The Perfect Liar
by Thomas Christopher Greene
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Description
"A seemingly perfect marriage is threatened by the deadly secrets husband and wife keep from each other, for fans of B.A. Paris and Paula Hawkins. Susannah, a young widow and single mother, has remarried well: to Max, a charismatic artist and popular speaker whose career took her and her fifteen-year-old son out of New York City and to a quiet Vermont university town. Strong-willed and attractive, Susannah expects that her life is perfectly in place again. Then one quiet morning she finds a show more note on her door: I KNOW WHO YOU ARE. Max dismisses the note as a prank. But days after a neighborhood couple comes to dinner, the husband mysteriously dies in a tragic accident while on a run with Max. Soon thereafter, a second note appears on their door: DID YOU GET AWAY WITH IT? Both Susannah and Max are keeping secrets from the world and from each other --secrets that could destroy their family and everything they have built. The Perfect Liar is a thrilling novel told through the alternating perspectives of Susannah and Max with a shocking climax that no one will expect, from the bestselling author of The Headmaster's Wife"-- show lessTags
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Member Reviews
The Perfect Liar
Scintillating writing, robust characters and brilliantly plotted.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
SUMMARY
Susannah, a young widow and single mother has remarried. She married Max, a charismatic artist and popular speaker whose career took her and her 15-year-old son out of New York City to a quiet Vermont university town. Strong-willed and attractive Suzanne believes her life is perfectly in place again.
Then one morning she finds a note on their front door. “I know who you are.” Max dismisses the note as a prank. But days after a neighborhood couple comes to dinner, the husband mysteriously dies in a tragic accident while on a run with Max. Soon after, a second note appears on their door, “Did you get away with it?” show more Both Susanna and Max are keeping secrets from each other, secrets that could destroyed their marriage, their family and everything they have built.
REVIEW
THE PERFECT LIAR is thrilling. It’s told from the alternating perspectives of Max and Susannah. Each has their own story to tell, and it all unwinds in due course. The story is a ricocheting tale of lies and it’s impossible to put down the book.
Max and Susannah’s characters are unique and well defined. Both with strengths and weakness which make them real. You might not like them but they really make for interesting and robust characters. The story is brilliantly plotted and I am sure you’ll find some surprises between the pages. My favorite part was the entire second half of the book. It snaps your mind. Whaaaat!
The Perfect Liar is author THOMAS CHRISTOPHER GREENE’s sixth novel. Greene was born and raised in Worcester Massachusetts and earned his BA in English from Hobart College in Geneva, New York and his MFA in Writing from the former Vermont College. He lives in Central Vermont and in 2008 was instrumental in creating The Vermont College of Fine Arts. Greene’s writing is scintillating. It was a great Audible listen.
Publisher St. Martin’s Press/Macmillan Audio
Published January 15, 2019
Narrated Tania Gilbert
Review www.bluestockingreviews.com show less
Scintillating writing, robust characters and brilliantly plotted.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
SUMMARY
Susannah, a young widow and single mother has remarried. She married Max, a charismatic artist and popular speaker whose career took her and her 15-year-old son out of New York City to a quiet Vermont university town. Strong-willed and attractive Suzanne believes her life is perfectly in place again.
Then one morning she finds a note on their front door. “I know who you are.” Max dismisses the note as a prank. But days after a neighborhood couple comes to dinner, the husband mysteriously dies in a tragic accident while on a run with Max. Soon after, a second note appears on their door, “Did you get away with it?” show more Both Susanna and Max are keeping secrets from each other, secrets that could destroyed their marriage, their family and everything they have built.
REVIEW
THE PERFECT LIAR is thrilling. It’s told from the alternating perspectives of Max and Susannah. Each has their own story to tell, and it all unwinds in due course. The story is a ricocheting tale of lies and it’s impossible to put down the book.
Max and Susannah’s characters are unique and well defined. Both with strengths and weakness which make them real. You might not like them but they really make for interesting and robust characters. The story is brilliantly plotted and I am sure you’ll find some surprises between the pages. My favorite part was the entire second half of the book. It snaps your mind. Whaaaat!
