Count My Lies

Sloane can’t help herself—she’s a compulsive liar. When she sees a handsome man at the park helping his hurt daughter she immediately offers her services as a nurse. She’s actually a manicurist, but in Count My Lies this is just the first strand of a web she spins to get the life of her dreams.

From this seemingly unplanned meeting Sloane slowly insinuates herself in the life of the Lockhart family. Her realization that the handsome man is married only slows her trajectory a bit. She befriends the wife and gets hired as the daughter’s nanny, becoming the indispensable helper who keeps the family running. The plot of Count My Lies may not be the freshest, but author Sophie Stava is just getting started. Soon, the wife is treating Sloane like a sister—giving her clothes, taking her for manicures, buying her lunch. She’s even invited on a special family trip to Martha’s Vineyard.

All of these crumbs are sprinkled liberally over details of Sloane’s past, her obsessive behavior, and her flexible relationship with the truth. But, while she narrates part one of Count My Lies Stava cunningly rewinds and replays events from two other characters in the novel. Needless to say, things may mesh on the surface, but Sloane isn’t alone in having questionable motives.

Are there loose threads that once pulled could unravel the story? Yes, and some of those are dealt with very conveniently, while others are just ignored. What’s left is still an intriguing take on standard domestic-thriller tropes. Count My Lies was fast, sly, vacation reading; the kind of fun reading that makes for easy entertainment.

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*I received a free copy of this book from Gallery/Scout Press in exchange for an honest review.*