Ariel learned of his death and while she tried to leave the past behind, she was still plagued with questions surrounding Drew’s sudden departure. Five years later, Ariel is a single mother, works at the same company where she met Drew, and raises her young son Buzz. Her life takes a sudden turn when she receives a cryptic text… from the man who died years ago.

As Ariel begins to question who Drew was and what really happened, truths begin to fray and unravel, and every answer leads to more questions. With help from a co-worker, Ariel begins to uncover disturbing undercurrents within the company founded by her father and uncle, unaware that every new discovery puts her in the crosshairs of someone willing to kill to keep their secrets.

As a longtime fan of Sarina Bowen, I was excited for her first foray into the mystery-thriller genre. Even from the prologue, which provided a tension-filled set-up, I was hooked. The more Ariel dug into her family’s tech company, which focused on doorbell surveillance cameras, the shadier things seemed. I loved Ariel’s determination to find answers and the dual timeline - present chapters from Ariel’s POV, past chapters from Drew’s - was the perfect way to dole out information to the reader. I had a blast developing theories and dismissing red herrings, but at the end of the day I was most invested in what happened to Drew. While the climax was executed faster than I may have liked, Bowen still delivered a thrilling and entertaining ride. The Five Year Lie is an exciting mix of thriller elements with a heavy dose of romantic suspense (and will leave you giving your doorbell camera some serious side-eye).

Have you read The Five Year Lie?