The Perfect Liar is author THOMAS CHRISTOPHER GREENE’s sixth novel. Greene was born and raised in Worcester Massachusetts and earned his BA in English from Hobart College in Geneva, New York and his MFA in Writing from the former Vermont College. He lives in Central Vermont and in 2008 was instrumental in creating The Vermont College of Fine Arts. Greene’s writing is scintillating. It was a great Audible listen.
Publisher St. Martin’s Press/Macmillan Audio
Published January 15, 2019
Narrated Tania Gilbert
Review www.bluestockingreviews.com show less
The Perfect Liar
By
Thomas Christopher Greene
What it's all about...
Susannah is attracted to her college professor who also just happens to be her therapist. He is much older...doesn’t want any complications in his life and doesn’t want a child. So Susannah willfully gets pregnant. They marry. He dies...eventually. Susannah then meets Max at an art show. They fall in love...get married...and move to Vermont with Susannah’s son Freddy to live happily ever after. But...there are so many secrets and lies between them...is this even possible?
Why I wanted to read it...
This book was absolutely mesmerizing. It was filled with a sort of shocking suspense. I did not trust Max at all. This threesome...Freddy, Susannah and Max...seemed to be show more happy and mostly normal but there were so many levels of distrust. This I what kept the pages turning.
What made me truly enjoy this book...
Max’s back story was chilling and after a while Susannah and Freddy seemed a bit chilling, too!
Why you should read it, too...
This was a well written chilling book. I couldn’t stand putting it down...it’s one of those books where you need to know whom is going to hurt whom next!
I received an advance reader’s copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley and Amazon. It was my choice to read it and review it. show less
By
Thomas Christopher Greene
What it's all about...
Susannah is attracted to her college professor who also just happens to be her therapist. He is much older...doesn’t want any complications in his life and doesn’t want a child. So Susannah willfully gets pregnant. They marry. He dies...eventually. Susannah then meets Max at an art show. They fall in love...get married...and move to Vermont with Susannah’s son Freddy to live happily ever after. But...there are so many secrets and lies between them...is this even possible?
Why I wanted to read it...
This book was absolutely mesmerizing. It was filled with a sort of shocking suspense. I did not trust Max at all. This threesome...Freddy, Susannah and Max...seemed to be show more happy and mostly normal but there were so many levels of distrust. This I what kept the pages turning.
What made me truly enjoy this book...
Max’s back story was chilling and after a while Susannah and Freddy seemed a bit chilling, too!
Why you should read it, too...
This was a well written chilling book. I couldn’t stand putting it down...it’s one of those books where you need to know whom is going to hurt whom next!
I received an advance reader’s copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley and Amazon. It was my choice to read it and review it. show less
The Perfect Liar from Thomas Christopher Greene is a creepy novel about a couple of unlikable people. Yet it draws the reader in and serves more as a "how will things work out" story than a "who did what" story. In other words, less about surprises and more about process.
It is obviously much easier to feel empathy for likable characters but that does not preclude feeling empathy for unlikable characters. Empathy and the ability to feel it has to do with the person feeling empathy, not the object of the empathy, so if you can't feel empathy for a person that is on you. A mother wanting to do right for her child, even when she has made horrible decisions and is generally not very likable should still illicit empathy as a mother trying to show more do good for her child. A person who has had nothing and then manages to have a lot and fears losing it should illicit empathy, even when he got to that point through wrongdoing. It is a fear of returning to a lowly state that will illicit empathy, not whether you approve or condone how he achieved an elevated position. So in spite of these characters being ones we wouldn't want to know, they are still human beings deserving of empathy, even if we also want them to get their just dues.
These are actually the kinds of people that we would probably like, or at least not dislike, in real life. Not because we approve of them but because in real life we wouldn't know all the intimate details we learn in a novel. Keeping this in mind helps us to better understand how they might be able to carry out much of what they do.
