Body of Lies Iris Johansen | ISBN : 0-375-43158-6

Body of Lies

Author: Iris Johansen

Publisher: Random House Large Print

Publication Date: 26 March, 2002

ISBN: 9780375431586

Pages: 480

Subjects: Mystery, General, Suspense

Available as: Trade Cloth, 978-0-375-43158-6 Trade Cloth, 978-0-553-80097-5

Description:

From Iris Johansen, theNew York Timesbestselling author ofThe SearchandFinal Target, comes a taut, fast-paced, and terrifying psychological thriller that pushes the level of suspense to the absolute limit–and beyond. This time forensic sculptor Eve Duncan finds herself matched against a killer who will challenge her skill, test her courage, and threaten her family. As a forensic sculptor, Eve Duncan deals in death every day of her life. It’s her job. And while it might seem macabre to some, Eve knows from personal experience that her work, giving a face and a name to the victims of violent death, helps bring closure to their families. Now that job is about to put not only her own life on the line...but the lives of everyone close to her. It begins with a call from a high-ranking government official. He wants Eve to drop everything and come to Baton Rouge to identify the remains of an unknown murder victim. At first, Eve wants nothing to do with the project. She has finally found peace from her own tragic past, living a quiet life in a small lakeside cottage with Atlanta detective Joe Quinn and her adopted daughter, Jane. But a stunning series of seemingly unrelated events is about to upset all that. Suddenly, Eve’s hard-won new world is turned upside down, and she flees to Baton Rouge to take on the project of identifying the skeleton. Forced to work in secrecy, given only the sketchiest of information, Eve can’t help but wonder if the high-level security that surrounds her is meant to protect her–or imprison her. She hasn’t even begun work on the reconstruction when the first death occurs. Someone totally ruthless, someone who can strike anywhere at any time, and with seeming immunity, is determined to put a halt to her work. Soon the questions–and the threats to her own life–begin to mount as Eve realizes she has stumbled into the heart of a chilling conspiracy. There is only one person who can give her the answers she needs. And that is the dead man himself. To survive, Eve must put her life on the line to uncover the deadly secret of his identity and learn the devastating truth buried beneath a body of lies.

PW Publishers Weekly

Review Source: Publishers Weekly

Review Date: 2002-02-04

Forensic sculptor Eve Duncan is neither the cleverest fictional female detective nor the most original, but the meticulous care she devotes to her profession despite the emotional turmoil in her life makes her highly sympathetic. Here, she is tricked into leaving her adopted daughter, Jane, and cop boyfriend, Joe Quinn, to go to Baton Rouge. An influential senator and a fratricidal psychopath want her to work in a remote bayou to identify a battered skull, which may be all that remains of former senatorial candidate Harold Bentley. Duncan tries to reconstruct the skull's features, but it's hard to focus when someone has just tried to poison you and may be on his way to blow up your family. Duncan and wisecracking Sean Galen, hired by her Atlanta friends to protect her, are soon joined by potbellied reporter Bill Nathan, while in the shadows lurks Jules Hebert, a dangerous man of many disguises. First, Duncan's cook dies, then the cook's son, and then lies and dead bodies begin to pile up as Duncan struggles to finish the reconstruction and forgive Quinn for concealing the truth about her dead daughter, Bonnie. A barely credible anti-environment global conspiracy known only as the Cabal drives villains and good guys alike to violence as the story nears its explosive climax at an ex-president's funeral. Prolific bestselling author Johansen (Final Target) builds suspense by thrusting Duncan simultaneously into the unknown and back into the arms of her family in a romantic thriller whose plot may not stand much probing, but whose humanity keeps the reader rooting for its heroine every step of the way. (Mar. 26) Forecast: Major radio and print advertising and promotion, previewed in every paperback copy of Final Target: the only question here is how high Johansen will climb on the lists. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved