TELLING LIES TO ALICE [Hardcover]

Laura Wilson (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Unknown (2004)
• ASIN: B0028QEFE6
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a fantastic read, March 13, 2004

By 

tregatt (Portland, Oregon) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Telling Lies to Alice (Hardcover)

Whether or not you will be able to truly enjoy this novel may boil down to personal taste and inclination. Speaking for myself, I thought that "Telling Lies to Alice" was arguably one of the best suspenseful novels I've read so far this year.

For a while, Alice's and Lenny's relationship could have been described as one of love, laughter, glamour and alcohol. She was a cocktail waitress at a private club (a club very reminiscent of the Playboy Bunny club); while he was the Lenny Maxted of the Maxted and Flowers comedy team -- a much sought after and up and coming comedy team. That is until tragedy strikes: Lenny commits suicide on an earl's estate in the country, just days after he and Alice get engaged. (Alice discovers the body along with a suicide note addressed to her begging for forgiveness.) Now, six years later (and one marriage and divorce later), Lenny bursts into Alice's life again in a frightening and unexpected manner.

Alice is now living in the country, in the cottage that Lenny had bought and left her. She leads a very quiet and recluse-like life, and she's had practically no contact with anyone from her past with Lenny. So that she's rather surprised when Lenny's comedy partner, Jack Flowers, turns up at her doorstep asking if she can put him up for a while. Soon, however, Alice's surprise turns to unease when she discovers that Jack is not himself -- he's drinking far too much and seems to be completely on edge. And then she discovers that he's been hiding her mail and trying to keep her from reading the newspapers. What is Jack trying to hide? Alice tries to stealthily figure out what Jack is up to from memory and the bits of information at her disposal but the picture that emerges fills her with fear and horror. What should she do now? And just how safe is she with Jack? Suddenly Alice's quiet, off the beaten track haven doesn't seem so desirable after all...

Once I got past chapter 2, and fell in with the rhythm of the prose style and pace, I found that I really couldn't put this book down at all. The pacing was swift and smooth, and was one of the reasons that the book turned out (for me at least) to be an unputdownable one. Another reason the book was so engrossing was because of the narrative style/voice. We see things almost exclusively from Alice's point-of-view. And Alice is not your usual dectective/suspense heroine. She's an ex-bunny, a bit of a good time girl, and someone who's used to seeing things only at the surface. So that "watching" her connect all the dots and remembering things from the past and realizing their true connotations became very compelling indeed. So that while it's true that there aren't that many shocking plot twists, there is that "on-the-edge" feel about this book, which was one reason why I would classify "Telling Lies to Alice" as a suspenseful and thrilling read. All in all, a read not to be missed. Laura Wilson is a brilliant and skillful authour. And I do hope that "Telling Lies to Alice" will be remembered when the Edgar nominations come up next year.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Adark gritty noir novel, March 2, 2004

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Telling Lies to Alice (Hardcover)

They met when they were both racing their expensive sports cars out on the open road, a ride that ended in them making love in an abandoned barn. When he left she didn't know his name but he got in touch with her a few weeks later and they started dating. Lenny Maxted was a famous comic who teamed up with Jack Flowers and their act was in demand by an adoring public but Alice loved all of him though Lenny was drowning in drugs and depression.

He committed suicide leaving a note for Alice but his death devastated her and she married another man while mourning. That marriage only lasted for three years before she divorced him and moved into the home that Lenny bought for her. Time and her animals healed many of her wounds but they were opened up again when she got a news clipping in the mail about a body found in a nearby lake. Alice immediately thinks of Kitty who disappeared after she and Lenny reconciled. A few days later Jack shows up and Alice is plunged into a nightmare that she might never recover from.

Laura Wilson has written a dark gritty noir novel that is all too believable. Neither Alice nor Jack is particularly admirable characters but aside from sex and drugs, Alice never crosses the line into criminal activity. Although Lenny is dead when the book opens his presence is felt throughout the novel, a week pathetic person who depended on drugs to help him through life's dark spots. TELLING LIES TO ALICE is a fast work of psychological suspense in the tradition of Alfred Hitchcock.

Harriet Klausner

4.0 out of 5 stars Non-stop action!, January 29, 2007

By 

A. Malpas (Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Telling Lies to Alice (Mass Market Paperback)

This is a terrific little thriller. Very realistic action and hard to put down. I recommend it.