BREAKING NEWS!
The First to Lie: An Anthony Award Best Hardcover Novel and Mary Higgins Clark Award nominee
The Murder List: Anthony Award Winner for Best Novel of the Year!

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The First to Lie

Publishers Weekly Starred Review

We all have our reasons for being who we are―but what if being someone else could get you what you want?

After a devastating betrayal, a young woman sets off on an obsessive path to justice, no matter what dark family secrets are revealed. What she doesn’t know―she isn’t the only one plotting her revenge.

An affluent daughter of privilege. A glamorous manipulative wannabe. A determined reporter, in too deep. A grieving widow who must choose her new reality. Who will be the first to lie? And when the stakes are life and death, do a few lies really matter?

Stellar…Hank Phillippi Ryan could win a sixth Agatha with this one.
—Publishers Weekly * Starred Review

One of my favorite authors of suspense… Book clubs will gobble up The First to Lie.
—Author Sarah Pekkanen

From one of our top thriller writers—a chilling tale of deception and revenge.
—Author Angie Kim

Put this one on your list because Hank Phillippi Ryan is at the top of her game.
—Author Samantha Downing

A masterfully twisty… breathless, keep-you-up-all-night thriller.
—Author Jennifer Hillier

Hank Phillippi Ryan is the modern queen of the cat and mouse tale.
—Author J.T. Ellison

Flawless pacing… powerful… a magnificent, intricately plotted thriller.
—Author Samantha M. Bailey

A must-read for thriller lovers… a compelling and twist-filled plot…
—Author Vanessa Lillie

Expert pacing, richly drawn characters, and seamless storytelling… Fabulous!
—Author Hannah Mary McKinnon

Addictive and utterly compelling, Ryan has crafted a story that is ferociously smart and tightly plotted.
—Author Christina McDonald

A masterfully plotted novel of ambition, revenge, and family grief.
—Author Elisabeth Elo

With jaw-dropping discoveries…will shock even the savviest of suspense readers.
—Author Heather Gudenkauf

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About Hank

Hank Phillippi Ryan is the USA Today bestselling author of 13 thrillers, winning the most prestigious awards in the genre: five Agathas, four Anthonys, and the coveted Mary Higgins Clark Award. She is also on-air investigative reporter for Boston’s WHDH-TV, with 37 EMMYs and dozens more journalism honors. Book critics call her “a master of suspense,” “a superb and gifted storyteller,” and she’s the only author to have won the Agatha in four different categories: Best First, Best Novel, Best Short Story and Best Non-Fiction. Her 2019 standalone, The Murder List, won the Anthony Award for Best Novel. International bestseller A.J. Finn says, “exciting, explosive, relentless,” and the Library Journal starred review calls it “A must-read.” Hank’s 2020 novel is the chilling psychological standalone The First to Lie, now nominated for the prestigious Mary Higgins Clark Award. The Publishers Weekly starred review says “Stellar… Hank Phillippi Ryan could win a sixth Agatha with this one.” and bestseller Sarah Pekkanen says “Book clubs will gobble it up.” Watch for Her Perfect Life on September 14, 2021.