None of This Is True

A Novel

By: Lisa Jewell

Narrated by: Kristin Atherton, Ayesha Antoine, Louise Brealey, Alix Dunmore, Elliot Fitzpatrick, Lisa Jewell, Thomas Judd, Dominic Thorburn, Nicola Walker, Jenny Walser

Length: 10 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author known for her “superb pacing, twisted characters, and captivating prose” (BuzzFeed), Lisa Jewell returns with a scintillating new psychological thriller about a woman who finds herself the subject of her own popular true crime podcast.

Celebrating her forty-fifth birthday at her local pub, popular podcaster Alix Summer 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 realize 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?

©2023 Lisa Jewell (P)2023 Simon & Schuster Audio

True crime podcast meets mystery/suspense novel

Full disclosure: I’m a ridiculously huge fan of Lisa Jewell and consider her work to be the best in the genre (close seconds are Ruth Ware, Lucy Foley, Alice Feeney, and Julia Heaberlin). I pre-order everything she writes with zero doubt as to whether it will be a good read or a dud. She comes through every time.
And this book is no exception.
I’ve had its release date plugged into my phone’s calendar for months and stopped reading another book right smack in the middle of its riveting story the day *this* book was released because I just couldn’t wait any longer.
Anyway, bottom line is that I absolutely loved it. It veered off course slightly from her other books, but in a good way as it mixed in bits and pieces of “podcast” material. And honestly, I suspect many other audiobooks will follow suit in the future with highly stylized productions that include lots of background sound bites to further enhance the plot and character development. Very saturated listen.
And speaking of the listening, the narration was superb. My only criticism is that on a few occasions, the voice of a male interviewer is nearly impossible to make out as it’s been purposefully quieted to mimic the style of a true crime podcast where only the interviewee is wearing a mic and everything else fades into the background.
The plot is perfectly twisty-turny, but it’s the character development that really knocks it out of the park. Lisa has mastered the art of unspooling her characters in a way draws the reader in so closely that when the book is over, you find yourself wondering what the characters are up to…thinking of them more like people who exist in the real world rather than fictional entities.
An exquisite read. 10/10 recommend.

Such a feeling of dread throughout- SO GOOD

I LOVED this book. The characters are so complex and you spend a lot of the first half trying to piece together what you think is going on. Such amazing story telling and the performances were incredible. There was such an eerie feeling throughout that kept me hooked. Even my husband who is not a reader was hanging around me and when I asked what he was doing, he said he wanted to know what was going to happen next and he was hooked too!
My only complaint was the last couple chapters were kinda dull. Since the rest of the book was so full of twists and turns, I was expecting something to pop out toward the end too. But overall, I really loved this. Hope to see a series or movie based on this soon!

A very good listen

Nice to listen to a book with a new plot and story line instead of the same old formula.

5/5

5/5

OMG! This book was amazing! I have a love/hate relationship with books that don’t “end”. I would recommend this book to everyone!

Hooked

This book kept me hooked. My only complaint is that the end ending was kind of dull in my opinion. I expected more. Still a good listen though.

Exciting And thrilling

Lisa Jewell did a very fine job of creating an exciting thriller.
Twists and turns hiding, unexpected secrets. Totally kept my interest.

Another great book!

I couldn’t wait for this new release. Knocked it out in one day, I just couldn’t turn it off! Such a wild ride. I absolutely loved it.

Twist after twist. Loved!

I listened to this book in two days. A great suspense keeps you guessing about what is true and what isn’t. So good.

Great listen!

This book was incredibly fun to listen to! I finished it in two days, I highly recommend.

Great Story Incredible Cast of Narrators

I was completely transfixed, utterly compelled to know what happens next. The level of deceit is profound but is it. A false narrative or an embellished truth. For sure the twists are impactful and the overall feel is ominous and just creepy. I loved it!!

Narration by all was excellent!! They gave even more depth and insight into the characters then just reading would provide.