The Good Liar [Mass Market Paperback]

Laura Caldwell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2008

Kate Livingston and Liza Kingsley have been best friends since their childhood in the suburbs of Chicago. They know everything about each other. Or do they?

When Liza sets up the newly divorced Kate with Michael Waller, an elegant man sixteen years her senior, neither woman expects Kate to fall for him so soon. The relationship is a whirlwind that enthralls Kate…and frightens Liza. Because Liza knows she may have introduced Kate to more than her dream man; she may have unwittingly introduced her to a dangerous world of secrets.

And yet Kate marries Michael and follows him to a French-Canadian town called St. Marabel, where she begins to suspect that Michael isn't exactly who he seems. As each new suspicion arises, Kate finds herself investigating her husband, but what she doesn't know is that she's about to steer her friendship with Liza on a collision course that will race from the U.S. to Russia and from Canada to Brazil, and the betrayals she uncovers could cause the end of all of them.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Divorcée Kate Livingston leads a sedate life in the suburbs of Chicago, trying with little enthusiasm to get back into the dating game, when a childhood friend offers to set her up with a dashing older man named Michael Waller. The two get married after a whirlwind courtship, but the honeymoon is over quickly when Michael begins acting strangely secretive. What Kate doesn't know is that Michael is part of a secret spy organization called the Trust that works illegally to advance American interests abroad. As Kate gets more suspicious, Michael decides to get out of espionage, agreeing to one last contract killing before he's through forever. Caldwell's taut, enjoyable thriller hits the ground running, crafting a married-to-the-mob scenario that's believable and chilling, then taking the show around the world. Though a ham-handed villain occasionally bogs down the action, Caldwell's plot moves smoothly, juggling a number of perspectives without losing steam. (Jan.)
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Review

Divorcée Kate Livingston leads a sedate life in the suburbs of Chicago, trying with little enthusiasm to get back into the dating game, when a childhood friend offers to set her up with a dashing older man named Michael Waller. The two get married after a whirlwind courtship, but the honeymoon is over quickly when Michael begins acting strangely secretive. What Kate doesn't know is that Michael is part of a secret spy organization called the Trust that works illegally to advance American interests abroad. As Kate gets more suspicious, Michael decides to get out of espionage, agreeing to one last contract killing before he's through forever. Caldwell's taut, enjoyable thriller hits the ground running, crafting a married-to-the-mob scenario that's believable and chilling, then taking the show around the world. Though a ham-handed villain occasionally bogs down the action, Caldwell's plot moves smoothly, juggling a number of perspectives without losing steam. --Publishers Weekly

A taut international thriller certain to keep readers breathless and awake until the wee hours of the morning. --James Rollins, New York Times bestselling author of Map of Bones

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Mira Books (January 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0778325016
• ISBN-13: 978-0778325017
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #902,647 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Laura Caldwell: Former civil trial lawyer, now Distinguished Scholar in Residence at Loyola University Chicago School of Law, Director of Life After Innocence, published author of 10 novels, 1 nonfiction book, public speaker, daughter, sister, aunt, and friend.

Caldwell, lawyer, turned author who left the law behind, or so she thought. With 10 novels published in over 22 countries and translated into more than 13 languages, research on her 6th novel led her to the criminal case of Jovan Mosley, a young man sitting in a Cook County holding cell without a trial. After hearing about his case, Caldwell joined a renowned criminal defense attorney to defend him, ultimately proving his innocence and inspiring her first nonfiction book, Long Way Home: A Young Man Lost in the System and the Two Women Who Found Him (Free Press, Simon & Schuster).

Due to the Mosley case, she founded 'Life After Innocence' at Loyola University Chicago School of Law, a innovative program which aids exonerees--people who have been wrongful convicted and later found completely innocent--to start their lives over.

Her fictional works, began as chick-lit now turned mystery, includes a returning character, Izzy McNeil. Izzy a Chicago lawyer finds her way into a myriad of situations she must use her wit and legal skill to work through. Three books published the fourth due out March 2011, with at least three more on the horizon. Pick up an Izzy book now and travel through the streets of Chicago while solving crimes with her.

Laura is also a freelance magazine writer and has been published in Chicago Magazine, Woman's Own, The Young Lawyer, Lake Magazine, Australia Woman's Weekly, Shore Magazine and others.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars 3 stars, February 17, 2008

By 

AK "Bro" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Good Liar (Mass Market Paperback)

Hoping to lift her dearest "Sister Friend," Kate from a state of chronic depression, Liza introduces her to Michael, a handsome, older man who sweeps her off her feet and into marriage. Liza is not thrilled about this. She knows who Michael is, for he's like her, a spy for a top secret organization who lives a secret life Kate can never know about. Secrets have a way of coming out, and before long, Kate finds herself endangered by the world the two people she loves most live in.

*** Fans of Alias and La Femme Nikita who are in withdrawal can get a fix by reading this book. Shifting between times and viewpoints, the plot is complex and action driven, with little time to dwell on emotional issues. If you are looking for a thrill ride between the pages, this is the one. ***

Amanda Killgore

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Good Liar / A Great Read!, April 6, 2008

By 

Renee Rosen "RSR" (Chicago) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Good Liar (Mass Market Paperback)

The Good Liar is a smart, sexy tale of intrigue that takes us from Chicago to the far corners of the world. Caldwell goes beyond your typical espionage thriller to pose questions of morality, making us ask how far we'll go to protect our loyalties. In other words, is there ever such a thing a good lie? So not only does she have the perfect title for this novel, but her prose is clean and vivid as she weaves us in and out of a string of dangerous set ups. I highly recommend The Good Liar--truly an exciting read that keeps you hooked page after page.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Good Liar's a good read, March 6, 2008

By 

Debra Hamel (North Haven, CT) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Good Liar (Mass Market Paperback)

Two pairs of old friends anchor Laura Caldwell's thriller The Good Liar. Thirty-something Kate, despondent after her divorce, is introduced by her friend Liza to Michael Waller, who's smart and fit and fifty-five and almost too good to be true. Kate winds up marrying Michael before she notices anything disquieting about his personality or habits: his secrecy about his job, his occasional jumpiness, his over-familiarity with Liza, with whom he was allegedly only slightly acquainted before she fixed the newlyweds up. Caldwell tells her story from multiple perspectives, mostly in the third person. We learn, before Kate does, the truth about Michael's relationship with Liza and about his job: he's an operative with a pro-American counterintelligence unit, the Trust, and he's sworn to secrecy about his missions as well as the very existence of the organization. We also meet the book's bad guy, Michael's long-time friend Roger Leiland, the Trust's new honcho and the fourth member of the book's quartet of principals. Roger has developed a lust for power and isn't about to let friendship stand in the way of his acquiring it. Kate, ignorant of these truths, is living in a very different world from the rest of the characters. This is reflected on the page: the chapters told from Kate's perspective are written in the first person. We get to watch as she slowly comes to suspect that her husband is not what he seems. We already know what she wants to know, but it's still fun to watch her put the clues together.

The Good Liar is a really good read. The plot is tight. The prose is transparent and the chapters short. Caldwell doesn't leave us hanging at the end of every chapter quite as successfully as, say, Ken Follett does: it is possible to put the book down, that is, but you won't want to if you don't have to. I love the book's spy stuff--secret drops and faux personas and the operatives' über-competence. What prevents the book from being as successful as it might be is Caldwell's villain, who is too unrelentingly evil to be quite credible: Roger wants power because Roger wants power. The personal loss and character flaws feeding that monomania don't amount to sufficient motivation.

-- Debra Hamel

But I quite enjoyed the book. I'll definitely be reading more from Caldwell.