One of Us Is Back

By: Karen M. McManus

Narrated by: Shannon McManus, Holly Linneman, Robbie Daymond, Jeff Ebner

Length: 10 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's summary

The global phenomenon returns with the third book in the One of Us Is Lying series, from #1 New York Times bestselling author Karen M. McManus. When someone from the Bayview Four’s past resurfaces, history begins to repeat itself—and the consequences are deadly.

The third time’s a charm.

It’s been almost two years since Simon died in detention, and the aftermath has been hard to shake. First the Bayview Four had to prove they weren’t killers. Then a new generation outwitted a vengeful copycat. Now the entire Bayview Crew is back home for the summer, and everyone is trying to move on.

Only, this is Bayview, and life is never that simple.

At first the mysterious billboard seems like a bad joke: Time for a new game, Bayview. But when a member of the Bayview Crew disappears, it’s clear this “game” is serious—and whoever’s in charge isn’t sharing the rules. Or maybe there aren’t any.

Bronwyn. Cooper. Addy. Nate. Maeve. Phoebe. Knox. Luis. Kris. Everyone’s a target. And now that someone unexpected has returned to Bayview, things could start getting deadly.

The thing is, Simon was right about secrets—they all come out eventually. And Bayview has a lot it’s still hiding.

©2023 Karen M. McManus (P)2023 Listening Library

Critic reviews

★ "Bombshell reveals unfurl alongside reflections on honesty, empathy, and cycles of violence, resulting in a soulful, high-stakes thrill ride."—Publishers Weekly, starred review

“McManus keeps the cinematic plotting tight with plenty of twists, red herrings, and long-buried secrets as she entwines the mysteries from the first two books…Another solid thriller from a master of the genre.”—Booklist

“McManus fans are sure to delight in the ending, even if they wish more books were forthcoming.”—School Library Journal

My favorite so far!!!

I’m a 36 year old girl dad. I saw this series at Books a Million and it looked good, so I grabbed it. I had heard of the TV show, but didn’t know it was a book. I enjoy thrillers and mysteries and this delivered in every way.

The narrator did an amazing job distinguishing voices and drawing a clear line between speech and thought. This book kept me on my toes almost the whole time. Love the character development, that’s still going on, and the twists and turns it takes along the way. If you enjoyed the first 2 books, this one will blow you away.

Amazing end to an amazing trilogy

I loved this series so much I love all of the characters and the relationships between the characters.

My favorites of the series in order

1 One Of Us Is Lying.
*
2 One Of Us Is Back.
*
3 One Of Us Is Next.

Really good for a sequel

I normally can’t stand an authors third book in a series because the author normally bombs it, but she did really great with this one! I loved this entire series!! It’s really great, I definitely recommend but start with book one and read them in order

like we never left

I dont know of the series will end as a trilogy, or continue on. However this book works rather well in both instances. The performances are top notch as always, and the story was a fun ride. I wasn't "in love" with the resolution, but I was definitely "in like" with it. Overall a fitting piece to the One of us saga.

Loved this whole series!

This is the third book in the series, and I've binged each one! You can't go wrong with young adult fiction, some romance, and multiple murder mysteries. I'm hoping it's not the last.

Pretty good follow up

Story line was good, though maybe a bit of a stretch. I enjoyed the story.

Best book of the series

I absolutely love this series and the characters in it. I would have loved to hear more of the live story’s and more points of bees from Knox and Bronwyn but overall an amazing book.

A Great End to a Great Series

I was so pumped to hear the third and thrilling conclusion to this wonderful series I discovered at the height of the pandemic. I had listened to the first two books here on Audible so it was a real treat to finish the series the same way.

I even had the privilege of meeting the author on launch day, as she was giving a tour talk nearby me in Cambridge, MA the day the book launched. We both have a mutual love for these audio versions of the books. I have to say, I’ve never been so hyped for a book that I pre-ordered the audiobook and anxiously waited for it to arrive on my device.

The book feels like the “Stranger Things 4” of the series, because it takes the familiar tropes that were present in the first two books, but twists it around into something new and exciting. This time, we know who the antagonist is, and the real mystery of the book is where, when, how, or if they’ll strike… or so we think.

This third installment is the polar opposite of the second one. All three main characters (narrators) are returning from the previous two books, and while I thought the twist at the end of “One of Us is Next” was a bit predictable and underwhelming, this book threw so many twists and turns and subverted so many of my expectations, I dare say even more so than the first book.

My only complaint, however, is the ending. No spoilers here, but I felt that the climax was a bit rushed and for all the twists, we didn’t really get much a payoff. Still, even if the book doesn’t have a satisfying ending itself, it is definitely a satisfying ending to the series.

After that TV show on Peacock went completely off the rails, it was good to return to the real Bayview and see off the real Bayview Crew off as they end their murder mystery careers together.

A delightful mystery and final outing for the Bayview crew!

I know it’s an audiobook, so it’s only a metaphorical page-turner. I stayed up through the night reading because—as usual—the characters are so charming I just have to keep going. The mystery was a sweet spot of developed enough that it could be figured out while not being obvious, with extra twists thrown in to punch up the reveals. The clues were laid out exceptionally well and the suspects were well-integrated into the established cast.

Overall, a great read and an excellent conclusion to this trilogy I’ve obsessed over for ages!

Another triller

This final chapter to the series really brought it all together!!! I absolutely loved it!