Liar, Liar
written by Lisa Jackson
Hardcover, 416 Pages
ISBN 10: 1617734675
ISBN 13: 978-1617734670
Kensington Publishing
My Review:
3.5 Stars
Mom, aka Didi Storm, was a professional impersonator. Her number one desire in life was to be rich and famous... see her name lit up in the Las Vegas lights. She seemed to always be one step from famous...never able to catch "the break" that would make all of her dreams come true. Then came the night in the desert that would change all their lives, forever. Remmi, Didi's teenage daughter, planned to sneak out and meet Noah, the boy who had stolen her heart. She never anticipated being forced to hide in Mom's car to avoid being caught. Mom, the twins, and the hidden Remmi rendezvous with a mysterious man out in the middle of the Mojave desert. Unbeknownst to Remmi, Noah was hiding in the desert too...and one more person was there that night - a sniper. Remmi confronts her Mother about what was going on in the desert. Didi refuses to tell Remmi anything. Then Didi and the remaining twin disappear in the Caddie, never to be seen or heard from again.
Fast-forward twenty years, a provocative, tell-all book about Didi Storm has just been released, dragging up old memories and unanswered questions. Remmi finds herself once again at the wrong place at the wrong time. As Remmi looks on, a woman dressed as Marilyn Monroe teeters on the ledge of a San Francisco high rise. Suddenly she plunges some 19 stories to her death. Is this woman Didi Storm? Could her story really end like that?
Seemingly out of nowhere Noah Scott returns. A private investigator, he has a few questions of his own. Together Remmi and Noah start investigating what happened to her Mom, the twins, and the identity of the shooter in the desert? The death of the stranger dressed to look like Didi, coincides quite conveniently with the publication of the book. But there's yet another question looming - who has them in their sights now?
This is a plot-driven story, with numerous characters, and multiple threads. With all the various questions and leads that must be tied up, there's not much time to get to know the characters. So they are thin and loosely drawn. The majority of the story is told through the eyes of Remmi. A sympathetic character, reader's will find themselves simultaneously cheering for and screaming at.
Every aspect of her life has been haunted by the disappearance of her Mom and siblings. Answering those questions alone would have been a book. Then you have a list of other sub-plot threads. There's Noah's part, the present day Didi, the author of the book, and the identity of the person following Noah and Remmi.
Jackson manages the barely-there characters well, however, the convoluted circumstances may have some readers checking out before the tidy, yet unexpected ending. There are simply too many "yeah - okay" moments for me to take things very seriously. Liar, Liar is a good read. But Lisa Jackson's strong female characters and writing style, have brought book lovers of different genres together between "her covers" for so long we expect an amazing literary experience. Her rich blend of romance and mystery has set the bar high, and Liar, Liar just missed the mark.
Happy Reading,
RJ
Synopsis:
Remmi was fifteen when she last saw her mother. Their parting came in the aftermath of a terrible night in the Mojave desert when Remmi—who’d secretly stowed away in Didi’s car en route to meet her crush, Noah Scott—instead became witness to a mysterious rendezvous. Didi handed over one of her newborn twins to a man Remmi didn’t recognize. Subsequently, Didi disappeared, as did Remmi’s other half-sibling. Remmi has pleaded with the authorities to find them, but there have been no clues. Yet she’s always had the sense that someone is watching her . . .
If the victim isn’t Didi, who is it—and what’s the connection? Remmi is shocked when Noah resurfaces. He was also in the desert that night, and now runs his own PI firm. He too believes it’s time to find out what really happened. As they and Detective Settler dig deeper, the truth about Remmi’s missing family begins to emerge . . . a story of ruthless ambition and twisted lies that someone will kill again and again to keep hidden . . .
