The Best Lies
A USA TODAY Bestseller
Bestselling and award-winning author David Ellis delivers a fast-paced, twisty thriller that will surprise readers at every turn.
Leo Balanoff is a crusading attorney with unthinkable skeletons in his closet. He's also a diagnosed pathological liar. When a predatory gangster with a long list of victims is found dead and Leo’s fingerprints show up on the murder weapon, no one believes a word he says in his defense. But he might be the FBI’s only shot at taking down the gangster's even more lethal boss.
Risk his life going undercover for the feds or head straight to prison for murder? Leo accepts the FBI’s offer—but it comes with a price, including a collision course with his ex, Andi Piotrowski, a former cop and "the one who got away." Anyone else forced to walk this tightrope between an ambitious FBI agent and a cruel, calculating crime boss would fail. But this isn't Leo's first balancing act, and he still has a few tricks up his sleeve...
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Community Reviews
Leo Balanoff is a pathological liar and a justice-seeking attorney who just had his law license reinstated after a five year suspension. He finds himself fighting for justice, but finds himself in the middle of a crime mob. When Cyrus Balik, drug and human trafficker is killed and Leo’s fingerprints are found of the murder weapon, Leo is arrested for the murder. As the FBI's only real shot at bringing down this ruthless group, Leo must decide if he would rather risk his life to help them or go to prison for murder. Soon Leo's new role brings him back into working with his ex, former cop Andi Piotrowski, who might just know more than she is letting on.
For me this one was a slow burn and a little dry in the middle. The ending was great and I really overall enjoyed the book. Leo was a very interesting character, and I feel very well developed. Leo had a complex family dynamic and with his willing to strive to do good, was amazing.
For me this one was a slow burn and a little dry in the middle. The ending was great and I really overall enjoyed the book. Leo was a very interesting character, and I feel very well developed. Leo had a complex family dynamic and with his willing to strive to do good, was amazing.
”There are so many moving parts, so many players, so much I don’t know. It’s gonna be a wild ride."
Leo Balanoff
Night Before the Drop
Well, that’s putting it mildly! And those skeletons in Leo’s family closet? Oh, they’re some crazy $#!^!!! And it all comes out in one crazy, wild ride. The book summary is basically an introduction to the primary storyline. What the book summary doesn’t say is that the “drug dealer”, Cyrus, that Leo is arrested for killing, was also a human trafficker and murderer. Scum of earth in pretty much everyone’s book. Cyrus killed one of Leo’s clients, Bonnie, and now Cyrus is hunting down one of Leo’s other clients, Trace, who is Bonnie’s son as well as Cyrus’s biological son. Cyrus kidnapped Trace from Bonnie (one of the prostitutes he ran) when Trace was five and sold him to a woman named Marilyn. A few months earlier, Cyrus kidnapped Leo from his mother (another one of Cyrus’s prostitutes), when he was six, and also sold him to Marilyn, so Leo and Trace grew up adopted brothers. Marilyn was a grieving widow, as well as a cop, who accidentally killed her own two sons (5&6) while in a drunken stupor. She bought Leo and Trace on the black market to replace her own sons. She even died Leo’s hair and forced him to become left-handed in order to mimic her own son. Yeah, mama Marilyn was a wacko with a lot of secrets and unresolved issues. None of this is a spoiler since it happened in the first 20% of the story.
There are secondary storylines like the one of Leo meeting Andi in college 14yrs ago and were a couple for many years until she dumped him because of his crazy stunts. It bears mentioning that Andi has some of her own cobwebs in her family closet too. While Leo is still in love with Andi, the feelings aren’t exactly mutual. Andi used to be a cop but now does private security for a large pharmaceutical company. There’s another one of an FBI agent, Chris, who is back at work after beating cancer and is trying to prove himself as being just as good as ever (even though he’s really not) and trying to get back on his old task force and capturing the infamous criminal, Nico (who Cyrus worked for), will put him back in the FBI’s good graces.
The story flips back and forth between Leo, Andi and Chris as well as between seven different time frames. The story starts in present day and then flips back to a year ago, then back to the present day, then 30yrs ago, then back to present day, then 14yrs ago, then back to the present day, yada, yada, yada. This goes on throughout the whole book so that the reader never really has the big picture or the background info on the characters or what is truly going on until the very end. This is one way of building interest and engaging the reader. While I don’t mind a couple of MCs or two or three timeframes, the constant flipping back and forth can get a little irksome because it can rattle the flow of the story if not done right. Fortunately, Ellis manages most of the transitions smoothly enough with a minimum of bumpy transitions.
Most of the story revolves around “the drop” that Cyrus/Nico want Leo to do and how Leo got arrested for killing Cyrus (how the story started). There are so many moving parts in this story along with all the different machinations of the cast of characters for a reader to stay on top of (at least for me there was). It’s well into the second half that the storylines begin to merge together and a clearer picture is developing of just how elaborate and maybe just a little convoluted this story has become. The ending was a massive collision (no other way it could have ended) of all the characters and their individual end games.
