Parallel Lies [Import] [Paperback]

Ridley Pearson (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: New York, NY, U.S.A.: Hyperion, 2001; Advance copy edition (2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0752846019
• ISBN-13: 978-0752846019
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (65 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,922,292 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Ridley Pearson (www.ridleypearson.com), the first American to be awarded the Raymond Chandler/Fulbright Fellowship in Detective Fiction at Wadham College, Oxford University, is the bestselling author of over 35 novels including, Peter And the Starcatchers (co-written with Dave Barry), the young adult novel, The Kingdom Keepers, and two dozen crime novels including: Probable Cause, Beyond Recognition and Killer Weekend (July 2007). His novel The Diary Of Ellen Rimbauer, a prequel to a Stephen King miniseries, was a New York Times #1 bestseller, as was Peter and the Shadow Thieves (#1 for 6 weeks). Ridley adapted The Diary Of Ellen Rimbaurer for ABC Television; it aired in 2003.

Peter and the Starcatchers is to open as a stage play, off-Broadway in March 2011, under Disney Theatrical.

Ridley is a founding member of, and plays bass guitar in, the all-author rock band, The Rockbottom Remainders (www.rockbottomremainders.com), with Dave Barry, Stephen King, Scott Turow, Mitch Albom, Amy Tan and Greg Iles. The band has raised over 2.5 million dollars for charities over its 18 year history.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Back to Boldt, please..., August 20, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Parallel Lies (Hardcover)

I have read most of Ridley Pearson's Boldt/Matthews novels and have thoroughly enjoyed them. They have good character development, realistic dialogue, and a compelling, interesting plot. Unfortunately, this non-Boldt novel has none of those. Though the plot is reasonably entertaining, the characters are among the most uninteresting I have ever encountered and, for the most part, are totally unbelievable. I don't think I've read a sillier love story in my life than the one between Tyler and Priest; it takes a lot to wade through some of the scenes wherein Tyler repeatedly is distracted by Priest's alleged beauty and wants nothing more than to grab her, caress her, and so on...Holy Bad Romance Novel!! Ridley Pearson is a good writer and he can do better than this. Like some other reviewers, I suspect that this may be an older piece of work that he pulled out of the attic and dusted off. It simply doesn't read like some of his more recent (and much better) efforts. I eagerly await the next Boldt/Matthews tale and I suggest that others who like Pearson's work do the same.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good - but not his best, July 9, 2001

By 

Rachel B. "Rachel" (Maryland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Parallel Lies (Hardcover)

I would actually give this book 3.5 stars if I was able to. I am a huge Ridley fan - especially the Lou Boldt series. I was excited to read this book, and it took me a long time to get into it. The first 100 pages didn't turn fast enough, and the only reason I kept going was because I am a fan of the author. But, the end of the book was fast paced, and the book got better the further toward the end I got. The story was interesting, with no clear cut villian. I liked the characters, although I think that both Peter Tyler and Nell Priest could have been better developed. I liked the idea of David vs. Golliath, but the story just didn't have the special spark that Ridley usually has. It's a good summer read for the beach, but it doesn't do the author any justice. If this is your first time reading Ridley, don't start with this book - find his others first!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Derailed, October 14, 2002

By 

sweetmolly (RICHMOND, VA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Parallel Lies (Mass Market Paperback)

Ridley Pearson, as always, gives us a fast ride. I had become a bit tired of Lou Boldt and Daphne's clenched teeth platonic relationship, and looked forward to some new characters. I looked in the wrong direction. The plot and the modern day railroad lore are excellent, if a bit too technical at times. The characters are preposterous.

Peter Tyler is a down and out ex-homicide cop with an anxiety disorder that presents as acute claustrophobia. He is fired, in disgrace and facing a civil suit for excessive force against a black child beater. Somehow these qualifications get him temporary employment with the National Transportation Board to investigate a possible homicide involving a major railroad line. In a side-by-side story line, Umberto Alverez is seeking revenge against the railroad company for what he sees as negligence and cover-up in the crossing deaths of his wife and twin daughters. The chase and the chased gradually draw closer and closer together until Tyler and Alverez have a symbiotic relationship.

Reading about the trains was excellent stuff, interesting (hobos aren't "hobos" anymore, they are "riders") and informative. The action was fast paced. But the character's actions and motivations were like a James Bond movie gone bad. A beautiful, ambitious female executive becomes an informer on her own company because she may or may not have an itch for a scruffy, delusional ex-cop. Another fast living cocktail waitress who had a crush on Umberto when she was twelve behaves like a combination of Joan of Arc and whistle blower to save Umberto from --- what? An intelligent, highly placed government administrator misuses government authority against the railroad company because--he is in a pout?

There is a lot to like about "Parallel Lies" if you can just shut your eyes to why anyone is doing anything. The author has clearly done a lot of research on railroads, and the writing is vivid and clear. The enjoyment outweighs the frustration, but not by much.