Description:
A seemingly perfect marriage is threatened by the deadly secrets husband
and wife keep from each other. Susannah, a young widow and single mother, has
remarried well: to Max, a charismatic artist and popular speaker whose career
took her and her fifteen-year-old son out of New York City and to a quiet
Vermont university town. Strong-willed and attractive, Susannah expects that
her life is perfectly in place again. Then one quiet morning she finds a note
on her door: I KNOW WHO YOU ARE. Max dismisses the note as a prank. But days
after a neighborhood couple comes to dinner, the husband mysteriously dies in a
tragic accident while on a run with Max. Soon thereafter, a second note appears
on their door: DID YOU GET AWAY WITH IT? Both Susannah and Max are keeping
secrets from the world and from each other —secrets that could destroy their
family and everything they have built. Thomas Christopher Greene's The Perfect
Liar is a thrilling novel told through the alternating perspectives of Susannah
and Max with a shocking climax that no one will expect, from the bestselling
author of The Headmaster’s Wife.
Review: 4 Stars
This book is a great read...it’s fast paced, mysterious and intriguing. It’s broken up in to 6 chapters only which really helps people like me ‘I’ll stop after this chapter’... sure, it’s only 40 more pages! This book is a true psychological thriller. In today’s day when every other book comes with a tag line of being ‘twisting gripping taut thrilling...’ this one actually is all that...without the tag line! The book speaks for itself. What makes it a really compelling read is how well the characters are developed. There are layers to each of them no matter how small a role they seem to play. Each character is vital to the story. The secrets Max and Susannah keep are dark. We know Max’s secret from the start but we don’t know much else. The plot keeps you on the edge yet when things are revealed it’s surprising. The anticipation of twist is beautifully crafted and every reader will succumb to it.
I enjoyed the introspection done by Max and Susannah a few times, it gives you great insight in to their devious minds. It makes you wonder who is playing whom and who the ultimate ‘perfect liar’ is. The book depicts the transformation of Susannah from a strong willed and rebellious young girl to a mellow routine-following homemaker. But you can catch glimpses of her real personality. Max on the other hand is a selfish ruthless man right from the start and there is no way you can like him. The fact that he is such a strong negative character draws the reader’s attention away from everyone else in the plot. Very little time is spent on giving us insights to Freddy and his relationship with Susannah- this is the only flaw of this book. I think a little more background or interaction between them would have helped the plot better.
The writing style is pretty easy to follow. At times the narrative shifts from Max to Susannah or vice versa pretty abruptly but their voices are distinct enough for the reader to follow.
Dolores plays a nice role as the investigator and I have to say that I was a little disappointed with the way she handled the situation in the end, highly questionable! It’s a bumpy ride but worth your while. The book actually releases in Jan 2019, but it is one that you should put a reminder for, you don’t want to miss it. I’ll definitely be looking out for more books by this author.
Thank you St Martin’s Press and NetGalley for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I enjoyed the introspection done by Max and Susannah a few times, it gives you great insight in to their devious minds. It makes you wonder who is playing whom and who the ultimate ‘perfect liar’ is. The book depicts the transformation of Susannah from a strong willed and rebellious young girl to a mellow routine-following homemaker. But you can catch glimpses of her real personality. Max on the other hand is a selfish ruthless man right from the start and there is no way you can like him. The fact that he is such a strong negative character draws the reader’s attention away from everyone else in the plot. Very little time is spent on giving us insights to Freddy and his relationship with Susannah- this is the only flaw of this book. I think a little more background or interaction between them would have helped the plot better.
The writing style is pretty easy to follow. At times the narrative shifts from Max to Susannah or vice versa pretty abruptly but their voices are distinct enough for the reader to follow.
Dolores plays a nice role as the investigator and I have to say that I was a little disappointed with the way she handled the situation in the end, highly questionable! It’s a bumpy ride but worth your while. The book actually releases in Jan 2019, but it is one that you should put a reminder for, you don’t want to miss it. I’ll definitely be looking out for more books by this author.
Thank you St Martin’s Press and NetGalley for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
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