The Lie Maker
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4.1 • 17 Ratings
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- $6.99
Publisher Description
‘Another perfect page-turner’ The Times
‘A triumph from the master thriller writer’ The Sun
In this twisty thriller from the Sunday Times bestselling author, a man desperately tries to track down his father in witness protection before his enemies can get to him.
Your dad’s not a good person. Your dad killed people, son.
These are some of the last words Jack Givins’s father spoke to him before he was whisked away by witness protection, leaving Jack and his mother to pick up the shattered pieces of their lives.
Years later, Jack is a struggling author, recruited by the U.S. Marshals to create false histories for people in witness protection. Jack realises this may be a chance to find his dad – but then he discovers he’s gone missing, and he could be in serious danger.
Jack knows he has to track him down. But how will he find a man he’s never truly known? And how will he evade his father’s deadly enemies – enemies who wouldn’t think twice about using his own son against him?
PRAISE FOR THE LIE MAKER:
‘Linwood Barclay has crafted another perfect page-turner’ The Times
‘Pacy and tense, it’s a triumph from a master thriller writer. Every page makes your heart beat that little bit faster’ The Sun
'Twisty, emotional, surprising, and told at a breakneck pace… a read-in-one-sitting kind of story' David Koepp
‘Engrossing and moving, full of clever plot twists, this is great crime writing’ Literary Review
‘You’ll be left speed-reading towards the end’ The Independent
‘A master of the intricately plotted psychological thriller genre’ Women’s Weekly
‘A totally absorbing, two-fisted conspiracy thriller told with characteristic aplomb … full of gasp-inducing twists and oodles of tension … brilliant stuff’ Neil Lancaster
'Barclay (Look Both Ways) nails this riveting standalone thriller… Crafty plotting and rich characters make this a winner' Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
About the author
Linwood Barclay is an international bestselling crime and thriller author with over twenty critically acclaimed novels to his name, including the phenomenal number one bestseller No Time For Goodbye. Every Linwood Barclay book is a masterclass in characterisation, plot and the killer twist, and with sales of over seven million copies globally, his books have been sold in more than 39 countries around the world and he can count Stephen King, Shari Lapena and Peter James among his many fans.
Many of his books have been optioned for film and TV, and Linwood wrote the screenplay for the film based on his bestselling novel Never Saw It Coming. Born in the US, his parents moved to Canada just as he was turning four, and he’s lived there ever since. He lives in Toronto with his wife, Neetha. They have two grown children. Visit Linwood Barclay at www.linwoodbarclay.com or find him on Twitter at @linwood_barclay.
Customer Reviews
Love the way you lie
Premise
Thirty-something man longs to be reunited with father who disappeared in witness protection when man was just 9.
Setting
Present day Boston
Precis
Jack Givins (not his real name) is a published author (good reviews, sales not so much) struggling to survive when approached by hard- nosed female US marshal to write backstories for people going into witness protection. Our boy signs up. She appears not to know about his old man, so he tells her. She says she’ll look into it. Meanwhile, a retired judge and a female ER doc get dead by drowning. Our boy’s journo GF investigates. She also investigates him because he won’t divulge the “secret government work” he’s doing. Stuff happens. All is not what it seems. The end.
Prose
Competent genre prose with occasional hints of humour. Plot holes aplenty. Dialogue stilted at times. Mr B does not write female characters well, and the males are either unidimensional, stupid or both. That having been said, I stuck with it to the end in the hope of an unexpected plot twist that never came. I enjoyed several of Mr Barclay’s earlier works, but was disappointed by his last one, ‘Look Both Ways’ (2022). Ditto this.