I would recommend this to readers who like problematic stories, where there is plenty of reasons to both dislike and like the characters, at least early in the book. The "surprises and twists" aren't particularly unforeseeable as written but I don't think that is a negative. Having a pretty good idea who has done what simply makes this more of a suspense story about how things will happen rather than about what will happen (or something like that).
Reviewed from a copy made available through Goodreads First Reads. show less
It is obviously much easier to feel empathy for likable characters but that does not preclude feeling empathy for unlikable characters. Empathy and the ability to feel it has to do with the person feeling empathy, not the object of the empathy, so if you can't feel empathy for a person that is on you. A mother wanting to do right for her child, even when she has made horrible decisions and is generally not very likable should still illicit empathy as a mother trying to show more do good for her child. A person who has had nothing and then manages to have a lot and fears losing it should illicit empathy, even when he got to that point through wrongdoing. It is a fear of returning to a lowly state that will illicit empathy, not whether you approve or condone how he achieved an elevated position. So in spite of these characters being ones we wouldn't want to know, they are still human beings deserving of empathy, even if we also want them to get their just dues.
These are actually the kinds of people that we would probably like, or at least not dislike, in real life. Not because we approve of them but because in real life we wouldn't know all the intimate details we learn in a novel. Keeping this in mind helps us to better understand how they might be able to carry out much of what they do.
I would recommend this to readers who like problematic stories, where there is plenty of reasons to both dislike and like the characters, at least early in the book. The "surprises and twists" aren't particularly unforeseeable as written but I don't think that is a negative. Having a pretty good idea who has done what simply makes this more of a suspense story about how things will happen rather than about what will happen (or something like that).
Reviewed from a copy made available through Goodreads First Reads. show less
** spoiler alert ** A mystery/thriller has to have a few components: it has to have suspense, genuine mystery, and protagonists the reader cares about. This novel has the first, a little of the second, and none of the third. Both Susannah and her husband Max are sociopaths, and the reader is hard-pressed to find an ounce of empathy with them, much less any sort of relatability. This is the fatal flaw of this novel. It does contain some pretty harrowing moments, some nice suspense, and a game of cat-and-mouse between the spouses that keeps the reader motivated.
No Honor Among Liars
The Perfect Liar proves an engaging excursion into the lives two people who adeptly keep dark secrets, and one of whom artfully dons and advances in the skin of another. When the novel focuses on these aspects of Max W. and Susannah Gracia, the married protagonists of the novel, it’s a compelling, page-turning romp through deceit, murder, narcissism, and self-delusion. When it arrives at resolution, it breaks down, and that’s an unfortunate way to end a rather good novel.
Max W. grows up a street punk, a fellow with no real skills, but with a pretty high regard for himself. Roaming the country, he lucks into a ride with a young man from Charleston, SC, Max Westmoreland (yes, fictional grandson of that real show more Westmoreland). The pair end up in the Adirondacks at the mountain camp of Westmoreland’s family. One thing leads to another, as they always do in these novels, and Max W. (real name Phil Wilbur) kills Max and assumes his identity, that of young man with BFA and MFA credentials. Brassy Max goes to NYC, where he cons his way into a party given by the grande dame of art herself. There he mets the woman’s assistant, Susannah, and in a jiff he’s whisked her to his grubby apartment, gotten her undressed, used her to invent a new form of word art, and fallen hopelessly in love. Of course, he knows nothing about her and she nothing of him, but the chemistry binds them seemingly eternally. Even when Max learns Susannah has a son from another marriage, it doesn’t weaken but instead strengthens their bond.
By this time, very early in the novel, we know that Max W. is anything but a forthright and upright individual. Of Susannah, we know little. As the novel unfolds, we learn more about her life, and it’s less than pretty. Readers will discover that Susannah has undergone terrible psychological abuse undertaken in the guise of helping her cope with her paralyzing panic attacks. What these have accomplished is, the words of her young adolescent son, Freddy, to make her cray-cray. And paranoid, very paranoid. Yes, in addition to this, Susannah harbors another dark secret, one she believes only she knows.
