"Oh, how I loved cheering for this naughty and murderous old woman, who is by all accounts atrocious! Samantha Dowling delivered a definite guilty pleasure with Too Old for This, a thriller where there's absolutely no question over who-done-it, but a dozen questions over whether she'll get away with it.

Lottie Jones is a retired serial killer, a woman who, in the height of her youth, left a trail of murders behind her. Now, she's in her mid-seventies and the physical strain of homicide has become too much for her — or so she thought, until an investigative journalist comes to her door, determined to dig into her past. This is a deliciously well-written story of a bad girl whose quick decision leads to a series of events that quickly spiral out of control. It's a train wreck that you just cannot look away from. Would you like a touch of homicide alongside your septugenarian bingo nights, church pot lucks, and old-age wisdom? Lottie's got you covered.

Thank you to NetGalley, Berkeley Publishing Group, and Samantha Downing for an advance copy of this novel for honest review. Hands-down, this is my favorite Downing novel to date."

"3.5 Stars
“Count My Lies” – A Twisty, Unputdownable Debut
Sophie Stava delivers an impressive debut with Count My Lies, a character-driven thriller that keeps readers on edge, constantly questioning what is true and what is fabricated.

The story unfolds through the eyes of Sloane Caraway, who makes it clear from the start: the truth is dull, so she embellishes it. Lying isn’t just a habit—it’s her way of making life more interesting. Living on the outskirts of wealth and privilege, Sloane longs for a lifestyle she can’t quite reach, and her boundary issues become apparent early on. Her compulsive lying, layered with hints of a troubled past, immediately places her in the realm of the “unreliable narrator,” adding to the novel’s intrigue.
At the start of the novel, Sloane is working at a nail salon while supporting her mother in Brooklyn. During a lunch break in the park, she notices a handsome man, Jay, with his young daughter. When the girl is stung by a bee and starts screaming, Sloane swoops in, claiming to be a nurse. From that moment on, her lies snowball. She simply cannot help herself. Some of her deceptions are unsettling; others are outright alarming. Stava forces the reader to consider the morality of lying—when is it harmless, and when does it become dangerous?

Determined to become part of the Lockhart family’s world, Sloane orchestrates a meeting with the girl’s mother, Violet, and soon worms her way into a nannying job. Stava crafts Sloane’s character with precision, making her both fascinating and deeply flawed. The tension builds as the reader wonders: is she a harmless fabulist or a calculated manipulator? And then the twists begin.
Deception is at the heart of this novel, making it an addictive page-turner where every character’s motives are suspect. Stava masterfully explores the gap between public personas and hidden realities. What we show the world isn’t always the truth—so what is?

Just as the reader starts to understand Sloane, the perspective shifts. Violet takes over as narrator, revealing her own reasons for crafting a carefully curated life. On the surface, she has everything Sloane wants—wealth, status, a seemingly perfect marriage. But as her story unfolds, it becomes clear that her privilege allows her to manipulate reality just as much as Sloane does, albeit in a more socially acceptable way.

At its core, Count My Lies is an exploration of trust—who can you believe when everyone is lying? As Sloane receives conflicting information from Jay and Violet, the reader is forced to re-evaluate everything previously assumed to be true. The cracks in the Lockharts’ picture-perfect marriage widen, exposing a tangled web of deceit.

Jay eventually gets his turn as narrator, adding even more complexity to the story. But in the end, it is Sloane who closes the book, cementing her place as one of the most compelling unreliable narrators in recent thrillers.

This debut is filled with so many twists that it becomes a compulsive read. Is it entirely believable? Probably not. Did I care? Not one bit—I was completely entertained.

I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Emily Tremaine, Devon Sorvari, and Andrew Eiden. Their performances added depth to the characters, making the nearly 11-hour experience even more immersive.

Count My Lies is an electrifying debut that will leave readers questioning the nature of truth itself.

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