The character development for the MCs was well done, which are the most important characters. Although, I would have liked to have known a little more about Trace and Brando (Andi’s “dad” for most of the story). The pacing was steady to fast and the storyline very interesting. It was a late-night night to finish the book because I could not go to sleep until I knew how this story ended. This is the sixth book I have read by David Ellis, with almost all of them being 4-5star ratings. Suffice it to say, I like Ellis; he’s a good writer and storyteller. I’m looking at an overall rating of 4.1 that I will be rounding down to a 4star rating. I want to thank NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for sending me this eARC in exchange for my honest review.
#NetGalley #PenguinGroupPutnam #TheBestLies
Leo Balanoff
Night Before the Drop
Well, that’s putting it mildly! And those skeletons in Leo’s family closet? Oh, they’re some crazy $#!^!!! And it all comes out in one crazy, wild ride. The book summary is basically an introduction to the primary storyline. What the book summary doesn’t say is that the “drug dealer”, Cyrus, that Leo is arrested for killing, was also a human trafficker and murderer. Scum of earth in pretty much everyone’s book. Cyrus killed one of Leo’s clients, Bonnie, and now Cyrus is hunting down one of Leo’s other clients, Trace, who is Bonnie’s son as well as Cyrus’s biological son. Cyrus kidnapped Trace from Bonnie (one of the prostitutes he ran) when Trace was five and sold him to a woman named Marilyn. A few months earlier, Cyrus kidnapped Leo from his mother (another one of Cyrus’s prostitutes), when he was six, and also sold him to Marilyn, so Leo and Trace grew up adopted brothers. Marilyn was a grieving widow, as well as a cop, who accidentally killed her own two sons (5&6) while in a drunken stupor. She bought Leo and Trace on the black market to replace her own sons. She even died Leo’s hair and forced him to become left-handed in order to mimic her own son. Yeah, mama Marilyn was a wacko with a lot of secrets and unresolved issues. None of this is a spoiler since it happened in the first 20% of the story.
There are secondary storylines like the one of Leo meeting Andi in college 14yrs ago and were a couple for many years until she dumped him because of his crazy stunts. It bears mentioning that Andi has some of her own cobwebs in her family closet too. While Leo is still in love with Andi, the feelings aren’t exactly mutual. Andi used to be a cop but now does private security for a large pharmaceutical company. There’s another one of an FBI agent, Chris, who is back at work after beating cancer and is trying to prove himself as being just as good as ever (even though he’s really not) and trying to get back on his old task force and capturing the infamous criminal, Nico (who Cyrus worked for), will put him back in the FBI’s good graces.
The story flips back and forth between Leo, Andi and Chris as well as between seven different time frames. The story starts in present day and then flips back to a year ago, then back to the present day, then 30yrs ago, then back to present day, then 14yrs ago, then back to the present day, yada, yada, yada. This goes on throughout the whole book so that the reader never really has the big picture or the background info on the characters or what is truly going on until the very end. This is one way of building interest and engaging the reader. While I don’t mind a couple of MCs or two or three timeframes, the constant flipping back and forth can get a little irksome because it can rattle the flow of the story if not done right. Fortunately, Ellis manages most of the transitions smoothly enough with a minimum of bumpy transitions.
Most of the story revolves around “the drop” that Cyrus/Nico want Leo to do and how Leo got arrested for killing Cyrus (how the story started). There are so many moving parts in this story along with all the different machinations of the cast of characters for a reader to stay on top of (at least for me there was). It’s well into the second half that the storylines begin to merge together and a clearer picture is developing of just how elaborate and maybe just a little convoluted this story has become. The ending was a massive collision (no other way it could have ended) of all the characters and their individual end games.
The character development for the MCs was well done, which are the most important characters. Although, I would have liked to have known a little more about Trace and Brando (Andi’s “dad” for most of the story). The pacing was steady to fast and the storyline very interesting. It was a late-night night to finish the book because I could not go to sleep until I knew how this story ended. This is the sixth book I have read by David Ellis, with almost all of them being 4-5star ratings. Suffice it to say, I like Ellis; he’s a good writer and storyteller. I’m looking at an overall rating of 4.1 that I will be rounding down to a 4star rating. I want to thank NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for sending me this eARC in exchange for my honest review.
#NetGalley #PenguinGroupPutnam #TheBestLies
Ellis delivers a fast-paced, sophisticated, and highly entertaining story with The Best Lies. The many twists and turns takes the readers on a journey that will have their head spinning. We get POVs from Leo, Chris, and Andi, making us eager to learn everyone’s true agendas yet not being sure until the final act. The flashbacks help us get there while detailing the history between characters. That being said, readers will have to keep up, but the reward is that much sweeter for it.
I absolutely loved Leo as a protagonist. He’s quirky yet so intelligent that readers won’t be able to guess his next step. His antics and sense of humor had me laughing at unexpected moments. I know that The Best Lies is not a romance novel, but I think Leo Balanoff just made the Book Boyfriends List. That’s a first for me. And I’m not mad about it.
In-depth book review: https://cantinabookclub.com/review/the-best-lies-by-david-ellis
I absolutely loved Leo as a protagonist. He’s quirky yet so intelligent that readers won’t be able to guess his next step. His antics and sense of humor had me laughing at unexpected moments. I know that The Best Lies is not a romance novel, but I think Leo Balanoff just made the Book Boyfriends List. That’s a first for me. And I’m not mad about it.
In-depth book review: https://cantinabookclub.com/review/the-best-lies-by-david-ellis