My original The Lie audiobook review and many others can be found at Audiobook Reviewer.

There aren’t many eccentric twenty-two olds, but Karmen Moncrille would fit into that category easily. Living a dream, Karmen was famous for having written numerous best sellers beginning at the age of sixteen. Every book she has written was made into a movie, everything she wrote was eagerly sought out by her adoring fans. Karmen didn’t do public interviews because she had a secret! She wasn’t too keen on people learning her secret and announcing her insane so with her mother as her agent and her uncle as her publisher and mentor, Karmen kept to herself.

Mysterious and reclusive, Karmen hid behind her anxiety and fears until circumstances force an interview. The interview goes awry sending her into a deeper reclusive funk until her best friend saves her and they go back to their hometown in Kentucky on vacation.

Once there, Karmen’s world spins out of control. Hallucinations, voices, dead people and visions have her scrambling to regain her mind. Nothing is as it seems. Betrayal after betrayal comes to light leaving Karmen stunned.

It is up to Karmen and her new friend to save her sanity and reveal the lies. Will the truth set her and mankind free? Will the forces destroy her first? Karmen is in for the fight of a lifetime.

I eagerly jump to hear Ashley Fontainne’s books. Fontainne skillfully builds her story capitalizing on those “aha” moments or those that leave the reader sitting in stunned in silence. She maneuvers the readers into connecting with the characters and then artfully pulls the rug out from under the reader. Her plots are well written and executed perfectly with awesome twists and turns.

Her main characters are all strong, both intellectually and physically. They are vividly written and come alive. Ashley Fontainne is a commanding and diverse writer in multiple genres.

Andrea Emmes is the narrator and gives a masterful performance. She slips on Karmen easily and moves between characters and their accents deftly. Her ability to project emotions of the characters is polished and smooth. Emmes does an excellent reading as a female and male. Her tones are rich and appropriate given the gender. She speaks clearly, leaving no room for misunderstanding; she is clear and concise. She is able to invoke the correct emotion from the readers involving them even more deeply into the story line.

There were no issues with production. Everything was clear and pleasant.

Audiobook was provided for review by the author. ( )

I have a passion for trees and walking through this story with Karmen, staying in the shadows, is a hike that gave me time to ruminate and wonder about the battle for good and evil that is just around the corner.

The Lie by Ashley Fontainne starts out with a brutal act that sets the battle for good and evil into motion. I love the premise for The Lie, a book within a book, a writer writing about a writer..Mystery and foreboding arise from the pages.

The descriptive writing makes it easy to see the characters and events as if they are taking place before my very eyes…and they will be, when the movie, Foreseen, comes out.

The writing and pacing kept me on the edge of my seat. I can feel the approaching badness and I am just waiting for the event that will change everything for her. I am suspicious of everyone. I am a realist and find it easy to question things. I keep thinking she needs to be careful what she wishes for because she just might get it, but it won’t be quite how she anticipated it to be.

I hate to put the book down, but it’s late and I’m only halfway through and my eyes keep closing. To bed I go and I hope my dreams are not Karmen’s.

Paranormal, romance, religious, man’s frailties and doubts, demons. Is it really necessary to believe in a higher power? Redemption? Evil uses our basest depravities against us. I love the wonderful mix of genres, the blend of good and evil fighting over us and the world we live in. The big question – Who will rule?

I love, Love, LOVE this book and can hardly wait to see the movie…and, of course, to read more of her books!

She was supposed to write The Lie and change the world, but…

“The Lie had already been written.”

To see my full review visit http://www.fundinmental.com ( )

The question on the cover, in small lettering just beside the title, is “What will she sacrifice” but perhaps the real question is, Whom will she sacrifice: her loved one or herself? And of what value is the sacrifice to maintain her sanity and perception of right and wrong, lie and truth, good and evil?

Written with dark, sensual descriptions, the book opens with a stunningly strange scene of a ritual, where a man willingly submits to be sacrificed on a stone altar by his pregnant wife. It allows for multiple points of view: that of Karmen, a young woman whose literary work is successful in the eyes of the public and disturbing in her own eyes. “I always believed the end times would come, but I never considered that I would be at the front lines when they arrived,” she says, fearful that her work would usher in the age of evil. “If my former destiny was to write the lie…I wonder what will happen if I decide to tell the truth?”

Another point of view is that of Heyllal (whose name, which stands for Lucifer, occurs only once in the Hebrew Bible and brings to mind the image of a morning star fallen from the sky.) He takes sadistic pleasure at “shredding the bodies down to mere piles of jumbled, unrecognizable gunk.” And later, “He had forgotten … how the screams of agony seemed so much sweeter when reverberating through an eardrum.” Reflecting on his journey through history he says, “He had been close several times over the years to achieving his rightful place on earth only to be trumped by some pathetic act of love or sacrifice.”

I enjoy the recursive aspect of this idea: just like her protagonist, author Ashley Fontainne reflects in this book on the nature of success, and just like her, she does so through writing that can be seen as profoundly disquieting. THE LIE is not for the faint of heart. Are you ready to plunge through a thin film of reality into a nightmarish abyss?

Five stars.

This book was sent to me gratis for an unbiased review. ( )

I listened to this book in audio format and the narrator did a great job! The Lie is an amazingly profound story! In the unusual style of Ashley Fontainne, this plot twists and turns and totally catches you off guard a multitude of times. There is no set genre for this story; it contains elements of Horror, Girl-Power, Romance, Suspense, Religion, and even Comedy! It's insanely entertaining and satisfyingly thought-provoking. The end was a complete surprise, yet was thoroughly explained and didn't leave me hanging,... just thoughtful. ( )

With "The Lie," Ashley Fontainne once again proves that she is truly a gifted writer with a talent for storytelling that few achieve in one genre, let alone multiple ones. She is firmly ensconced on my list of "stop what you're doing, put all other books down" list of favorite authors. All of the action, suspense and heart-stopping twists that you have come to know and love from Ashley are here again in rare form. The premise is as timely as today's headlines, with a unique perspective on some age-old evil.

With the proliferation of the same-old rehashed fare we have in today's genres, Ashley's plots breathe new life into some truly ground-breaking stories. You may think you know where her characters are going but trust me, you don't have a clue. Ashley is a fearless writer who is unafraid to take you into some new, unexplored regions of the heart and soul. But with her as a guide, you don't have to be afraid, just enjoy the ride. ( )