Sunday 17 January 2016

NICHOLAS SEARLE - THE GOOD LIAR (2015)



Synopsis/blurb……

This is a life told back to front.

This is a man who has lied all his life.

Roy is a conman living in a leafy English suburb, about to pull off the final coup of his career. 
He is going to meet and woo a beautiful woman and slip away with her life savings.

But who is the man behind the con and what has he had to do to survive this life of lies?

And why is this beautiful woman so willing to be his next victim?

A fantastic debut from Nicholas Searle.

Roy’s a bit long in the tooth now, he’s been running his cons for years. He’s about to meet Betty. He’s lining up his next victim for one last play. Soon he’s moved in, to the chagrin of Betty’s concerned family. As the relationship develops, we travel backwards in time; revisiting some of Roy’s earlier triumphs and failures, back to where it all started for him.

There’s a lot to like here and a lot going on, but I think it’s better discovered as you read.

Fiendishly clever, construction. Well-written. Great characters – I never quite took to old Roy with his casual cruelties and his different face when he thinks he’s unobserved. I liked the younger version, even less.

A few twists that made my jaw-drop, but which in the author’s hands were totally believable. Satisfying ending.

Hard to believe it’s the author’s first book.

Does Roy finish his life of conning on a high?

Read it and find out.

5 from 5

Nicholas Searle was a civil servant who spent much of his time working on security matters before deciding to leave in 2011 and begin writing fiction.


Thanks to Steph at Penguin for the ARC.

15 comments:

  1. It does sound intriguing, Col. And sometimes, as you've said yourself, the conmen and others like them are really interesting as characters. The back-to-front sort of structure sounds interesting, too.

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    1. Really enjoyable Margot. Clever without seeming contrived.

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  2. I am half way through this book - will check back when I've finished it.

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    1. Oh wow. I'll be keen to hear your thoughts.

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    2. SO loved it! We are in total agreement. Brilliantly clever. Blogpost later in the week...

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    3. Great stuff, Moira - looking forward to hearing your thoughts, later this week then.

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  3. A great debut and 5 out of 5 — what more can a writer or reader ask for?

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    1. Prashant, Moira loved it to - so I'm not a lone voice crying out in the wilderness!

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  4. Sounds good, Col. This one goes on the TBR stack as soon as I can get my mitts on a copy.

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  5. Looking forward to reading this one when I get to it . . .

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    1. Good - hopefully not too long before you do!

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  6. I am interested in this book but the cover illustration in the US is nowhere as interesting.

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  7. I am interested in this book but the cover illustration in the US is nowhere as interesting.

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    1. Yes the cover seems very tame compared to the UK one. Hope you can squeeze this one into your reading at some point.

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