Everyone Has Secrets - A J McDine ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Narrator: Tamsin Kennard ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This book was filled with lies and twists! I was hooked from the first chapter.

A peaceful neighborhood is shattered when 15 yr old Annie is found unresponsive at Eve's home. Eve's son was celebrating his 16th birthday when Eve suffered an overdose The neighborhood instantly blames Eve for the incident and she must uncover the truth before her son is convicted.

4.5⭐️

A fantastic psychological thriller by A.J. McDine, who I've had the pleasure of reading some of her other books previously so was not disappointed by this.

When Joe is turning 16 he asks his dad if he can have a party to which his mum Eve automatically says and Annie of course (a family friend, the daughter of their best friend Lisa and neighbour) to celebrate. Joes mum decided as it is only a few friends to play xbox what harm can there be although she goes into autopilot mum mode oh we will stay here with her husband saying no we will go to Lisa's (Annie's parents) for the evening we are still close by.

The evening of the party comes and Eve can't shake the feeling of doom that something isn't right but dismisses it and goes to Lisa's where the two couples enjoy an evening together looking over the street where all looks quiet and they feel at peace that all is well until the fateful phonecall that will change everyone's life...!!!

Joe calls his mum Eve to come home immediately in a panic Eve is taken to hospital after taking drugs ecstasy (MDMA) which upon getting to hospital there is no treatment for she is in a coma fighting for her life. Lisa won't speak to Eve, and all of their lives begin to spiral. Where did the drugs come from? Why were there drugs, even in the house, who was involved, Eve makes it her mission to find out whatever the outcome!

There are so many twists and turns in this that make it a fantastic listen from beginning to end. I was absolutely immersed and committed to finding out the truth of the details as everything unfolded. Harsh realities of drug abuse, family dynamics, friendships, relationships, trust issues, teenage angst, and so much more! Highly recommended.

With thanks and gratitude to Netgalley & Bookouture Audio for this ARC in return for an open, honest review.

Gripping from the start, I was eager to race through this thriller. Brilliant narration that was so easy to listen to. This was my first read by this author but won’t be my last.
Suspense, suspect relationships, twisty, current relatable themes all mixed in around a fantastic story regarding 2 blended families.
Great read!
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for my ARC in return for an honest review!

I recently listened to the audiobook of "Everyone Has Secrets" by AJ McDine, and I absolutely loved it! The story intricately weaves together the lives of various characters, each grappling with their own hidden truths and the complexities of their relationships. It's a thought-provoking exploration of trust and the impact of secrets on our lives.

The narrator was truly exceptional! Their voice added depth to the characters, and the flow was fantastic, keeping me engaged throughout. The pacing allowed me to fully absorb the emotional weight of the story without feeling rushed. Overall, this audiobook captured my attention from start to finish, and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a compelling listen!

Eve is living a peaceful and happy life with her husband and son. She has a beautiful dream home and her life looks perfect. But after her best friend's daughter is found on their kitchen floor unable to breath at her son's 16th birthday party, things quickly start to unravel. Friends turn into accusing neighbors and everyone in her family seems to be keeping secrets and lying about what happened that night.

This thriller had me hooked following Eve to find answers of what happened at the party and what secrets her son and husband are keeping from her.

I listened to the audiobook and narration was done great and easy to listen to. (After you finish the book, go back to the prologue again! Shook!)

Thank you to Bookouture audio and NetGalley for this ELC for review. Expected publish date is Oct. 21, 2024.

Eve Griffiths is your average mom to a sixteen-year-old boy. She has a happy marriage with her husband Noah and a job as a maths teacher at the local girls school.
But her perfect life that she's taken for granted all comes crashing down when she allows her son Joe, to have a small gathering at the house for his birthday. She and Noah agree, going across the street to Eve's best friend Lisa's house, while her daughter Annie attends Joe's party.
It seems innocent enough, six kids playing x-box and hanging out at the house. But Eve can't shake the feeling that something is terribly wrong.
She gets her answer when her son calls her upset. Annie is seizing and they need to call an ambulance.
They discover that Annie, a straight A level headed girl has taken ecstasy and has now fallen into a coma.
The town blames their family, and Eve gets suspended from her job. For the sake of getting her life back and justice for Annie, Eve goes on a hunt to find who gave Annie the drugs and where did they get it from.
As Eve starts to dig, she learns of more and more secrets that have been kept from her, learning that her perfect life may not have ever been perfect in the first place.
Though predictable, AJ McDine keeps the audience captivated until the very end.

