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It Began With a Lie (Secrets of Redemption Book 1) Kindle Edition

4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 4,224 ratings

An award-winning, gripping psychological suspense mystery. All Becca wanted was a fresh start. That wasn’t what she got.

Becca was sure the move from New York to Redemption, Wisconsin was exactly what her troubled family needed. A way to get her crumbling marriage back on track, and to bond with her difficult 16-year-old stepdaughter.

But instead of a new beginning, Becca is thrust into a mysterious past she barely remembers. A past that includes the complications of interacting with her old teenage crush, Daniel, as well as living in her aunt's old house.

A house with a violent past. A house the locals swear is haunted.

But there's no such thing as ghosts. Right?

So, could there be something even more sinister out to destroy them?

And can Becca discover the truth before it’s too late?

2020 Voice Award–January LaVoy, who narrated the Secrets of Redemption series, won a 2020 Voice Arts Awards Best Mystery Audiobook Narration for her work on “It Began With a Lie.”
2018 PRG Reviewers' Choice Award First Place Winner for Best Book
2018 PRG Reviewers' Choice Award Second Place Winner for Best Book Series
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From the Publisher

Girl approaching house

Welcome to Redemption, Wisconsin ... Where Nothing is Ever What it Seems

A town full of secrets ... with a mysterious and violent past.

The townspeople swear that Redemption decides who stays or who goes. But, of course, that's nonsense. A town can't decide that.

Right?

Secrets of Redemption is a multiple award-winning series that blends mystery, suspense, psychological thriller and romance (with a dash of the supernatural) all into one. All the books are clean: No swearing, gore, bedroom scenes and very little violence. Get started today ... if you dare.

(2020 Voice Award, 2020 PRG Award for Best Book)

There are 4 ways to enter Redemption .... Choose wisely.

It Began With a Lie, wine, book

The Summoning

The Riverview Mysteries

The Charlie Kingsley Mysteries

It Began With a Lie

The first book in the award-winning Secrets of Redemption series. If you start here, it's best to read in order:

  1. It Began With a Lie
  2. This Happened to Jessica
  3. The Evil That Was Done
  4. The Summoning
  5. The Reckoning
  6. The Girl Who Wasn't There
  7. The Room at the Top of the Stairs
  8. The Search
  9. What Wasn't Forgotten

The Summoning

Book 4 in the award-winning Secrets of Redemption series. It's a prequel to the main series and it features Aunt Charlie. If you start here, it's best to read in this order:

  1. The Summoning
  2. The Reckoning
  3. It Began With a Lie
  4. This Happened to Jessica
  5. The Evil That Was Done
  6. The Girl Who Wasn't There
  7. The Room at the Top of the Stairs
  8. The Search
  9. What Wasn't Forgotten

The Riverview Mysteries

Just down the road from Redemption, Wisconsin, is where you'll find Riverview.

On the surface, it appears to be a wholesome, Midwestern, college town.

But, underneath that pleasant, friendly veneer hides a side just as dark and edgy as Redemption's.

If you're looking for clean and twisty standalone psychological and suspense thrillers with a touch of romance and supernatural, you've come to the right place.

But be warned ... it's easy to disappear here.

The Charlie Kingsley Mysteries

A Secrets of Redemption spin-off series. This funny, clean & twisty cozy series takes place in the 1990s and features cats, dogs, tea, ghosts, hauntings, murder, a touch of romance and loads of fun.

The books are standalone and can be read in any order. For Charlie's backstory, you can start with either It Began With a Lie or The Summoning.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Winner of a 2018 Paranormal Romance Guild Reviewers' Choice Award"This book grabs your attention slowly and then ramps up the intensity until your spine tingles and you aren't sure what to tell Becca - run or stay? Who can she trust?" Paranormal Romance Guild
"Michele Pariza Wacek carries the reader along on this journey, which has twists and turns to the very last page. Her characters become friends, some you want to spend more time with and some you come to despise. She casts a spell that will keep you enthralled. A can't miss novel from a dynamic author."
The International Review of Books

"On the surface, Wacek employs all the devices of a standard haunted-house story full of ghosts and supernatural possessions. But her principal plot is also entangled with a mystery, family secrets, and a character study of a woman reconciling with her past that unveils before her eyes. Wacek's ambitious story is made more complex with layers of subplots that subtly build up the overall suspense. ... The different storylines working together make sense, since not all is fully resolved, and this is the first of a planned series of books. As you read, waiting to see what happens next, you may be surprised by how it ends."
The US Review of Books

