First Lie Wins - Ashley Elston

 

 “There’s an old saying: The first lie wins. It’s not referring to the little white kind that tumble out with no thought; it refers to the big one. The one that changes the game. The one that is deliberate. The lie that sets the stage for everything that comes after it. And once the lie is told, it’s what most people believe to be true. The first lie has to be the strongest. The most important. The one that has to be told.” 

Here is my first thriller book of the year, and I am...disappointed. I had high hopes for this one since I heard so many good things, but ultimately, this one was a dud. 

⭐⭐⭐

Started: February 2, 2024

Finished: February 13th, 2024

Synopsis: Evie Porter is a young Southern girl that seemingly has everything. A handsome boyfriend, a nice house and nice friends. The only thing she doesn't have, is a stable identity. Under the hand of Mr. Smith, Evie must don a new persona for each job she is handed and Evie is her latest. She must acquire some information or else her life is on the line and everything she has worked for. When a new friend comes to town with Evie's real name, Evie knows that everything will change. 

My Review (Spoilers): Just like I said in my opener, this thriller did not "wow" me. It had some promise in the first 1/3 of the book, setting up the town, the people, and our protagonist, Evie.  I was interested in the domestic setting of it all. When Ryan's friends meet Evie for the first time, I thought it was going to be Evie trying to "fit in" with Ryan's friends to keep up the looks of being his girlfriend. But then, it went almost nowhere. I thought there was going to be backstabbing, secrets between friends, and one of them finding out who Evie really was. But it isn't until Lucca Marino (Evie's real name) comes into the scene that this story turns from a domestic thriller to a spy/espionage novel. And this is where the story lost me. 

Once Lucca and Ryan's old time friend die in a car crash, the world opens up to all of Evie's coworkers who also work for Mr. Smith. The POV between chapters goes back and forth between Evie and her other aliases that she had over the years. I didn't mind this part as much, but again, it read more like a spy novel than a thriller that it was originally marketed as. 

Ultimately, when it came to the characters themselves, I felt nothing for them. Especially Evie. There was nothing in her backstory that made me feel bad for her or wanted to root for her during this entire escapade. When creating a dynamic character, you need to root for them in some way. Usually that happens with tragic circumstances. Yes, Evie's mother died from breast cancer which is a tragic thing. However, we don't have much connection with Evie and her mother in order to grasp their relationship and how much she meant to her. The only thing that Evie keeps repeating is her ability to have a "normal" life with a house and a white picket fence. It just seems like a very privileged backstory that doesn't resonate, at least, with me.

As the story continues, we start to learn more about Evie and her connections with a man named Devin--or Devon--(I listened to the audio, so I am unsure on the spelling). They have worked together on other missions before and they have a good camaraderie together. As they work to figure out Mr. Smith's true identity, the story turns into a spy novel. It wouldn't even be that bad if everything wasn't explained in hindsight. Evie tends to tell us how things "magically" work for her, the first time, every time. It just seemed unrealistic that these things always worked out for her and Devin/Devon the first time around.

Final Thoughts: This story had promise in the beginning. It was marketed as a general domestic thriller and I was all for it. But when the story pivoted into a convoluted spy-esque novel, the story completely lost me and I didn't care for the characters. If you are a fan of spy/espionage novels, then this might be for you.