Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
285th out of 598 books
—
503 voters
The Face Of Deception (Eve Duncan #1)
An unidentified skull...
A trail of terrifying secrets...
And a woman whose talented hands could reveal the shocking truth...
As a forensic sculptor, Eve Duncan helps identify the dead from their skulls.Her own daughter murdered and her body never found, the job is Eve's way of coming to terms with her personal nightmare. But more terror lies ahead when she accepts work from...more
A trail of terrifying secrets...
And a woman whose talented hands could reveal the shocking truth...
As a forensic sculptor, Eve Duncan helps identify the dead from their skulls.Her own daughter murdered and her body never found, the job is Eve's way of coming to terms with her personal nightmare. But more terror lies ahead when she accepts work from...more
Paperback, 480 pages
Published
June 1st 1999
by Bantam
(first published 1998)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
3,000)
1 The Face of Deception
2 Iris Johansen
3 Suspense
4 The main character is Eve Duncan and she is an expert at reconstructing skulls. There is a skull found and she has to reconstruct the skull and figure out who it is. Once they figure out who it is, there are some very powerful people who want them dead now because they know the truth. Eve is on a run for her life while trying to expose the truth.
5 One theme is Eve having dreams and talking to her daughter who had been killed by a serial killer ma...more
2 Iris Johansen
3 Suspense
4 The main character is Eve Duncan and she is an expert at reconstructing skulls. There is a skull found and she has to reconstruct the skull and figure out who it is. Once they figure out who it is, there are some very powerful people who want them dead now because they know the truth. Eve is on a run for her life while trying to expose the truth.
5 One theme is Eve having dreams and talking to her daughter who had been killed by a serial killer ma...more
Eve Duncan is a forensic sculptor, which means she can take a skull and recreate the face. After losing her daughter to a child killer, Eve is determined to always solve the cases which come across her desk.
When John Lucas approaches her about helping him with a case, she is leery. All she knows about Lucas is he has a lot of money and has been very vocal about the President of the United States not getting re-elected. When he offers to throw money at her favorite charity, however, she knows she...more
When John Lucas approaches her about helping him with a case, she is leery. All she knows about Lucas is he has a lot of money and has been very vocal about the President of the United States not getting re-elected. When he offers to throw money at her favorite charity, however, she knows she...more
I find it odd that this book launched a ten plus book series with break away novels. I thought Eve Duncan was the wrong character for this first book to focus on so I can't imagine where it goes from there. She's hired to do a facial reconstruction on a skull and the entire time I was thinking 'why didn't they just go for the DNA first?' Well, they went for it second... making Eve's contribution all the more minimal. The only way she would've been useful is if the situation had been a lot less v...more
3 likes · like · see review
view 2 comments
May 14, 2011
Jane Stewart
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
mystery-suspense
It was ok for solving and surviving a complicated mystery, political intrigue, and danger - but not entertaining enough.
STORY BRIEF:
Eve was a single mother when her seven-year-old daughter Bonnie was killed by a serial killer. The body was never found which haunts Eve. Eve is one of the country’s top forensic sculptors. She reconstructs faces from skulls. Logan is a billionaire who wants to hire Eve to put a face on a skull he has. She resists until he makes a large contribution to her favorite...more
STORY BRIEF:
Eve was a single mother when her seven-year-old daughter Bonnie was killed by a serial killer. The body was never found which haunts Eve. Eve is one of the country’s top forensic sculptors. She reconstructs faces from skulls. Logan is a billionaire who wants to hire Eve to put a face on a skull he has. She resists until he makes a large contribution to her favorite...more
2 likes · like · see review
I starting reading this series because I saw the trilogy Eve, Quinn, and Bonnie at the bookstore and wanted to read them. Well, I decided to check on goodreads first and good thing I did because obviously I found out that these characters were part of the bigger Even Duncan series. So now I'm reading this series from the beginning. I have to say I really just knew the basics going in. Eve is a facial sculpter and has been since the abduction and death of her daughter years before. She still mour...more
1 like · like · see review
I had original obtained book #4 and when I realized that it was part of a series, I got this first one. Then I accidentally read #4 first. I was glad that the author included enough of the characters' backgrounds in #4, but I was very glad to read more of it in this first of the Eve Duncan series. (Now to fill in the two in-between books!)