Given all this, however, Max W. has made a name for himself, secured a cushy spot at a university in Burlington, VT, travels to do speaking engagements, and enjoys a nearly idyllic marriage to Susannah, as well as a good-buddy relationship with Freddy. Then the notes begin appearing and, well, fright, anger, and murder ensue.
Better than most of this type, the novel moves along nicely, and while some of the plot points might strike you as dubious if you pause to mull them over, they are credible enough. That is, until the final moments, when … well, let’s leave it a minor but important character acts completely against type to the point where you say, “No way.” Of course, you’ll have to get to the end for the author to disappoint you, especially when you probably will have enjoyed the journey there. show less
The Perfect Liar proves an engaging excursion into the lives two people who adeptly keep dark secrets, and one of whom artfully dons and advances in the skin of another. When the novel focuses on these aspects of Max W. and Susannah Gracia, the married protagonists of the novel, it’s a compelling, page-turning romp through deceit, murder, narcissism, and self-delusion. When it arrives at resolution, it breaks down, and that’s an unfortunate way to end a rather good novel.
Max W. grows up a street punk, a fellow with no real skills, but with a pretty high regard for himself. Roaming the country, he lucks into a ride with a young man from Charleston, SC, Max Westmoreland (yes, fictional grandson of that real show more Westmoreland). The pair end up in the Adirondacks at the mountain camp of Westmoreland’s family. One thing leads to another, as they always do in these novels, and Max W. (real name Phil Wilbur) kills Max and assumes his identity, that of young man with BFA and MFA credentials. Brassy Max goes to NYC, where he cons his way into a party given by the grande dame of art herself. There he mets the woman’s assistant, Susannah, and in a jiff he’s whisked her to his grubby apartment, gotten her undressed, used her to invent a new form of word art, and fallen hopelessly in love. Of course, he knows nothing about her and she nothing of him, but the chemistry binds them seemingly eternally. Even when Max learns Susannah has a son from another marriage, it doesn’t weaken but instead strengthens their bond.
By this time, very early in the novel, we know that Max W. is anything but a forthright and upright individual. Of Susannah, we know little. As the novel unfolds, we learn more about her life, and it’s less than pretty. Readers will discover that Susannah has undergone terrible psychological abuse undertaken in the guise of helping her cope with her paralyzing panic attacks. What these have accomplished is, the words of her young adolescent son, Freddy, to make her cray-cray. And paranoid, very paranoid. Yes, in addition to this, Susannah harbors another dark secret, one she believes only she knows.
Given all this, however, Max W. has made a name for himself, secured a cushy spot at a university in Burlington, VT, travels to do speaking engagements, and enjoys a nearly idyllic marriage to Susannah, as well as a good-buddy relationship with Freddy. Then the notes begin appearing and, well, fright, anger, and murder ensue.
Better than most of this type, the novel moves along nicely, and while some of the plot points might strike you as dubious if you pause to mull them over, they are credible enough. That is, until the final moments, when … well, let’s leave it a minor but important character acts completely against type to the point where you say, “No way.” Of course, you’ll have to get to the end for the author to disappoint you, especially when you probably will have enjoyed the journey there. show less
No Honor Among Liars
The Perfect Liar proves an engaging excursion into the lives two people who adeptly keep dark secrets, and one of whom artfully dons and advances in the skin of another. When the novel focuses on these aspects of Max W. and Susannah Gracia, the married protagonists of the novel, it’s a compelling, page-turning romp through deceit, murder, narcissism, and self-delusion. When it arrives at resolution, it breaks down, and that’s an unfortunate way to end a rather good novel.
Max W. grows up a street punk, a fellow with no real skills, but with a pretty high regard for himself. Roaming the country, he lucks into a ride with a young man from Charleston, SC, Max Westmoreland (yes, fictional grandson of that real show more Westmoreland). The pair end up in the Adirondacks at the mountain camp of Westmoreland’s family. One thing leads to another, as they always do in these novels, and Max W. (real name Phil Wilbur) kills Max and assumes his identity, that of young man with BFA and MFA credentials. Brassy Max goes to NYC, where he cons his way into a party given by the grande dame of art herself. There he mets the woman’s assistant, Susannah, and in a jiff he’s whisked her to his grubby apartment, gotten her undressed, used her to invent a new form of word art, and fallen hopelessly in love. Of course, he knows nothing about her and she nothing of him, but the chemistry binds them seemingly eternally. Even when Max learns Susannah has a son from another marriage, it doesn’t weaken but instead strengthens their bond.