About the Author

Michele PW (Pariza Wacek) is a best-selling, award-winning fiction and nonfiction author. For fiction she writes psychological thrillers, supernatural thrillers and romantic suspense novels (and sometimes mixes all three genres into one book). Her books and writings have been featured on CBS, NPR, USA Today and more. She hosts a free virtual book club at MPWNovels.com.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07DT8ZTN3
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Love-Based Publishing; 1st edition (September 10, 2018)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 10, 2018
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1869 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 383 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 4,224 ratings

About the author

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Michele PW (Pariza Wacek)
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A USA Today Bestselling, award-winning author, Michele taught herself to read at 3 years old because she wanted to write stories so badly. It took some time (and some detours) but she does spend much of her time writing stories now. Mystery stories, to be exact. They're clean and twisty, and range from psychological thrillers to cozies, with a dash of romance and supernatural thrown into the mix. If that wasn't enough, she posts lots of fun things on her blog, including short stories, puzzles, recipes and more, at MPWNovels.com.

Michele grew up in Wisconsin, (hence why all her books take place there), and still visits regularly, but she herself escaped the cold and now lives in the mountains of Prescott, Arizona with her husband and southern squirrel hunter Cassie.

When she's not writing, she's usually reading, hanging out with her dog, or watching the Food Network and imagining she's an awesome cook. (Spoiler alert, she's not. Luckily for the whole family, Mr. PW is in charge of the cooking.)

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5
4,224 global ratings
What is happening right now?
1 Star
What is happening right now?
This book had so many good reviews that I decided to stick with it even through its multitude of flaws. I just had to know what happened to the missing girl that night long ago. Finished the book.Still don’t know.Also if you are going to read this please know the main character, Becca, is a whiny wimp with some serious issues. She seems incapable of making up her mind: help her stepdaughter or hate her? Fix her marriage or flirt with a guy who stood her up as a teenager? Which she is obviously still hung up about. Get over it lady! You’re thirty! I honestly wondered if she actually was crazy in the end.She is also like an insecure teenager who is always jealous of every woman around her, remarking on their clothes, hair and boobs. She also can’t get a job even though their family is broke?The whole book was Becca with a headache. Becca cleaning the house. Becca seeing her creepy aunt in the kitchen. Becca checking on her stepdaughter who is sleepwalking. Becca drinking copious amounts of wine, tea and coffee. Becca’s husband treating her like garbage. Becca’s childhood friends that she hasn’t seen or talked to in 15 years being oddly supportive. Becca’s weird cousin calling only to have her suddenly hang up on him. Repeat all that three times.Also**spoiler** I guess she was just on drugs but if I even thought I was living in a haunted house, I would have that place bulldozed to the ground and set in fire for good measure. I certainly wouldn’t live there! Alone! She really deserves to be committed.Also what evil was done? Who was the homeless lady? What happened to the missing girl? What happened to Becca all those years ago? Why did the ladies at the restaurant hate her? What the heck was all that about the missing adults? The cat? The footprint? I guess we have to read more books in the series to find out? No thanks.
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Top reviews from the United States

Reviewed in the United States on March 18, 2024
This story is gripping and hard to put down with a surprised ending. Enjoyed reading it and would highly recommend.
Reviewed in the United States on May 10, 2024
I really enjoyed this book! It was well-written with twists so clever that it was hard to put it down! I would definitely read more from this author!
Reviewed in the United States on May 31, 2022
B O O K • R E V I E W

Title: It Began With A Lie
Author: Michele Pariza Wacek
Rating: 4/5 Stars

“But, evert job I had made me feel like i was slowly suffocating… like I was a butterfly trapped in a killing jar, frantically beating its wings against the glass. And the only way to wash that feeling away? With copious amounts of wine. Every day.”

I have no idea how I came across this series, but once I did, I knew that I was going to have to read it.. I kept putting it off and finally, I grabbed the Kindle Unlimited version and I’m so happy I did because I really enjoyed book one and immediately dove into book two.

