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House of a Thousand Lies
Diana Wolf likes to think she has it a rock-god husband, an empty nest, a wine cellar, and a dream home in the woods. Life is good. It has to be. But when she hires a cartographer, Kerry Perkins, to survey and map her estate in rural Tennessee, she pulls back a frayed corner of the lie that is her fairytale life. On his first night at Wolf Hollow, Kerry stumbles across a young girl's skeleton buried in the woods. But what really scares Diana is a familiar symbol carved into the girl’s two wolves.
A week later, the cops are digging in her backyard. Diana begins to question how good her life really is. How good of a man is her husband and how good a father? She’s not the only one with questions. Kerry Perkins can’t shake what he saw in the woods that night. He suspects that Diana recognized that symbol, that she lied to the police, that someone is watching him, and that whoever it is, they desperately want him to keep his mouth shut.
His search for answers leads him to Pink, a deeply disturbed man obsessed with the Wolfs’ celebrity. Pink knows the family better than they know themselves—and he knows that the more he and Kerry dig, the more bones they will find.
Told through the eyes of multiple narrators, none reliable, this is a story about parents, the lies they tell their children, and the lies they tell themselves.
A week later, the cops are digging in her backyard. Diana begins to question how good her life really is. How good of a man is her husband and how good a father? She’s not the only one with questions. Kerry Perkins can’t shake what he saw in the woods that night. He suspects that Diana recognized that symbol, that she lied to the police, that someone is watching him, and that whoever it is, they desperately want him to keep his mouth shut.
His search for answers leads him to Pink, a deeply disturbed man obsessed with the Wolfs’ celebrity. Pink knows the family better than they know themselves—and he knows that the more he and Kerry dig, the more bones they will find.
Told through the eyes of multiple narrators, none reliable, this is a story about parents, the lies they tell their children, and the lies they tell themselves.
320 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 9, 2022
34 people are currently reading
364 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 57 reviews
October 31, 2022
3.5/5 rounded up
I honestly don't even remember what made me want to read House of a Thousand Lies by Cody Luke Davis. Was it because I saw it in the library and loved the cover, so I decided to grab it, or was it because I saw it on Bookstagram and had to read it? I may never know, but I am glad I took a chance on it and picked it up. This is a debut novel which I didn't know going in, and it is certainly dark and a little gory which is exactly how I like my thrillers. The story is told from many viewpoints, and at times felt a little disjointed, but I will give the author a pass since this is his first book. It did manage to hold my attention though, and I really did quite like his writing overall.
The audiobook is a mix of good and bad, with the good being that it has a full cast. Romy Nordlinger, Raymond J. Lee, Nick Mondelli, J. D. Jackson, Bailey Carr, David Bendena & Seth Podowitz made quite the ensemble, and I really liked the character's voices for our main MCs. In fact, I think all of them did a great job but there were at least 2 that had something akin to background noise during their parts. It's hard to describe, but it was kind of distracting when I was listening with my headphones in, and it did make me like it a little less that way. If I were you, I would probably read House of a Thousand Lies instead of listening to it, but the narrators themselves were all very good, so it's up to you! There are some things that felt unresolved, and I don't know if I needed all the POVs, but I think this was a solid debut and I will definitely read Davis's sophomore novel if he publishes one!
I honestly don't even remember what made me want to read House of a Thousand Lies by Cody Luke Davis. Was it because I saw it in the library and loved the cover, so I decided to grab it, or was it because I saw it on Bookstagram and had to read it? I may never know, but I am glad I took a chance on it and picked it up. This is a debut novel which I didn't know going in, and it is certainly dark and a little gory which is exactly how I like my thrillers. The story is told from many viewpoints, and at times felt a little disjointed, but I will give the author a pass since this is his first book. It did manage to hold my attention though, and I really did quite like his writing overall.
The audiobook is a mix of good and bad, with the good being that it has a full cast. Romy Nordlinger, Raymond J. Lee, Nick Mondelli, J. D. Jackson, Bailey Carr, David Bendena & Seth Podowitz made quite the ensemble, and I really liked the character's voices for our main MCs. In fact, I think all of them did a great job but there were at least 2 that had something akin to background noise during their parts. It's hard to describe, but it was kind of distracting when I was listening with my headphones in, and it did make me like it a little less that way. If I were you, I would probably read House of a Thousand Lies instead of listening to it, but the narrators themselves were all very good, so it's up to you! There are some things that felt unresolved, and I don't know if I needed all the POVs, but I think this was a solid debut and I will definitely read Davis's sophomore novel if he publishes one!