Everyone Has Secrets by A J McDinewas and narrated by Tamsin Kennardan was an excellent addictive audiobook/book, a great nail-biting psychological thriller which was very addictive, It was a gripping throughout with lots of twists and turns throughout that had you sitting on the edge of your seat!!!.

WoW this was so good, I found it hard to put it down, so glad I had the audiobook to listen to whilst I was renovating. I loved it.

A superb book I can not recommend it enough.......The narrator Tamsin Kennardan was excellent she drew you into the story.

Big Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture audio and bookouture for my ARC's.

Everyone Has Secrets
An utterly addictive and gripping psychological thriller with edge-of-your-seat suspense
by A J McDine
Narrated by Tamsin Kennard

I received an ARC of this audiobook from Netgalley.

First, I want to say the narrator was fantastic from start to finish!

The main character, Eve, discovers that everyone around her has secrets that she had never thought they would have. Of course everyone has secrets - but the secrets around her change her life and the life of her family forever.

Eve was way too naive and blaise in her thoughts to be believable. She’s painted as an intellectual with teacher abilities and the ability to reason things out, but as being someone who never truly searched for the truth before and all of a sudden becomes a hardened amateur sleuth.

I kept thinking is she naive or has she been purposefully blind? Is she mentally competent or not? I mean the sheer number of truths she uncovers can only have happened because she was stupid, too self-involved, or careless or all 3.

I liked the book, but it could have been better. The last hour was awesome though - so I do suggest this book!

A serious slow burn psychological thriller with a final quarter that brings everything together in a way that is completely satisfying. As a parent I already knew having teenagers was hard, but wow this book showed me that it could be a lot worse! The epilogue especially gives a new perspective to everything that came before!

I found myself feeling for Eve throughout as she threw herself into collecting clues to ensure her beloved son wasn't accused of murder. There were parts where I found myself angry at her naivety towards situations - though I know this is all necessary to understand her true character.

I liked the hook that was presented in the first line. The crime itself was introduced very early on (I hate when you have to wait for a crime to occur). It's quite fun to play along with Eve as she gets to the bottom of the crime.

Appreciate that I guessed the murderer incorrectly.

Loved the way the characters turned on the family once the crime was committed - lots of shady character work in this one.

My only critique would be the level of suspense or narrative momentum didn't seem to hold throughout.

I would recommend this book to fans of domestic (household) mystery books. Easy very quick read.

3.5 ⭐️ rounded up

Title: Everyone Has Secrets
Author: A.J. McDine
Genre: Domestic Thriller
Format: 🎧
Audiobook Narrator: Tamsin Kennard
Publisher: Bookouture Audio
Pub Date: October 21, 2024
Star Rating: 3.4 Stars
Pages: 361

Eve and Lisa are neighbors as well as best friends. They share a special bond ever since Eve and husband Noah moved to the area. Eve and Lisa were both expecting and ended up having babies two weeks apart. Joe, Eve’s son was born first and then Lisa had Annie.

Now Joe will be turning 16 and would like to have a few friends over to hang out and play Xbox. Eve isn’t sure about this however Noah convinces Eve it is time to cut the apron strings. Annie is friends will Joe so will be at the party. Eve and Noah plan to spend the evening at Lisa’s which is next door so it would be easy to check for party crashers and also not let things get out of control.

However Eve gets a panic call from Joe that Annie has passed out and he is worried. The adults rush over and find Annie on the floor. It appears there were drugs at the party and Annie had Ecstasy. Joe is immediately a suspect. Lisa explodes and doesn’t want anything to do with Eve.
Although Annie’s life hangs on by a thread, Lisa does come around as she knows how much Eve loves Annie. Eve vows she will find the truth as to what happen and whodunit.


Although I am a fan of this author as well as Tamsin Kennard - I had I hard time with these foul-mouth characters. I thought most were unlikeable. I wanted to like Eve. I do understand being a mom of a teenage is difficult. As teems are not yet young adults but beleive they know it all.
As the story unravels we learn that Eve is not the saintly wife we thought - seventeen years ago she was the 'other woman'. Noah was married to Jenny and had a young son Billie. Not going to say any more about this but will keep you wondering if this played any role in Joe’s situation.
I do think this story will make a great book club discussion.

This is my third A.J. McDine story, my favorite was "The Photo".

A.J. lives in Kent, UK and is married to A.J. Willis; also a psychological thriller author. They have two sons and three rescue cats.
She worked as a journalist and police press officer until she realized writing fiction was much more fun. Now she is the author of six dark, domestic thrillers. Her goal is to keep readers guessing till the very last page.
She writes dark, domestic thrillers about ordinary people in extraordinary situations. When she’s not writing, playing tennis or attempting to run a 5k, she can usually be found people-watching in her favorite café.

