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kristeneden's review against another edition
3.0
⭐️⭐️⭐️💫/5 - {King of Lies} by John Hart is the story of a North Carolina lawyer, Work, who is told the body of his missing father has been found. Out of fear his sister, Jean, was the killer, Work will do what he needs to for Jean to stay out of prison - even if it means he has to take the fall.
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I enjoyed reading King of Lies, and would have enjoyed it more had it not been so terribly long. While the story moves pretty fast, all of the extra description is painful for someone with a low level of patience. I just skipped probably 100 pages in total, and didn’t feel as though I missed anything.
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What i DID enjoy about this book is it didn’t end with the Big Reveal like all other books do. I always tend to hate that, because I want to know what life is like once the dust settles for the characters. I will pick up another Hart book, but probably not for awhile. I need less description in my books.
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I enjoyed reading King of Lies, and would have enjoyed it more had it not been so terribly long. While the story moves pretty fast, all of the extra description is painful for someone with a low level of patience. I just skipped probably 100 pages in total, and didn’t feel as though I missed anything.
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What i DID enjoy about this book is it didn’t end with the Big Reveal like all other books do. I always tend to hate that, because I want to know what life is like once the dust settles for the characters. I will pick up another Hart book, but probably not for awhile. I need less description in my books.
jgn's review against another edition
3.0
For the first half, I was really unimpressed. The narrator was a first-class whiner. But the plot kicks in at about the 60% mark, and it was worth it. Not sure I’ll ever read another one by Hart, though: the bloat was crazy. A lot of the tone was something Jim Thompson would accomplish in 200 pp.
cspiwak's review against another edition
3.0
this was a well written mystery, particularly considering it was a first novel. Characters were somewhat developed, plot had some twists and turns. I must say , though, that I didnt particularly enjoy it. It was noir, which I usually like, but I found it difficult to like the protagonist. spoilers follow-
His dad kills his mom, he hushes it up- ok
he watches the girl get raped, he's a child, what do I expect him to do
he cheats on his wife- well -its ok- she was cheating far worse
he gets a dog , even though he knows that his last dog was forced to live entirely in the backyard by his trampy wife
his friend the private detective brings a couple of women along to their meeting, seemingly so they can sleep with them, even though he knows the guy is married, again, he knows him so seemingly something he was open to in the past?
he marries his wife rather than the woman he loves, but keeps the other woman hanging on and drops by for emotional support and sex when he wants it
the one person who is really nice to him, the doctor, he borrows his car so he can leave the area, therefore opening up the doctor to a charge of abetting
Supposedly he loves his sister, I guess that's something
His dad kills his mom, he hushes it up- ok
he watches the girl get raped, he's a child, what do I expect him to do
he cheats on his wife- well -its ok- she was cheating far worse
he gets a dog , even though he knows that his last dog was forced to live entirely in the backyard by his trampy wife
his friend the private detective brings a couple of women along to their meeting, seemingly so they can sleep with them, even though he knows the guy is married, again, he knows him so seemingly something he was open to in the past?
he marries his wife rather than the woman he loves, but keeps the other woman hanging on and drops by for emotional support and sex when he wants it
the one person who is really nice to him, the doctor, he borrows his car so he can leave the area, therefore opening up the doctor to a charge of abetting
Supposedly he loves his sister, I guess that's something
jhpj's review against another edition
4.0
This was a good summer-read thriller. Believable, well drawn characters. My only complaint would be that it was one of those books that, if the characters just spoke to each other once in a while, nearly everything bad that happen could have been avoided. Of course, I guess you should say that about the human condition, so who am I to complain about that?
terriep's review against another edition
4.0
Recommended by a friend, this is a good who-dunnit from a first time author. The main character is a tortured soul, unhappy in life and when his very wealthy father is found murdered, he is the obvious suspect. There are plenty of hints, twists and turns to keep the reader engaged and I actually didn't figure it out til the very end. At the beginning I found the sentence structure awkward sometimes, maybe a little formal or something. But by 1/4 of the way into the story, I'd become accustomed to the style.
The book is almost as much a character study as a mystery. Work Pickens, the main character, is forced on a journey to 'find' himself and discover what he really wants from life? Does he want to be a lawyer; does he want to be married; does he want a family; does he believe in himself as a good person? The resolution to these dilemmas is handled believably.
The book is almost as much a character study as a mystery. Work Pickens, the main character, is forced on a journey to 'find' himself and discover what he really wants from life? Does he want to be a lawyer; does he want to be married; does he want a family; does he believe in himself as a good person? The resolution to these dilemmas is handled believably.
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