March 11, 2022
First of all, a big thank you (again) to Crooked Lane Books and Netgalley for the opportunity to dive into this book and share an honest review on Bookstagram, Netgalley and on Goodreads.
Also a thank you towards the writer, Cody Luke Davis for writing this pretty damn good debut about a troubled family and the (gruesome) secrets they hold 👌
Meet the Wolf-family: Diana, Thad and sons Cy and Jonah. Incoming: Kerry Perkins, a con who sells landmaps of properties and is hired by Diana to create a map of their estate Wolf Hollow.
Kerry does so and literally trips over a dead girl's body. That's where it all begins. Police come and investigate, everyone is unreliable at that moment and the story unfolds from there where you get to know the characters a lot better, especially Jonah and Cy.
Familiy history, family drama, somewhat disturbing relationships and the hunt for a serial killer is what follows through the entire book.
So my thought are this: I went from 2 stars, to 3 stars, to 4 stars. It just got better and better. The thing with this book was that it didn't always grab me in the beginning. I really had to take my time and push myself to continue reading. Mainly becomes of the different POV's and the switches in time. But somewhere towards the middle I got into it more and more, pieces fell into place and I was sooooo very much intrigued by Jonah! I did enjoy the different POV's after that and how we sometimes went back in time, from adult to childhood. It gave the characters a bit more meaning. The ending was nicely done. Didn't see it coming, but I hardly ever do 😅 Wish we were able to get to know Pink a little bit better, he was an interesting and very meaningful character in this story.
Overall, 4 stars for this debut! Maybe a bit too much all over the place at times, but definitely worth picking up in my opinion 😊
Also a thank you towards the writer, Cody Luke Davis for writing this pretty damn good debut about a troubled family and the (gruesome) secrets they hold 👌
Meet the Wolf-family: Diana, Thad and sons Cy and Jonah. Incoming: Kerry Perkins, a con who sells landmaps of properties and is hired by Diana to create a map of their estate Wolf Hollow.
Kerry does so and literally trips over a dead girl's body. That's where it all begins. Police come and investigate, everyone is unreliable at that moment and the story unfolds from there where you get to know the characters a lot better, especially Jonah and Cy.
Familiy history, family drama, somewhat disturbing relationships and the hunt for a serial killer is what follows through the entire book.
So my thought are this: I went from 2 stars, to 3 stars, to 4 stars. It just got better and better. The thing with this book was that it didn't always grab me in the beginning. I really had to take my time and push myself to continue reading. Mainly becomes of the different POV's and the switches in time. But somewhere towards the middle I got into it more and more, pieces fell into place and I was sooooo very much intrigued by Jonah! I did enjoy the different POV's after that and how we sometimes went back in time, from adult to childhood. It gave the characters a bit more meaning. The ending was nicely done. Didn't see it coming, but I hardly ever do 😅 Wish we were able to get to know Pink a little bit better, he was an interesting and very meaningful character in this story.
Overall, 4 stars for this debut! Maybe a bit too much all over the place at times, but definitely worth picking up in my opinion 😊
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March 22, 2023DNF at 10%
The writing was choppy…like it didn’t finish one thought and was already onto another. It was really difficult to follow. It didn’t take me long to realize that this wasn’t for me.
The writing was choppy…like it didn’t finish one thought and was already onto another. It was really difficult to follow. It didn’t take me long to realize that this wasn’t for me.
June 9, 2022
I’m definitely in the minority with my 2 star rating but this story fell flat for me and I could not connect with any of the characters. DNF at 30%. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this early release in exchange for my review.
August 27, 2022
A very good book about very bad people.
I must say, this was not my type of read per se, as it was a lot on the heavy side of the family trauma, abuse, serial murders of innocent people, violence and general depravity and denial.
However, the writing is compelling, and heavy and drags you down with it a very dark rabbit hole.
Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC!
I must say, this was not my type of read per se, as it was a lot on the heavy side of the family trauma, abuse, serial murders of innocent people, violence and general depravity and denial.
However, the writing is compelling, and heavy and drags you down with it a very dark rabbit hole.
Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC!
