In the Company of Liars by David Ellis

From the Publisher

A woman accused of murder is caught in a tortuous psychological maze that leaves her only one escape--suicide. Or does it? Told in reverse chronological order, from its enigmatic end to its brilliant beginning, In the Company of Liars is a tantalizing tour de force.

Publishers Weekly

Chicago lawyer Ellis's fourth thriller (after last year's Jury of One) begins with the reported death of bestselling author Allison Pagone-the main suspect in the fatal bludgeoning of her lover, a D.C. lobbyist-and continues backward to the night of the murder. Reverse chronology is a tricky literary device that may prove too demanding for the multi-tasking listener, especially when it comes to keeping track of an elaborate plot involving not only homicide but terrorism, corruption and wheeling and dealing by several law enforcement agencies (and, as the title suggests, lots of lying). But those willing to give this well-produced audio their full attention will be rewarded by an ingeniously plotted and satisfying whodunit, stylishly rendered by Hill and his wife, Breck. Both narrators play well off of each other to give voice to this twisting tale, but the latter is particularly effective in her portrayals of the hapless Pagone, trapped in a seemingly untenable situation, and FBI agent Jane McCoy, who is suffering the frustration and guilt of having done the trapping. Simultaneous release with the Putnam hardcover (Reviews, Feb. 28). (Apr.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

This Edgar Award winner works backward from Allison Pagone's execution to show why so many people wanted her convicted of murder. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

The author of Jury of One (2004), etc., returns with another thriller in which past really is prologue. Perhaps taking his cue from the film Memento, which tells its story in reverse chronology, Ellis launches his latest with the climaxes of a case that began 11 years earlier. Then, in a series of flashbacks, he works through the clues behind the clues that led to these two events. In the first, the body of best-selling novelist Allison Pagone is found in a blood-splattered bathroom, an apparent suicide. In the second, American forces in the Sudan nab elusive terrorist leader Mushan al-Bakhari in "a moment for which all Americans have waited for years" (meaning Mushan is you know who). How are the events connected? Ellis takes a while to tie these threads together. Initially, he focuses, as in prior novels, on political corruption. Pagone, it seems, killed herself after murdering a lover who was about to finger her ex-husband for bribing U.S. senators to influence their votes on legislation favoring a drug company. One of her earrings turns up at the crime scene, as does a strand of hair bearing her DNA. She also had hacked into the victim's computer to make it seem he sent her an e-mail that, in turn, she can use as an alibi. Ellis practically drums these and other clues into the reader, perhaps having trouble getting up to speed in reverse. Eventually, he eases up as the terrorism angle becomes integral. It's revealed that a doctor plans to spike the drug company's baby aspirin with an undetectable, fatal poison. Plans to foil that plot explain all that precedes and may send some readers back to page one to see how nothing was what it seemed. Annoyingly repetitious, especially atmidpoint, but amply rewarding at the end-which, of course, is the beginning. First printing of 50,000; Book-of-the-Month Club and Mystery Guild selection

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