Customer Reviews

The Perfect Liar (Thorndike Romance)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

The Perfect Liar is the fifth installment in Brenda Novak's Last Stand series. The Last Stand is a victims charity based in California. It provides services to women and children who have been abused or face danger. This book is preceded by Trust Me, Stop Me, Watch Me, and The Perfect Couple. This story can be read on its own but to get the whole backstory, I recommend beginning with the first story.

Captain Luke Trussell is an upstanding, responsible, and considerate member of the community. He serves as a pilot in the military, saves liberally, donates generously, and even helps little old ladies across the street. Basically a boy scout but for adults. So imagine his astonishment when he is woken up in the middle of the night and accused of rape. His crew member, Kalyna Harter, claims he forced himself upon her after she initially denied him sexual favors. Luke acknowledges that he and Kalyna had consensual sex. He is sincerely worried about Kalyna and appalled at her injuries. However, he questions whether Kalyna knew it was he attacking or whether she's deliberately lying...

Ava Bixby is a victims rights advocate for The Last Stand. Kalyna approaches her for help in convicting Luke because she fears that the military will not convict him and law enforcement cannot interfere in military matters. Ava decides to take on the case because of her personal experience. She has a private investigator look into the backgrounds of both Luke and Kalyna. She discovers that Luke makes a more credible individual than Kalyna and decides to approach him. Meanwhile, Kalyna leaves town for home.

Luke receives a phone call from Ava requesting an appointment but is advised by his lawyer to not respond. He does make a trip to see her, though when Kalyna gives him a threatening call in the middle of the night. Although Ava is reluctant to talk to him now, she decides to give him a chance and they meet up at the local coffee shop. The attraction between them is immediate and strong. Luke plays it up while Ava acts strictly professional. After meeting him and considering the evidence, Ava contemplates dropping the case and after speaking with Kalyna, firmly abides by her decision.

What ensues is an investigation of the rape and why exactly Kalyna feels an overwhelming possessiveness of Luke and her absolute lack of conscience. Luke and Ava discover they have feelings for each other but neither knows how to react to the attraction. Unfortunately, Kalyna finds out and her reaction is extreme...

While this story is utterly fascinating, it has its chilling moments. Brenda Novak manages to deliver the perfect combination of romance and suspense with a convincing finale. I enjoyed the story but it had a minor problem which took me away from the story for a moment. During Ava's investigation, she gets access to Kalyna's credit report. In it, it states that she had maxed out her credit cards at 18 and never made a payment. Ordinarily, I would ignore that. However, it doesn't make sense that she could join the military since their clearance does credit checks.

I admit to being a Brenda Novak fan. In fact, I've read almost all her books. In this latest series set in Sacramento, three women, victims themselves, have banded together to form a victims charity defense for women facing similar situations.

Book two, The Perfect Liar, is edgy and well written. As in the first book, the reader is aware who the antagonist is. Novak has a knack for keeping up the suspense and for showing the evil that lurks beneath the surface of her villains.

Ava Bixby takes on the case of Kalyna Harter, a Ukranian immigrant and Air Force sergeant who claims to have been raped by Captain Luke Trussell. However, as Ava digs deep into the case, she wonders if she's defending the wrong person.

Ava, the child of a dysfunctional family, has a thrice married father and a mother serving a prison sentence for attempted murder. In addition, she failed to act on a cry for help from one of her clients which ended badly. Ava is determined never to let that happen again, so she is prejudiced from the get-go against Captain Trussell even as she finds him disturbingly attractive.

Novak delves into Ava's background as well as Kalnya's and some shocking details are revealed.

Without revealing too much more, let me urge you to buy this book. The ending will surprise you.

Highly recommended.

Brenda Novak is very good at suspense and story development. This book was about a pathological liar, who also happenned to be a murderer. I found myself absolutely fascinated with this character, who at times I felt sorry for, and at other times, I couldn't believe how she was able to rationalize her actions. Ms. Novak also seemlessly wove this new Last Stand Trilogy into the first Trilogy series about three women who are victims of violence or abuse themselves. As a way of healing themselves, they form a charity business that helps others who are victims themselves. I can say that the first series and this second book of the second series is just as mesmerizing as the previous four books! I had a hard time putting any of them down, they were so suspenseful!

I could not tear myself away from this edgy, smart, riveting book. The villainess was the perfect combination of malice, cunning and deeply disturbing behavior. Many a gut twist resulted in empathy for the hero, as he dealt with the layered consequences of her attack with perfect lies. Devouring Brenda Novak novels is one of my happy addictions. And now, I'll begin the next book in the series... Knowing Brenda Novak, it won't be long before I finish it.

While not as bad as the intolerable Skye, Ava isn't a character I really warmed to like I did with the others in this series. The relationship with Luke was unrealistic and I found the Kalyna so over the top that she was more a caricature than a character.

However, I do enjoy this author, who writes a great suspense novel!

Just finished Brenda Novak's Perfect series. Three amazing books! Loved the characters and the story lines. Ms Novak has written 6 books in The Last Stand series, all of which are full of suspense and goosebump moments. I have read all of her books, and she never disappoints. Looking forward to her Hired Gun Series starting in August of 2010. Pick up any of her books. You will be glad you did!

At Travis Air Force Base in California, Captain Luke Trussell mourns the death of his bestf friend who died in Iraq with alcohol and love making with Sergeant Kalyna Harter of his flying squadron. He knows both were mistakes, but the latter proves ugly when two military police enlisted NCOs arrive the next morning informing him that Sergeant Harter accused him of rape; she spent several hours at Northbay medical Clinic and has bruises all over her body; none life threatening. He says she lies.

