Lie to Me [Hardcover]

David Martin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 19, 1990

Mary and Jonathan Gaetan were the essence of elegance. He was a powerful businessman; she was beautiful, sexy, young. Then, in a night of terror, a madman broke into their suburban Washington mansion. When it was over, Jonathan Gaetan lay dead and mutilated in a bathtub of his own blood. Mary told the police nothing about an intruder. Instead, she claimed her husband had killed himself.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

"He sits in the woods holding her hand." This sentence is the first of many clever ploys that make this book a stand-out among serial-killer novels. You could say it's just one gimmick after another -- missing body parts, lipstick on corpses, sexual obsessions, implications of incest, reek of rotting flesh in a shabby motel room, small children trying pathetically to be brave -- and yet as shameless as Martin is, you'll give him credit for pulling it off with panache. I recommend that you try your darndest to figure out the mystery, too; the answer is deeply weird. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Like Elmore Leonard, Martin ( The Crying Heart Tattoo ) favors seamy-side life where evil is abrupt, foreordained, explicable and unforgivable. Phil Jameson, a nut case, waits in a Virginia woods holding the hand of the 15-year-old hitchhiker he picked up in Maryland. When influential real estate developer Jonathan Gaetan and his wife Mary leave, Philip breaks into their house "to get what is his." Gradually, the reader catches on that the hitchhiker isn't there, just her hand is. The Gaetans return, and the next day Jonathan is found dead and sexually mutilated. Did Philip do it? Or Mary? Alone or in collusion? What connects Philip and the Gaetans, and, does Mary protect him because of the photos he stole from the house? Will Philip kidnap Penny, a child staying at the motel where he hides out, and if he does, will he harm her? Can deposed Detective Teddy Camel use this case to make a comeback? Only the last issue is a given in this violent, psychologically acute, grossly logical thriller with an amusing epilogue.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 269 pages
• Publisher: Random House; 1st edition (May 19, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0394584910
• ISBN-13: 978-0394584911
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,126,888 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Whatever you do...don't LIE to him!, August 7, 2002

By 

G. Van Der Bent "Gerb" (Katwijk, The Netherlands) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lie to Me (Paperback)

A madman serial killer enters the house of a wealthy entrepeneur and his beautiful young wife and takes them hostage. The following morning the rich man is dead, the killer is on the run and - although we as readers know otherwise - the wife states that her husband's dead was a suicide!

What really happened that night? A worn out police detective is brought in and he spends the rest of the book - as does the reader - trying to solve the mystery.

The strength of LIE TO ME clearly lies with it's main character Teddy Cammel. He is this great, completely three dimensional, and, above all flawed human being who becomes obsessed by this case (and as did I) will do almost anything to solve it.
There's this great gimmick (and the title refers to it) that Cammel is kind of a human lie detector and I must say this helps the story roll along nicely and gives LIE TO ME just the extra spice it needs. I LOVED IT!

Did I also mention there's some pretty gruesome stuff in here, which I - as a horrorbuff - love, but will (maybe?) turn off more mainstream thriller readers? The serial killer is up to some nasty things when he's cutting of human hands and going after little kids, so all you 'Michael Chrichton/ John Grisham lovers' be warned!

To me LIE TO ME is top of the bill. Great suspense and mystery and an excellent police procedural. David Martin really succeeds in pulling the reader into this story and I must say I finished the book in what must be record time.
Teddy Cammel returned in another of Martin's books, CUL-DE-SAC. I already bought that one and I just can't wait to read it!

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars AWESOME, June 21, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Lie to Me (Paperback)

SCARY- HELD MY ATTENTION FROM THE GET GO.AN EXTAORDINARY THRILLER TO SAY THE VERY LEAST. IN NO WAY WHAT SO EVER COULD YOU PREDICT THE ENDING OF THIS SORY. AFTER READING THIS BOOK, I REALIZED THAT SOME SECRETS ARE BETTER LEFT BURIED FOREVER. DAVID MARTIN DARES YOU TO FINISH THIS BOOK FROM THE VERY BEGINNING. DEEMED TO BECOME A CLASSIC.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A disturbing and twisted thriller, October 15, 2010

By 

Day (Houston, TX, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lie to Me (Paperback)

"It's not the secrets that hurt, it's when the secrets get told..."
I feel like I need to put a warning on this review similar to Law & Order SVU's opening line...*cue Law & Order pings* "In the criminal justice system, sexually based offenses are considered especially heinous...." But, this book is more than just a story of catching the demented killer. Like Silence of The Lambs & Rules of Prey, this story deals with crimes and issues that are of a particularly heinous and gruesome nature. The portrayal of an abused young man who has grown up in and out of the prison system and is now an insane serial killer is mind blowing. If this book was a movie I'd have been watching it with my hands covering my eyes. As it was already, I couldn't muster up the courage to read the book after dark or before bed because I didn't want the details from the story making any cameos in my dreams.


Lie to Me, is an incredibly terrifying, psychological thriller. Like an accident on the side of the road that you can't keep from looking at, this book is both creepy and enthralling. Just when you think you have an idea on where the author is going with the plot, he surprises you with the actions of his characters, leaving you unsure of what only moments ago you were certain. Readers will think to themselves "surely he isn't going to go there..." then Martin walks right up to the line and jumps over it with ballsy precision proving "Oh yes he did just go there!". The pace of the story was so intense and the characters and plot were equally driven. I found myself on an adrenalin high, rushing to the finish!