May 18, 2022
House of a Thousand Lies
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Thriller
Format: Kindle eBook
Date Published: 8/9/22
Author: Cody Luke Davis
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
Pages: 320
Goodreads Rating: 3.73
Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for providing a copy of the book for me to read in exchange for my honest opinion.
Synopsis: When Diana Wolf hires a cartographer, Kerry Perkins, to survey and map her estate in rural Tennessee, she pulls back a frayed corner of the lie that is her fairytale life. On his first night at Wolf Hollow, Kerry stumbles across a dead girl buried in the woods. A week later, the cops are digging in her backyard and her nagging self-doubt returns for the first time in years. She’s not the only one with questions. Kerry Perkins can’t shake what he saw in the woods that night. He suspects that Diana recognized that symbol, that she lied to the police; that someone is watching him, and that whoever it is, they desperately want him to keep his mouth shut.
My Thoughts: The story is told through multiple narrators through their POV, however they are unreliable, which can make for a good read. This is a debut novel from the author and for a debut, it was good. There were times that the book was a slow burn, not all of time but at different points throughout the novel, and there were sometimes I would have to push through. While the plot was intriguing, it seemed a bit stretched and unrealistic. The characters were developed but I would like to have seen more so I could connect with them. I did enjoy the book and cannot wait until this author puts out more books.
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Thriller
Format: Kindle eBook
Date Published: 8/9/22
Author: Cody Luke Davis
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
Pages: 320
Goodreads Rating: 3.73
Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for providing a copy of the book for me to read in exchange for my honest opinion.
Synopsis: When Diana Wolf hires a cartographer, Kerry Perkins, to survey and map her estate in rural Tennessee, she pulls back a frayed corner of the lie that is her fairytale life. On his first night at Wolf Hollow, Kerry stumbles across a dead girl buried in the woods. A week later, the cops are digging in her backyard and her nagging self-doubt returns for the first time in years. She’s not the only one with questions. Kerry Perkins can’t shake what he saw in the woods that night. He suspects that Diana recognized that symbol, that she lied to the police; that someone is watching him, and that whoever it is, they desperately want him to keep his mouth shut.
My Thoughts: The story is told through multiple narrators through their POV, however they are unreliable, which can make for a good read. This is a debut novel from the author and for a debut, it was good. There were times that the book was a slow burn, not all of time but at different points throughout the novel, and there were sometimes I would have to push through. While the plot was intriguing, it seemed a bit stretched and unrealistic. The characters were developed but I would like to have seen more so I could connect with them. I did enjoy the book and cannot wait until this author puts out more books.
July 27, 2022
I was so intrigued by reading the synopsis that I knew I had to have this one. This is a debut book and It started off rather slow, and at times I found myself losing interest, but at the last 20% or so it seemed to pick up pace and I was more invested.
I will say that I feel like the characters lacked much development, and I struggled with relating to any of them, and rather disliked them. This story is told from various characters POVs and it made it rather confusing. I feel like if the POVs had been cut down then this would have improved this story a lot. There were some pretty good twists and turns and lots of secrets, but I felt so let down with the far-fetched ending and it left me feeling pretty disappointed.
Overall, this was an entertaining debut BUT I feel like the author tried to do too much with this one, and in return that ruined it. I feel like there was a lot of unnecessary things added, and it just made the story drag on. The plot was intriguing, but I was left feeling underwhelmed and disappointed with this one overall.
Thank you to @crookedlanebooks for my gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.
I will say that I feel like the characters lacked much development, and I struggled with relating to any of them, and rather disliked them. This story is told from various characters POVs and it made it rather confusing. I feel like if the POVs had been cut down then this would have improved this story a lot. There were some pretty good twists and turns and lots of secrets, but I felt so let down with the far-fetched ending and it left me feeling pretty disappointed.
Overall, this was an entertaining debut BUT I feel like the author tried to do too much with this one, and in return that ruined it. I feel like there was a lot of unnecessary things added, and it just made the story drag on. The plot was intriguing, but I was left feeling underwhelmed and disappointed with this one overall.
Thank you to @crookedlanebooks for my gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.
October 4, 2022
If I can make one bet (and I am a betting girl), I will tell you that there will not be a soul on this planet that will give this book less than 5 stars.
Cody Luke Davis, has set the bar for all thrillers to come with House of a Thousand Lies. He came out swinging with this psychological thriller and has left me with permanent chills down my spine. I am flabbergasted that this is a debut novel..