Kalyna follows that up with asking victims' rights advocate Ava Bixby to help nail Luke with further evidence of his abusing women. Ava's inquiry proves Luke has no bad marks or hints of such until the rape accusation while Kalyna has a history. The advocate soon believes he is the victim and works to prove her theory although she hopes she is not rosy coloring the facts because she is falling in love with the captain. Kalyna is outraged when she perceives the betrayal and the look of love in Aava's eyes.

This is an exhilarating romantic suspense with the obsessed villainess stealing the show from the lead couple as THE PERFECT LIAR. Readers will be fascinated with the obviously troubled Kalyna as she loves Luke, but her method to his heart may seem on the surface an odd approach; the audience will understand why the psychopath made the rape accusation.. Fans will enjoy Brenda Novak's latest Last Stand thriller.

Harriet Klausner

Sergeant Kalyna Harter filed a complaint with Base Security that Air Force Captain Luke Trussell raped her. Kalyna went to her neighbor to drive her to the emergency room. Kalyna was badly bruised. The ER staff took pictures of her bruised body.

In the early morning, Captain Luke Trussell was awaked by a knock on his door. It was base security, to tell him that there was a complaint filed against him. "Sgt Harter claimed you raped her" It was a brutal attack. Luke told security that he knows her, because she is in his flying squadron, "I didn't rape her-- We had consensual sex."

Kalyna didn't trust the military to handle her rape. She thought the Air Force would do anything to avoid a scandal. Luke is one of their best pilots. Kalyna went off-base to talked to Ava Bixby at The Last Stand Victims Charity Group about her rape. She went into details about what had occurred that night. Kalyna was convincing and Ava believed her. The rape took place off-base. Kalyna wanted justice and for the civilian courts to press charges against Luke.

Jonathan Stivers is an investigator for The Last Stand. He told Ava Bixby that "You've got the wrong guy." Captain Luke Trussell has a clean record. Everyone has good things to say about him. They do not believe he raped Sgt Harter. Ava decided to contact Luke before she got too involved in the case, to hear his version of what had transpired that evening.

Ava and Luke decided to meet at Starbucks. Luke gave Ava his version what happened. He denied raping Sgt Harter. Luke was trying to be facetious with Ava. It only annoyed her. Ava thought Luke is egotistic, but he isn't a rapist. Ava decided not to take Kalyna case.

"The Perfect Liar" is the appropriate title for the drama that played out in the story line. You will find out early on who the liar is. Brenda Novak did an excellent job writing The Perfect Liar. All the pieces of the story were woven together nicely. Several incidents occurred at the end that left me bewildered.

I recommend The Perfect Liar.

A one night stand has lasting consequences when Air Force Captain Luke Trussell wakes up to find military police at his door and accused of raping a fellow squadron member. The "victim" is Kalyna Harter, a woman with no conscience who'll stop at nothing to have Luke in her life. When she consults victim advocates at the Last Stand, case worker Ava Bixby soon discovers that the victim is actually a predator, and finds herself attracted to Luke. Once she breaks ties with Kalyna and agrees to help the defense, Kalyna sees this as the ultimate betrayal and targets everyone close to Luke including his family and Ava all in the name of her warped perception at love, and no one is safe, including her own family.

I might be a little biased - this story is set in my home town, and the mention of the delta and other attributes is a nice change since most stories are either set in LA, New Orleans, or New York it seems. While the romance between Luke and Ava seems a bit rushed, it is an interesting relationship - the joining of two people who neither really believe in a happily ever after, and who probably would never have noticed each other had the circumstances been different, but it does make sense, particularly given Ava's fractured life. The story also sets the stage for the next novel in the series, The Perfect Murder (Last Stand). But is the psychotic Kalyna who is the real star of the novel. She makes Glen Close from "Fatal Attraction" look positively docile. Adopted along with her twin Tatiana at age nine, she has never really adjusted or felt love from anyone other than Tatiana. And growing up in a macabre funeral home surrounded by death gave her a playground most children would avoid. Hell hath no fury like a psychotic scorned.

IF YOU HAVE NEVER READ A BOOK BY BRENDA NOVAK I SUGGEST YOU START WITH DEAD RIGHT. BELIEVE ME, YOU WILL BE HOOKED...DEAD GIVE AWAY AND DEAD SILENCE IS A TRILOGY. I THINK THE PERFECT LIAR IS ALSO PART OF A TRILOGY. I AM HOOKED,HOOKED,HOOKED. THE PERFECT LIAR IS ONE OF THE MOST CHILLING READS BECAUSE YOU SUDDENLY REALIZE THAT IT IS ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO DEFEAT A LIAR AND THE PERFECT LIAR IS A VERY APT TITLE. I FELT AS IF I WAS THE ONE CAUGHT IN A NET OF LIES AND IT WAS LIKE HOLDING MY BREATH UNDERWATER. YOU WILL LOVE AVA AND LUKE AND DESPISE KARINA. IN MY ESTIMATION, MORE PUBLICITY SHOULD BE GIVEN TO AUTHORS SUCH AS BRENDA NOVAK, DOROTHY GARLOCK, WHOM I HAVE READ FOR YEARS, AND I WONDER WHY SOME AUTHORS ARE ALWAYS PROMOTED IN THE NEWS,IN CATALOGUES,BUT I DON'T BUY THEIR BOOKS. I KNOW I CAN GO TO AMAZON.COM AND GET MY FAVORITE AUTHORS AND ALSO BE INTRODUCED TO NEW AUTHORS. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND BRENDA NOVAK..
TE LATHAM