The Five Year Lie

Gather initial thoughts and broad opinions about the book.

1. Bowen is primarily known for romance novels like her RITA Award-winning Him, but The Five Year Lie is her first thriller. How did the blend of romance and thriller elements work for you as a reader? Did you find the combination satisfying or did one genre overshadow the other?

2. What was your reaction to the revelation that Drew was actually Jay Marker? Were there clues throughout the story that made you suspicious of his identity, or did this twist catch you completely off guard?

3. The novel alternates between past and present timelines to reveal what happened five years ago. How effective did you find this approach in building suspense and helping you understand the characters’ motivations?

Encourage readers to connect the book’s themes and characters with their personal experiences.

1. Ariel discovers that the man she loved and had a child with has been lying about his identity for their entire relationship. Have you ever experienced a situation where someone you trusted turned out to be very different from who you thought they were? How did that discovery affect your ability to trust others going forward?

2. Jay faces a moral dilemma between exposing the truth about Chime Co.’s corruption and protecting Ariel from being implicated. Think about a time when you had to choose between doing what seemed right and protecting someone you cared about. What factors influenced your decision, and do you think Jay made the right choice?

3. The novel explores how technology meant to make us safer can actually be used against us through Chime Co.’s security cameras. Do you find yourself thinking differently about doorbell cameras, security systems, or other surveillance technology in your daily life? What balance do you try to strike between security and privacy?

4. Ariel’s relationship with her mother is complicated by years of surviving Edward’s abuse together while failing to protect each other. How do shared traumatic experiences affect family relationships, in your experience? Can these experiences bring people closer together or do they sometimes create barriers to intimacy?

5. Throughout the story, Ariel struggles with feeling like an inadequate mother, especially when compared to other parents like Maddy. What societal pressures or personal insecurities have made you question your own capabilities in important relationships or roles? How do you handle those moments of self-doubt?

6. Zain helps Ariel investigate despite having his own hidden motivations and romantic feelings for Jay. Have you ever found yourself helping someone primarily because of your own emotional investment rather than pure altruism? How did that dynamic affect the situation and your relationship with that person?

Examine the book’s relevance to societal issues, historical events, or cultural themes.

1. The novel reveals how police departments can access private security footage without court-issued warrants through agreements with companies like Chime Co. How does this fictional scenario reflect real concerns about law enforcement surveillance and privacy rights today? What safeguards do you think should exist?

2. Amina’s tragic story shows how technology can be weaponized by predators in positions of power like Officer Ward. What does her experience reveal about the vulnerabilities that young people face in the digital age? How might communities better protect potential victims from this kind of exploitation?

3. The Cafferty family’s wealth and social position allow them to operate above the law for years before facing consequences. What does the novel suggest about how economic privilege can shield people from accountability? Where do you see these dynamics playing out in contemporary society?

Dive into the book’s structure, characters, themes, and symbolism.

1. How does Bowen use the motif of Shakespeare’s Hamlet throughout the story? Ray jokes about being like Claudius who marries his brother’s widow, but in what ways does this comparison actually foreshadow the truth about his character and actions?

2. What role does the Toy Story motif play in connecting Jay to his son Buzz and in characterizing Jay himself? How do these references to a children’s movie contrast with the darker elements of the thriller plot, and what might this suggest about Jay’s essential nature?

3. The novel alternates between Ariel’s perspective in the present and various characters’ viewpoints in the past. How does this shifting point of view affect your understanding of the mystery? Which character’s perspective did you find most revealing or surprising, and why?

4. Ariel’s knife transforms from a symbol of her insecurities as a mother to the weapon that saves Jay’s life in the climactic fight. How does this object function as an example of Chekov’s gun (a literary convention in which an object that appears early in the novel must be used by the end), and what does its evolution represent about Ariel’s character development throughout the novel?

5. Bryan Zarkey operates under the online username “Brainz” for much of the novel, keeping his true identity hidden from both characters and readers. How does this anonymity reflect the book’s themes about technology and deception? What does his eventual unmasking reveal about the nature of online personas?

6. Domestic thrillers like Gone Girl typically expose dark secrets within familiar, comfortable settings. How does Bowen create this atmosphere of hidden danger within Ariel’s family and work environment? Which revelations about people close to Ariel felt most shocking to you and why?

Encourage imaginative and creative connections to the book.

1. Picture yourself adapting this novel for television or film. Which subplot or character development would you expand upon that might have felt more secondary in the book? How would you use visual storytelling to enhance the themes about surveillance and privacy?

2. The novel ends with Ray and Bryan facing trial while Chime Co. continues operating under new leadership focused on privacy. Write an epilogue set five years later: What challenges might the company face in rebuilding trust with consumers? How might Jay and Ariel’s relationship have evolved as they’ve raised their children together?

3. Ariel creates art through glass blowing, which serves as both her passion and her escape from family drama. Design a gallery exhibition featuring pieces that Ariel might create to process her experiences throughout the novel. What would these works look like, what stories would they tell, and how might they help her heal from the deception and trauma she’s endured?