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Never Tell a Lie Mass Market Paperback – December 29, 2009
Hallie Ephron (Author) Find all the books, read about the author, and more. See search results for this author |
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“[A] richly atmospheric tale. You can imagine Hitchcock curling up with this one.”
—USA Today
Author Hallie Ephron’s fast paced and disturbingly creepy Never Tell a Lie is a page-turning thrill ride that maestro Alfred Hitchcock would have been proud to call his own. A descent into gripping suburban terror, this stunner by the Ellen Nehr Award-winning mystery reviewer for the Boston Globe has been called “a snaky, unsettling tale of psychological suspense” by the Seattle Times. Fans of Mary Higgins Clark, Harlan Coben, and classic gothic mystery will adore this supremely suspenseful and consistently surprising story of a yard sale gone terribly wrong.
- Print length288 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherHarper
- Publication dateDecember 29, 2009
- Dimensions4.19 x 0.72 x 6.75 inches
- ISBN-100061567167
- ISBN-13978-0061567162
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Editorial Reviews
Review
“Lovers of classic mysteries will adore Hallie Ephron’s NEVER TELL A LIE . . . [A] richly atmospheric tale. You can imagine Hitchcock curling up with this one.” — USA Today
“A slick little study in malevolence . . . wrenching . . . What makes the book memorable is its sharp characterization of a woman tormented by possibilities that she doesn’t want to consider.” — Washington Times
“[A] page-turner with a Hitchcockian opener.” — Sacramento Bee
“[A] fast-paced, exceptional tale that’s likely to keep you quickly flipping pages until the wee hours of the morning.” — Lansing State Journal
“Stunning . . . Ephron doesn’t miss a searing beat . . . A surprise toward the end provides the perfect twist to this deliciously creepy tale of obsession.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“[A]n entertaining read with a strong ending and a great lead character in Ivy.” — Library Journal
“Hallie Ephron’s NEVER TELL A LIE is a great discovery, compelling and chilling and all too credible. Someone once coined the word unputdownable to describe a James M. Cain novel, and this is one of those rare books that actually meets that standard.” — Laura Lippman, author of the New York Times bestseller Another Thing to Fall
“NEVER TELL A LIE takes us into a totally familiar, sharply drawn, ordinary suburban world ― and then, like the best of Hitchcock, begins to turn the screws until the suspense becomes unbearable and you can’t stop reading until the last, ingenious twist.” — Joseph Finder, New York Times bestselling author of Power Play, Killer Instinct, and Paranoia
“Chilling, complex, and insidiously creepy. Hallie Ephron’s skilled storytelling produces the perfect suburban couple, then relentlessly twists their lives into distrust, deception, and danger. This compelling thriller proves: when secrets and lies fester into obsession, there’s no statute of limitations on revenge.” — Hank Phillippi Ryan, Agatha Award-winner and bestselling author of Prime Time
“Hallie Ephron keeps this exciting story whipping along while keeping the reader in delicious supense. Recommended to all lovers of suspense fiction.” — Anne Bernays
“Hallie Ephron’s NEVER TELL A LIE is a gripping, chilling, fast-paced psychological thriller, engrossing enough to stay with you long after you turn the final page. Truth be told, I’m still sleeping with the lights on!” — Claire Cook, bestselling author of Must Love Dogs and Wildwater Walking Club
“It’s impossible to combine ruthlessness, duplicity, a heinous crime and a heroic escape―if the protagonist is a 33-year-old woman nine months into a high-risk pregnancy. It’s impossible, unless you’re Hallie Ephron . . . You’ll hate to see this one end.” — Jacquelyn Mitchard, New York Times bestselling author of The Deep End of the Ocean and Cage of Stars
“NEVER TELL A LIE should come with a warning label: You will not play with your children, cook your dinner, or go to sleep once you start reading Hallie Ephron’s debut novel!” — Ann Hood, author of The Knitting Circle
“Reminiscent of Single White Female and the best of gothic thrillers, NEVER TELL A LIE delivers a tale about obsession, relationships and forgiveness. Ephron quickly builds a foundation of psychological terror that doesn’t let up until the last surprise twist.” — Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
“[A] snaky, unsettling tale of psychological suspense.” — Seattle Times
“Suburban noir has rarely been done with such psychological insight or plot-twisting suspense.” — Boston Globe
“The plot is as cleverly structured as one of Mary Higgins Clark’s, but Ephron’s writing is vastly better.” — First Things
From the Back Cover
It all started with the yard sale . . .
Eight months pregnant and nervous about the future, Ivy Rose doesn't recognize the woman approaching her and husband David as they attempt to rid themselves of the decades-worth of junk cluttering up their suburban home. The woman says she's Melinda White—their former high school classmate, now pregnant also—and asks if she might revisit the old Victorian house she recalls playing in as a child. David takes her inside. But Melinda never comes out.
With her husband a suspect in the bizarre disappearance and probable murder of the near-stranger he claims not to remember, Ivy must now dive into a deadly whirlpool of deceit, betrayal, and terrifying alternate histories in pursuit of a shocking truth—a truth that could destroy everything . . .
About the Author
Hallie Ephron is the New York Times bestselling author of Never Tell a Lie, Come and Find Me, There Was an Old Woman, and Night Night, Sleep Tight. For twelve years she was the crime fiction reviewer for the Boston Globe. The daughter of Hollywood screenwriters, she grew up in Beverly Hills, and lives near Boston, Massachusetts.
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Product details
- Publisher : Harper; 1st edition (December 29, 2009)
- Language : English
- Mass Market Paperback : 288 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0061567167
- ISBN-13 : 978-0061567162
- Item Weight : 4.8 ounces
- Dimensions : 4.19 x 0.72 x 6.75 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #1,062,666 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #3,738 in Assassination Thrillers (Books)
- #8,805 in Espionage Thrillers (Books)
- #14,646 in Psychological Thrillers (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

