Rating: 
Summary: Fans of Suspense and Mystery Will Love This One
Review: Joy Fielding kept me riveted to the pages with her suspenseful story of nurse Terry Painter and Alison Sims, the new tenant in Terry's cottage. We are told from the very beginning that Alison is not what she seems, but the author diverts us in one direction while blindsiding us with the truth in a shocker of an ending. Terry is a lonely, forty-year old nurse who inherited her mother's house when her mother passed away. She herself had lived in the small cottage on the rear of the property and now rents it out to tenants. The former tenant has mysteriously disappeared and now this new tenant appears to be a little too anxious to get close to Terry, a bit too immediately involved in Terry's life. But what could Alison and her growing assortment of strange friends want from Terry? Is it all a well-planned scam to bilk the lonely lady of her money, her home, her life? Tension is high and emotions are raw as narrator Terry draws us deeper and deeper into her lonely life, her fascination coupled with fear of Alison, her slow descent into crazed paranoia. Will she be able to overcome her fears? Will she reveal Alison and her friends as the con artists she fears them to be? And just who is this mysterious Alison Sims and what does she want from Terry? Joy Fielding leads us on a wild ride with an elaborate labyrinth of carefully constructed clues that finally come together and explode on the final pages. If you love mysteries and suspense, don't miss this one!
Rating: 
Summary: I liked this book in the beginning and HATED it in the end.
Review: While this book was quite a pageturner (I read it in one night), it's ending was quite a twist and really bothered me. It was well written and grabbed the reader's attention and for that I give it 3 stars. BUT ~ the direction in which the book went was terrible and I was upset for hours after I finished it.
Rating: 
Summary: Ugh! I can't believe I wasted my time!
Review: This was by far the worst book I have read in a long time - I own Joy Fielding's two previous novels but have honestly not had the chance to read them yet - I don't know if I will now. I thought she wrote about women's issues - friendship, love, family, etc. I knew that this book was supposed to have some mystique to it - a little bit of suspense, but - OH MY GOSH!! - Halfway through the book, the main character goes pyscho! I couldn't believe what I was reading. Murder, lies, deceit, more murder, more lies, etc. I do not like these kinds of books and found what I was reading very disturbing. About halfway through the book, I began to figure out what was happening and "skimmed" the rest of it - I still got what happened and the ending absolutely stinks!! (maybe she's builing the next plot for a Sue Grafton novel, who knows!) Anyhow, if you like books about murder, mystery & deceit - then you will probably like this book - me on the other hand, I like to read Nicholas Sparks, Luanne Rice, Elizabeth Berg, Debbie Macomber, Alice Hoffman, etc. - This was not my cup of tea - sorry.
Rating:
Summary: It's gonna be a bumpy ride!!
Review: It's not often when you close the cover on a book you find yourself in a daze thinking "What happened??!!" I just finished this book and that's how I feel. It's terrific, holds your interest, you're going along smoothly and all of a sudden you reach warp speed. I won't go into any description because I don't want to spoil the plot. I will only say that if you're limited on what you're going to read, put this one at the top of your list. I think its the best one that Joy Fielding has written and THAT'S really saying something.
Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Suspense Novel of Cat and Mouse
Review: This is a an excellent book - Fielding's best to date. The author makes excellent use of flashbacks and it has a twist of an ending. The chapters are short and the book moves along at a brisk pace with no overly descriptive passages or padding. It is a tightly woven novel. The novel is about a lonely, single, 40ish nurse, Terry Painter, who has inherited her house from her deceased, abusive mother which also has a cottage in the back. She rents the cottage to a mysterious, beautiful tenant called Allison. Allison ingratiates herself into lonely Terry's life and befriends her. However, Allison is not all that she seems to be. Who is she? And who are her strange friends? Everyone lies in this book, including Terry. But the fun part is trying to sort out the truth from fiction. Buy this book. You won't be able to put it down.
