Storm van leugens (Politie niet betreden)

by Sophie McKenzie, Sandra Hessels (Translator)

Hollie, haar beste vriendin Parker en hun nieuwe (en hele knappe) klasgenoot Rex werken samen aan een saai project voor school over de plaatselijke zeewering. Het laatste wat Hollie had verwacht is dat dit project een spoor van leugens aan het licht brengt, dat mensen in groot gevaar kan brengen. Al snel bevindt Hollie zich in het oog van een groeiende storm, waarin ze moet vechten om alles wat haar lief is te redden. Haar vrienden, haar familie, haar leven...

225 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 20, 2025

About the author

Hey there! Welcome to my Goodreads page where you can keep up with all my stories - both the ones that are already published and the works in progress!!

I write mostly teen thrillers - plus some teen romance, books for younger children and four adult psychological thrillers.

I'm really excited right now because of...

Boy, Missing, my £1 book for World Book Day and Truth or Dare, my new teen thriller. (UK)


For more info on these and my other books, check out my website: www.sophiemckenziebooks.com

Reviews

[Kayleigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve seen mixed reviews for this book but I enjoyed it a lot. The first of Sophie McKenzie’s I’ve read but I know she is an author several of my students enjoy.

Storm of Lies focuses around Hollie - teenager with an attitude and her friends Parker and Rex as they work on a school project about the sea wall. But not just any sea wall, the one build by the company her mother works for.

No getting away from it, Hollie is not a likeable character, I spent a large amount of time feeling very frustrated towards her and wanting her to pipe down.

Didn’t spoil my enjoyment of the book and I would definitely look for another of McKenzie’s novels in future.

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. The main character wasn't very likeable at the start but she did grow as a person towards the end (plus, she's 14. Who isn't the slightest bit annoying or reckless when they're 14?).
A lot of repetition of important plot points, but again, understandable because this is written for younger readers.
The plot was easy to follow but still rewarding to read.

[Elodie Rolland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite possibly my favourite Sophie Mackenzie book that I've read so far. Sophie is easily my favourite author, and this book did not disappoint.

[Theediscerning · Rating 2 out of 5]

God but Hollie's unlikeable. Stuffed to bursting with daddy issues, hating on her mother at every step, fighting back against the least suggestion of discipline, comeuppance or punishment – you'd not exactly prioritise picking her out of a flood situation. Which does kind of make the whole book awkward here – seeing as you can tell from the preamble (and about the second page if you skipped the preamble) that there is going to be a flood situation.

Unlikeable Hollie, fit lad Rex (!) and nerdy girl Parker are an unlikely trio for a joint learning project at school, which Parker seems delighted at – the newly reinforced sea wall flood defences for the town. Hollie's mum works at the firm behind it, so she has an in for them to go to HQ, gen up, and so on. That "so on" includes trespassing in the research department, and two of them nearly dying. But what it does help do, is spark a light in Unlikeable Hollie's mind, that we could see gathering kindling on about the third page – that all is not as it seems…

I was sure to like this – a more than accomplished thriller writer, something different to my usual… And yet this was a big let-down – the writing was repetitive, in ramming into our throats from Parker, the company, the narration, that the sea wall was for this purpose etc, amongst many other things that ended up being told to us three times. So much of it was, as I said, completely guessable – you certainly don't need to have the premonitions of one character that are added to proceedings here in a slightly ungainly way. And even if you like your characters to be realistic there is no way I wanted to be stuck here wondering just how influential the anti-authority side of Unlikeable Hollie might get to be amongst target readers. I wanted to be stuck here, mind ringing from some great entertainment instead.

The second half is, as you can all foretell with this in your hands, a different beast – more of an action story as opposed to a building conspiracy thriller. But even then things aren't perfect, with redemptive thoughts entering Hollie's mind a touch heavily. All told, then, not the best introduction to this author I could have had, and that's saying it mildly – and in no world should my local libraries have this down as a teen read.

[Saskia Boree · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Storm van leugens laat Sophie McKenzie de lezer Hollie en haar vriendin Parker volgen, die in Salthaven onderzoek komen doen voor een schoolproject over milieuwetenschap. De lezer krijgt ook al het één en ander over protagonist Hollie te weten, waaronder dat het gezin met geldzorgen te maken heeft. Daarnaast is de stijgende zeespiegel en de klimaatcrisis een duidelijk zorgenkindje van de karakters. Toekomst is ook een veel besproken subject, en Hollie is een type dat graag zelf de touwtjes in handen heeft en neemt. Haar emoties en hoe ze deze uit, maken haar heel menselijk, al dan niet een beetje irriterend op sommige momenten. De auteur laat ook zien, dat de verkeerde acties en gedragingen consequenties zullen hebben. De protagonist komt blijkbaar uit een opmerkelijke familie, waarin de kloof tussen de generaties moeiteloos wordt laten zien. Het wordt tevens duidelijk dat Hollie hunkert naar liefde en waardering. Water en storm vormen de symboliek van de verhaallijn, en schetsen ook het meest gevreesde scenario, waarbij een stevig oogje voor ernstige corruptie wordt dichtgeknepen. Wanneer dit scenario werkelijkheid lijkt te worden, voelt het alsof de geschiedenis zich deels herhaalt. Daarnaast is er een sterke symboliek als het op initiatie, splitsing en versterking aankomt. De auteur heeft deze klimaattermen ook in de gebeurtenissen met de karakters terug laten komen.
McKenzie weet haar jeugdige lezers naar een gedegen, maar loeispannend einde te brengen met een plot waarin alles vloeiend op zijn plek valt.

