The Good Liar
Now a Major Film Starring Helen Mirren and Ian McKellen
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4.0 • 55 Ratings
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- £4.99
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- £4.99
Publisher Description
A SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER, NOW A MAJOR FILM STARRING HELEN MIRREN AND IAN MCKELLEN
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?
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'You will have your socks knocked, nay, blown off' Stylist
'An assured thriller in the footsteps of le Carré, Highsmith and Rendell' Guardian
'A part-thriller, part-human condition novel that packs a tremendous punch' Financial Times
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
We fell deep into the spell of Nicholas Searle’s debut, which unfolds with the patience and grace of an old-fashioned suspense novel like The Talented Mr Ripley. Senior citizen Roy is clearly a con man. When he latches on to the elegant, lonely Betty, we’re sure nothing good will come of it. The fun and thrills come from Searle’s fantastic prose, the inspired flashes of Roy’s past and ruthless mindset, and the lingering sense that Betty isn't quite the innocent we’ve been led to believe.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
At the start of British author Searle's engrossing debut, octogenarian Roy Courtnay is looking forward to his lunch with Betty McLeish, a wealthy widow he's met online. The apprehensive Betty has her grandson, Stephen, drive her to the appointed restaurant in an unspecified locale she and Roy have agreed on, where he waits outside in the car, prepared to rescue her if need be. Roy and Betty hit it off, and he soon moves into her cottage in the English countryside, where he sets about to bilk her of her fortune. Stephen has his doubts about Roy. Betty lingers in the background, mild-mannered and shrouded in mystery, until she finally takes center stage and her intentions become clear. Equal parts crime novel and character study, the tale is itself an elegantly structured long con. The pace is almost maddeningly deliberate, with details about the characters and their schemes doled out like a controlled substance, but patient readers will be rewarded with devastating third-act twists and a satisfying denouement.
Customer Reviews
Intriguing story of two old people moving in together
Two old people meet up via a dating app and end up living together,
but the relationship is so fractious you have to wonder what is going on.
We find out in the end though, well worth reading.
Slow start, good ending.
To be honest, I wasn’t really enjoying this for a while. I was over 350 pages in before it fully grabbed my attention and I was all in. I loved the way the story came together and the twist was revealed. I actually guessed the twist before it was revealed in the book - which is not something that happens often (me getting things right 😅)
I thought some parts of the first half of the book were pointless 🤷🏼♀️ I felt I was reading just to read and say that I’d read it, if that makes any sense? (My momma did not raise no quitter 😂)
It particularly annoyed me how often Roy said “oh yes.” 😆 And how the author would start a chapter randomly or in the middle of the event and you’d have to guess what was happening (or I did most of the time).
Also it made me feel stupid. I pledged I’d Google words I hadn’t heard before or wasn’t familiar with, but soon gave that up after spending more time on Google than actually reading.
A lot like Where The Crawdads Sing it started slowly & the ending saved it most definitely. Page 381 is where I stopped reading and went “oooooh” because I’d worked out the twist & definitely the point where it completely hooked me in and I had to finish it immediately.
MASTERFUL!
Well crafted and original storyline, full of twists and turns. What a debut novel. Will be following this author.