The First To Lie

By
Hank Phillippi Ryan

"Man is not what he thinks he is, he is what he hides."  Andre Malraux 

Hank Phillippi Ryan captured my attention right away as I read the prologue of this book.  There are some very interesting questions to ask yourself in these few short paragraphs.   Fascinating things to think about and "what ifs" that might happen if you could "start over" and become a different person.   It sounds like an easy or good thing to do but is it really?  You might be able to change your outer appearance but the inner you is always there. But "When the stakes are life and death, did a few lives matter?"   With this intriguing scenario and "All you have to do is lie." as the motivation, Ms. Ryan weaves a thrilling story that took me on a wild ride.  

The story revolves around three main characters.  Ellie, Nora and Meg.  Each one with an agenda that involves the Big Pharma company Pharminex, the Vanderwald empire,  and the miracle drug Monifan.  Just who are each of these characters and what are they after?  How are they connected to each other and why?  Ms. Ryan then adds characters and twists that had my head spinning.  She weaves and unravels and weaves some more and kept me guessing as each page was turned.   The schemeing, the lies, the deceitfully revenge driven characters had me all twisted up in a thrilling chesslike plot.  What I really liked was not knowing how this would all play out and kept me reading to the surprising end.  

I liked this passage from Alice in Wonderland Ms. Ryan used in the story.  For me it sums up the characters and the mystery surrounding them:

"I know who I was when I got up this morning, Alice had told the Caterpillar in her most favorite book, but I think I must have been changed several times since then.  I can't explain myself, I'm afraid, because I'm not myself, you see."  

This was a great read for me.  I love Ms. Ryan's writing style and her ability to put me into the "minds" of her characters.  I could feel her "investigative inquisitiveness" througout the book and kept thinking about how some of the scenario might have come from the Front Pages of real life events. Taking those situations and creating a thrilling, psychological mystery in "The First To Lie". 

I want to thank Netgalley and especially Ms. Ryan for the honor and privilege of reading her page turning novel.  All opinions and thoughts in this review are my sincere own.  This is a great read!