Lies Within [Paperback]

Michael Largo (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2001

The high-tech intrigue of a covert CIA operations collides with the gritty world of Everglades survival in this suspense filled novel about one family's heartbreaking struggle to stay together, no matter how high the stakes, or how deep the betrayal.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Largo here revisits the characters of his first novel of 20 years ago, Southern Comfort (LJ 6/15/77). When renegade CIA agents James and Lily Curan fake their own deaths in Haiti in order to go underground, James's cousin Tucker, a ne'er-do-well alcoholic living on the fringes of the Florida Everglades, adopts the couple's twins and rears them as his own. The Curans' decision to surface after ten years of covert activity with drug smugglers in the Miami area creates a crisis situation for the CIA, the smugglers, and the family. Kidnapping, murder, police entrapment, a swamp fire, deadly snakes, hungry alligators, and a couple of love storiesAthis has all the elements of a first-rate novel of adventure and intrigue. It's a fun read, though it cries out for the attention of a good editor to tighten up the story and clarify some areas of confusion.AThomas L. Kilpatrick, Southern Illinois Univ. Lib., Carbondale
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Michael Largo was born in New York, where his father was an Internal Affairs detective with the NYC Police Department and an associate of the CIA. Michael Largo received a B.A. in English from Brooklyn College and an A.S. in Environmental Science. His varied careers have included: English teacher in Harlem, editor of New York Poetry, field guide for a nature conservation center, East Village tavern owner, deckhand on a sea-going tugboat, freelance photographer, video producer, and certified builder.

Largo received a fiction grant from the New York State Arts Council and the Whiteside Fellowship Award. His writing has appeared in numerous small press and Internet publications. He published a book of poetry, Nails In Soft Wood (Pikadilly Press) and a novel, Southern Comfort (New Earth Books). He lives in Miami with his family, and is on the Board of Directors of the Miami Book Fair International.

Largo's first-hand knowledge of living in an undercover family, survival training in extreme environments

Product Details

• Paperback: 438 pages
• Publisher: Tropical Press; 1 edition (March 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0966617304
• ISBN-13: 978-0966617306
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,074,060 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Standing ovation!, November 11, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Lies Within (Paperback)

"Michael Largo's long awaited second novel is here and it has the heart-beat and pulse of his first novel--and much more. It's the kind of intense, action-packed novel that will keep you completely involved till the end. A standing ovation for Michael Largo!" ---Clarence Major

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars In Largo's world the only thing scarierthan night, is the da, November 11, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Lies Within (Paperback)

"Michael Largo has wriiten a subtle, controlled thriller in which the horrific phantasmagoria of the South Florida landscape act as a silent witness and protagonist both. Extraordinary terrors unfold before the reader's eyes in a steady crescendo, with fearful simplicity and inevitability. Cause and effect snap shut like an alligator's jaws, catching the reader with powerful, clamping teeth. In Largo's world, the only thing scarier than night, is the daylight." Michael C. Browning, Florida Journal Columnist, MIAMI HERALD

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great espionage thriller, October 5, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Lies Within (Paperback)

Michael Largo's Lies Within opens explosively (both literally and figuratively) with the chilling and violent kidnapping of an eight-year old girl in Haiti. Shortly thereafter, her distraught parents - CIA agents James and Lily Curan - exact a daring rescue and subsequently find themselves on a boat rigged with explosives. The massive explosion leaves the kidnapped girl and her twin brother orphaned and in the care of Earl Johnson Tucker - distant relative, alcoholic, and ex-alligator poacher.

The first twenty pages of this novel will have you on the edge of your seat. But the true test of a great thriller is its ability to sustain that chilling and nail-biting suspense. Lies Within meets that challenge head on.

When the novel picks ten years later, Tucker - now a recovering alcoholic - and the twins, Katey and Jamie, find themselves caught up in a conspiracy that is larger and more insidious than they can imagine. The novel introduces us to a cast of corrupt and thoroughly despicable villains who cross and double-cross each other. And when horrifying violence enters his own home, Tucker takes to the Everglades and vows to get even.

With its complicated plot involving the twins and their parents, the CIA, corrupt law enforcement, alligator poaching, a heroin drug cartel, a political uprising, and more, Lies Within takes readers on one hell of a ride. Largo establishes the players and the crimes early on, but to understand what's really going on, you'll be reading right up to the last few pages. A terrifying opening scene, a fast-paced thriller, and lots and lots of alligators - Lies Within will definitely keep you on the edge of your seat.