I really fell in love with the way this story was told. Rebecca heading back to her aunts house to live, after not being there since her teen years, the summer her friend Jessica went missing?! Love so much that it immediately set up the premise for a mystery. Rebecca didn’t go alone though, she brought along with her a vile controlling husband - who I despised from the minute he entered the book and a typical miserable teenage stepdaughter. The story was perfectly paced, giving you just enough to keep you guessing until the end.

There was a little bit of a paranormal aspect to this one and I loved how it was done, I felt that it was more unique than other books I’ve read. The cryptic messages through these meetings and just how exactly Rebecca was able to figure everything out.

This book has a whole lot of gas lighting, and there are points where you’re not entirely sure who you can or cannot trust. In the end everything wraps up nicely and it leads right into book two of the series! I really enjoyed this one, I definitely recommend to any mystery fans andddd its free on Kindle Unlimited!!

#kindlueunlimted #kindleunlimitedseries #kindleunlimitedreads #paranormalmystery #uniquelyparanormal #mystery #gaslighting #whocanyoutrust #theevilthatwasdone #thelocket #itbeganwithalie #micheleparizawacek #michelepw
7 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on December 1, 2020
I enjoyed reading “It Began With A Lie” by Michele Pariza Wacek. The writing was very good & the characters well-developed and believable. However, I couldn’t stand Rebecca (Becca). She was a spineless fool! She spent her life looking for a man to take care of her because she felt she couldn’t do it herself. And she picked horrible men! Her first husband was a loser. Her second husband Stefan was even worse! Rebecca was a weak woman that let those in her life manipulate her. What was worse, she believed the lies Stefan told her about herself. She let her stepdaughter Chrissy treat her like something one scrapes off one’s shoe. Rebecca should have slapped her in the face instead of putting up with her insolence. Instead she walked away, thinking she’d deal with it another time. Rebecca was a limp dishrag and I was very irritated with her.
Other than that, this was an enjoyable read. I love the little twists Ms. Wacak included such as the ghosts who inhabited the house, and Rebecca’s dreams of her Aunt Charlie. The ending was good: all the loose ends were tied together and explained. The reader sees Rebecca finally blossoming, and learning to be a strong, self-confident woman.
2 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on March 2, 2024
I enjoyed this book very much. The people were interesting and kept me guessing. Love it. Can't wait for the next book.
Reviewed in the United States on April 12, 2024
Wow! I am totally invested in this series. This was a great book to start the series. It played off the prequel while building the current story. I'm left with so many questions, but not in a bad way, I'm so ready to read the next one and have more of the story unraveled!
Reviewed in the United States on September 9, 2023
At first I didn't think I would finish this book. There were too many hints to the supernatural. Even so,I couldn't stop reading. Now I'm going to read the second book in the series.
One person found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on March 30, 2024
This mystery certainly kept my attention and compelled me to continue reading. I would love to see this made into a movie or mini series. Well done!

Top reviews from other countries

Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant reading
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 20, 2022
One of those books you can't put down lots of twists in the story. Looking forward to reading the next one.
Arlana K
5.0 out of 5 stars Great read !!!
Reviewed in Canada on September 29, 2020
When I first started this book I wasn’t so sure about the subject matter with ghosts but then I couldn’t put it down, needing to know what was happening next, what was real, who was lying and what really was going on. Be ready to get hooked in, great characters, lots of twists and turns and I can’t wait to read the next book.
Sonali Sharma
4.0 out of 5 stars Good book
Reviewed in India on July 9, 2021
Loved this book!!!
Was thinking till last page what will happen.
But good for those who love suspense novels.
Finished in two days.
Kingy
5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent start to the series
Reviewed in Australia on April 18, 2024
Becca's life changed drastically at the tender age of sixteen. Mercifully, her brain chose to remove those memories, but by doing so, also changed her. Her mother's attitude didn't help her either, leaving Rebecca (as she was now known) with the belief that she was incapable of both looking after, and supporting, herself.
I laughed, cried, but more often held my breath, whilst reading this. Never in a million years did I pick what was actually going on.
DARREN THE BOOKWORM
4.0 out of 5 stars it began with alie
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 7, 2022
Becca hoped moving to New Yok would help save her marriage and bond with her teenage daughter the story switches back and forth between now and Becca’s past including old flames and living with her aunt in an old house the locals swear is hunted
A story with lots of twist and turns
If you like ghosts its worth a read
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