Hi Kate, thank you for joining us today! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and your book Circle of Liars?

Thanks for having me! My name’s Kate Francis, and I’m an English-American architect and author of the new YA thriller – Circle of Liars. This is my debut book about a group of teenagers trapped in a remote, desert motel where they are forced to play a deadly game. Every hour, one of them must leave the motel, where they will be killed. If no one leaves, they will all die. Only one can survive.

This has such a fantastic and hooky premise – I’d love to know what sparked the idea?

I got the idea from a debate game called “The Balloon Game”. In the game, the players imagine they are on a hot air balloon that has a leak and is sinking fast. You have to throw someone overboard to stop the balloon from crashing, killing everyone. In each round of the game, another person has to be sacrificed to save the rest, and it goes on until there is one winner. It’s such a fun game; you have to argue who deserves to live, and who should die. I thought it would be really terrifying if the stakes were real… Just imagine – how could you possibly make a decision like that? How could you live with yourself if you survived? What if you loved someone else on board? There’s just so much to explore here.

It is so pacy and compelling with that ticking clock and the very real consequences of their actions. What is the plotting process like for you?

I love plotting and totally nerding-out! I spend months going over and over the outline – testing theories, adding red herrings and twists. It’s achingly fun and oddly rigorous, like solving a massive jigsaw puzzle, piece by piece. There’s such a sense of satisfaction by the end, when (if you’ve got it right) everything finally wraps itself up into a perfect knot.

Another highlight of this book is the characterisation – you deftly make us care about or dislike these people in such a short space of time. What is the key to writing a great character for you?

I think it’s key to be sympathetic to your character’s motives and agenda. I don’t think anyone ever sees themselves as a villain. We all believe our own version of events and think that we’re doing the best we can – even Ellis. He’s just doing what he’s been taught to do all his life – winning. As a writer, I think that love and compassion for your characters is the easiest way to enter into their head and find their voice.

What surprised you while writing this book?

The heart of the story is about forgiveness: how can you truly live your life if you can’t forgive yourself or someone else for the past? While I was editing the book, I went through a divorce, and it made me really question my original ending. Can you forgive? Should you? How does that even work? But as I dug into the edits, I had an opportunity to process my own experiences, through my character’s journeys. It almost felt as if they were now writing my story, which was a surprising and beautiful moment as an author.

What songs would form the soundtrack to Circle of Liars for you?

I love this question! So many. I have a Motel Loba play list that I’ve been messing with over the last year. Some of the songs come and go, but these ones seem to stick around:

• “Greetings from California” by The Neighbourhood
• “Colors” by Black Pumas
• “Apocalypse” by Cigarettes After Sex
• “Something in the Orange” by Zach Bryan
• “Post Humorous” by Gus Dapperton

What books have you enjoyed so far this year and are there any that you can’t wait to get your hands on?

I’m currently reading Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins. I’m obsessed; I could happily spend all my time in Panem. I’ve also been digging into some great thrillers – And Then There  Were None by Agatha Christie, This Book Kills by Ravena Guron and Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins. Coming next…I can’t wait to get my hands on The Woman in Suite 11, by Ruth Ware. I’ll read anything she writes, she is the queen of pacing, mystery and fun.

If possible, can you share a little about what you are currently working on or any upcoming projects you have?

I would love to talk about this! I have another dark, twisty YA thriller coming out in summer 2026, which I am so excited about. It’s in the same universe as Circle of Liars, but with completely new characters. I can’t reveal too much, but I will say it’s set in Utah and is inspired by some true stories – which makes it even scarier! I’m also working on the early draft of another YA thriller and my first adult thriller. It’s going to be a busy year!

Finally, if you could only use five words to describe Circle of Liars, what would they be?

That’s an easy one! I’ve often thought that the terrifying journey the characters go through as they face their deaths is eerily similar to the five stages of grief. So it would be: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. (Though maybe I should throw “sinister abandoned motel” in there somewhere…)

Will you be picking up Circle of Liars? Tell us in the comments below!

The post Q&A: Kate Francis, Author of ‘Circle of Liars’ appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

This is a strong and assured debut with grit under its nails. It’s not afraid to delve head-first into the murky morality at play here and spill some blood. I read this early searching for something to fill the void left by the ending of The Traitors and found it here. It was addictive reading with plenty of backstabbing and betrayal. You never really feel like you can fully trust anyone here and they certainly cannot depend on one another. The mystery is well-constructed with stakes that feel like they are always escalating. You are in for one hell of a ride here. Francis has some fantastic twists and turns in store, moving this story into unexpected territory from the intriguing set-up. 

At its heart, this is a great ensemble cast novel, all of whom are fleshed-out and feel believable. The two that really stuck out for me though were centred around Ana and Ellis, who have fiery and intense clashes that start smouldering from the start. Both of them have very different approaches, informed by the way they navigate the world. The opposing philosophies set off fireworks and have definite and deadly consequences at times. You get to understand them and peel back some of the layers for the pretence they present to the world, even though you may love or hate them. 

This takes a really interesting ethical conundrum and plays it out in this slightly ragtag group of teenagers. Each of them has a different take on this nightmare scenario and of course their entangled relationships come into play. They are all implicated in the tragic events of the previous year and have secrets they’d be willing to go to any lengths to protect. All of this makes for explosive reading as the clock keeps ticking down. Francis includes this throughline about revenge and the arguments around where the line is between justice and vengeance. There is also the conundrum of what we might to do to survive and protect those we love which is on full display here. It quickly shows how quickly we can descend into darkness. The pressure is immense and it is near impossible to put this book down. Francis keeps this unbearable tension but also finds inventive ways to throw new challenges their way. 

The isolated setting adds to that claustrophobia, as does the baking sun beating down on them all. They are alone and there is no way out of this. At the same time, they are under constant surveillance with their every move being scrutinised. That contrast is so wonderful and really heightens the already sky-high tension. Also, I loved the horror references Francis weaves into the book, adding to the atmosphere and rich textural feel. It helped to subvert tropes and expectations at certain points as everything suddenly veers in a new direction. 

It feels overwhelming and they cannot help but give into the game, especially as the threat is not just for show. We have a great sequence that quickly dissuades that notion from your mind. However there is a constant battle amongst the group about what they believe is happening. It adds to the confusion to have these different theories flying around and Francis makes the smart narrative decision to let us headhop between these characters. We learn a little more about them, what they might be hiding and the relationships they have within the group. It is no mistake that these specific people have ended up in this twisted game. 

Circle of Liars is a barnstormer of a book and a brilliant debut certain to keep you reading until the early hours of the morning. 

Circle of Liars is available from Amazon, Waterstones, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore, as of July 1st 2025.

Will you be picking up Circle of Liars? Tell us in the comments below!

Synopsis | Goodreads

The utterly addictive new YA thriller with a twist you’ll NEVER guess… A nail-biting summer mystery, for fans of ONE OF US IS LYING and WE WERE LIARS.

Seven liars in the circle. Only one can survive…

Seven teens arrive for a school retreat – only to find an abandoned motel and a sinister text message waiting for them: I know what you did a year ago.

Each of the seven buried a guilty secret about their tragic school fire. And now someone is out for revenge.

Every hour they must choose the guiltiest one among them to cross over the white line that circles the motel and be killed. Otherwise, they all die.

But who deserves to live, and who to die? Because only one of them can survive…

DO YOU DARE ENTER THE CIRCLE OF LIARS?

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