Throughout reading House of a Thousand Lies, I was continually left in suspense, while anticipating what would come next. Never in my life could I have seen all the twists being thrown in my direction. As I flipped each page, I became addicted to the storyline and how the secrets were being exposed one by one.
Davis did an incredible job developing such authentic and layered characters. Everyone felt so real, I found myself talking about them in conversation amongst friends as if they really existed.
The one question I can ask you is, how far would you go to protect your family legacy?
Tune in to find out.....
5 stars
Cody Luke Davis, has set the bar for all thrillers to come with House of a Thousand Lies. He came out swinging with this psychological thriller and has left me with permanent chills down my spine. I am flabbergasted that this is a debut novel..
Throughout reading House of a Thousand Lies, I was continually left in suspense, while anticipating what would come next. Never in my life could I have seen all the twists being thrown in my direction. As I flipped each page, I became addicted to the storyline and how the secrets were being exposed one by one.
Davis did an incredible job developing such authentic and layered characters. Everyone felt so real, I found myself talking about them in conversation amongst friends as if they really existed.
The one question I can ask you is, how far would you go to protect your family legacy?
Tune in to find out.....
5 stars
September 26, 2022
Choppy, inconsistent.
I couldn’t care less about any of the characters. Even many of their personalities were inconsistent. I think he was going for a “you’ll never guess who was responsible ha ha ha gotchoo didn’t I?!” Type of thing but it fell so flat and sorry dude, but the big bad was obvious, now you’re just trying too hard and you’ve lost me. I pushed through and finished with zero sense of closure. I’m mentally confused and discombobulated. The plot was so out of reach and far fetched even for a work of fiction. Again yes, I know this is a work of fiction. But when you make it obnoxiously far fetched and just leave it without further explanation and the readers are supposed to just accept it, it’s insulting to the reader.
I couldn’t care less about any of the characters. Even many of their personalities were inconsistent. I think he was going for a “you’ll never guess who was responsible ha ha ha gotchoo didn’t I?!” Type of thing but it fell so flat and sorry dude, but the big bad was obvious, now you’re just trying too hard and you’ve lost me. I pushed through and finished with zero sense of closure. I’m mentally confused and discombobulated. The plot was so out of reach and far fetched even for a work of fiction. Again yes, I know this is a work of fiction. But when you make it obnoxiously far fetched and just leave it without further explanation and the readers are supposed to just accept it, it’s insulting to the reader.
July 23, 2022
I am giving this book a two stars because it was entirely too confusing. I think that the basis of the story has potential, but the author was just trying to do way too much within one book. I kept thinking that this HAD to be the last point of view, but then another one would appear along with another timeline.
In short, this book felt like a run on sentence that meandered on for too long. Was I surprised by some of the turns? Yes. Did I also want them to stop? Yes.
In short, this book felt like a run on sentence that meandered on for too long. Was I surprised by some of the turns? Yes. Did I also want them to stop? Yes.
January 31, 2023
The story started out interesting enough, and there were many parts of the boom that lent well to a horror/psychological thriller. But there was no path to the story, many blocky sentences and no resolution. It was a very anticlimactic ending that left you asking “wait, what?”. Wouldn’t recommend. The author has promise for future novels but this wasn’t ready to be published.
July 25, 2022
Based on the description, I was really looking forward to reading this book. I was a little worried that I’d built it up too much but it exceeded my expectations! This was a dark & twisted tale of family gone wrong and the consequences that follow. I thought it was expertly crafted, with reveals slowly pulling you in to make you realise how rotten the Wolf family really was. I loved the multiple points of view over different time periods - they made me keep guessing as to what was going on and who was doing it. Once you get into it, you start to see how everything links together, and it starts building up speed to an epic conclusion - parts of which had me yelling at the book! This was a fantastic debut & I can’t wait to see what Cody Luke Davis does next.
Thanks to Crooked Lane Books & NetGalley for the DRC in exchange for an honest review.
Thanks to Crooked Lane Books & NetGalley for the DRC in exchange for an honest review.
August 11, 2022
Based on the synopsis of House of a Thousand Lies, it sounded dark and creepy, and definitely my kind of thriller. Sadly, by about the 32% mark, I decided to DNF. The plot was moving so incredibly slow and by that point, I expected something really jarring to happen. I was simply bored.
