Favors & Lies

This is the third book by Mark Gilleo that I've read and it is by far the best.  His first Love Thy Neighbor was eh, with a great plot, but the writing bothered me and the second, Sweat, was better than Love Thy Neighbor, but I had to look up both of the books to remember much about either of them since it has been two years since I've read them!

I read Favors & Lies in one day.  My laptop was being weird during nap time so I ran a scan and plopped down on the couch and there I stayed for the rest of the day minus a few interruptions.

Description:  Dan Lord is a forty-year-old private detective with a law degree working the blurred line between right and wrong in the Nation’s Capital. As a self-employed solutions broker and legal consultant, he works for a very select clientele. He doesn’t advertise and only takes cases on referral. But when two people close to him are murdered, Dan's work becomes very personal.

With the assistance of a newly hired female intern, extracting clues from a ladder of acquaintances, Dan bounds through both the underbelly and elite of society, each step bringing more questions and yet ultimately taking him closer to the answer he seeks. A bail bondsman, a recluse hacker, a court clerk, a university student, an old-school barber, a high-class madam, an intelligence officer, a medical doctor, and a police detective are among the list of people Dan must cajole for help. His quest will lead him to discover things he never wanted to know, and put him in the position to reveal things that important people would prefer remain unrevealed.

Tense, ingenious, and filled with the unforgettable characters that have become a Mark Gilleo trademark, FAVORS AND LIES is the most thrilling novel yet from one of the great new voices in suspense fiction.

Dan Lord is the first main character of Gilleo's that I actually really really liked! I mean like the other's he is self-assured and confident but he DOES NOT come off as a major jerk unless he is talking to the police.  He is a main of intrigue and little tidbits about him came out as the plot thickened.  The way the book ended it left it open for a possible sequel and I would totally be interested!

This was a very fast paced suspense book that had madam's, prostitutes, the mob, CIA, Russian spies and more! It never felt like too many characters and it wasn't easily figured out.  Which, I liked.  All the questions were answered in the end and done so in a way that didn't leave you rolling your eyes or wondering how the heck that could have been!

I love detective suspense stories especially those that include the CIA or FBI.  I told my husband that if he ever were to pick up a book he'd like it and he said, "Whenever I want to read a book, you are so I can't." Whatever dude! This would make a great movie.

Do you read suspense novels? Do you watch suspense movies? I don't enjoy them as much as I do suspense TV and books!

I received this book from the publisher but all thoughts and opinions are my own.