Beautiful Lies: A Novel

Average customer rating:

Who Do You Trust?

Held my attention but left me unsatisfied

Great Read! Could not put it down!

A Readable Identity Story

Beautiful lies--Beautiful book!

Beautiful Lies: A Novel
Lisa Unger
Manufacturer: Shaye Areheart Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
General | Thrillers | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
Psychological & Suspense | Thrillers | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0307336689
Release Date: 2006-04-18

Book Description

If Ridley Jones had slept ten minutes later or had taken the subway instead of waiting for a cab, she would still be living the beautiful lie she used to call her life. She would still be the privileged daughter of a doting father and a loving mother. Her life would still be perfect—with only the tiny cracks of an angry junkie for a brother and a charming drunk with shady underworld connections for an uncle to mar the otherwise flawless whole.

But that’s not what happened. Instead, those inconsequential decisions lead her to perform a good deed that puts her in the right place at the right time to unleash a chain of events that brings a mysterious package to her door—a package which informs her that her entire world is a lie.

Suddenly forced to question everything she knows about herself and her family, Ridley wanders into dark territory she never knew existed, where everyone in her life seems like a stranger. She has no idea who’s on her side and who has something to hide—even, and maybe especially, her new lover, Jake, who appears to have secrets of his own.

Sexy and fast-paced, Beautiful Lies is a true literary thriller with one of the freshest voices and heroines to arrive in years. Lisa Unger takes us on a breathtaking ride in which every choice Ridley makes creates a whirlwind of consequences that are impossible to imagine . . . .

AN INTERNATIONAL BOOK-OF-THE-MONTH SELECTION

A featured alternate selection of the Literary Guild, Doubleday Book Club, Book-of-the-Month Club, Mystery Guild, and Rhapsody Book Club.

Also available as a Random House AudioBook, a Large Print edition, and an eBook.

Download Description

Lisa Unger lives in Florida with her husband and daughter. Visit her at lisaunger.com.

From the Hardcover edition.

Customer Reviews:

Who Do You Trust?.......2007-09-24

A very quick read and one that holds your attention from the start. I found the story to be inventive and plausible. Also, the ending was believable in that not every question was answered and all loose ends neatly tied up. I found the heroine to possess realistic emotions.

Held my attention but left me unsatisfied.......2007-05-31

I read this novel in only 2 days, could not put it down because I wanted to find out what was going to happen. A woman gets "15 minutes of fame" through rescuing a little boy, and then out of the blue receives a package indicating that the people she thought were her parents might not actually be her parents. And when she tried to uncover where the package might have come from, she finds out some information that certain people do not want anyone to know about (and puts herself in possible danger by doing so). I had my suspicions about how the story would wrap up early on... but, not to give anything away, there were too many things that did not quite seem to make sense when I reached the end. NOT because I am too stupid to figure them out. Some things regarding who the father actually is (when you find out, you may have the same question... see my post in the forum below after you've read it), and the so-called shady connections of the lawyer in the story seemed kind of, well... let's just say that it seemed awfully contrived just to make the plot "thicker" and to throw the reader off the scent, and not something that might have realistically happened. And, there were some other items that were intentionally never really resolved at the end - you want to know WHY things happened, and the author either to be quirky or because she can't think of a reason herself (seems almost like she was under a deadline to get the book done and couldn't pull it all together adequately in time) gyps you out of a resolution after you spend your valuable time reading the whole thing.

Great Read! Could not put it down!.......2007-05-22

Someone sent me this book and I read it, with no idea who Lisa Unger was. Therefore, I did not have any preconceptions or expectations whatsoever. I was very impressed and cannot wait to read the second book featuring this same heroine. I could not put this book down and read the entire thing in less than a day. Not only is is a first-rate thriller, but the author has very believable insights into human characteristics. Her writing style is razor sharp. Bravo, Ms. Unger!

A Readable Identity Story.......2007-05-13

"I'll be there in a second" I said to my wife. Why did I say that, I wondered, as I stared down at my brown Ugg loafers that I was wearing, somewhat incongrously, with cargo shorts. People always say "in a second" when they are actually going to take much longer. And wouldn't it be better, really, if we were all more honest? "I have to finish writing this review," I told her.

That passage (from my life) captures the style of this book. Shallow but heartfelt observations about life, plenty of name-dropping descriptions of people's clothes and lives, and surprisingly long asides in the middle of dialog. All this occurs, however, in the midst of a page-turning, if somewhat predictable, romantic thriller. And, for me the best part, the core of the book is an identity story. I am interested in identity stories, and some of Unger's description of her heroine's recasting and gradual reinterpretation of her life as she learns about her identity make up the best part of the book and were sufficient to hold my interest. Otherwise, as a pure romantic thriller, you can do better.

