Book Review – Tell Me Lies by Ed James
Table of Contents
My Rating – 3.8 out of 5
Plot Summary – Tell Me Lies
Ed James starts a new series with Tell Me Lies – Detective Max Carter of FBI. Unlike his numerous other series – Scott Cullen, Vicky Dodds. Ed Bain and Simon Fenchurch – this one is set in the US and not in the UK.
I have read all of his DI Fenchurch series and a couple of Scott Cullen ones, and have found him to be at par with much more famed fiction writers like John Sandford, Lee Child, or even James Patterson, though he for some reason seems to be ranked lower than them. Possibly because Ed James is not promoted by any major publishing house and neither are his books promoted through any crazy Marketing blitzes!
Anyway, coming to this book, Senator Christopher Holiday’s children are kidnapped right from their doorstep as their mother, Megan Holiday, is drugged and left behind. Megan has just come back from buying Ice-Cream for her children when a man with a gun approaches her and then…. She remembers nothing else! While the kidnapper contacts the Senator, his wife and the FBI are kept in the dark. But the Senator seems to hold some kind of a secret of his own, which he refuses to share with the investigating officers.
Is he involved or is he being coerced not to contact the FBI? Why isn’t he showing up at home to be with his wife?? It becomes amply clear that it is so and the Senator is not letting on to what he knows and how he could be involved in the kidnapping of his own children. The nebulous story weaves through multiple twists and turns, but never loses its grip on the reader and is a great page-turner, till the last page. Max Carter’s dogged determination stems from the fact that he was also kidnapped as a child and that harrowing experience makes him even more determined to rescue the two Halliday children before they come to any harm.
Conclusion – Book Review of Tell Me lies
Though some motivations seem a little contrived and a few situations a little too convenient, one should cut the author some slack because a little literary license makes storytelling interesting! The narrative is pacy, as the author rushes us through the many scenarios that could be behind this heinous crime. Though the reason that this scores less than the other series, particularly my favorite DI Simon Fenchurch series, is because he does not build up the characters with as much depth as he does in them. Probably because there have 5-6 books in each series or more and the author has got a greater opportunity to build up those characters.
I will wait for Max Carter #2, Mr. James, this was a jolly good start!
2021 Update – The Max Carter #2 is jolly good as well, so happy reading folks! For those of you who are unfamiliar with this author – Ed James, he is a very Author, though the marketing leaves a lot to be desired – which leaves him a bit less known. His DI Simon Fenchurch series is a very addictive series and comes highly recommended.