I will say, Cody's writing style is engaging. He uses a lot of description to bring you into his scenes. From what I read, I could see it set as a movie or TV Show when there are a lot more visual elements brought into the fold.
Based on other reviews, I'm probably in the minority here. Some people have really loved this book. It's just not for me.
Thank you Crooked Lane and NetGalley for the eARC!
I will say, Cody's writing style is engaging. He uses a lot of description to bring you into his scenes. From what I read, I could see it set as a movie or TV Show when there are a lot more visual elements brought into the fold.
Based on other reviews, I'm probably in the minority here. Some people have really loved this book. It's just not for me.
Thank you Crooked Lane and NetGalley for the eARC!
December 23, 2022
I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Ok, so this book takes focus but it’s worth it. There are time jumps and multiple POVs - I want to say maybe 7 or 8. But that keeps the story going and you on your toes! There is also music, art, alcohol, secrets, and of course murder. The story does take a little while to take off, but once it does you’re in for a ride. I did feel like the ending was rushed, but it didn’t leave anything out. So I’m not mad about it. Overall this was a terrifyingly good read.
Ok, so this book takes focus but it’s worth it. There are time jumps and multiple POVs - I want to say maybe 7 or 8. But that keeps the story going and you on your toes! There is also music, art, alcohol, secrets, and of course murder. The story does take a little while to take off, but once it does you’re in for a ride. I did feel like the ending was rushed, but it didn’t leave anything out. So I’m not mad about it. Overall this was a terrifyingly good read.
February 12, 2025
This book was great. It’s hard for me to find a psychological suspense book that will knock me down. Everything else is very predictable. This book is not predictable. I really hope the author keeps writing and doesn’t let anything discourage him from writing.
April 24, 2022
Diana Wolf has woken up from an alcoholic blackout regretting it again. And, as usual, she has spent an exorbitant amount of money on something she doesn’t need. But since she can’t remember what she bought, this could be interesting.
Cue Kerry Perkins, the cartographer she hired while in her haze to map out their estate. Kerry arrives and realises it will take some time, as the estate is very large. Diana needs to hide him somewhere for the week to do the work as her rock-star husband won’t be happy with her latest drunken purchase.
On the first day, Kerry comes across a buried skeleton, and carved into the skull is a picture of two wolves. When he calls Diana in to see this, she feigns surprise, but Kerry can see that she has recognised something. Enter the police and investigators and things start getting very weird when family secrets involving the sons, Cy and Jonah, are revealed for the deep lies they are. Not only in actions, but also in bonds.
Kerry becomes suspicious that the body was not just a random stranger and starts doing some investigating of his own. This leads him to Pink, an obsessed stalker of the Wolf family, who knows far too much about them. Together, they uncover horrifying information about the family as very often, where there is one body, others might follow.
I have to admit that I pushed through this book. It started off well and grabbed me, then in places I’d want to skim as the jumps between characters and time became confusing. This made the book feel longer than it actually was, and not in a good way.
I did enjoy the constant questioning of what was real and what wasn’t, whether it was an incident or a connection to someone. However, the main plot that held the book together branched out so much at the end that it went from being believable to being too far-fetched. I was with it through most of the way, nodding my head, and then went NOPE. Just NOPE. Plus, added to that, the ending came so suddenly it was like the author knew where he was going, but had spent so much getting there that he ran out of steam to bring it together smoothly. There were two parts to the ending that I felt stretched believability too much. This was disappointing, as in places I thought I had the tone of the book and felt comfortable knowing that the ending would be plausible.
I didn’t connect with any of the characters and I felt as though the author made them deliberately not likeable so that there were no “heroes”. I think the part I felt the strongest about involved a dog… I’ll leave it at that. I was glad that the story had no major grammar and punctuation errors, as this made for an easy reading experience.
Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the opportunity to review this book.
Cue Kerry Perkins, the cartographer she hired while in her haze to map out their estate. Kerry arrives and realises it will take some time, as the estate is very large. Diana needs to hide him somewhere for the week to do the work as her rock-star husband won’t be happy with her latest drunken purchase.
On the first day, Kerry comes across a buried skeleton, and carved into the skull is a picture of two wolves. When he calls Diana in to see this, she feigns surprise, but Kerry can see that she has recognised something. Enter the police and investigators and things start getting very weird when family secrets involving the sons, Cy and Jonah, are revealed for the deep lies they are. Not only in actions, but also in bonds.