Want to thank NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for granting me this early audio Galley.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for October 21, 2024.

I felt like the story was way longer than what it needed to be. Most of the time I wasn't thrilled. I only did at the end. I couldn't predict it. But I feel like there are still too many remaining questions at the end. I felt sad for some of the characters. I think the other characters should've had more "screen time" compared to the main character who at some point became unrealistic to the point of being not likeable.

The narrator was astonishing.

Overall good book but bad thriller.

Holy Crap! Well, this was a surprise!
Just when you think things cannot get any worse...guess what?? They can! 😩

OK..so first...TRIGGER WARNING....If you are not in a good state of mind...do not pick this one up!
This deals with drugs, overdoses, drugs in school, bullying (a little)...and, if you are not up for it, I would suggest you pass over this one for now. You can always come back to it!

Otherwise, this is not to be missed!!
Not sure if I've read this author before, but just when you think, well, the other shoe dropped. Nothing else can go wrong... Well, you would be WRONG!

We start out with 2 families that are close friends, and they live next to each other. Additionally, the Mom's had their kids 2 weeks apart. So, Joe and Annie know each other literally, since they were born. And they have been friends forever!
Also, Eve and Lisa, their Mothers have been best of friends as well.

We open up with Joe's 16th birthday, and the party that is being planned...before the sh*t hits the fan.... Eve and Noah are trying to make everything just perfect for their son's big day. And, once the party starts, they head across to Lisa's house to spend some time there while the kids are having fun.

It's really amazing how things can turn on a dime. And to see these families falling apart...well, it is just sad. Very sad. And the small community around them....well, they are no help whatsoever.

Of course the police are involved...but that's not even the worst of it. It just keeps getting worse and worse as time goes on...

And that's all I'm giving you on this one!

It was 5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for me! Very different, but also, very SAD....

Thanks so much to #NetGalley and #BookoutureAudio for an ARC of the audiobook which is due for release in just a few days.... *** ON 10/21/24!! ***

#EveryoneHasSecrets by #AJMcDine and narrated beautifully by #TamsinKennard.

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Family drama, psychological thriller. Kept me guessing throughout! Enjoyed being introduced to this author who is new to me.

Thank you NetGalley, the author and publisher for this opportunity!

In a small village where people would just die to live, the Griffiths family stands out with their beautiful home, framed by ivy around the double bay windows. Eve, her husband, and their sixteen-year-old son seem like the picture of happiness, always sharing laughs together. Across the street, Eve’s best friend Lisa and her teenage daughter Annie live in a charming cottage, making the neighborhood feel like a dream.

But on their sons 16th birthday he asks to have a party with no parents. And something horrible happens. Her best friends daughter is somehow given a drug and is on the floor unconscious.

Desperate to uncover the truth, Eve sets out to find what really happened. But as she digs deeper, she starts to wonder who she can trust. Is someone in her own family hiding something—or could it be her best friend? Someone is lying, and Eve is determined to find out who.

I loved this narrator, she did an amazing job with the different voice and a very easy listen to voice. This is a book that will have you questioning from the start up until the last page who did it! I couldn't stop listening.

This was a quick and easy listen, full of suspense, and had me hooked from the very beginning. I finished it in one sitting. 😅 Tamsin Kennard’s narration was fantastic and I thoroughly enjoyed listening to her.

Four stars because I found it to be a little predictable and cliche. Minus the twist at the very end. But even though I wasn’t necessarily expecting that, it was a very obvious conclusion. I enjoyed it nevertheless!

*Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for the ARC audiobook*

Wow! I really enjoyed this audiobook. It took me a while to get used to the accent from the narrator, but I did love her voice acting and expression throughout the book. This one kept me HOOKED and kept me guessing throughout the entire book. It was such a fast and easy listen as well. Definitely recommend to all thriller fans!

This was the first book I read by A J McDine and I really enjoyed it. I listed to the audiobook version and think that the narrator did a great job reading the story and portraying the suspense and emotion of the story. I thought it was a great suspenseful story, a bit of a family drama type thriller. The story line kept me guessing as new little bits of information were thrown at me and there were different twist and turns along the way. Right towards the end I did start to piece it together but there were times before that where I just wasn't sure.

I really didn’t like Eve so that did sour the book for me but then none of the characters were particularly likeable and it did need something to draw me in. The background that no one really knows anyone else is a bit overdone to fit the plot and I wouldn’t be drawn to read the obvious follow on.

This is the first I have read by this author. Well, I just have to say: I LOVED IT. Magnificent suspense that grips you from the first page. It's so real and with such empathetic characters that you can't put it down. It was a wonderful reading experience.