White Lies by Jeremy Bates + Giveaway!

     While driving to a charming village tucked away deep in the Cascade Mountains of eastern Washington, where she is to begin a new job teaching high school English, Katrina Burton picks up a young hitchhiker who turns out to be drunk and predatory. Fearful for her safety, she lies about her destination in order to get him out of the car. But when she later discovers that he is a teacher at the same school, she finds herself feeding that initial lie with more lies. Then Katrina meets a mysterious man . Handsome, charismatic and strong, he is exactly what she needs to extricate her from the expanding network of lies, now spinning out of control. She falls fast and hard for him. But her perfect solution soon becomes a nightmare that lands her in the middle of a grisly murder. And Katrina's problems don't stop there. She must decide whether to betray her new love or to cover up the murder and hope for the best.  (-synopsis from Goodreads)

     This book had me from the beginning.  Katrina lets a hitchhiker into her car and it turns out to be a disaster.  She later finds out he's a teacher at the same school where she is teaching. Things get pretty tense between them and conflict ensues.   

      Then Katrina meets mystery man Jack.  He's seems too good to be true.  He's sweet, caring, and becomes her rock.  He even gets her out of her little white lie.  When they decide to host a party everything that was going so well suddenly collapses around them.  Jack kills a man in self defense but someone in the woods saw what happened.  

     Katrina has to decide whether to help Jack or to go to the police.  Everything that happens afterwards is simply a spiral from this event.  The book is filled with action, suspense, and a little romance.  It kept me turning pages in anticipation until the end.  The end had a surprising twist that I did not see coming.

     While the book was overall very good, there were a few points that I had trouble with.  Most of them are because I am a teacher and a few things didn't jive.  The teachers at the school where they work apparently go back to school the same day the students do.  This would never happen because teachers need time to prepare for the school year.  Also, Zach is 22 years old and apparently a veteran teacher.  I was one of the youngest people in my class at school and I started my first year teaching at age 22.  Then after all the trouble Katrina has she is still allowed to go on teaching.  It's just a few details that didn't work for me and detracted from the story.  

     Katrina starts out in the book seemingly strong and them turns into a pushover in the book.  I'm glad that by the time we reached the end of the book she got her strong will back.  This is a book I'd recommend to anyone who like suspense novels or thrillers.

I give this book 3 out of 5 stars. 

     One of my readers can win a paperback copy of White Lies!  This giveaway is open to readers in the United States.   The giveaway win run through August 15 at midnight.  Winner will be chosen at random and contacted on August 16 so be sure to leave your e-mail!  All you have to do to enter is tell me your favorite thriller/suspense book.


ABOUT JEREMY BATES

Jeremy Bates has spent the last ten years traveling the world, visiting more than thirty countries. He has lived in Canada, the United States, Australia, Japan, South Korea, and the Philippines.

Bates is a graduate of the University of Western Ontario with a degree in English literature and philosophy. He is a member of Mystery Writers of America, International Thriller Writers, Inc, and Crime Writers of Canada.

His frightening debut novel, White Lies, is set in a small village in the Cascade Mountain range of eastern Washington. In the book, he succeeds in bringing world-class terror to this tranquil community.

To find out more please visit http://jeremybatesbooks.com

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