Kerry becomes suspicious that the body was not just a random stranger and starts doing some investigating of his own. This leads him to Pink, an obsessed stalker of the Wolf family, who knows far too much about them. Together, they uncover horrifying information about the family as very often, where there is one body, others might follow.
I have to admit that I pushed through this book. It started off well and grabbed me, then in places I’d want to skim as the jumps between characters and time became confusing. This made the book feel longer than it actually was, and not in a good way.
I did enjoy the constant questioning of what was real and what wasn’t, whether it was an incident or a connection to someone. However, the main plot that held the book together branched out so much at the end that it went from being believable to being too far-fetched. I was with it through most of the way, nodding my head, and then went NOPE. Just NOPE. Plus, added to that, the ending came so suddenly it was like the author knew where he was going, but had spent so much getting there that he ran out of steam to bring it together smoothly. There were two parts to the ending that I felt stretched believability too much. This was disappointing, as in places I thought I had the tone of the book and felt comfortable knowing that the ending would be plausible.
I didn’t connect with any of the characters and I felt as though the author made them deliberately not likeable so that there were no “heroes”. I think the part I felt the strongest about involved a dog… I’ll leave it at that. I was glad that the story had no major grammar and punctuation errors, as this made for an easy reading experience.
Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the opportunity to review this book.
May 31, 2022
Diana Wolf has a dream home and does whatever she can to keep it all together. Her husband is a bit older, but it's important she keeps him interested and their sons are a bit...different. After one wine too many, Diana hires Kerry Perkins who is a conman pretending to map massive estates. Since she has already paid him, she invites him to walk through the Wolf Hall estate.
It's not long before Kerry trips on a skull with a strange engraving and the police are called in. Diana has her suspicions, but will stop at nothing to keep the secrets of the family. Kerry thinks it's best he run, but he befriends a strange man obsessed with the Wolfs and together they begin their own investigation. Soon Diana's husband and sons are under suspicion and nothing is what it seems.
This is a complicated story told by multiple pov and many seem to be unreliable. It's a great first effort by Cody Luke Davis! If you like family secrets, gothic-style stories and unreliable narrators, then House of a Thousand Lies is for you! #CrookedLaneBooks #NetGalley
It's not long before Kerry trips on a skull with a strange engraving and the police are called in. Diana has her suspicions, but will stop at nothing to keep the secrets of the family. Kerry thinks it's best he run, but he befriends a strange man obsessed with the Wolfs and together they begin their own investigation. Soon Diana's husband and sons are under suspicion and nothing is what it seems.
This is a complicated story told by multiple pov and many seem to be unreliable. It's a great first effort by Cody Luke Davis! If you like family secrets, gothic-style stories and unreliable narrators, then House of a Thousand Lies is for you! #CrookedLaneBooks #NetGalley
March 7, 2022
Not that engaging, although I did make my way through it. Didn't much care for the characters or the plot.
August 4, 2022
This book was crazy! Crazy, good! I found myself so engrossed in the story, hours would go by before I realized it. Full of intoxicating suspense, Cody Luke Davis has written a book so dark and deadly that it makes you realize things in the book could actually happen. It probably does! That's the scary thing about it. Told with multiple narrators, you have a hard time figuring out who to believe. Some of it is just jaw dropping. This family lives with so many lies, so many things pushed under the rug, and secrets that are mind blowing. What would you do if you thought you had the perfect life? What would you do to preserve it? To the Wolf family, it's the unimaginable!! I give a huge round of applause to Cody Luke Davis for this book. It takes you to places where you know bad things are going to happen, yet you just can't put it down!
March 6, 2022
This is a debut novel by Cody Luke Davis. In this one we have Diana Wolf, on the verge of turning 54, who in the beginning discovers that she wondering what she purchased after another alcohol black out. This time she learns that she spent 13k on a cartographer land survey. The purchase is non-refundable and it will take Kerry Perkins: The cartographer a week to do the survey. That's just great because now she has to hide him from her husband for a week as he surveys the thousand acres of Wolf Hollow: their property.
Kerry Perkins starts surveying the land and and soon Boom: He finds a dead girl with two wolves carved into her skull. And so begins a twisty ride as Perkins starts to investigate what is going on at Wolf Hollow. And it's a pretty crazy ride!