Eve Duncan has had it rough - drug-addicted mom, teen pregnancy, and - just went she was turning her life around - the loss of her daughter to a serial killer...more
Eve Duncan has had it rough - drug-addicted mom, teen pregnancy, and - just went she was turning her life around - the loss of her daughter to a serial killer...more
When I first starting reading the Eve Duncan series I was excited. This was a new twist to the forensic thrillers that I love to read. As I finished the first book and moved onto the second, I noticed a pattern. The main character started to bother me. Eve is very naive to the outside world because she has closed herself off, so when natural things, like love, come upon her she has no idea. This was nice for the first book, a little annoying for the second book, but as I read into the fourth boo...more
Surviving the disappearance and probable murder of her daughter gave drive to Eve Duncan. The need to keep busy and her own tragedy gave Eve a perspective that some of her collogues in the professional field of forensic sculptor didn’t have. Being the best in the field caught the attention of wealthy businessman John Logan when he received information about a skull that he desperately needed confirmation on the identity of. Utilizing every resource to persuade Eve to help him, Logan and Eve fina...more
This is the laziest book I think I've ever read. The characters are dull and unbelievable, so it is next to impossible to establish a connection with them. I didn't find any of them likable, least of all Eve Duncan, a stereotypical 'strong' woman who overcomes so much. The plot might have been interesting if it were more realistic. I don't imagine a powerful man like Logan would give the reins of his hard work and devotion to Eve, who admits in the beginning to her disinterest in politics. The d...more
"The Face of Deception" is the first in the Eve Duncan series. This book was a little slow going at first, but once it picked up, I truly enjoyed it. Eve is a forensic sculptor who can create a face out of a skull. The book begins with Eve at a prison waiting for the execution of the man who killed her daughter Bonnie. Eve wanted a stay of execution because she needed to know where her daughter's body could be found so she could bring her home to rest properly. She never got a chance to get that...more
This is the first book with forensic sculpter, Eve Duncan. Wow, what a tough lady. This woman could truly be a roll model for young women once they've finished with the Nancy Drew series.
I loved the book. I'm listening to another by Iris Johansen concurrently, almost through with that one, too. I've also ordered another one of hers from the library.
Eve grew up as a bastard child of a stoned mother. Her child was also a bastard, but led the way to both Eve and her mother getting their acts togeth...more
I loved the book. I'm listening to another by Iris Johansen concurrently, almost through with that one, too. I've also ordered another one of hers from the library.
Eve grew up as a bastard child of a stoned mother. Her child was also a bastard, but led the way to both Eve and her mother getting their acts togeth...more
While I very much appreciate excellent books, those that are excellent, and readable aren't that easy to come across. So, being a constant reader, I also enjoy fast and dirty thrillers. This is one of them. It's not literature. The writing isn't even that good, but for this genre it's actually in the top 30% (IMO). The plot is implausible unless you're a die hard believer in political conspiracies. The characters are fairly well-developed genre staples. You have your strong, feisty woman who doe...more
This is the first book featuring Eve Duncan, and the only one that I hadn't read. I don't usually start in the middle, but it just happened, and then I didn't go back to catch up. Well, now that I've done it, I'm actually disappointed! I had hoped that I'd learn more about what happened to Bonnie, other than what's been hinted at or talked around in all of the novels. This book wasn't about Bonnie at all.
This is the book that introduces John Logan and Eve. John conned Eve into helping him identi...more
This is the book that introduces John Logan and Eve. John conned Eve into helping him identi...more
I was drawn to the first of the Eve Duncan forensic thriller by totally unrelated factors. As a YAL (Young adult Librarian) I was familiar with Lois Duncan whose well know YA thriller/mysteries -- Daughters of Eve and I Know what You did last summer and I was familiar with the fact that her daughter was abducted. Duncan has written about the trama of the event. Novels and movies and tv shows about foresnic dectetives are popular now. Scientific accuracy and detail are major factors in Reich's bo...more
Mar 05, 2011
Leann
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
mystery fans, fornesic fans
I loved it. I could not put it down. Front to back it keeps you on the edge of your sit with not just "who done it" but "who is it". Main character, Eve Duncan is a forensic sculptor that is approached by a man to sculpt an adult man's head. She is shocked to learn that the skull belongs to a very powerful man in the country. But if his skull is on her table then who is the man who looks just like him that is in the powerful position. And who killed him? I for one was drawn in from the beginning...more
I suppose it's unfair to read this book after galloping through 3 Harry Bosch books by Michael Connelly, but it just didn't even start to do it for me. Really surprised it's rated so high.
I lasted maybe 15 minutes on a download. Slow-moving, tedious with in-your-face hints clues and statements that something terrible happened to heroine's young daughter, that her mother is an addict gone straight and then TA-DA! a rugged, incredibly handsome male appears.
The whole thing shrieked romance novel w...more
I lasted maybe 15 minutes on a download. Slow-moving, tedious with in-your-face hints clues and statements that something terrible happened to heroine's young daughter, that her mother is an addict gone straight and then TA-DA! a rugged, incredibly handsome male appears.
The whole thing shrieked romance novel w...more
As a forensic sculptor, Eve Duncan helps identify the dead from their skulls. Her own daughter murdered and her body never found, the job is Eve's way of coming to terms with her personal nightmare. But more terror lies ahead when she accepts work from billionaire John Logan. Beneath her gifted hands a face emerges from the skull he has given her to reconstruct—a face no one was ever meant to see. Now Eve is trapped in a frightening web of murder and deceit. Powerful enemies are determined to co...more
Jun 05, 2008
Ellenjsmellen
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
anthropology,
murder-mystery
I enjoyed this one. This was my first Iris Johanssen book and I plan on reading any other Eve Duncan novels by her.
