Lies by Michael Grant

Released: May 2010

Publisher: Harper Collins

# Pages: 447

Copy provided by: Library

Summary: Goodreads

It happens in one night: a girl who died now walks among the living, Zil and the Human Crew set fire to Perdido Beach, and amid the flames and smoke, Sam sees the figure of the boy he fears the most - Drake. But Sam and Caine defeated him along with the Darkness - or so they thought. As Perdido Beach burns, battles rage: Astrid against the Town Council; the Human Crew versus the mutants; and Sam against Drake. And the prophetess Orsay and her companion, Nerezza, are preaching that death will set them all free. As life in the FAYZ becomes more desperate, no one knows who they can trust.

'Lies' is the third book in Michael Grant's 'Gone' series. Hands up if you've read the first 2, 'Gone' and 'Hunger'. Hands up again if you liked them. Yep that's what I thought. Great, weren't they? Well this one is even better. All of your favourite characters are back, Sam, Astrid, Edilio, Lana, Mary, etc and your not so favourite characters Caine, Diana, Drake, Zil etc, oops, did I say Drake, forget I mentioned him, He died in the last book - right? Well of course he did - right? But you have to remember that these kids are in the FAYZ, and just about anything can happen in the FAYZ, and does!

Mr Grant has managed to give his characters even more depth in this novel. These are 14 yr old kids, struggling in a world that is completely unlike anything they would normally expect and after so many months the strain is really beginning to tell. Sam is questioning his leadership skills, Astrid is pushing for a council and laws, Mary is falling apart in the daycare, and there is no end in sight.

" The strange thing was how it no longer seemed strange to Astrid. A nine year-old dressed in rags, sharing a bottle of Scotch with an eleven year-old with a shaved head and a cape made out of an olive green bed sheet. Kids with sunken eyes. Kids with open sores, untreated, barely noticed."

These novels are not for the faint-hearted. Bad things happen. Nasty, horrible things happen and they are described in a way that sends chills up your back and makes you wish you'd left the overhead light on. A light, fluffy novel this is not, so be prepared

"....he was all she had.

The two of them. Sick puppies. Twisted, arrogant, cruel and cold, both of them. How could she love someone like that? How could he? Process of elimination? Neither of them could find anyone else?

Even the nastiest, ugliest species found mates. Flies found mates. Worms, well, who knew? Probably. The point being ..." (Diana and Caine)

The book is gritty, hard, compelling, frightening, horrific and many other adjectives I can't think of right now. If you love dystopian fiction with a twist this is the book for you. Sorry, I should say series, because this one definitely has to be read in order. Too much goes on in the first two books for the third to make any sense if you haven't read them, but boy, they are well worth reading. A classic tale of good vs evil - but which one wins? Read it and find out!