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Emilya Naymark
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Behind the Lie Kindle Edition

by Emilya Naymark (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 71 ratings
See all formats and editions
Private investigator Laney Bird is in a fight to save lives—including her own—when an explosion of deadly violence exposes the crimes simmering beneath small-town suburbia.

A transplant to the upstate New York hamlet of Sylvan, all Laney wants is a quiet life for herself and her son. But things rarely remain calm in Laney’s life. When one neighbor, a Russian immigrant, is shot, and his Ukrainian wife disappears—along with Laney’s best friend—at her neighborhood summer block party, Laney will need all her skills as a PI to solve a mystery that reaches far beyond her small town.
 
As people closest to Laney fall under suspicion, the local authorities, and her colleagues, question her own complicity. And then there’s 15-year-old Alfie, her complicated, enigmatic son, obviously hiding something. Even as Laney struggles to bury evidence of her boy’s involvement, his cagey behavior rings every maternal alarm.
 
Laney’s personal life unravels as she’s drawn into her friend’s dark secrets, and she must ask herself: how far would a wife and mother go to keep her family from ruin? One woman’s desperation is another’s downfall, and with treachery blazing hot as the searing summer sun, Laney realizes she and Alfie are in danger and she must fight to save lives, her own and her son’s included.
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  1. Print length
    300 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Crooked Lane Books
  5. Publication date
    February 8, 2022
  6. File size
    1951 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
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  9. Enhanced typesetting
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Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for Behind the Lie:
2023 AWARD NOMINEE, G.P. PUTNAM SUE GRAFTON MEMORIAL AWARD

“Naymark hits the rhythms of small-town life perfectly and maintains tension by alternating perspectives. Lisa Unger fans will want to take a look.”
—Publishers Weekly, starred review

“Naymark kicks off with a bang.”
—Kirkus

“This is a suspenseful and layered novel about lives in suburbia that possess some dark secrets. The level of the prose makes this a novel that is memorable. I highly recommend it.”
—Nancy Bilyeau, bestselling author of The Blue

“How well do you know your friends, or your family, for that matter? How far will you go to hide secrets? Or betray the ones you love? Emilya Naymark's second installment featuring Ex-NYPD Detective Laney Bird starts with a bang (or a crash, rather) and never lets go… Naymark's flawless writing paints vivid portraits of strong, flawed women fighting for what they believe in and hold dear, no matter the consequences.”
—Marco Carocari, award winning author of Blackout

“Behind the Lie delivers as a thriller on multiple levels. A great read that will make you want to keep the lights on - and wonder what secrets your own sweet neighbors are hiding.”
—Tracee de Hahn, author of A Well-Timed Murder

“Combining action with emotional upheaval, Naymark gives us a crime novel for our times. Tense enough to take our mind off the challenges of 2022, but human enough for us to feel empathy for Laney and those closest to her. A touch of romance, or at least the potential for it, rounds out this dynamic page-turner.
Readers who love a book they can’t put down will not be disappointed.”
—Elena Taylor, author of All We Buried

“Emilya Naymark's BEHIND THE LIE is a page-turner. Be prepared to settle in and enjoy the ride! For those looking for a satisfying read that will keep you engaged from start to finish, I can definitely suggest BEHIND THE LIE by Emilya Naymark.”
—Cyrus Webb, author and radio host of Conversations Radio Network

“Page Turner Thriller With Great Character Development. Mesmerizing, thrilling and beautifully written. Sometimes thrillers sacrifice the sentence level writing for a good story but Naymark delivers the whole package. Haunting imagery, a compelling tale full of tension, and nuanced characters. I can't wait to see what she writes next.”
—Jordan Rosenfeld, author of How to Write a Page Turner and Women in Red
“Devastating. Immersive. And somehow, still redemptive. In Emilya Naymark's deceptively charming neighborhood--a dark and ugly secret lurks behind every door.  And when two women go missing, the clash between the duties of a private investigator and the responsibilities of a parent explode into a series of impossible decisions.  A brilliant and tense mystery with heartbreaking characters--and a gasp-worthy solution. Do not miss this! Emilya Naymark is a star.”
—Hank Phillippi Ryan USA Today Bestselling author of Her Perfect Life

Praise for Hide in Place:
“Crammed with suspense . . . A great read!”
—Andrea Kane, New York Times bestselling author of the Forensic Instinct series

