This thriller is a good suspenseful read and kept me guessing. As more clues came to light, I tried to figure things out and how everything was connected but it was pretty far into the book before I was able to piece it together. I have been a fan of this author for so many years, this one did not disappoint me. I will look forward to reading the sequel. ( )

"Live to Tell" started off a little slow, I thought, but picked up speed as the story went along. There are 3 different families involved and you get pieces of each of their stories. As the story nears it's end, the stories come together. I have to say, while I usually am wrong in figuring out the killers in Ms. Staub's books, I was right with this one. An entertaining read. ( )

Live To Tell - Wendy Corsi Staub - 2*
The writing of this thriller was taut and it moved quickly. I'll give it that. But there were so many things not to like.
- Children in jeopardy. Three of them. Or five, depending on how you count. I hate that. Just done to ratchet up the pitiful factor. And the pitiful factor was very high in this book, since all the many characters were miserable for one reason or another.
- Written in the present tense. Really? Seemed silly and kept pulling me out of the book.
- Ye Olde Politician Hiding a Dark Secret trope. This is actually the third thriller I've read in the last three months that pulled this one out of the hat. I might have liked it better if it had been the first one . . . ( )

I was immediately drawn into Live to Tell, the story of a newly divorced Lauren Walsh, her children, and a case of mistaken identity involving her ex-husband Nick.

Wendy Corsi Staub captured the dynamics of a freshly divorced family to near perfection. There was tension, awkwardness, and trying to keep interactions civil for the kids' sake, among other things. I felt bad for the kids though, especially Sadie. She seemed to struggle the most with understanding such adult situations, though I was impressed with how Lauren tried to get her the proper help.

I admired Lauren's motherly dedication to her children, and to keeping the peace for their sake. I really felt for her towards the end of the book, and was surprised with how things turned out for her, Nick and the children in the end.

I liked the way there were multiple subplots that came together just enough in the end to answer most of my questions, but but still leave me hanging for the next in the series. The inclusion of the excerpt from Scared to Death was fantastic and I cannot wait to give it a read!

Overall, I found this book easy to get through (especially the last 100 pages). A couple of places along the storyline were a little predictable, but there were several other parts that were entirely unexpected as well. I would recommend this to anyone that likes a suspenseful mystery. ( )

fast read ( )