Book Review: The Perfect Liar by Thomas Christopher Greene
I am not too proud to say I love watching the lives of perfect people unravel in my fiction and this one delivers!
Thriller | Goodreads | Amazon
Source: Library Loan
The Perfect Liar by Thomas Christopher Greene
Released January 2019Thriller | Goodreads | Amazon
Source: Library Loan
A seemingly perfect marriage is threatened by the deadly secrets husband and wife keep from each other.
Susannah, a young widow and single mother, has remarried well: to Max, a charismatic artist and popular speaker whose career took her and her fifteen-year-old son out of New York City and to a quiet Vermont university town. Strong-willed and attractive, Susannah expects that her life is perfectly in place again. Then one quiet morning she finds a note on her door: I KNOW WHO YOU ARE.
Max dismisses the note as a prank. But days after a neighborhood couple comes to dinner, the husband mysteriously dies in a tragic accident while on a run with Max. Soon thereafter, a second note appears on their door: DID YOU GET AWAY WITH IT?
Both Susannah and Max are keeping secrets from the world and from each other secrets that could destroy their family and everything they have built. Thomas Christopher Greene's The Perfect Liar is a thrilling audiobook told through the alternating perspectives of Susannah and Max with a shocking climax listeners will never expect, from the bestselling author of The Headmasters Wife.
Susannah, a young widow and single mother, has remarried well: to Max, a charismatic artist and popular speaker whose career took her and her fifteen-year-old son out of New York City and to a quiet Vermont university town. Strong-willed and attractive, Susannah expects that her life is perfectly in place again. Then one quiet morning she finds a note on her door: I KNOW WHO YOU ARE.
Max dismisses the note as a prank. But days after a neighborhood couple comes to dinner, the husband mysteriously dies in a tragic accident while on a run with Max. Soon thereafter, a second note appears on their door: DID YOU GET AWAY WITH IT?
Both Susannah and Max are keeping secrets from the world and from each other secrets that could destroy their family and everything they have built. Thomas Christopher Greene's The Perfect Liar is a thrilling audiobook told through the alternating perspectives of Susannah and Max with a shocking climax listeners will never expect, from the bestselling author of The Headmasters Wife.
My 2 Cents For Free!
Susannah is a widow with a teenage son who wasn’t expecting romance. Then she meets Max after he’s crashed a party to meet an important person in the art world. Even though their first meeting is a little bit shady, if you ask me (but I am a suspicious type), they quickly fall in love and marry and live the lives of successful, wealthy art people in a beautiful home in Vermont.
Blech. Sounds totally boring right?! Well, no worries. It isn’t long before a note shows up on the front door saying, “I know who you are” and all that gooey perfection is shot to hell.
Max has secrets. Susannah has secrets. Watching them both squirm and plan and seeing their perfect little lives unravel is so much fun, even more so if you have a little evil inside you. And you’re reading this, so you probably do!
I’m not afraid to admit that I didn’t like any of these characters very much but that’s beside the point. I’m sure I wasn’t supposed to. Suzanna is very strange and difficult to get a read on but that wasn’t a bad thing because her character kept me guessing. The kid is a bratty teen for most of the book until we finally get a wee bit of his past and see things from his point of view. And then there’s Max. I won’t spoil Max for you. Max is Ted Talk famous and he’s a guy who takes care of business and I will leave it at that. You should read about him for yourself if this sounds at all interesting to you.
The pace is pretty quick and I never found myself drifting off and thinking about all the cat boxes I need to clean when I get home from work so that’s an indicator of a good book for me. The fun here is trying to figure out who is the biggest and best liar and delving into all of their dark corners. If you enjoy these kinds of books, I think you’ll dig this one. It’s darker than some and for that I am thankful! There are some bits that require you to leave your brain at the door and the ending wasn’t a huge surprise for anyone who reads a steady of diet of these and pays attention to the clues but I have no major complaints about it. It was a dark little diversion and one I can easily recommend to others who like this stuff.
I listened to this story in its unabridged audiobook version narrated by Tavia Gilbert who did a fantastic job with the voices and bringing the emotions (and sometimes lack there-of) to life for all of the characters.
4 out of 5
Oh this sounds really good. I have more than enough books to read right now but I'm adding it to my wishlist anyway. Sounds like this is a book where you don't need to really like anyone to enjoy the fun!
ReplyDeleteAny diversion sounds good about now, even one that's a little dark. :)
ReplyDeleteNotes just showing up like that would creep me out.
ReplyDeleteCan you imagine getting a note that said, "Did you get away with it?" Innocent or not, it would scare the recipient half to death. Good review!
ReplyDeleteOoh, this sounds so twisted. And I can enjoy books without liking the characters. Sometimes it makes it even more fun.
ReplyDeleteMostly I have to like the MCs to enjoy a book-except a creature feature where they all get eaten in a gory and satisfying way!
ReplyDeleteOoh this sounds good! I love a thriller with juicy secrets like that! :)
ReplyDelete