Beautiful lies--Beautiful book!.......2007-05-12

Great book-- suspense,great detail, excellent read. I could not wait to move to the second book in the series

Average customer rating:

Beautiful Lies : A Novel
Lisa Unger
Manufacturer: Shaye Areheart Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OSZXKA

Average customer rating:

Beautiful Lies a Novel

Manufacturer: Random House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000EYCZQ4

Average customer rating:

Beautiful Lies a Novel
Lisa Unger
Manufacturer: GOLDEN BOOKS @
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000N7C5FI

Average customer rating:

Beautiful Lies: A Novel
Lisa Unger
Manufacturer: Random House Audio Publishing Group
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: CD-ROM
ASIN: B000MHN440

Book Description

General Bottando of Rome's Art Theft Squad believes a lone criminal mastermind-dubbed "Giotto"-has been stealing priceless Renaissance art for over 30 years. But his theory is scorned by archrival Corrado Argan, a bureaucrat more interested in politics than policing.

Bottando's right hand, the beautiful Flavia di Stefano, quickly locates a possible culprit-but he's in England. Since the conniving Argan considers even a trip across town an unnecessary expense for Bottando's squad, Flavia must rely on her fiancé, Jonathan Argyll. In England on business, he finds the suspect suspiciously dead. That's a pity-especially for Jonathan. Were he not on the scene-raving about art thefts and coincidences-the police may have ruled that the deceased had a few too many and tripped on a loose stair. Now, Jonathan's passport has been lifted until Her Majesty's magistrate is satisfied that he has told all he knows...

Customer Reviews:

Good mystery.......2006-07-08

If you have read The Instance of the Fingerpost or The Dream of Scipio know that those books and the Argyll mystery series are written in two different styles. While the former two are more serious in nature the Argyll mystery series can still be enjoyed if you are looking for a simple mystery read. If you are looking for a more serious read you will be disappointed in this and others of the series.

Having said that I liked this book and enjoy most of the books of this series. Set in Italy, France and England Jonathan and Flavia team together to investigate the arts thefts they believe were done by one person. Some of the thefts are decades old and time is not on their side. Meanwhile General Bottando is trying to keep his position as director of the Art Theft Sqaud and is depending on Jonathan and Flavia to come through.

If you are looking for a quick enjoyable mystery that you can read over a weekend Giotto's Hand will fit the bill.

More Mystery Than Art History.......2003-08-06

I think that the best word to describe this book would be 'pleasant'. It's a pleasant diversion, and has enough depth to keep the reader interested, but I felt something was lacking in the content by the time I finished the novel. The plot concerns a letter sent to Rome's Art Theft Squad headquarters, claiming to have information on a stolen painting from 30 years previous. This letter, written by an old woman with a checkered past, reminds General Bottando, head of the Art Theft Squad, of someone he nicknamed 'Giotto', who stole several pieces of art and got away with it. Investigating the connection could cause him potential problems, as he is being usurped by Argan, a man who wants his job. So, he surreptitiously sends Flavia, one of his assistants, to interview the woman, and this leads to Flavia sending her boyfriend, art dealer Jonathan Argyll, home to England to interview the man. However, after Jonathan makes an appointment to see the man who could be 'Giotto', he instead finds the suspect, Forster, dead in his own home. What follows is an investigation both professional (Flavia) and casual (Jonathan) to discover if Forster was indeed Giotto, and if so, what happened to the stolen art? Many of the characters are fleshed out nicely, but even though there's a nice twist at the end, the novel runs out of steam, and there's some muddled elements that seem thrown together. Bottando, Argyll, and Flavia are worth reading about again, hopefully in a deeper plot.

Slump.......2003-03-26

After reading Instance of a Fingerpost, I ran out and bought three early books of this series of art mysteries. I thoroughly enjoyed the first, The Raphael Affair; however, this was a step down.

The two main characters, Flavia and Argyll, did not seem to progress from the earlier book and actually seemed somewhat flat. Too much of the book was driven by Flavia's boss's bureaucratic battles and intrigues. The plot was okay, a bit hokey.

Still, the cultural setting was very good and lifted the book from mere ordinariness.

Although not as good as the first in the series, I will read some more...I think the potential is still there and I still want to like the two main characters as much as I did in the first book. Besides, the art world scene as portrayed is interesting enough to bring me back. Also Pears writing is good. All in all, this was an amusing fairly light read.

