Simply Lies

By: David Baldacci

Narrated by: Lisa Flanagan, Corey Carthew

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The 6:20 Man comes a twisting psychological thriller in which two women—one a former detective, the other a dangerous con artist—go head-to-head in an electrifying game of cat and mouse.

Mickey Gibson, single mother and former detective, leads a hectic life similar to that of many moms: juggling the demands of her two small children with the tasks of her job working remotely for ProEye, a global investigation company that hunts down wealthy tax and credit cheats.

When Mickey gets a call from a colleague named Arlene Robinson, she thinks nothing of Arlene’s unusual request for her to go inventory the vacant home of an arms dealer who cheated ProEye’s clients and fled. That is, until she arrives at the mansion and discovers a dead body in a secret room—and nothing is as it seems.

Not only does the arms dealer not exist, but the murder victim turns out to be Harry Langhorne, a man with mob ties who used to be in Witness Protection. What’s more, no one named Arlene Robinson works at ProEye.

In the blink of an eye, Gibson has become a prime suspect in a murder investigation—and now her job is on the line until she proves that she was set up. Before long, Gibson is locked in a battle of wits with a brilliant woman with no name, a hidden past, and unknown motives—whose end game is as mysterious as it is deadly.

©2023 David Baldacci (P)2023 Grand Central Publishing

Not typical

I usually get each Baldacci novel in advance without worrying about reading the reviews.
Although I listened to the end, I could never get past the absurd premise.

Great but sometimes confusing.

My husband and I listened to the book instead of reading it. We often didn’t know who was speaking and took a few minutes to catch up. However, we enjoyed the book. Great story and narration.

Just OK

Slightly disappointed. Expected more from David Baldacci. Not his typical page turner. This was not a psychological thriller by any means.

Unexpected

I am always excited about a new Baldacci book, but this was different. While I think the narrators was good, some of the deliveries fell flat. Not in the league with Camel Club, Will Robie or John Puller series. I do love the strong women characters, they just need to be tweaked a little, in this book.

Things are not always what they seem to be

I liked every part of the story especially the ending didn’t turn out like I thought it would.

I enjoyed the story

The plot was a little far-fetched, but he pulled it all together. I hope he makes it into a new series. I would love to see this team work together on something.

Enjoyed this

Much more than his recent novels!
Nice twists and turns as well as interesting characters

Hard to tell characters apart

Too many alternative names for female characters and hard to tell which of the characters is supposed to be speaking because they all sound alike. Otherwise interesting plot. Cheap trick — bad guys run out of ammo but good (girls and guys) never run out.

Not the best

Could have used a lot less, often confused. Betsy at last 2 hours, then ended well.

A New Twist in Baldacci Thrillers

Baldacci has done it again, given new characters that at first you question why and then you want to read them in a sequel. The storyline is broader and the novel reads like a good movie. Plus the ending is an energetic finish with promise of more to come. Thank you for Francine and Micky though I dare say I couldn’t have done all they did.