By Catherine McKenzie

 

Book Blurb

Can you hide a secret with the whole world watching?

When an explosion rips apart a Chicago building, the lives of three women are forever altered.

A year later, Cecily is in mourning. She was supposed to be in the building that day. Instead, she stood on the street and witnessed it going down, with her husband and best friend inside. Kate, now living thousands of miles away, fled the disaster and is hoping that her past won’t catch up with her. And Franny, a young woman in search of her birth mother, watched the horror unfold on the morning news, knowing that the woman she was so desperate to reconnect with was in the building.

Now, despite the marks left by the tragedy, they all seem safe. But as its anniversary dominates the media, the memories of that terrifying morning become dangerous triggers. All these women are guarding important secrets. Just how far will they go to keep them?

My Review

Catherine McKenzie can always be counted on to spin a great tale, and The Good Liar is no exception. We meet three women who were present when a large explosion rocked Chicago killing more than 500 people on October 10^th at 10:00 a.m.  Theirs are stories of secrets, deceptions, and guilt.  In this character-driven story, Cecily, Kaitlyn (Kate), and Franny find themselves confronting their sins of the past year as memorials for “Triple Ten” approach.  I found them each to be believable and profoundly changed by the events of the previous year.  Were they likable characters?  Cecily was the true victim of the story and I liked her a lot, though I found myself getting frustrated with her from time to time.  Kate was so twisted that I couldn’t understand how she could leave her family thinking she had died in the explosion.  I disliked Franny from the start. She was too conniving, and I wanted to have nothing to do with her.  The story is told in the first person by Cecily and Kate giving us a deep insight into their characters, while Fanny’s story was told in interviews and thus was impersonal.

Just when you think you’ve figured it all out, the author throws another twist at you keeping you engaged in reading.  Full of the unexpected, The Good Liar is a book you should watch for.  It will be published in April 2018.

I am giving The Good Liar 4 stars because I felt it was confusing going back and forth among the three women. While I could grasp Cecily’s and Kate’s comments, I had a hard time connecting to Franny’s interview format at first.

Would I recommend The Good Liar?  Unquestionably!

I received an ARC from the author in exchange for my honest review.

About the Author

A graduate of McGill University in History and Law, Catherine is a partner in a litigation boutique in Montreal, where she was born and raised. Catherine’s novels, SPIN, ARRANGED, FORGOTTEN, HIDDEN, SMOKE and FRACTURED, are bestsellers and have been translated into numerous languages, including French, German, Portuguese, Polish, Turkish, Slovakian and Czech. SMOKE was named one of the Top 100 Books in 2015 by Amazon and one of the Best Books of October 2015 by Goodreads. FRACTURED was named one of the Best Books of October 2016 by Goodreads.

Catherine’s first book writing as Julie Apple (the protagonist in FRACTURED), THE MURDER GAME, was released in November, 2016. SPIN has been optioned for a television series. A short film of ARRANGED was made in 2014 and won a Canadian National Screen Institute Award. Catherine was on set while they filmed it. It was one of the highlights of her writing life.

Catherine’s next novel, THE GOOD LIAR, will be published on April 3, 2018.

An avid skier and runner, Catherine climbed the Grand Teton in 2014.

And if you want to know how she has time to do all that, the answer is: robots.

Visit her online at www.catherinemckenzie.com, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/catherinemckenzieauthor, and on Twitter and Instagram at @CEMckenzie1

Due Out April 3, 2018

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