Lying Beside You: The gripping new thriller from the No.1 bestseller (Cyrus Haven)

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I have to live with that stain on my soul. I broke many hearts—including my own—and every day I pray to God for His forgiveness.”

Twenty years ago, Cyrus Haven's family was murdered and only he and his brother survived. Cyrus because he hid. Elias because he was the killer.Cyrus Haven is a forensic psychologist who suffered a traumatic experience of his family being murdered twenty years ago. A superb thriller, well plotted with plenty of twist and turns. Loved the characters and the author keeps you guessing till the end.

With Cyrus Haven, forensic psychologist, at the hearing to discover whether his brother Elias, was well enough to enter society again, Cyrus was of two minds. Elias had been in the facility for twenty years, and as long as he continued to take his medication, he'd be alright. But would he? It… it… talked about someone else. ‘Can he stay awake all night?’ ‘Can he skip school?’ ‘Can he steal money from Dad’s wallet?’?” While Cyrus' role and what he actually does for the police are somewhat played down in this story - in part because it centres around his brother being released from a mental institution and is therefore perhaps a little more personal than the previous stories), he does have access to anything and everything in the policing world and finds himself involved with murder and missing person cases which may be connected. As he prepares for the homecoming, Cyrus is called to a crime scene in Nottingham. A man is dead and his daughter, Maya, is missing. Then a second woman is abducted. The only witness is Evie Cormac, a troubled teenager with a gift for knowing when people are lying. Evie is determined not to let Cyrus down... again... but she is wilful and very intelligent and does not suffer fools. She also knows when someone is lying - a blessing and a curse! She starts a new job in a bar and is there when the police start to ask about Maya. Then another young woman, one she helped out, also goes missing, drawing her into the investigation as a witness.

Table of Contents

Have you been given any medication that might affect your ability to participate in these proceedings?” Now Elias is being released from his psychiatric hospital, and Cyrus must decide if he's ready to trust the man who destroyed his childhood. The sort of thriller that pins you to your seat until you've finished it: a proper heart-pounding mystery with unforgettable characters and compelling twists' JANE CASEY This is definitely my favourite of the three books so far, there are plenty of moments of brilliance. I'm still not in love with this series, but will eagerly await book four. I have often tried to imagine what went through his mind on that cool autumn evening, when our neighbors began closing their curtains to the coming night and the streetlights shone with misty yellow halos. What did the voices say? What possible words could have made him do the things he did?

Cyrus is called to a crime scene where a father is dead and his daughter missing and when another woman is abducted there is only one witness Evie Comac a girl who is troubled but has the ability to tell when people are lying. The case of missing Maya is also one that goes through multiple layers and has several twists and turns as the plot heads down blind alleys, then raises your suspicion antenna which twitches in several directions but as ever the author has surprises in store. At times it's quite emotional, you feel a gut punch at the unfairness and injustice that is delivered. The pace builds and the last part is a hold your breath, tension fuelled, suspenseful and dramatic confrontation. The setting for this is brilliant as it perfectly fits and matches what unfolds and adds to the intensity. It is riveting reading. And as they seek the truth behind a double abduction case, past and present collide – with devastating consequences . . .

Featured Reviews

Lying Beside You is written with alternate chapters for the points of view of the two main characters, Cyrus Haven and Evie Cormac. Each of them is as interesting and significant to the story as the other, so this works really well and keeps the suspense level high throughout the book. Sometimes it is hard not to get cross with Evie who struggles with a lot of personal demons, but Cyrus always manages to be patient and forgiving, so I was too. Upstairs, in the bedroom, Esme and April were doing their homework or playing games. Esme, older by twenty minutes, and therefore bossier, was usually the first to do everything, but it was April, dressed in a unicorn onesie, who ran towards the knife, trying to protect her sister. Esme had to be dragged from beneath her bed and died with a rug bunched beneath her body and a ukulele in her hand.