Pros: Book was twisty. There are plenty of characters that you can't really trust or believe. Kerry Perkins thinks that Diana knows who the girl is and soon there is a police investigation. It was entertaining.
Cons: So, in my opinion, I don't think the book was very well written. I think the plot and pace were done well but I just thought the execution was choppy. The ending wasn't as good as I would have liked as well.
Overall, I recommend reading. I like thrillers with unreliable narrators but I can't give this one five stars.
Book was given free for a honest review.
Kerry Perkins starts surveying the land and and soon Boom: He finds a dead girl with two wolves carved into her skull. And so begins a twisty ride as Perkins starts to investigate what is going on at Wolf Hollow. And it's a pretty crazy ride!
Pros: Book was twisty. There are plenty of characters that you can't really trust or believe. Kerry Perkins thinks that Diana knows who the girl is and soon there is a police investigation. It was entertaining.
Cons: So, in my opinion, I don't think the book was very well written. I think the plot and pace were done well but I just thought the execution was choppy. The ending wasn't as good as I would have liked as well.
Overall, I recommend reading. I like thrillers with unreliable narrators but I can't give this one five stars.
Book was given free for a honest review.
July 20, 2022
Look. This book takes a lot of focus. There are jumps in time, moving back and forth, between multiple people and various situations. There are art and biblical references, there is music and alcohol, there is blood.
There is also a family and a lifetime of secrets.
House of a Thousand Lies by Cody Luke Davis is a terrifying story of just how far one family will go to protect themselves.
Diana Wolf loves her children. She has a tendency to drink herself into blackout and wake up having purchased insane things. This time, it was a map of her property. When Kerry Perkins arrives, he's tall, handsome....and a con-man. What Kerry finds, however, it's a skull. Diana knows that it's only the beginning.
This is a book that unfolds slowly and the last 25% unfolds at lightening speed. I read the last 100 pages on a plane and couldn't stop to even pay attention to the snacks, I was so intrigued. Just know that the skull on the property is just the very tip of the iceberg. This has a 'Most Dangerous Game' feel.
This book should be read with all the lights on and with no one in the room. It's haunting and terrifying. It's fantastic.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review.
There is also a family and a lifetime of secrets.
House of a Thousand Lies by Cody Luke Davis is a terrifying story of just how far one family will go to protect themselves.
Diana Wolf loves her children. She has a tendency to drink herself into blackout and wake up having purchased insane things. This time, it was a map of her property. When Kerry Perkins arrives, he's tall, handsome....and a con-man. What Kerry finds, however, it's a skull. Diana knows that it's only the beginning.
This is a book that unfolds slowly and the last 25% unfolds at lightening speed. I read the last 100 pages on a plane and couldn't stop to even pay attention to the snacks, I was so intrigued. Just know that the skull on the property is just the very tip of the iceberg. This has a 'Most Dangerous Game' feel.
This book should be read with all the lights on and with no one in the room. It's haunting and terrifying. It's fantastic.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review.
December 25, 2022
Meh. This is the kind of book that I feel the author wrote hoping it would become a movie. Parts of it read like a script: scenes of the garbage man listening to a song in his headphones as he picks up their trash, a lot of onomatopoeias. You know the basics of the ending from nearly the beginning, you just have to keep reading to fill in the gaps. You never fully grasp any of the characters’ personalities or root for or against any of them. The author throws in events in the characters’ lives from their childhood or early adulthood, I would assume for character development but it ends up just being all very cliche. There are still questions unanswered at the end of the book, as well as questions that didn’t really need answering hastily tied up in the final pages for no reason. This is this (young) author’s first book (not that I haven’t read some debuts that have stunned) so maybe his upcoming work will be better but I probably won’t give him another chance. A lot of work to be done.
June 10, 2023
There were a few things I really liked about this book and a few things I didn't. The last half of the book was especially good while the first half was good but a little slow. The book also jumps around a lot and makes it little difficult to follow. Diana Wolf has a rock star husband, a gorgeous house in Tennessee she had built, and two sons she would do anything for. But her boys are both grown now and she hasn't had contact with them in a while. She decided to hire someone to map the land for her, Kerry Perkins. While Kerry was surveying the land, he came across a skull with two wolves carved into it, a human skull. Now Diana has to face some facts that she has even trying to ignore since her sons were children. Thank you NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for this ARC.
