None of This Is True
Fiction
Simon and Schuster
August 8, 2023
Hardcover
384
Purchased
Celebrating her forty-fifth birthday at her local pub, popular podcaster Alix Summers crosses paths with an unassuming woman called Josie Fair. Josie, it turns out, is also celebrating her forty-fifth birthday. They are, in fact, birthday twins.
A few days later, Alix and Josie bump into each other again, this time outside Alix’s children’s school. Josie has been listening to Alix’s podcasts and thinks she might be an interesting subject for her series. She is, she tells Alix, on the cusp of great changes in her life.
Josie’s life appears to be strange and complicated, and although Alix finds her unsettling, she can’t quite resist the temptation to keep making the podcast. Slowly she starts to realise that Josie has been hiding some very dark secrets, and before she knows it, Josie has inveigled her way into Alix’s life—and into her home.
But, as quickly as she arrived, Josie disappears. Only then does Alix discover that Josie has left a terrible and terrifying legacy in her wake, and that Alix has become the subject of her own true crime podcast, with her life and her family’s lives under mortal threat.
Who is Josie Fair? And what has she done?
My review:
I've read many of this author's work. I always find them to be an entertaining and fast read, but some stand out more than others. This was one of those books. It had lots of things that I enjoy in a thriller. It was fast paced with short chapters, had an engaging plot, had characters that you were not sure if you should believe them or not, and lots of twists and turns that occur throughout the book (rather than just at the end). I was very intrigued at the way things played out with these characters, particularly Josie's daughters and husband. There is just enough, but not too much, backstory to propel the plot along without dragging it down with too many superfluous details. The jaw dropping ending was the perfect finish to tie this story up in a big way! As always with Ms. Jewell, the writing is concise and the story flows seamlessly from Josie to Alix.
A great summer thriller that is well worth the read. I would be remiss on a Jewell review post if I didn't do my shoutout for my favorite of her books (that is NOT a thriller), The House We Grew Up In. As far as her thrillers go, this is one of my favorites.
One of my favorite authors! I have read all her books.