The least impressive of the Jonathan Argyll mysteries.......2002-10-24

First, a note to those of you who read Instance and are looking for more: The Argyll mysteries are not very similar. The only real connection is clever solutions. However, I would also say that if you are an Instance reader and you want to try the Argyll mysteries, don't start here. This is probably the least impressive of the 7 books. My reccomendation is to start with the first, which is called The Raphael Affair and go from there.

Now for the book itself. Giotto's Hand is a decent mystery in the tradition of the other books in the series, weaving intrigue and introducing various twists well. However, there are a few faults with the book. Firstly, as it is not set in Italy for the most part, the Italian charm and flair that distinguishes the other books is not present. Secondly, the first 100 or so pages of the book are fairly hard-going and difficult to get into: I only really got into this book when I forced myself to sit down and reading it; the best mysteries force me to do so themselves.

Thirdly, it is rather cliched in the way it presents one solution at the end which seems to be the clever conclusion, scraps it promptly replacing it with another (this is a good twist), and then goes to far by scrapping this too an introducing a third as the final truth. Additionally, while we all know Argyll is a moral sort of guy, it's taken a bit far with the decision he makes at the end of the book.

Overall, still worth a read, but probably the least good in a well above-average series.

Good Plot, Excellent Dialogue, Likeable Characters.......2002-08-07

I'm love "armchair" travel - especially if the narrative involves Italy. I really love mysteries that convey a sense of place. I bought into this series because I thought it would have a strong Italian influence. So far, I have read 2 in the series, and the action seems to take place as much in England as Italy - a minor disappointment. However, Pears does convey the atmosphere of the UK well in his prose and his character development. Mr. Pears is a skilled writer. He has a flair for intricate plots and believable dialogue. This story has a more than a few sub-plots but he manages to tie them all up nicely in the end. I didn't guess every secret along the way and was surprised by the big plot twist at the very end. I especially liked the way he introduced the Italian political inter-office power struggle into the story. He writes about it with such conviction and style that I suspect that he has a mole in Roma! All in all, this was a fun way to spend a few hours. Quite entertaining and that's exactly what it's supposed to be. If you are looking for a more gritty take on Italian crime, read Dibdin's A.Zen series.

Average customer rating:

GIOTTO'S HAND.
Iain. Pears
Manufacturer: Harper Collins,
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000RIFNBG

Average customer rating:

GIOTTO'S HAND.
Iain. Pears
Manufacturer: Harpercollins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0007767390

Average customer rating:

Giottos Hand 1ST Edition
Iain Pears
Manufacturer: HARPER COLLINS PUBLISHERS
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000Q9R8HS

Average customer rating:

It is okay but Pears has written better

GIOTTOS HAND: A Jonathan Argyll Mystery
Iain Pears
Manufacturer: Scribner
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

British Detectives | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

General | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

General | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0684814609

Customer Reviews:

It is okay but Pears has written better.......1997-06-23

General Taddeo Bottando believes that the stealing of many of Europe'spriceless works of art since 1963 is the result of one person, an extremelyskillful thief, dubbed Giotto. The General assigns his brilliant team, the Art Theft Squad, to investigate the possibility that one person is responsible for numerous thefts. Private investigator Flavia di Stefano and art dealer Jonathan Argyll begin the search for the elusive Giotto. ....... The first real clue is a letter from a dying woman who describes one of the robberies. Using that as a lead, Stefano searches Florence for follow-up information while Argyll travels all over England. Though they begin to put together the pieces of a four decade old puzzle, General Bottando's greatest opponent, Corrado Argan, raises a stink about the waste of money in pursuit of a ridiculous objective. Corrado believes that no one man could have committed all these crimes without a trace. It is up to the Art Theft Squad to prove their leader is right and bring to justice a grandmaster. ........ Though all three lead characters are charming and very endearing, GIOTTO'S HAND seems a bit flat for mystery lovers since there is little life threatening action confronting the squad. There is little doubt that Iain Pears' love for art oozes off of the pages to reach out and touch readers. In spite of this extra flavoring and great characterization, the who-done-it remains a bit weak. .......Harriet Klausner

Iain Pears - 5 Book Set - The Immaculate Deception, The Titian Committee, An Instance of the Fingerpost, The Raphael Affair, & Giotto's Hand (Art History Mystery)

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Iain Pears - 5 Book Set - The Immaculate Deception, The Titian Committee, An Instance of the Fingerpost, The Raphael Affair, & Giotto's Hand (Art History Mystery)
Iain Pears
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000WQVM90

Product Description

Set of 5 paperback mysteries by Iain Pears: The Immaculate Deception, The Titian Committee, The Raphael Affair, Giotto's Hand, & An Instance of the Fingerpost.

