Powerful, Thought Provoking Debut:
Each of us has a breaking point but seldom do we ever reach it. But what if we did and our actions were to haunt us for the rest of our lives.
Jack & Rachel are a couple in love. They are ideally matched and Wally is the result. But one of them has a dark secret which will test their relationship to breaking point. An intelligent and absorbing story which examines human temperament and emotions on the brink. Guaranteed to make you pause for thought as to the finicky rights and wrongs of our moral codes. A must read.

A great debut. I liked the narrative style of flipping between past and present. The storyline itself is very thought provoking and makes you wonder what you would do if faced with similar circumstances. I found the pace of the book to be very steady, rather than full of twists and turns, but it held my interest well.

Very enjoyable. 4 stars

This is another book by a female author being billed as a psychological thriller that feels that it just at the slightly darker end of the chick lit scale.

I'm not saying that there is anything wrong with that if that's what you want to read, but as a thriller lover, it was disappointing.

There were no likeable characters - Rachel, who is telling her story was an insecure, untrusting young woman who had no right to delve into her partner's 'secrets' when she was hiding her own.

It brings up 'Clare's Law' which unfortunately is a red rag to a bull to me, and the fact that apparently "...in 20 years everyone will be doing this" was the final nail in the coffin as far as I was concerned.

The writing was good, but there was no tension, drama or thrill enough for me to feel I'd been given what I wanted! Bad marketing yet again :(

2.5 stars.

An intriguing read, wasn't sure I liked the main character at first, snooping but keeping secrets, but as I read on it became apparent why maybe she was a bit secretive, did think the boyfriend was a bit of a wet blanket, but enjoyable none the less

Everything you need in a thriller. Multi-faceted interesting plots and characters. The author keeps you guessing throughout. Highly recommended.

A really gripping, easy to read thriller that I found very compelling. . A well deserved 5 stars for a beautifully written book!

Wow. What a wonderful story. It would be so easy to not like either characters as they have done some dreadful wrongs in their lives. However how could you not fall in love with Jack a strong but sensitive guy with a huge severer. And Rachel the caring doctor that did what im sure many of the medical profession wish they had the guts to do. Beautifully written and a true love story to treasure.

I had heard really great things about this book, so I was excited to start it. Unfortunately, I just didn't love it. I wasn't gripped by tension and I didn't really connect with the characters. Jack didn't appear inherently bad and so it was difficult to support Rachel and her quest for the truth.
I'm grateful for the opportunity to read and review this book. I'm deeply sorry I didn't enjoy it more.

I wanted to love this one. I had heard many good things about it and being the fan of psychological thrillers that I am, I really thought I'd fall at its feet. I have good news and bad news. I'll start with the bad. By the time I had reached 50% of my way through this book I liked it, but nothing more. It was heading for a solid 3 star review. Now for the good news. By the time I finished the book, I loved it. Strange how that can happen sometimes, isn't it?

Personally, I found this a tale of two halves. The first half of the book was very slow to build. The tension was there, definitely, but it was a slow burn. Now, many people don't mind that, especially with psychological thrillers, which are generally slower in pace than thrillers or crime procedurals, but for me, I found that not much happened in the first half of the book. Yes, Rachel has met a new man, and yes, he hasn't been telling her the whole truth about who he is, but that's all you really know. But then things start to kick off and I found that I was suddenly racing through the pages, dying to know the big secret. I'm not quite sure what changed between the two halves, but I think it was the slow emergence of the secret. Also, Rachel had managed to get hold of a copy of the court transcript and had started reading it and Rachel's own back story from a year ago was all coming together.

This is a great book. Don't expect many huge twists and turns and "OMG" moments like you find in many psychological thrillers these days, but this is still a good, solid, entertaining read. It's more of a character driven story which focuses on moral issues. I actually thought that the ending was going to go in a different direction, but I was wrong. Had it gone in that direction it might have had more of a twist common of psychological thrillers, but the fact that it didn't really wasn't an issue.

The premise of this book was intriguing and it did raise a number of questions: How well can you ever know anyone after only a few months? How easy is it to hide one's past from a new partner? By the end of the book it was clear that one of the main themes of the book was that none of us are perfect, that we all make mistakes and that often our mistakes cause strife to other people. This wasn't something that I had thought a lot about but this book brought it home. And it's so true. Many of us would have had similar experiences to the main characters in this book - we would have done something so out of character, and someone got hurt as a result of our actions. Does that make us bad people? Probably not. But read this book and it may give you some food for thought in regard to that topic.

Overall, a really good debut. I look forward to reading more by this author, whose next book will be released in early 2018.

Rating: * * * *

Publication Date: April 2017 (South Africa)

Genre: Psychological Thriller / Suspense

Format: Paperback

Source: Review copy received from the publisher. Many thanks to author Gillian McAllister and Penguin for my copy. It was my pleasure to read and review this title.

Thank you to Gillian McAllister, the publisher, and Netgalley for the advanced reader copy of Everything but the Truth. I rated this book a solid 3.5 stars.

A suspicious email. A name change. Whispered conversations. This is what the narrator of Everything but the Truth experiences concerning her partner, Jack, who comes into her life suddenly. She finds herself pregnant with his child almost immediately, and soon she starts to wonder just what she has gotten herself (and her unborn child) into.

This book wasn't chilling or a psychological thriller as advertised. I would call it adult fiction, but certainly not a thriller. It also moved really slowly, and could have used some really good editing to make for a quicker, more entertaining read. All this being said, the author is a good writer and is able to construct interesting characters. I liked the moral of the story: that everyone has secrets, and that we can make mistakes and yet still be good people. However, it took forever to get there and by that point, I didn't care all too much. I just wanted to be done with the book.