“This is a debut novel not to be missed, in particular for readers of Harlan Coben and Carol Goodman.”
—Nancy Bilyeau, bestselling author of Dreamland

“Deft plotting, fully drawn characters, and terrific dialogue."
—Russell Rowland, critically acclaimed author of Cold Country
 
"A page-turning thriller . . . Impossible to put down, Emilya Naymark’s debut will leave readers hungry for more.”
—Jordan Rosenfeld, author of How to Write a Page Turner and Women in Red

"Hide in Place grabs you from page one."
—David Rothenberg, WBAI Radio NYC

“An original, satisfying roller-coaster ride for domestic suspense fans.”
—Publishers Weekly

“Heaps of praise to author Naymark...A captivating story.”
—New York Journal of Books

"A solid thriller with a good leading character for series."
—Red Carpet Crash

About the Author

Emilya Naymark is an author whose work has appeared in numerous magazines and publications, including Secrets in the Water, River River Journal, and Snowbound: Best New England Crime Stories 2017. Being married to an NYPD undercover detective compelled her to create the character of Laney Bird, whose experiences are inspired by real events. When not writing, she works as a visual artist and reads massive quantities of thrillers and crime fiction. She lives with her family in the Hudson Valley.

Linda Jones is an in-demand narrator with a background in film and stage acting.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B094GN9S9D
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Crooked Lane Books (February 8, 2022)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ February 8, 2022
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1951 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 300 pages
  • Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 1643858920
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 71 ratings

About the author

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Emilya Naymark

Emilya Naymark

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G.P. Putnam's Sons Sue Grafton Memorial Award and Silver Falchion Award nominee, Emilya Naymark was born in a country that no longer exists, escaped with her parents, lived in Italy for a bit, and ended up in New York, which promptly became a love and a muse.

She is the author of the novels Hide in Place and Behind the Lie.

Her short stories appear in The Bouchercon 2023 Anthology, A Stranger Comes to Town, edited by Michael Koryta, Secrets in the Water, After Midnight: Tales from the Graveyard Shift, River River Journal, Snowbound: Best New England Crime Stories 2017, and 1+30: THE BEST OF MYSTORY.

When not writing, Emilya works as a visual artist and reads massive quantities of psychological thrillers, suspense, and crime fiction. She lives in the Hudson Valley with her family.

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5
71 global ratings
Riveting
4 Stars
Riveting
I loved how this book dove right into the action. A neighborhood block party that goes sideways, someone is shot, a truck is driven through someone's front door, and another goes missing. There is no time to think, just act. Laney Bird, ex-NYPD police officer now turned private investigator is spinning in circles as she watches her once calm street, turn into a crazy crime scene. Her best friend Holly is missing, what is going on? As Laney dives deeper into her friends and neighbor's past. Layer upon layer is exposed. Leading to ties to other horrific crimes. Will Laney be able to uncover what is truly going on and save her friend?Emilya Naymark has developed an incredibly strong, female character. Who is trying to turn her life around, be a successful single mom, and to just have some damn groceries in her cabinets! You can relate to Laney on so many levels, which makes this book even better. I absolutely devoured this book, there are so many twists and turns, and the juicy layers! This is the second book in the series and as always, I read it first. Do not worry it can be read as a standalone. But I will be ordering the first, Hide in Place. Thank you to Emilya Naymark, Crooked Lane Books, and Books Forward for sending me this suspense filled read.
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Top reviews from the United States

Saralyn Richard
5.0 out of 5 stars Heart-pounding action and heart-breaking relationships
Reviewed in the United States on February 6, 2023
Verified Purchase
At the core of this thriller lie characters so flawed, so real, that you want to wrap your arms around them, take them home, and give them milk and cookies. Everyone is vulnerable. Everyone hides secrets. Naymark weaves a complex plot in which ordinary people twist their lives into knots, hurting one another and themselves. Readers will hold their breaths, while the author masterfully uncovers one lie after another. What is "behind the lie" is a gripping tale of hubris and greed, inhumanity, redemption, and, weirdly, love.
One person found this helpful
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StoreyBook Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars Do you really know your friends and neighbors?
Reviewed in the United States on September 16, 2022
This is the second in a series about Laney Bird; a retired police detective turned PI in a small town in New York. The cast of characters is back from the first book, but we find that her best friend Holly has a more significant role in this novel. The story is told from Laney and Holly's points of view, and while they are doing different things, their stories intersect near the end, bringing everything together. The story also flips in time between April and July of the same year. It is essential to share the events in April since it will help the current-day events make more sense.