The Art History Mysteries 1-7: Giotto's Hand; The Last Judgement; The Bernini Bust; The Titian Committee; The Raphael Affair; Death and Restoration; The Immaculate Deception

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The Art History Mysteries 1-7: Giotto's Hand; The Last Judgement; The Bernini Bust; The Titian Committee; The Raphael Affair; Death and Restoration; The Immaculate Deception
Iain Pears
Manufacturer: Berkley Prime Crime; Scribners
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B000NNIOQ6

3 Titles in Art History Mystery Series - Giotto's Hand - The Titian Committee - The Raphael Affair

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3 Titles in Art History Mystery Series - Giotto's Hand - The Titian Committee - The Raphael Affair
Iain Pears
Manufacturer: various
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000Q1WSVW

Product Description

3 Mass Market Paperback Titles in Art History Mystery Series - Giotto's Hand - The Titian Committee - The Raphael Affair

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Giotto's Hand
Iain Pears
Manufacturer: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000O8SEHO

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Giotto's Hand

Manufacturer: Scribners
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000GLP92C

Book Description

In this impassioned and often vitriolic book - a follow-up to the author's bestselling Bleeding Edge: The Business of Health Care in the New Century - U.S. health care industry expert J.D. Kleinke offers an unflinching look at our broken health care system. Throughout the book, Kleinke - who was once a vocal advocate of the managed health care system - explains what went wrong and attempts to answer such perplexing questions as:

Who's in charge of the American health care system?
How does managed care work . . . or not work?
Why have hospitals become so complex?
What are the prospects for reform?
Does the Internet change anything?
Can we solve the growing problem of the uninsured?

Customer Reviews:

Suppliers regulating demand means there is NO market.......2003-09-20

Kleinke's book is itself oxymoronic. He complains that the current "system" is not a normal market, but that by placing purchasing power in the hands of "consumers," a normal market will emerge. WRONG. With rare exceptions, it is the supplier of medical services who determines the level of demand for those services. Compounding this perversion of ordinary market forces are two other significant realities: a). If potatoes are being purchased, the consumer would have a knowledge of the product and of its value that is fairly equivalent to the knowledge of the grocer. In medicine, the "consumer" usually has nothing approaching equivalent knowledge about the services to be provided, and must rely entirely on the word of the physician about the value of those services; b). The physician workforce in the U.S. is currently twice as large as would be optimal for the health status of the whole population, this according to an exhaustive study completed by the Pew Commission on the Health Professions, under the chairmanship of former Senator George Mitchell. The American people are paying for this huge oversupply in the physician workforce in lives as well as in money. Using publicly available Medicare data, the physician editors of The Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care have provided a specific characterization of the medical services that they have defined as being "supply sensitive:"
*Weak or absent scientific evidence for providing the service.
*Rather, care is provided under the assumption that more is better--or can't hurt.
*Use of the service is strongly associated with local supply.

The Atlas has established on hard evidence that the length of survival for Medicare beneficiary populations in areas of the United States that have a high concentration of "supply sensitive" physicians, hospital beds, and other medical service resources is shorter than for populations living in areas with an average or low concentration of such medical care resources:

"Medicare beneficiaries residing in regions with 4.5 beds or more per 1000 had a two percent increased risk of death compared to those living in regions with less than 2.5 beds per 1000. ...There were no population groups in whom greater hospital use was associated with improved survival. ...In conclusion, there are good reasons to be cautious about more medical care. In the absence of strong scientific evidence of benefit, there are real risks of harm that should be taken into consideration. ...[W]e see that increased capacity is generally devoted to care of uncertain benefit. Finally, we have no evidence of improved outcomes from greater use of supply sensitive care--and there is some research that suggests that residents of the highest intensity regions may be at risk of harm. ...[The] predicted impact of excess supply sensitive hospitalizations on Medicare mortality brackets the findings from our recent study--a three percent increase in mortality."

Other facts that underline the abnormality of the market forces at work in conventional American medicine include the following:
*The absence of effective clinical evaluative science is total.
*There is no general medical management. Specialists are dominant, and they function autonomously within their own field of practice.
*Barbara Starfield, MD, a faculty member of the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health, published a Commentary in the June 2000 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association in which she documents physician errors as being the third leading cause of death for Americans each year. Of course, this truth is never reported by the National Center for Health Statistics, but it is nonetheless a stubborn fact.
*The incidence of chronic disease is at epidemic levels in the American population. For example, with about four percent of the world's population, the United States accounts for twelve percent of new cancer cases each year.
*Since Nixon declared the "war on cancer," cancer deaths in the U.S. have risen from year to year without a single exception. Reporting by federal agencies has distorted this hard truth by utilizing "death rates" instead of the actual deaths.
*Although this fact has not been publicly stated, the medical profession has abandoned the search for a cure for cancer, and has concentrated its massive resources on devising new technologies for treating the large variety of malignant neoplasms now afflicting the population. For oncologists, treatment is where the profit lies. Cure would put them out of business.

