Tell Me: #MyLastLie by Ella Drummond @HeraBooks @drummondella1 @BOTBSPublicity

Happy new week to you all! Today’s post was supposed to come to you yesterday… I won’t bore you with details because it’s all about the book, but let’s say some things are very frustrating when they don’t go according to plan! (Yes, I’m pointing at you, WP schedule!!!!)

I would like to thank Sarah Hardy for inviting me to be part of this tour!

Title: My Last Lie
Author: Ella Drummond
Publisher: Hera Books
Date of publication: February 2019
Format: e-copy

New beginnings. Old secrets.
Theo and Pilar. The perfect couple.

Successful, beautiful and very much in love.
Until a year ago – and the tragedy that nearly tore them apart.
When their baby died, a part of them died with him.
Now they’re trying to rebuild themselves, moving to a stunning house in rural Cornwall.
But someone knows all their secrets – and will stop at nothing to disturb their fragile peace.

Theo and Pilar are about to learn that you can try to hide – but you can never outrun your past.

A unputdownable, gripping psychological thriller that will hook you until the final shocking twist. Fans of The Girl on the Train, Behind Closed Doors and The Wife Between Us will be captivated.   

My Last Lie reminded me that murders and blood are accessories in a thriller. You don’t need dead corpse to send shivers down my spine if you know what your doing. And Ella Drummond pushed all my buttons, keeping me in a bubble made of tension and secrets until the very last page…

The opening is a scene you might have lived yourself. A husband and wife, a work event, one leaving early. Nothing could help me foresee what was going to happen, or even how easily I would turn those strangers into characters I deeply care about.

Forward one year later. Same couple. Only now they are battered, fighting to build something new from the ashes of a life that destroyed in the blink of an eye. Ella Drummond doesn’t need many words for you to understand her protagonists and when I’d found that previous couple cute, my heart instantly ached for them when we met again. One day, your life is perfect, you are about to start a family, and the next, this bliss is taken away and your world is dark, foreign, and painful. Never maudlin or overdoing it, the author perfectly captures the aftermath of grief. The kind of grief that never truly disappears. The kind of grief that make you retreat from everything and everyone or make stupid decisions. That we get to follow Theo and Pilar one year after the loss of their baby doesn’t alleviate the impact of the night that changed their lives. Still reeling, but still together, the couple makes a fresh start in a new town and a new house, naively thinking that putting distance between them and their old selves will help. Typical coping method that I could relate to, and probably why I reacted so strongly to their feelings. You think another place is going to make things easier, but the scars are in you. You might not see them, but your mind remembers, no matter how far you go. Yet, I thought them strong and was glad they’d made the move.

I was even more glad (thought the word makes me sound cruel and heartless!) when I realized the author was subtly and beautifully using all those emotions to give Pilar and Theo such depth that the reader can connect with ease and enter their grey world. A world they both intend on turning into something more colourful again. They have been through a lot, and as I turned the pages, I recognized signs, I sighed at the hardships they’d overcome, absolutely absorbed by those different personalities and the love they have for each other.

I found those foundations to be perfect for the powerful and taut psychological thriller I was beginning to discover. When life beats you up, your behavior changes and it feels as if your edges are so raw that the slightest change of wind can knock you off. Ella Drummond takes those edges and, with master hands, puts Pilar at the center of a big house. A dream house for an artist, for a woman, for a new future. But big houses can hold big secrets, and day after day, Pilar notes some things. Misplaced photos, hidden places, and most of all, the feeling of being watched… Taken separately, those small things can mean nothing, but we all know that gut feeling that tells us something is wrong.

My Last Lie made me think of an earthquake. One big seismic move had the world go mad, but no one felt the tiny tremors following Pilar and Theo after the fact. Those earth shakes become stronger as our protagonists try to rebuild their lives, and it puts their love to the test more than once. Instead of peaks of adrenaline and action, My Last Lie ratchets ups tension with every day life events carefully forging a snowball that threatens to sweep away all the efforts Pilar and Theo make to create a new normal. I couldn’t help but feel the grains of doubt in my mind as I wondered if Pilar was truly to be believed. I admired some of their decisions and actions, I disagreed with some, but most of all, I couldn’t take my eyes of the big ominous cloud above their head. Or rather a string of clouds forming the word ‘secrets’ in big white letters. Because secrets eats you alive, and while you know something doesn’t add up with their new life, unresolved issues from the past are also playing the game. Oh, I loved dancing with this feeling of anxiety, and I welcomed the trepidation that came with it. Slow-paced but wonderfully written, Ella Drummond explores many subjects such as denial, guilt, forgiveness, loss, and fear, with an exceptional keen eye for detail that make the difference and puts My Last Lie above the usual psychological thrillers. Character-driven, the reader is invited to get the chills from inside and outside threats while studying closely how tragedy affects us.

My Last Lie is a frightening and gripping tale of love and loss, and their consequences…

Grab your copy on Amazon!

Ella Drummond recently signed a two-book deal with Hera Books. Her first psychological thriller, My Last Lie will be published in February 2019.

She lives with her husband on the island of Jersey and you can follow her on Twitter @drummondella1 and Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EllaDrummondWrites/

 

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