Please Don't Lie: A Thriller

by Christina Baker Kline, Anne Burt

Overview

In this stylish, twisty thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author Christina Baker Kline and award-winning author Anne Burt, a young woman heads to the Adirondacks with her new husband for a fresh start—but the past won’t let her go.

Two years ago, Hayley Stone lost everything. First, her parents died in a devastating fire. Then, her sister overdosed, leaving Hayley alone and hounded by a media circus that turned her family’s tragedy into tabloid fodder. When her new husband suggests a fresh start in the Adirondacks, the promise of anonymity in an isolated mountain town feels like salvation.

But the mountains hold darker secrets than she ever imagined.

Her once-loving husband grows distant and volatile. The widow down the road keeps spewing vague accusations. Not even their new friends—a free-spirited couple living on the property—can help Hayley shake the creeping sense that something is off.

As winter edges closer, Hayley discovers that her sanctuary is anything but safe. Trapped and isolated, she faces a terrifying truth: in trying to escape her past, she may have run straight into something far more dangerous.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781662524394
Publisher:	Amazon Publishing
Publication date:	09/01/2025
Series:	Crystal River , #1
Pages:	268
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Christina Baker Kline is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of eight novels, including The Exiles, Orphan Train, and A Piece of the World. She is the recipient of the New England Society prize for fiction, the Maine Literary Award, and a Barnes & Noble Discover Prize. Kline has also written and edited five nonfiction books. Please Don’t Lie is her first thriller.

Anne Burt’s debut novel, The Dig, was an American Booksellers Association Indie Next pick, the Strand Book Store’s mystery selection for spring 2023, and the IndieBound.org Indie Next list’s lead “Thrills & Chills” reading group title for summer 2024. She is also a nonfiction writer and editor and a past winner of the Meridian literary magazine’s Editors’ Prize in fiction.

Editorial Reviews

Praise for Please Don’t Lie

“Getting away from it all has never looked more sinister or ill-advised than in this deliciously dark version of the small-town idyll.” —Ruth Ware, New York Times bestselling author of The Woman in Suite 11

“Christina Baker Kline and Anne Burt take suspense to the next level with a creepy small-town setting, shady characters, and an unpredictable, twisted web of deceit. Lock the doors, grab a blanket, and settle in—you won’t be able to put this one down anytime soon. Please Don’t Lie is unsettling, atmospheric, and propulsive.” —Mary Kubica, New York Times bestselling author of Local Woman Missing

“Psychologically rich and bone chilling, Christina Baker Kline and Anne Burt’s serpentine and timely thriller Please Don’t Lie will make you question everything you think you know about those closest to you, and make you wonder how vulnerable we all are—in our weakest moments—to deceit, manipulation, and a surrender of control.” —Megan Abbott, New York Times bestselling author of El Dorado Drive

“This twisty-turny tale spins the riveting story of Hayley Stone, a newlywed who leaves New York to move to the idyllic Adirondacks with her husband Brandon. But what happens there plunges her into a mystery underlying her marriage, as well as her tragic past. It kept me breathless until its surprising ending. I loved it!” —Lisa Scottoline, #1 bestselling author of The Unraveling of Julia

“Please Don’t Lie ratchets up the tension, twist by twist, until the suspense is almost unbearable. It will make every woman ask herself: ‘Do I know who I really married?’” —Tess Gerritsen, New York Times bestselling author of The Summer Guests

“Please Don’t Lie is a nail-biting, fast-paced thriller that had me on the edge of my seat from start to finish! Just when I thought I had it all figured out, another shocking twist caught me by surprise! I highly recommend.” —T.R. Ragan, New York Times bestselling author of Best House on the Block

From the Publisher