When a chance encounter in Florence’s Uffizi Museum plunges Women Now editor Laurel Imperiole and private investigator Helen McCorkendale into an investigation of missing persons and stolen Nazi art, the women find themselves ensnared in a deadly maze of greed and deceit.
Could the man Laurel bumped into have been Jeff Sargasso, an art dealer and friend who perished in theWorld Trade Center on 9/11? Was it possible he was still alive and had disappeared without a trace?
Laurel, who was vacationing in Italy with her boyfriend, Aaron Gerrad, a New York City detective, is thoroughly shaken by the experience of seemingly meeting a dead man. Sargasso was supposedly killed that day during a meeting regarding the sale of a 150 million dollar painting between a Japanese billionaire and a Wall Street tycoon. Determined to get to the bottom of things, she and Helen investigate in Italy and in New York.
As she delves deeper, Laurel leaves the truth behind, telling lies to Aaron about her actions and the liaison she’s formed with Lior Stern, an Israeli Mossad agent with an agenda of his own. One lie leads to another, entangling everyone and everything the women encounter, including murder and the painting at the heart of the affair.
Searching for answers, Laurel and Helen thread their way through a sinister skein of lies that take them on a whirlwind journey that could end in death.
Telling Lies by Cathi StolerMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
I have to admit that the introduction portion of this book truly captured my interest. Any time a book uses 9/11 as a springboard for a story, I think I become intrigued. Could someone truly have survived 9/11 and faked his own death? I just had to keep reading to find out!
I enjoyed the way that the author wrote the chapters because when I got to the end of one chapter, she often left me hanging. I wanted to read on. And sometimes she would write something about a certain character's predicament, and it would be several chapters later before that character's issue was resolved. It was a fast-paced book, and it kept my interest all the way to the end. I just had to know how it ended!
My disappointment with the book was two-fold. I found Laurel a little too "dumb" to be in the position she was. Although she was investigating the situation, and it was clear that she was right, she made some costly mistakes that I don't think most women would have made. I actually wished that her part of the story had ended a little differently than it did. I became quite annoyed with her, and I didn't always find her believable.
My other disappointment was the abundance of profanity. This is a constant problem with contemporary fiction, and generally I don't complain unless the words are used too much. In the beginning, I was hoping that the author would only use these words once in a while, but it seemed like the amount of these words increased. It is a pet peeve of mine, so for me, it detracted from the story.
In spite of these disappointments, I would certainly be willing to read something else by this author because she is definitely an author that writes a well-crafted story.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my review. All opinions are 100 percent mine.
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Cathi Stoler's Bio:
Ruth, thanks for taking the time to read and review Cathi's book. I'm glad that you enjoyed it overall and will be looking forward to more from Cathi in the future. We appreciate your hosting a stop on the "Telling Lies" blog tour.
ReplyDeletehttp://telling-lies-blog-tour.blogspot.com/
I read this for the tour. I didn't care for Laurel either. Here is my review if you are interested.
ReplyDeleteI love your blog!