While we don't see Alfie quite as much in this book compared to the first one, he still plays a vital role with a new friend and her impact on the situation at hand. There is also a new potential romance for Laney with one of her coworkers, Jack. Actually, Jack is the son of the owner of the PI firm, but that doesn't seem to bother him.

Multiple storylines are happening, not just between Laney and Holly, but other characters that impact both of them. I enjoyed trying to figure out what certain characters were up to and how Laney was able to make some educated guesses and ended up in the right place to find the details she needed to prove her suppositions.

I was a bit disappointed with some of Holly's actions, and I'm not sure how she could have taken out a mortgage on her home by forging her husband's signature. Usually, things like that are notarized. I also couldn't believe her brother's let her keep giving them money to support their lives. Granted, one had cancer, but this had been going on for years. I think it was guilt from her childhood that caused her to act this way. But in the end, she could recognize her issues and move forward.

Laney was a bit calmer in this book, but I suppose since it wasn't her son that was missing, she could think a bit more rationally.

I enjoyed this book more than the first one, and you don't have to read the first book to enjoy this story. It does give you a little more insight into Laney and her capabilities.

We give it 4 1/2 paws.
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Jordan E. Pedersen
5.0 out of 5 stars Page Turner Thriller With Great Character Development
Reviewed in the United States on April 1, 2022
Verified Purchase
Whether you read the prequel to this book or not won't impede the absolutely page turning energy of this fabulous thriller. Naymark brings back complex former cop Laney and her equally complex son Alfie for a plot that is mesmerizing, thrilling and beautifully written. Sometimes thrillers sacrifice the sentence level writing for a good story but Naymark delivers the whole package. Haunting imagery, a compelling tale full of tension, and nuanced characters. I can't wait to see what she writes next.
One person found this helpful
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Julie K
3.0 out of 5 stars Not my favorite
Reviewed in the United States on February 13, 2022
Thank you Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for the copy of this book. I'm sorry to say it wasn't for me. I couldn't really get interested in the story until about halfway through. It started to get unbelievable, so it lost me again.
The months at the beginning of the earlier chapters were confusing and did not really add to the story and in fact were confusing. I didn't connect with the writing or the characters. I think people who are willing to suspend belief in the plot would probably enjoy this book. 2,5 stars rounded up to 3.
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K. M. Martin
4.0 out of 5 stars Twisty Tale that Ramps Up Speed After a Slow Start
Reviewed in the United States on February 18, 2022
A summer block party on Laney Bird's block goes massively wrong when one of the neighbors is shot in the butt, another drives a stolen pick-up into his own living room, and two women go missing.

Laney is a former NYPD detective who moved to small, rural Sylvan, New York, with her son Alfie after a difficult divorce. She is now working as a private investigator for a local firm specializing in tracking down runaways. Alfie is fifteen and a unique individual who's somewhere on the Asperger's Spectrum. He seems to have a talent for choosing really inappropriate friends.

One of the missing women is Holly Dubois who is also a one of the viewpoint characters, and Laney's first and only friend since her move to Sylvan. It is her husband who drove into their living room. The other missing woman is Vera Volkin whose husband was the gunshot victim.

Holly is the glue of the neighborhood. She's constantly busy taking care of her home, her husband, her three children, her brothers - one of whom is battling cancer and the other is recently out of drug rehab, and anyone else who comes to her attention. Holly is overcompensating because of the guilt she still feels over the death of her sister who drowned while high on drugs when Holly was only thirteen.

Holly's need to be everything to everyone has led her deep into debt. The house she inherited from her grandparent's and on which she has taken several mortgages is going to be foreclosed. Vera and Step Volkin have wormed their way into her life and have a really great plan to get her out of debt; all she has to do is steal proprietary information from her husband's lab where he is working on longevity drugs.

Meanwhile, Laney is investigating the disappearance of a teen from a camp nearby. The same camp where her son's new much-older girlfriend Mona worked. Laney learns that the boy's disappearance isn't the first from the camp and that the Volkins and Mona were instrumental in the boy's disappearance.

This is a twisty tale including missing teens, corporate espionage, and foreign agents with nasty agendas. It was a bit slow at the start, but the action picked up quickly and the story became a real page turner.
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