The Best Lies by David Ellis
Published by G.P. Putnam's Sons
Publication date: July 23, 2024
Genres: Book Clubs, Fiction, Suspense
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A crusading lawyer, a former cop, and an FBI agent looking to make his mark all come together like gasoline and a match in David Ellis’ new novel, The Best Lies.
Leo is a lawyer working to bring a sex trafficker to justice, but his case falls apart when his client, who’d been enslaved as a prostitute and had a child sold off, is murdered. Days later the trafficker is found dead and the prints and blood on the body match Leo’s. The attorney becomes a suspect. Andi is a former cop now working a security consultant for a drug company on the verge of a massive medical breakthrough. Her job is to prevent any documentation about the drug from falling into the hands of a Chinese cartel that steals and sells intellectual property. Chris is recovering from a cancer battle that derailed his FBI career and needs a big win to reestablish himself in the game. Breaking up this ring is his top priority.
These three come together when Leo is given the chance to assist the FBI to avoid what is certain to be a conviction for murder. I’m leaving the plot there because reading The Best Lies is a pleasure akin to working your way through a big bowl of the tastiest, messiest, most tangled bowl of spaghetti ever. Ellis employs multiple time lines and narrators turning the novel into 3-D chess. You can’t take your eyes off the page or you’ll miss something important. He’s not above using sleight-of-hand, misdirection, and other bits of literary trickery in creating this gripping thriller.
At 50% of the way through the book I was still uncertain what it was about, but I didn’t care. What was unfolding before my eyes was interesting enough that I was happy to follow along. Ellis’ characters are flawed and therefore, interesting, especially Joe, who lands in the realm of cocky but kind, annoying but amusing, and with a mind so sharp his dialogue crackles and lands somewhere between the abrasive and the self-deprecating.
I’ve run through a slew of metaphors (gasoline, fire, spaghetti, 3D chess) in the hope of illustrating just how magnetic and wonderful The Best Lies is. It is my favorite kind of reading experience—dark, fun, and with turns that left me gasping with surprise. At a time when my attention has been splintered into oblivion this book kept me thoroughly engaged. The Best Lies is a book you’ll sink into even as you’re on the edge of your seat.
Want more high octane thrillers with completely unexpected twists? Try the Eddie Flynn series. Book one is The Defense.
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