New York Times best selling author Hallie Ephron loves suspense, and her suburban-based thrillers draw you in and keep you turning the pages. She grew up in a Hollywood family of writers inn a household filled with books. Her parents wrote screenplays for classic movies like THE DESK SET. Hallie was the last of their four daughters (Nora, Delia, Hallie, Amy) to start writing or, as she calls it, succumb to her genes.
An Edgar Award finalist and a four-time finalist for the Mary Higgins Clark Award, her newest suspense novel, NIGHT NIGHT, SLEEP TIGHT (Wm. Morrow, 4/15), is inspired by Hallie's experiences growing up in a Hollywood family and by an infamous Hollywood murder. A STARRED review in Publisher's Weekly calls it a "captivating thriller." InStyle magazine ("enthralling") and Good Housekeeping (as "addictive" as Gone Girl) pick it as a top page turner for April. Bookreporter: "An extremely impressive work. The plotting and character development read as if they could have been transplanted from an unpublished Raymond Chandler novel."
Ms. Ephron's THERE WAS AN OLD WOMAN has become a book group favorite. Set in the Bronx in the with a view of the Empire State Building, Publishers Weekly called it "a touching novel of suspense. ... Ephron's portrait of the intimate details of the inescapable consequences of age and alcoholism is as gripping as any traditional mystery."
Her debut standalone NEVER TELL A LIE was turned into the movie "And Baby Will Fall" for the Lifetime Movie Network. In a starred review, Publishers Weekly called the novel "stunning," a "deliciously creepy tale of obsession." USA Today called it "Hitchcockian" and "unputdownable." It was nominated for the Mary Higgins Clark Award, and won the David Award for Best Mystery Novel of 2010.
In COME AND FIND ME (William Morrow) Ms. Ephron tells the story of a recluse who works and lives online must brave the "real world" when her sister goes missing. Booklist called it "A suspenseful tale of high-tech skulduggery that even low-tech readers will appreciate." It was also honored with a Mary Higgins Clark nomination.
Ms. Ephron She also co-authored five series novels featuring neuropsychologist Peter Zak under the shared pseudonym G. H. Ephron.
She is also a popular writing teacher. Her WRITING AND SELLING YOUR MYSTERY NOVEL: HOW TO KNOCK 'EM DEAD WITH STYLE received both Edgar and Anthony award nominations. She gives writing workshops at conferences across the country and is an award-winning book reviewer for the Boston Globe.
Hallie loves connecting with readers. She can be reached through her web site hallieephron.com.
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In the furor of the sale, with all the comings and goings, Ivy is stunned to see a woman, also pregnant, approach and identify herself as Melinda White, an old high school friend.
Ivy knows that they were barely acquaintances, that Melinda was always on the fringes...and that she had probably longed to be part of the crowd.
Suddenly Melinda is going inside the house with David, having asked for a tour, and Ivy is consumed with other yard sale details.
What happens next will be like a nightmare that unfurls and changes everything about the life they thought they had....and with each day that passes, their lives will be reshaped by the events of that day. For Melinda White has been reported missing, and nobody can fill in what happened after she went into the house with David. Not even David.
There was evidence, including a blood-stained outfit Melinda had been wearing, stashed at their curb in a trunk they had placed out there for garbage collection. Why did the neighbor, Mrs. Bindell, report that she had seen Ivy at the trunk? How did fetal tissue get on the clothing? And why is David's old friend Theo, who is also their attorney, acting suspicious?
Obsession, mental instability, and a very devious plan would all unfold, and as the suspense ratchets up another few notches, I was glued to the pages as it all started to make sense. Never Tell a Lie: A Novel of Suspense is a psychological thriller with characters I cared about...and an ending that I was eager to see. 5 stars.
The novel was enjoyable because it was fast paced and suspenseful. As the police investigate Melinda's appearance, it appears David may not really be the wonderful husband he seemed to be. The resolution was a little implausible, but it was a fun ride anyway.
The whodunit aspect is important, of course, and well done. But I figured out who done it (and some of why) long before the Secrets Were Revealed, and I still couldn't put it down. I couldn't wait to find out how she would figure it out, and how she would react, and most important -- I cared about her. If you couldn't care less about mysteries but enjoy vivid and intensely believable characterizations, you'll probably like this.
Just don't start reading this book unless you have time to finish it in one sitting. I found this more gripping than the best of Dick Francis, and he's one of my favorite authors.
Top reviews from other countries


The story is good, a woman comes to a yard sale and disappear after it without a trace. There is a connection to a couple expecting a child, soon one is suspected of murder...
Ok it doesn't sound so original, and you may have an idea of the plot, but so well written I couldn't stop reading. I highly recommend this book!

1 How come cops cdnt trace Melindas house?,her cell phone???
2 Now a days cctvs are everywhere ,how come not a single one here.
But writing style is very good...