I believe it was George Bernard Shaw who once said the height of political folly was reached by legislating financial incentives for surgeons to cut your leg off. In the United States, we have achieved this height. No physician can profit from fostering optimal levels of health in their patients. Profit flows almost entirely from illness or injury, and from the attendant diagnostic procedures. "Consumers" of medical services would be well advised not to pay attention to the angry ramblings of an "expert" like Kleinke. It is evident that he has no sound idea about what the problems are, much less about the changes that will be necessary to resolve them.

Insightful Study of a Broken Healthcare System.......2003-03-13

Kleinke's book sets forth the reasons why the healthcare system does not function - he is clear and thorough, there is no whitewash. The dissection of healthcare system is especially cleansing and refreshing to readers who are tired of hearing about lack of access to adequate healthcare - Oxymorons explains the "why" by peeling the onion of the system to reveal the rotten root. In addition, Kleinke puts together a plan to revise the system and put therapeutic choice back in the hands of the physician and the patient, rather than the treatment-phobic payer.

So often in the media we hear about overpriced pharmaceuticals and the cost of healthcare innovation. What we do not hear about is the plight of the physician who is hamstrung by payers from making therapeutic choices for patients. We hear about patients who look up new technologies on the internet for their conditions, but we do not hear about the payers who restrict patient access to innovation and science. Further, we do not hear about how payers purposefully shun simple and cost-effective electronic solutions to covering medically necessary treatment. As a result, payers are in the driver's seat to process claims inefficiently, make ad hoc coverage decisions, and make untimely and inappropriate payments to physicians and patients. Why don't we hear about these issues in the media? Why aren't electronic solutions embraced by the payer to increase the overall health of Americans while embracing the importance of physician decision-making and patient choice? Kleinke sets forth the rationale for the broken system.

Wouldn't it be great if payers actually embraced technology to the benefit of patients and physicians? What would happen if payers empowered innovations in medicine for patients to the benefit of the practice of medicine and science, rather than hiding from electronic solutions for the sake of making a few more bucks on the stock market? What would happen if a system existed in which patients could make informed choices about their plans, rather than the employer, to control their own treatment plans in conjunction with their physicians? Kleinke lifts the veil for all to see, and what is there is not pretty, it's broken and counter-intuitive. While some readers might call this a negative book, many readers will find this a refreshing look at what is really there. It is thought-provoking and interesting, not just a sound byte to make everyone feel good.

Oxymorons is an excellent follow-up to Kleinke's first book: "Bleeding Edge", a must read for anyone interested in learning more about healthcare and the economics of the system.

Insightful Study of a Broken Healthcare System.......2003-03-13

Oxymorons is an excellent follow-up to Kleinke's first book: "Bleeding Edge", a must read for anyone interested in learning more about healthcare and the economics of the system.

Daring to look the thing right in the face.......2003-03-13

Oxymorons is the first book that dares to look at the whole mess that is the US health care system without a political or business agenda. The author explains exactly why the system is stuck in political and economic gridlock, and how this gridlock actually benefits all those denouncing it the loudest - the health insurance companies, consultants, lawyers, and various business schemers who make money on the system's complexity and dysfunction. After discrediting so much of the nonsense that pundits and policy types like to generate about health care using real data, Oxymorons then dares to put forth a concise and simple plan for how the federal government and a non-governmental non-partisan health benefits task force (notably not any one state government or any newfangled managed care scheme) can change a few simple rules, establish some actual standards, and flush out a lot of the waste that defines the non-system of health care in the US. Kudos to the author for calling it like he sees it, and still having the guts to propose a real solution.

Long on problems; Short on answers.......2002-09-24

J.D. Kleinke uses 90% of the book to describe the woes of the US healthcare system. The tone is very very negative and the author uses words such as "moronic" way too much. It is tiring to read so much unbalanced negativism. The critique may be warranted but is not properly structured; there is a lot of focus jumping from anecdotes about payers, providers, government, consumers, consultants, etc. Kleinke even tries to explain the problems using Complexity Theory about which he clearly knows nothing. (Attempting to draw analogies between our healthcare system and sets of stiff differential equations). In the last 10% of the book Kleinke presents a solution that he does not tell how could ever be implemented. It is a combination of old utopic ideas. In short, buy this book only if you need more reasons why our healthcare system is broke.

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