By this time, very early in the novel, we know that Max W. is anything but a forthright and upright individual. Of Susannah, we know little. As the novel unfolds, we learn more about her life, and it’s less than pretty. Readers will discover that Susannah has undergone terrible psychological abuse undertaken in the guise of helping her cope with her paralyzing panic attacks. What these have accomplished is, the words of her young adolescent son, Freddy, to make her cray-cray. And paranoid, very paranoid. Yes, in addition to this, Susannah harbors another dark secret, one she believes only she knows.
Given all this, however, Max W. has made a name for himself, secured a cushy spot at a university in Burlington, VT, travels to do speaking engagements, and enjoys a nearly idyllic marriage to Susannah, as well as a good-buddy relationship with Freddy. Then the notes begin appearing and, well, fright, anger, and murder ensue.
Better than most of this type, the novel moves along nicely, and while some of the plot points might strike you as dubious if you pause to mull them over, they are credible enough. That is, until the final moments, when … well, let’s leave it a minor but important character acts completely against type to the point where you say, “No way.” Of course, you’ll have to get to the end for the author to disappoint you, especially when you probably will have enjoyed the journey there. show less
The Perfect Liar proves an engaging excursion into the lives two people who adeptly keep dark secrets, and one of whom artfully dons and advances in the skin of another. When the novel focuses on these aspects of Max W. and Susannah Gracia, the married protagonists of the novel, it’s a compelling, page-turning romp through deceit, murder, narcissism, and self-delusion. When it arrives at resolution, it breaks down, and that’s an unfortunate way to end a rather good novel.
Max W. grows up a street punk, a fellow with no real skills, but with a pretty high regard for himself. Roaming the country, he lucks into a ride with a young man from Charleston, SC, Max Westmoreland (yes, fictional grandson of that real show more Westmoreland). The pair end up in the Adirondacks at the mountain camp of Westmoreland’s family. One thing leads to another, as they always do in these novels, and Max W. (real name Phil Wilbur) kills Max and assumes his identity, that of young man with BFA and MFA credentials. Brassy Max goes to NYC, where he cons his way into a party given by the grande dame of art herself. There he mets the woman’s assistant, Susannah, and in a jiff he’s whisked her to his grubby apartment, gotten her undressed, used her to invent a new form of word art, and fallen hopelessly in love. Of course, he knows nothing about her and she nothing of him, but the chemistry binds them seemingly eternally. Even when Max learns Susannah has a son from another marriage, it doesn’t weaken but instead strengthens their bond.
By this time, very early in the novel, we know that Max W. is anything but a forthright and upright individual. Of Susannah, we know little. As the novel unfolds, we learn more about her life, and it’s less than pretty. Readers will discover that Susannah has undergone terrible psychological abuse undertaken in the guise of helping her cope with her paralyzing panic attacks. What these have accomplished is, the words of her young adolescent son, Freddy, to make her cray-cray. And paranoid, very paranoid. Yes, in addition to this, Susannah harbors another dark secret, one she believes only she knows.
Given all this, however, Max W. has made a name for himself, secured a cushy spot at a university in Burlington, VT, travels to do speaking engagements, and enjoys a nearly idyllic marriage to Susannah, as well as a good-buddy relationship with Freddy. Then the notes begin appearing and, well, fright, anger, and murder ensue.
Better than most of this type, the novel moves along nicely, and while some of the plot points might strike you as dubious if you pause to mull them over, they are credible enough. That is, until the final moments, when … well, let’s leave it a minor but important character acts completely against type to the point where you say, “No way.” Of course, you’ll have to get to the end for the author to disappoint you, especially when you probably will have enjoyed the journey there. show less
Many thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Thomas Christopher Greene for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review. My opinions are 100% my own and independent of receiving an advanced copy.
