Living Lies by Natalie Walters commences with all sorts of complications and issues.  Readers are immediately pulled into the story and the lives of the characters.  There is no shortage of romance and danger here.

Lane Kent has all sorts of challenges in her life–some beyond her control and some perhaps of her own making.  She deals with depression, guilt, and family challenges.  Throw finding a dead body into the mix and thus the story begins.

Charlie Lynch has his own set of regrets, as one might expect from a former soldier with a case of PTSD guilt.  He becomes involved with Lane Kent because he is a sheriff’s deputy working on the case involving the body Lane found. 

As different situations develop and crazy things start happening, Lane and Charlie begin to lean on one another for support.  Their relationship is very emotional, but seems pretty authentic for people struggling with mental illness.  This is certainly not a relaxing evening read, but that is not always what one wants in a good book!

This book was sent to Compass Book Ratings for review by Revell

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language:  None 

Violence/Gore:  Person is contemplating suicide, this is referenced throughout the story; a person discovers a dead body that appears to have knife cuts on it and shows signs of decay; a person recalls needing to escape from killers; man has bloody wounds on hands that appear to be self-inflicted; person hits himself to punish himself; a five-page scene in which a car is deliberately run off the road, no injuries; a person implies she might have murdered someone; characters are held at gunpoint; people are shot, some blood mentioned, some are fatal injuries. 

Sex/Nudity:  Non-married characters embrace, hold hands and kiss.

Mature Subject Matter:

Post-traumatic stress disorder, murder, suicide, depression.

Alcohol / Drug Use:

Report that teens go to get high or drunk at a certain location; report that teens are using marijuana and drinking; a person is drugged to keep them quiet.