How to Spot a Liar: Why People Don't Tell the Truth… And How You Can Catch Them (Paperback)

by Gregory Hartley (Author), Maryann Karinch (Author) "Our bodies, including our brains, have remarkable similarities and striking differences..." (more)
Key Phrases: limbic mode, displaced expectations, sorting styles, Tower of London, Abu Ghraib, Gulf War (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Have you ever been lied to? Of course you have, whether you knew it or not.

Ever caught a spouse, business partner, parent, boss, or child brazenly lying right to your face? What if you could tell someone was lying, just by listening to them, and observing their action and behavior?How to Spot a Liar is the first book that gives you the tools to figure out what’s really going on: to gain the upper hand in salary negotiation, move a prospective client toward the outcome you desire, and find out why you need to end a business or personal relationship.

Author Greg Hartley is a decorated military interrogator who has used the techniques in How to Spot a Liar for 16 years to get the truth from enemy combatants. He has successfully applied them to project management and in contract negotiations, to resolve conflict and prevail. Now he shares this scientific process with you so you can use it every day.

Who needs How to Spot a Liar? Anyone with a cheating spouse or manipulative boss. Anyone conducting job interviews or cold-calling prospective customers. Lawyers who need to "read" witnesses or jurors. Anyone trying to survive the dating scene or faced with a string of business meetings with clients. Anyone who has teenagers at home or works on Capitol Hill. Anyone whose success and happiness depends on clear interaction with others.

And anyone who wants to become just a bit more inscrutable, in business, life…even at the poker table!

Gregory Hartley’s expertise as an interrogator first earned him honors with the United States Army. More recently, it has drawn organizations such as the Defense Intelligence Agency, Navy SEALS, Federal law enforcement agencies, and national TV to seek his insights about "how to" as well as "why." He resides near Atlanta, Georgia.

Maryann Karinch is the author of eight books, including Rangers Lead the Way: The Army Rangers’ Guide to Leading Your Organization Through Chaos (with Dean Hohl) and founder of The Rudy Agency, a literary agency based in Estes Park, Colorado.

About the Author
Gregory Hartley's expertise as an interrogator first earned him honors with the U.S. Army. More recently, it has drawn organizations such as the CIA and national TV to seek his insights about "how to" as well as "why." --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 264 pages
• Publisher: Career Press (September 30, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1564148408
• ISBN-13: 978-1564148407
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #146,096 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting - but not as advertised, January 28, 2006

By	Consultant (Northeast United States) - See all my reviews

This book is, as the other reviewers comment - about interrogation techniques. If you're looking for a book about how to tell that other people are lying to you - I suggest this won't have a lot of value. Other texts - such as Never Be Lied to Again - will give you better techniques for detecting liars. The shortcoming of this book is that the author looks at the world through the eyes of an interrogator - but the everyday world isn't an interrogation room. Hence, many of his techniques have shortcomings. I also found many of his examples to appear more hypothetical than real - in other words - made up to show a point. All this being said - it is a useful text on interrogation - and perhaps its best use is to give you the insights that someone is trying to use these techniques on you. Once you know that, they can be dealt with and neutralized fairly easily - because most of the people that use them are amateurs. A point to remember is that in order to be manipulated - you have to be a willing victim.

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars About the Art of Interrogation, December 27, 2005

By	Rolf Dobelli "getAbstract.com" (Switzerland) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Former U.S. Army interrogator Gregory Hartley and writer Maryann Karinch collaborated on this intriguing book about the use of military interrogation techniques in personal, business and even combat situations. While this is an unusual topic, Hartley shares the details of his first-hand military experience, so his stories and examples carry extra weight. His presentation about why people lie or conceal information addresses an unusual aspect of the human psyche and human motivations. He discusses the physiological and psychological aspects of lying and then discloses some methods that military experts use to conduct serious questioning. Sometimes, readers may find it difficult to detect the business or social applicability of some of the military interrogation techniques (although you may be tempted to question your teenager in a temperature-controlled environment), but the book is quite useful when it goes beyond military or criminal justice situations and gets down to business. Hartley and Karinch explain how to observe and interpret body language, conduct more productive arguments, and improve your personal and business relationships. Even though the text is sometimes repetitive, we recommend this book to managers, interviewers, job seekers, couples and anyone interested in self-help or psychology. The best advice the authors provide is straightforward: just tell the truth. It makes life so much simpler.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars How to Spot a Liar: Why People Don't Tell the Truth... And How You Can Catch Them, January 1, 2006

By	Susan (California) - See all my reviews

Gregory Hartley and Maryann Karinch have collaborated on an interesting and informative book - which draws on Mr. Hartley's experience as an interrogator. The reader learns the behavioral clues that are discernible when a person is not telling the truth, and finds out how body language exposes the "liar." I expected this to be another "pop" psychology puff piece, but found that the author's facts and real world experience make it hard hitting and very credible. This book is helpful for virtually anyone - a parent, teacher, friend, employer, employee, sales clerk and anyone else - who has contact with children and adults, who in some situations might benefit by lying.