Rating:
Summary: Could have been a short story
Review: While this book has a surprising ending, the lead-up was just too much. It dragged on and on and I felt myself skimming just to get to the end of the book. I really dislike it when an author starts off a book by having a main character say "I should have known" and also the device of dropping fake clues. This is different from a story that develops in a way that leaves the reader in the air - a finely honed skill, in my opinion. Fake clues, to me, are the mark of someone who just filled in the blanks trying to write a suspenseful story. While surprising, I also found the ending to be not very believable and did not like all the contrivances. I do think that Fielding's character development methods were good. Terry Painter, a lonely, friendless nurse of 40, and Alison Simms, whom we know right from the beginning is not who she says she is, were fleshed out and each creepy in her own way. It is no wonder we (and Terry) are suspicious of Alison (the tenant in Terry's backyard cottage) when she is found snooping in Terry's house, when Terry overhears her odd conversations, and when she is sometimes caught in seemingly sinister situations. But then I started to wonder why Terry, who has been independent for so long, did not do something about her suspicions. The book kept me wondering, for sure, but I did not have enough interest to read every word. I just wanted to get to the end and find out whodunit!
Rating:
Summary: Calling Norman Bates
Review: I haven't read other books by Joy Fielding, and now I don't want to. I gave it one star because they don't allow 0 stars. For me, the main character Terry was not a very likable character throughout, because she is so seemingly gullible and naive. A victim. Kind of wishy washy, but she had been abused as a child so I could feel for her. I did get drawn into the story and I wanted her to enjoy her new found confidence. We are led to believe that Allison is a con artist and a threat, with a group of weirdo accomplices. So we are going along feeling worried for poor innocent Terry and what are these people going to do to her? Next thing we know,Terry is a bitter, vengeful, angry, psycho. PARANOID!! I won't totally give away the ending, but will say it was violent and really just plain ugly. Actually, I hated this book, so I will say more, it was a sick, twisted ending with no redeeming qualities. Poor lonely Terry is a nightmare. Yes, she had been abused and starved for love and (in her mind)taken advantage of but the book description on the cover gave no hint that this was such a dark story. If I want to be disturbed by stories of violence I can just read a newspaper, I didn't appreciate being misled by the marketing description, and I don't understand the kind of mind that came up with the so called "twist" at the end of this story.
Rating: 
Summary: Twists and Turns Galore
Review: I read this book in a day-and-a half. I usually read Joy's books quickly, at least the mysteries. At first, I thought I would never like Terry, the heroine. She's so mousy. But then I began to sympathize with her longing, neediness. Eventually, I just had to go along with the ride until it was over. I don't want to give anything away, but having read nearly all of Joy's books, I admit to thinking she'd lost it--not as a writer--but as someone who's been married awhile. Can't say more to that end. But the surprise was on me. The crafty woman knew just what she was doing. I loved the ending--thought it was great, especially since by then I'd smugly thought I had it all figured out. For those who didn't like it, I blame it on fans like me. I have read so many JF books that I now begin to think very obscurely--she never gives me a simple mystery. So now she's forced to top herself every time. Can't be easy after 15 books. I liked this one a lot. And I look forward to reading Puppet this fall...
Rating: 
Summary: Mixed bag
Review: "Whispers and Lies" is not an easy book to review. Previous opinions have run the gamut from glowing to glowering. Perhaps this is because this is not the typical Joy Fielding novel. I can see where any faithful fan of hers might be upset by this book. So my advice is this: if you enjoyed the movie "Psycho" you might enjoy this book. If you enjoy novels about women, friendship, love, and relationships, you might not. If you are expecting, as the book jacket states, "an unforgettable drama of one woman's fight to reclaim her life" then you will be sorely disappointed. Even for those of you who do enjoy books on the creepy side, this one goes over the deep end. There are too many red herrings. There are many scenes that are not explained at the twist ending. The protagonist Terry Painter does not act in a consistent manner, and as the story progresses you will become confused. The behavior of Alison's friends towards Terry is very unrealistic and mystifying, especially considering the ending. Although the suspense and mystery build up to a fever pitch as the story progresses, you will probably be let down by the ending. I was.
Rating:
Summary: Unbelievable
Review: Joy Fielding at her best! I don't want to give the book away but you will not believe the writing skills this woman has! where do you come up with these twist and turns. All I can say is go buy the book you will not be disappointed! I could not put this book down the end floored me!!! go get yourself a copy.
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