June 12, 2022
This is quite a good first novel with so many twists! Every time I was sure I knew who the baddest of the bad were something would happen to change my mind.
It was difficult to like any of the characters, though I did have a soft spot for Pink.
I almost gave up on this book several times in the first half. I found it more interesting as the story started to develop. I feel that there was too much background in the earlier parts. Having the story told by various characters as well as jumping around in the the timeline was a bit too confusing at times.
Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book.
It was difficult to like any of the characters, though I did have a soft spot for Pink.
I almost gave up on this book several times in the first half. I found it more interesting as the story started to develop. I feel that there was too much background in the earlier parts. Having the story told by various characters as well as jumping around in the the timeline was a bit too confusing at times.
Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book.
August 16, 2022
I finished this book "last night" - which actually means today at 2 AM - and I have to say I liked very much.
However now that I'm thinking more about it... Have a lot of questions that the writer forgot to answer.
For example: What was this great phenomenon art that Jonah talks about all his life? It is just his arts in the locals of the deathes/of the corpses?... What happens to Cy, what he's doing now?... Why Jonah isn't catch up?(although this last one I'm okay with it, because I read a lot of thrillers with an open ended and I see it as normal).
Yeah... Some questions remained unanswered but I still will give 5 stars because I love it and this is what matters!
However now that I'm thinking more about it... Have a lot of questions that the writer forgot to answer.
For example: What was this great phenomenon art that Jonah talks about all his life? It is just his arts in the locals of the deathes/of the corpses?... What happens to Cy, what he's doing now?... Why Jonah isn't catch up?(although this last one I'm okay with it, because I read a lot of thrillers with an open ended and I see it as normal).
Yeah... Some questions remained unanswered but I still will give 5 stars because I love it and this is what matters!
February 7, 2023
Couldn't put it down! Great pace and a cool cast of well-developed characters. There's some seriously sinister happenings afoot, and so many unanswered questions when the novel ends.
I'm eager for more from this talented author. Definitely lends itself to a sequel, as well as a movie or TV adaptation.
It was a little hard to follow the sequence of events at first so I had to pay close attention to the date provided with each chapter. Without these dates the novel may seem disjointed.
Lots of great plot twists too, and unexpected resolutions that need to be explored in a follow-up book that I hope the author has already started writing.
I'm eager for more from this talented author. Definitely lends itself to a sequel, as well as a movie or TV adaptation.
It was a little hard to follow the sequence of events at first so I had to pay close attention to the date provided with each chapter. Without these dates the novel may seem disjointed.
Lots of great plot twists too, and unexpected resolutions that need to be explored in a follow-up book that I hope the author has already started writing.
February 2, 2023
Though the subject matter is gruesome the action moves at a pace that keeps the reader interested. Main characters backstories are revealed in a natural way revealing their motivations thus garnering sympathy for even perpetrators like Cy, Jonah and their Mom. As predicted by Jonah no one will miss Thad. The ending leaves plenty of room for more books as the other characters developed throughout have more to tell.
October 4, 2023
I want to hate this book but the truth is, it’s captivating. It’s horrifying and def more of a horror than a thriller, it’s packed with so many writing cliches that a novice would use and the plot and choppy writing may give you a headache but it’s not bad. I rallied to finish and even if the ending is unsatisfying (which I think we all knew no happy ending was coming) it’s a compelling albeit disturbing read. 3.5/5 stars
July 31, 2022
House of a Thousand Lies by Cody Luke Davis was more than I thought it would be. A tale of generational truama, murder, mental illness, addiction, and lies, lies, lies. The end wasn't shocking, but it did make me think. About the privilege of money and being able to spend your way out of trouble and into deviance. I would definitely recommend this book.
August 2, 2022
A creepy maniacal book. A fractured family of an aging rock star live in seclusion in rural Tennessee.
The wife hires a cartographer who discovers a body.
Slowly the real story emerges.
The book has a lot of people with serious issues. I didn’t dislike the book but I wasn’t overly fond of it either.
Thanks to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for the early read.
The wife hires a cartographer who discovers a body.
Slowly the real story emerges.
The book has a lot of people with serious issues. I didn’t dislike the book but I wasn’t overly fond of it either.
Thanks to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for the early read.
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