The Good Liar
Nicholas Searle, 2016
HarperCollins
352 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780062407498
Summary
Spinning a page-turning story of literary suspense that begins in the present and unwinds back more than half a century, this unforgettable debut channels the haunting allure of Atonement as its masterfully woven web of lies, secrets, and betrayals unravels to a shocking conclusion.
Veteran con artist Roy spots an obvious easy mark when he meets Betty, a wealthy widow, online.
In no time at all, he’s moved into Betty’s lovely cottage and is preparing to accompany her on a romantic trip to Europe. Betty’s grandson disapproves of their blossoming relationship, but Roy is sure this scheme will be a success. He knows what he’s doing.
As this remarkable feat of storytelling weaves together Roy’s and Betty’s futures, it also unwinds their pasts. Dancing across almost a century, decades that encompass unthinkable cruelty, extraordinary resilience, and remarkable kindness, The Good Liar is an epic narrative of sin, salvation, and survival—and for Roy and Betty, there is a reckoning to be made when the endgame of Roy’s crooked plot plays out. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—N/A
• Raised—Cornwall, England, UK
• Education—University of Bath; University of Göttingen
• Currently—lives in Yorkshire
Nicholas lives in the north of England. Nicholas Searle grew up in Cornwall and studied languages at the universities of Bath and Göttingen. After teaching for four years he moved to London to join the Civil Service. He had a hugely enjoyable twenty-three years in a variety of public service jobs before going to work for the New Zealand government in Wellington. In 2011 he returned to the UK, left the Civil Service and began writing in earnest. He and his wife now live in Yorkshire. (From Curtis Brown.)
Book Reviews
[A] fantastically assured debut…. The Good Liar makes you want to experience Nicholas Searle’s next trick.
Guardian (UK)
As the tension mounts, the reader is kept guessing…. The final denouement is a real cracker…. Added to the fiendishly clever plot, Searle’s writing is both drily amusing and elegantly crafted.
Daily Mail (UK)
However first-time author Nicholas Searle has written an incredibly dark, taut thriller and it deserves to be a bestseller. Think of Ruth Rendell morphing into John Le Carré (or should that be David Cornwell?). We are left wondering who and what constitutes a “good liar” when those two words seem a contradiction
Charlotte Heathcote - Daily Express (UK)
Engaging and poised.... The Good Liar is no straightforward thriller. Instead it's something of a hybrid of genres—character study meets mystery meets historical fiction—a wily tale of a much larger, more traumatic and multifaceted deception than initially anticipated.... Searle paces the twists and turns of the plot admirably well for a first-timer.
Lucy Scholes - Independent (UK)
Equal parts crime novel and character study, the tale is itself an elegantly structured long con. The pace is almost maddeningly deliberate..., but patient readers will be rewarded with devastating third-act twists and a satisfying denouement.
Publishers Weekly
A gut-clenching cat-and-mouse game…. This debut novel is a wellcrafted, complex tale that will appeal to fans of psychological thrillers.
Booklist
Despite the efforts to comment on a time in history when people made unimaginable choices that led to devastating tragedy, the novel mostly fails to resonate. Even with layers, the characters fail to inspire much deep interest or sympathy. The truth is interesting and unexpected, but it takes too long to unravel.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
Use our LitLovers Book Club Resources; they can help with discussions for any book:
• How to Discuss a Book (helpful discussion tips)
• Generic Discussion Questions—Fiction and Nonfiction
• Read-Think-Talk (a guided reading chart)
(We'll add specific questions if and when they're made available by the publisher. In the meantime, use our generic mystery questions.)
GENERIC DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Mystery / Crime / Suspense Thrillers
1. Talk about the characters, both good and bad. Describe their personalities and motivations. Are they fully developed and emotionally complex? Or are they more one-dimensional heroes and villains?
2. What do you know...and when do you know it? At what point in the book do you, the reader, begin to piece together what happened?
3. Good crime writers are skillful at hiding clues in plain sight. How well does the author hide the clues in this work?
4. Does the author use red-herrings—false clues—to purposely lead readers astray?
5. Talk about plot's twists & turns—those surprising developments that throw everything you think you've figured out into disarray. Do they enhance the story, add complexity, and build suspense? Are they plausible? Or do the twists & turns feel forced and preposterous—inserted only to extend the story.
6. Does the author ratchet up the story's suspense? Did you find yourself anxious—quickly turning pages to learn what happened? How does the author build suspense?
7. What about the ending—is it satisfying? Is it probable or believable? Does it grow out of clues previously laid out by the author (see Question 2). Or does the ending come out of the blue? Does it feel forced...tacked-on...or a cop-out? Or perhaps it's too predictable. Can you envision a better, or different, ending?
8. Are there certain passages in the book—ideas, descriptions, or dialogue—that you found interesting or revealing...or that somehow struck you? What lines, if any, made you stop and think?
9. Overall, does the book satisfy? Does it live up to the standards of a good crime story or suspense thriller? Why or why not?
(Generic Mystery Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution. Thanks.)
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