The Lie Maker is a plot-heavy, fast-paced and eminently readable tale of misadventure and confusion.
Jack Givens is a mostly unsuccessful novelist, a sometime journalist who has just missed out on a new job. He is approached by his agent with a burner phone and the mysterious offer of a possible job. After his car is burnt out and his bank account begins to look rather sad Jack decides to follow up on the offer – working for Witness Protection writing background stories for new witnesses. But there is something very mysterious and slightly suspicious about his new employers.
Jack’s father was an occasional hit man for a notorious gangster who informed on his employer and went into Witness Protection when Jack was a boy. Jack has been trying to find his father who has disappeared, but he isn’t the only one looking for him.
As with all of Barclay’s novels there are different strands to the narrative, including the strange drownings of a retired judge and a hardworking emergency doctor; Lana, Jack’s girlfriend, a star reporter, is investigating the deaths and trying to figure out just what Jack’s mysterious new job is; Jack’s stepfather who suddenly reappears looking for a handout. Underpinning the story are a series of lies.
The characters are eccentric and human. Their trials form the basis of the complex plotting that is a hallmark of Barclay’s novels. The charm of his writing lies in the quirky, almost matter-of-fact, chains of causality and interconnection between characters and events and the way all the trailing loose ends are tied relentlessly together at the end.
Barclay’s writing is not fancy, but he tells a wicked story.
Reviewed by Tessa Chudy
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
ABOUT THE AUTHORLinwood Barclay, a New York Times bestselling author with twenty novels to his credit, spent three decades in newspapers before turning full time to writing thrillers.
His books have been translated into more than two dozen languages, sold millions of copies, and he counts Stephen King among his fans. Many of his books have been optioned for film and TV, a series has been made in France, and he wrote the screenplay for the film based on his 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 near Toronto with his wife, Neetha. They have two grown children.
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