[Skye · Rating 2 out of 5]

Would actually give this a 1.5 stars-

I honestly didn’t like this book. The characters all lacked a large amount of common sense and were reckless.I didn’t understand how or why the aunt was having visions- there was no explanation. Hollie in particular was mean and agressive to everyone around her and I couldn’t like her for that. I couldn’t picture any of the scenes especially the ones involving the tsunami. I had no idea how high the water was and I just couldn’t comprehend it. I really couldn’t connect with any of the characters and they all just annoyed me throughout the book. I love Sophie Mackenzie’s work but this one just wasn’t it. This book could have been 100 pages shorter- making it a short story, or 100 pages longer so more detail could be added. Everything that was supposed to be exciting just wasn’t and I really didn’t enjoy this book. This had such potential but really isn’t worth reading.

[Farah G · Rating 3 out of 5]

When Hollie and Parker begin their project on sea wall defences, the last thing they expect is to uncover a tangled web of secrets and lies that puts them all in danger. But that is exactly what happens.

Hollie is already struggling with her parents splitting up, and has major anger issues. She isn't always kind to those around her, including her best friend and her mother.

So when she finds an invoice that indicates that there may have been some cutting of corners in the building of a new, state of the art sea wall built for the coastal town of Salthaven, she is furious not to be believed.

Luckily Hollie has Parker and their new friend Rex to back her up a she figures out what's going on. Sophie McKenzie does it again with this entertaining and fast paced story! It gets 3.5 stars.

I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

[Inge · Rating 3 out of 5]

2,5 ster

Met dit boek sta ik heel erg in dubio. Het is spannend en het heeft een actueel thema, maar hoofdpersoon Hollie is zo onwijs unlikable. Ze is steeds boos op alles en iedereen, vooral haar moeder. Daar heeft ze haar reden voor, maar omdat die terloops genoemd wordt en niet verder uitgediept, voelt het oppervlakkig. Het gaf mij in elk geval het gevoel dat Hollie vooral een egoïstische trut was, die iedereen overal de schuld van geeft maar nauwelijks kritisch naar zichzelf kijkt. Voor mij verminderde dat het leesplezier flink. Daarnaast haalt Hollie zulke ongelooflijk domme dingen uit, dat ik me niet kan voorstellen dat iemand dat echt zou doen. Zeker de stunts die ze uithaalt bij haar moeders werk.

Dat gezegd hebbende, denk ik niet dat dit de doelgroep van dit boek zal storen. Die genieten ongetwijfeld van alle spanning en teenage drama.

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

3⭐️

The premise of the book is quite interesting: our main character uncovers a lie about the company who has funded and built a new sea wall to help protect her town against sea storms and tries to get the truth to come to light.

Unfortunately, I think the writing is a little too young for me and the characters were very childish (if I was 14, I would have enjoyed this a lot more but I’m 30!).

I think if you’re a preteen, it would be a fun read with some mystery and suspense.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Raz · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF at 32%.

The protagonist felt extremely whiny and was extremely difficult to read/listen. The plot also failed to grab and slow up to this point. Not what I'm used to from a McKenzie novel.

Full review to come.

[sarah k · Rating 3 out of 5]

i mean its a good enough story its just on the younger side?

[Jack · Rating 3 out of 5]

I quite like the whole storyline and atmosphere of the book, but the main character wasn’t very likeable! Still a nice little short book though!

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the main character to be really annoying. But the plot of the story was quite good. It was well paced and a very good tween book cover some good topics.

[Tasneem · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was quite good

[Alicja Sztabinska · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite boring at the beginning-took me really slow to read it- but ending was good

[Linda Paardekooper · Rating 4 out of 5]

A interesting story. And a end you really want to read in one time.

[Kristín Marìa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dnf at chapter 14, if you know, you know the second-hand embarrassment was too much for me to handle

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was fun to read but I can’t say it was the best because some parts of the storyline felt rushed and strange.I did enjoy it though.3.5.

[Chyns Campbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good!!

[Emily Williamson · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️!!

* Easy light read
* Decent plot but wasn’t that gripping
* Liked the characters
* Not much happened at start and then suddenly lots happened
* Small plot twist but sort of predictable
* Cute ending
* Would recommend for an easy book but nothing life changing probs will forget i

[Kirsty · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wasn't impressed. Main character was really whiny

[Charlie]

I really liked this, probably not as much as the other ones I read, especially The Girl Missing Series. But I did enjoy reading it even though I could guess what was going to happen. Sophie Mckenzie is great a thrillers and I look forward to what she writes next