Company of Liars

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I would end by saying that this book had a lot going for it but it was not followed upon. Most of the twists were something that I had already figured out, so it held no mystery for me. Neither was the writing so great that I could write reams on it. All in all, a disappointment for me. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone but if you feel like taking a dip into these waters, please do so. Who knows, you might end up liking it, as tastes always differ. Although the villain of the piece was obvious to me, the ambiguity of what the villain represents is still not secure in my mind. I don't think Maitland wants it to be. Is the villain a symbol for death, for the destructiveness of lies, or of holy judgment? All are perfectly possible. I have to say that I liked the book in general, so sorry in advance for the thoughts about historical fiction that keep bothering me from time to time. I wanted to get them in the writing, and even thought the critique is partly inspired by this book, I mean it more in general. Book Genre: British Literature, European Literature, Fantasy, Fiction, Historical, Historical Fiction, Horror, Medieval, Mystery, Thriller There are so many twists and turns in this thrilling novel that the reader will be left wondering just who these liars really are. The end, or beginning, will surprise you. You are guaranteed never to jump to conclusions again.”

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Due to the nature of the book, there is not much I can tell you about the plot without spoiling it. I'll just say that it centers around Allison Pagone, a best-selling author who is standing trial for the murder of her boyfriend, Sam Dillon, and who is found dead in her bathtub ... an apparent suicide. It also features Allison's ex-husband, Mateo, her daughter, Jessica, the FBI ... and a terrorist organization. There are several sub-plots going on simultaneously, and it as the truth is slowly revealed, the reader realizes that nearly nothing is as it seems. Each character has his or her own perception of the reality of the situation, his or her own motives for solving the murder and/or taking the blame for it. That's about as far as I can go in describing it. Secrets are a part and parcel of our lives and to hide them we often take the help of lies to ensure that these secrets stay hidden and protected. This is almost everyone’s story and I honestly feel that each person is entitled to their secrets and lies. What man does not lie? It could be those small white lies said to make others happy or even the big ones, told majorly to ensure some secrets are kept safe and no damage occurs to their lives and the lives of their loved ones? Can these people honestly be blamed for those lies that are often disguised, maybe badly, as ways to help keep their loved ones safe? Can people be blamed for keeping secrets that when revealed would lead to their persecution? Human nature is tuned in such a way that it will do anything, absolutely anything, to escape their own persecution or the persecution of those they love and therefore lying in such a context doesn’t seem like a major sin to them. Or maybe they feel that they are justified in telling such lies and don’t fear the consequences that they will face because of it. As in the quote above ‘a secret stays a secret until it finds an understanding ear’. Immerhin beweist der Autor, der in seinen späteren Jason-Kolarich-Romanen (Der Mann im Schatten/Der falsche Mann) nur noch Mafia- bzw. Rechstradikalenschießbudenfiguren aufbietet, die seinem Helden aus Zufall oder Unfähigkeit nicht wirklich gefährlich werden können, in diesem Buch ungewohnt viel Konsequenz in Sachen Tragik und Vermeidung von billigen Häppie Endinx. Can you begin a novel with your climax and still have a surprising twist at the end/beginning? Ellis can, and does, in this well-crafted thriller.”Despite Maitland's yarn-spinning prowess, her narrative occasionally stalls because of unrelenting grimness and an increasingly predictable plot-that is, until its gasp-out-loud finale." - Publishers Weekly. You’ve heard tales of beauty and the beast. How a fair maid falls in love with a monster and sees the beauty of his soul beneath the hideous visage. But you’ve never heard the tale of the handsome man falling for the monstrous woman and finding joy in her love, because it doesn’t happen, not even in a story-teller’s tale.