Mild spoiler alert.
The Perfect Liar is anything but perfect and I’m getting tired of these mediocre thrillers sucking me in with a promise of being more than what they are. If I am reading a serial, than I expect a certain formula that the author has laid out in previous books. I turn to those when I want something where I know what to expect and don’t expect anything more. I wouldn’t say mind-numbing but more like comfort food. I don’t expect macaroni and cheese to be a braised lamb shank. But sometimes you want mac and show more cheese and it’s delicious and satisfying. But when I choose a thriller that is billed as fast pace with surprises that keep coming, that’s what I expect. I know, I know. Why do I believe the hype? Because I want to - I want to be taken on that ride.
I don’t like to know too much beforehand, because I want to go into clean. Ready for whatever ride the author is going to take me on. The only thing I knew from the blurb was that there was a married couple who receive a threatening note. Both are lying - to each other and to the world. Then all the usual hype of be ready for shocks and twists and turns. Great. Told in alternating perspectives between Susannah and Max, I dive in. So there is a happy couple and the note happens right away. Both think the note is for Max. In their own chapters we get flashbacks from before they knew each other, to how they met up until where we are currently in their lives. We learn early on that Max did something bad and is hiding it. But never throughout the whole book do we learn about anything bad that Susannah did. Yes, she had a difficult life and made some really bad choices, but nothing like Max. I kept waiting to see how she was lying to the world around her. Plus, Max was not the perfect liar. So many people found out about his lying along the way, including his wife, who always seemed to know when he was lying. So no big surprise there. So the big reveal was anything but a big reveal. The writing was okay and the characters had some development, although I’m not sure about their likability factor. Even Susannah’s son was rude and unlikeable and yes, teenagers are rude and ungrateful, but I never got a glimmer of a close and loving relationship with him. It all seemed one sided.
So, I’m sure many people might like this book, but I wanted more. I expected more. The only perfect liar in this bunch was the PR person who wrote the blurb. show less
Mild spoiler alert.
The Perfect Liar is anything but perfect and I’m getting tired of these mediocre thrillers sucking me in with a promise of being more than what they are. If I am reading a serial, than I expect a certain formula that the author has laid out in previous books. I turn to those when I want something where I know what to expect and don’t expect anything more. I wouldn’t say mind-numbing but more like comfort food. I don’t expect macaroni and cheese to be a braised lamb shank. But sometimes you want mac and show more cheese and it’s delicious and satisfying. But when I choose a thriller that is billed as fast pace with surprises that keep coming, that’s what I expect. I know, I know. Why do I believe the hype? Because I want to - I want to be taken on that ride.
I don’t like to know too much beforehand, because I want to go into clean. Ready for whatever ride the author is going to take me on. The only thing I knew from the blurb was that there was a married couple who receive a threatening note. Both are lying - to each other and to the world. Then all the usual hype of be ready for shocks and twists and turns. Great. Told in alternating perspectives between Susannah and Max, I dive in. So there is a happy couple and the note happens right away. Both think the note is for Max. In their own chapters we get flashbacks from before they knew each other, to how they met up until where we are currently in their lives. We learn early on that Max did something bad and is hiding it. But never throughout the whole book do we learn about anything bad that Susannah did. Yes, she had a difficult life and made some really bad choices, but nothing like Max. I kept waiting to see how she was lying to the world around her. Plus, Max was not the perfect liar. So many people found out about his lying along the way, including his wife, who always seemed to know when he was lying. So no big surprise there. So the big reveal was anything but a big reveal. The writing was okay and the characters had some development, although I’m not sure about their likability factor. Even Susannah’s son was rude and unlikeable and yes, teenagers are rude and ungrateful, but I never got a glimmer of a close and loving relationship with him. It all seemed one sided.
So, I’m sure many people might like this book, but I wanted more. I expected more. The only perfect liar in this bunch was the PR person who wrote the blurb. show less
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