The Best Lies

When love for family and an undying need to seek justice collide with vice, murder, and corporate theft, an immersive and propulsive page-turner arises to captivate until the last page is turned. Multiple award-winning writer David Ellis spins another unforgettable tale, equal to his other prestigious novels and certainly rivaling his Edgar Award-winning debut novel.

Although the narrative is told through multiple points of view, the main protagonist, Leo Balanoff, a crusading attorney, provides the main framework that is the centerpoint of this compelling narrative. Interspersed flashbacks provide the necessary backstory and motivations that propel the multiple plotlines and dilemmas to converge in dramatic fashion.

What initially is inexplicable will eventually explode into a nuanced revelation. Leo has just had his license to practice law reinstated. It was suspended when he impersonated an FBI agent to prompt the truth from a silent source, which would be the linchpin in freeing Eric Putnam from wrongful incarceration. At seventeen, Eric was railroaded into jail for a murder he had no part in.

The action starts with Leo hearing thundering footsteps coming up the fire escape of his apartment. Either he is going to be killed or arrested. Sleazeball Cyrus Balik has been murdered, found with a knife sticking out of the side of his neck. Cyrus is known for his trifecta of gangs, girls, and drugs. His main sport is human trafficking, luring runaway girls into drugs and prostitution. His sideline is drug dealing and murder. Unfortunately, Leo’s DNA and blood are found on Cyrus’s shirtsleeve, and his fingerprints are recovered from the knife handle. Leo vehemently denies the killing, although the motivation is obvious to all. Leo’s client, Bonnie Tressler, was scheduled to testify against Cyrus. Somehow, her body was recovered from a ditch with signs of an overdose. How convenient! The FBI will attempt to coerce Leo into a sting that entraps Cyrus’s boss.

Ellis provides a large cast of complex, multidimensional characters with multiple backstories and motivations that collide in seemingly incomprehensible dilemmas. Leo has a beloved brother, Trace, living now as a fugitive in Mexico. Both were raised by a “mother” who actually bought them to assuage her feelings of guilt over the loss of her natural children. Incidentally, she was an ex-cop (another story of its own). Leo’s path will also cross again with the beautiful and intelligent Andi Piotrowski. They lived and thrived together for years until she left. Also an ex-cop, Andi now works at the much more lucrative job of head of security at QCI (Quigley Crowe International). QCI was on the verge of releasing the formula for a major scientific breakthrough that would revolutionize the treatment of cancer. “Project Nano” utilized nanoparticles that would deliver the drugs to the tumor. They had discovered a liquid to coat the particles that would defeat the body’s immune system and allow for more efficient attachment to the red blood cells, resulting in a 50 percent more efficient attack on the cancer. Naturally, they were fearful of corporate espionage, especially by the Chinese spy agency, MSS.

Ellis proves to be a masterful storyteller as he weaves the multiple intricate plotlines to an ultimate collision course. He incrementally ratchets up the tension and intrigue until the puzzle pieces come crashing together in an exhilarating denouement. This action-packed narrative is full of secrets and deceptions that force the reader to turn each page faster.

Thanks to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam’s Sons for providing an Uncorrected Proof in exchange for an honest review