My Thoughts - The Lie - Petra Hammesfahr

(pardon my experimenting with HTML code this week)

Review book received from Meryl Zegarek Public Relations, Inc.
Published: May 2010
Bitter Lemon Press, UK

Blurb from backcover:

"Nadia and Susanne look uncannily alike, but one is seriously rich and the other destitute.  When Nadia asks Susanne to spend the weekend with her husband, so that she can sneak off with a lover, how can Susanne refuse the outrageous fee on offer?  Nadia and her husband barely speak to each other and he will be working most of the weekend.  Easy money, or so it seems.  One Friday afternoon Susanne drives Nadia's Alfa to her beautiful suburban villa with its indoor pool, glass doors opening onto the sloping lawn.  This first stay is followed by others, as an apparently harmless game becomes a deadly web of lies."

My Thoughts:

Wow! This book took me several days to read because I didn't want to miss anything.  I wanted to devour the book but had to restrain myself.  Hammesfahr weaves a story line that grips you from the start and drags you to and fro.  The psychological damage incured by the characters could be immense, if the story was real.  It's amazing what people can think of and do to each other.  The details and switches are amazing.  Hammesfahr must of had a serious outline and piles of notes.

Because the book is translated from German into English via an English publishing house, it made for some interesting reading by an American.  I wasn't sure if the sayings were actual German slang translated or English version of German slang.  Some words or phrases, I didn't understand at all but there weren't many. 

Here are some of my favorites:

• "in the boot" - refers to something in the trunk of a car
• "answerphone" - answering machine
• "multi-storey" - parking garage
• "gave up the ghost" - something stopped working

The Sinner is another Petra Hammesfahr book translated into English and published by Bitter Lemon Press.  Its also a psychological suspense novel. I want to check it out.  Thanks so much to Meryl Zegarek for turning me onto this new author.

Other Reviews:
 "Things change so quickly and new clues appear at breakneck speed, there's no time to question some of the logistics.All the situations that arise for Susanne will leave you wondering what would you do in that situation.  That alone is worth the read.This book is a fun and imaginative read that is not generic nor easily figured out. It will keep you guessing and sometimes that is all we want form a thriller."  from Salonic World Lit.


"The Lie is really quite intriguing. The novel strained credulity at times as Susanne is remade in Nadia in order to buy Nadia the freedom to enjoy her dirty weekend.That complaint aside, if you are willing to suspend your disbelief and buy the swap between Nadia and Susanne, then it’s incredibly easy to be swept up by the story." from Mostly Fiction Book Reviews.