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It is I suppose comforting for some to believe that the social issues of today’s Britain are perennial, that there is a national character, perhaps, which continuously muddles through the same problems over and over. This is one explanation for Karen Maitland’s imagined world of England in the Middle Ages. The way she portrays the state of the nation - from immigration to the condition of the roads; from sexual harassment to fake news - suggests that the problems we have to deal with have a constancy that define the country. Unfortunately, “Company of Liars” becomes tedious as the story progresses with the plot being repetitive. This is the premise of the tale and therefore must be accepted but readers searching for a more detailed and multidimensional narrative may find themselves to be disappointed. A Company of Liars is the story of a group of nine strangers who travel together in an effort to escape the plague that is spreading death throughout England. It is not simply a story about travelers or pestilence, however, it is also a story about darkness, superstition, secrets and guilt. Each of the travelers has a secret, and it is the interpersonal relationships and the unraveling of those secrets that keep the reader enthralled.

Company of Liars

I'm not saying all Medieval people should be depicted as absolute brutes, but in this book there is one particular character (out of 9) who is openly sexist, homophobic and antisemitic, and he is the one depicted as a terribly bad person in general, while most of the others seem pretty open-minded even by today's standards. Sure, we can imagine that there's a very specific set of characters, not representative of the whole population, but then, I don't know, maybe they could meet some of the population? I mean, the majority of my parents' generation are (sadly) pretty sexist and homophobic, but they're not all mustache-twirling, throat-slashing movie villains! For God's sake, my own grandmother thinks that red-haired children are born evil and she is literate and watches TV! Writing as KJ Maitland, her new historical thriller 'Rivers of Treason', the 3rd in her Jacobean quartet, is set in 1607. Daniel Pursglove finds himself again embroiled in murder in the aftermath of the infamous Gunpowder Plot. The 1st book in the series is 'The Drowned City', and 2nd 'Traitor in the Ice' are also published by Headline. Why did I read this book: A few weeks ago, I heard about Karen Maitland’s upcoming release The Falcons of Fire and Ice which is set in Portugal and Iceland – and I thought to myself, this book sounds (and looks) awesome. So, I looked it up and saw her previous books, and remembered being vaguely curious about them before. Since I was in the mood to read historical/medieval stories over my recent holidays, I got Company of Liars to try it out. Casting faux historical references in terms of a sort of hippie Canterbury Tale (with neither the wit nor the elegance of the original) is, therefore, of dubious merit. Dropping in archaic period terms like ‘camelot’ and ‘kirtle’ don’t do much to divert attention from the Hobbesian misery of the lives of the characters - solitary, nasty, brutish and short. These characters inhabit a land of superstitious squalor in which the principle recreations are alcoholism and GBH. Whatever secrets they might be hiding seem insignificant in light of their existential reality, which has little to do with their place in history.

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Hannah’s new novel is an homage to the extraordinary courage and endurance of Frenchwomen during World War II. Entertaining read! The ending unexpected, at least for me.... Will definitely try more of this author. The novelist who commits suicide is Allison Pagone, likely to be convicted of the murder of her lover, Sam Dillon, a partner in a lobbying firm with Allison’s ex-husband. But her death isn’t all it seems. It was murder, made to look like a suicide. The killer? A Pakistani terrorist who has a plot—or two or three—of his own. Karen Maitland, who also writes as KJ Maitland, lives in the beautiful county of Devon and has a doctorate in psycholinguists. To me it didn't have much 'historical' wibe, I saw this narrative as some kind of RPG in a Medieval setting with a hint of "mafia" (you know, the party game). When you look at it this way, it is actually very compelling and well written and the ending might not bother you that much.In a country governed by fear and superstition, the nine are driven on by the plague and the need to get out of danger. In an effort to avoid danger they constantly move on to new places, but all the time they are haunted by the cry of the wolf which spells out certain death for one of the merry band, in the most violent and savage way. They all heard the wolf because they had all lied, and in that all nine were cursed and would face death unless someone is able to end the curse. Perhaps that is where our choice lies -- in determining how we will meet the inevitable end of things, and how we will greet each new beginning.”