I can't believe this book is a debut book it is so well written.

If you are looking for a compelling, tense, clever thriller then look no further.

I totally recommend this book.

Jack and Rachel, madly in love, with a baby on the way - everything is great until Rachel catches a glimpse of an email on Jack's iPad. From then on she starts questioning, delving into his past and won't be satisfied until she discovers everything there is to know. Meanwhile she is hiding something herself. Loved this, the cover, the style of writing and the great descriptions of Oban and Newcastle. What a fantastic, intriguing story and I couldn't wait to find out what the perfect Jack was hiding! Ooh, that Rachel though, she was so infuriating at times - she needed to get a grip. Looking forward to reading more books by this author.

I absolutely loved this book! I sped through it as I didn't want to put it down. Fast-paced and compelling, this is an extremely well-written psychological thriller. I can't wait to read future books by this author. She's become an auto-buy author for me.

Everything But The Truth is one of those books that has you asking yourself “What would I have done in this situation?” the whole way through, and from more than one point of view. Rachel is expecting a baby with her dream man Jack after a whirlwind romance. Unable to sleep one night Rachel sees the header of an email sent to Jack’s Ipad which arouses her suspicions that Jack may not be the man he claims to be. Unsure whether or not her pregnancy hormones are causing her anxiety and paranoia, Rachel is unable to forget the email she saw, and slowly piece by piece, starts to unravel the truth.

This is a slow burning but steady paced mystery that is layered with lies and deceit. Set partly in Newcastle in the North of England, and partly in Oban in Scotland, the author brings alive the locations so well that at one point I could smell the sea air in Oban, and the tang of the salt and vinegar carried from a seafront chippy. Told from Rachel’s point of view, the narrative switches between present day, and an event one year ago, when she was working as a paediatrician. The characters are relatable, you can understand and empathise with both points of view. That is one of the most unique points of this novel, as at times I could not decide whose side I was on. Both Rachel and Jack played to my understanding nature.

There are a good few twists and turns that keeps up the intrigue and suspense. Lie after lie is exposed, and every time Rachel thinks she has got to the bottom of it another layer is ripped away again, leaving her wondering how far down she will have to dig, to get to the truth. There is a dark undercurrent running through the whole book giving it a sinister edge, and causing a feeling of unease, compelling you to keep turning the pages to discover what is going to happen next.

This is a cleverly written, intelligent book and a fantastic debut novel from the author. Overall rating four fabulous stars. Thanks to Gillian McCallister, Penguin UK – Michael Joseph and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy.

I enjoyed the story however it did feel like it went on a bit. I persevered as i wanted to know what would happen between Jack and Rachel.
In their own way they had both acted irresponsibly but their intentions were not completely bad.

The story begins with Rachel & Jack. A fairly new, very happy relationship, recently found out they are expecting a baby.
Rachel sees an email on Jacks iPad and everything changes in an instant as she realises he is keeping secrets from her.
The story unfolds slowly and intriguingly as we discover both have their secrets from the past.

I loved this book, it's a brilliant story, beautifully written and I'd recommend it to anyone!

A well written book with an original theme but lacking in any tension. The characters weren't particularly gripping so I couldn't get much enthusiasm for the outcome.
It seemed to go on a bit too long and if it had been a little shorter that could have added to the pace.

Everything but the Truth is the author's debut novel and OMG what a very well written and crafted story it is. In fact it has totally blown me away. It is absolutely stunning if I do say so myself.

The author pulls you into the story right where we meet Rachel.Who is in love with Jack and pregnant with his child. Imagine reading an email and realising your partner isn't who they claim to be, this is what happens to Rachel and we are taking on an emotional whirlwind of events to uncover what exactly is Jack hiding.

This is one captivating read which I devoured in one afternoon like Rachel I just wanted to know what the secret is.This story will have you hooked from start to finish it is certainly a page turner. I loved Gillian's style of writing which is atmospheric and beautifully written. And written from Rachel’s point of view with chapters alternating from the present to the past weaving a story that will have you guessing until the end.

What an eye opener this story is and really made me think what if! Especially when my Dad is always saying to me “stop taking people for face value not everyone is who they say they are” something I can definitely relate to.

This is a must read psychological-thriller fans which I highly recommend giving it 5 massive stars.

Rachel and Jack met several months ago and are expecting a child together. As a result they are still going through the getting to know you phase in tandem with the pregnancy, but when Rachel opens one of Jack's emails out of curiosity one morning she discovers that points to Jack hiding a dark secret.

Unsure whether to confront him with it, this seed of doubt grows as she meets his friends and they call him by a different name, and she notices that he always keeps his phone well guarded and is very evasive as to why he suddenly gave up driving before she met him. As she digs, she discovers that he barely has a social media footprint, and that what there is seems at odds with what she knows about him.

Everything But The Truth is a dark psychological thriller (the best kind!) that splits its time between the rainy streets of Newcastle where Rachel and Jack life separately, and the Scottish island of Oban where Jack is from and where it soon becomes apparent the source of his secrets originate.

The reader is taken on a roller coaster ride of revelations and twists as we discover not only what is going on with Jack, but also Rachel whose own life is shrouded in secrets and taints her credentials as a reliable narrator. Both main characters are well drawn, as are the handful of supporting cast.

Everything But The Truth is a cracking read examining the secrets and lies that we weave into our public personas, and with which we mask the less desirable aspects of our histories.

This is a promising debut from Gillian McAllister. It is well written, fast paced and full of suspense. The plot is full of twists and turns to engage the reader's attention and will make you question your morals and what you would have done if you were in that situation. Great characters that are well developed and realistic in their interaction and emotions. Overall a brilliant Domestic Noir that will keep you reading late into the night.