This was the first book I read by Iris Johansen and it swept me into the word of Eve Duncan in such an enticing way that I simply had to read continue reading how her story developed throughout the course of Johansen's many books that address the turmoil that is Eve Duncan's painful life. Due to her incredibly unfortunate circumstances with the murder of her daughter, she becomes obsessed with her work as a forensic sculptor to try to "bring home" not only her daughter, but as many children as p...more
I was a bit skeptic over this book, whether to begin reading it or not (it was written in 1998 and I feared it would be somewhat obsolete as an idea)but a forensic sculptor sounded intriguing nonetheless. Can't say I was all that thrilled about it, but for some reason it kept me hooked until the end.
The face of deception introduces us to Eve Duncan, a mother of a 7 year old girl who died (and her body has never been found), and a daughter of an ex-addict mother. Eve is one of the best forensic s...more
The face of deception introduces us to Eve Duncan, a mother of a 7 year old girl who died (and her body has never been found), and a daughter of an ex-addict mother. Eve is one of the best forensic s...more
Wow, I feel like I felt differently about this book everytime I read it... First I couldn't decide if it was the same book as "Eve" seeing that they both said book one of the Eve Duncan Series... Well just so anyone else knows - completely different. However I highly recommend reading Eve first, there was so much in this book I would have not understood had it been opposite. Yet, there is much more I am now confused about... Like which book took place first! As well as some other spoilers if I s...more
The ending was a good starter for the series, as it set up the relationship triangle well. Characters were suitably flawed, yet still likable, and that's always good. However, I found myself irritated by Eve Duncan, the main character. Her constant need to proclaim that she makes her own decisions, especially as she's being led around by the nose by several other characters, quickly got old. She's suppossed to be broken/wounded; I get that, but she was almost cartoonish in her narrow minded, ide...more
This appears to be one of the Eve Duncan series that I had somehow missed; I'm certainly glad that I decided to grab this book from our library shelf!
Rather than bore the fans of the Eve Duncan series, I will simply explain this....John Logan millionaire+ hottie make his first appearance in the Duncan series within the pages of 'Face of Deception.'
Of course, there is also an extremely different aspect to this thriller....what happens when the President of the U.S. has been replaced with a look-a...more
Rather than bore the fans of the Eve Duncan series, I will simply explain this....John Logan millionaire+ hottie make his first appearance in the Duncan series within the pages of 'Face of Deception.'
Of course, there is also an extremely different aspect to this thriller....what happens when the President of the U.S. has been replaced with a look-a...more
Took me ages to finish this book, really I think it came down to the fact I just did not care about these characters.
Eve is a tortured "strong" woman, who constantly repeats empty mantras. "I am not a victim. Where are you Bonnie? I won't be a victim"
Logan is an arrogant jerk, and I was never satisfied with the explanation about how he got embroiled in all this.
Frankly, Fiske and Quinn were the most interesting characters and they didn't receive a decent amount of page time, IMO.
Won't bother...more
Eve is a tortured "strong" woman, who constantly repeats empty mantras. "I am not a victim. Where are you Bonnie? I won't be a victim"
Logan is an arrogant jerk, and I was never satisfied with the explanation about how he got embroiled in all this.
Frankly, Fiske and Quinn were the most interesting characters and they didn't receive a decent amount of page time, IMO.
Won't bother...more
I first read this book in 1999 and since then I have been following Eve Duncan’s life and her heartbreaking search for her daughter’s body, which had disappeared without a trace.
Since then I have waited anxiously for the release of each book and to date have read them so many times to remember the exact number.
The Face of Deception by Iris Johansen is one of those books that keeps you permanently on the edge of your seat and you can’t stop turning the pages to know what will happen next.
Eve ca...more
Since then I have waited anxiously for the release of each book and to date have read them so many times to remember the exact number.
The Face of Deception by Iris Johansen is one of those books that keeps you permanently on the edge of your seat and you can’t stop turning the pages to know what will happen next.
Eve ca...more
Another popular mystery series is Iris Johansen’s Eve Duncan novels. Duncan is a forensic sculptor who devotes her life to seeking justice for victims of violent crimes after her young daughter is kidnapped and murdered. The first book in this page-turning series is The Face of Deception.
For a suspenseful story with wonderfully built characters and a touch of romance, try the Eve Duncan series by Iris Johansen Duncan is a forensic sculptor who devotes her life to seeking justice for victims of...more
For a suspenseful story with wonderfully built characters and a touch of romance, try the Eve Duncan series by Iris Johansen Duncan is a forensic sculptor who devotes her life to seeking justice for victims of...more
This was actually a re-read of the book for me because I chose it as my pick for my mystery book club. I had originally read the book closer to its publication date, and I have to say that I enjoyed it just as much as I did reading it the first time. Johansen is still one of my favorite authors, and the Eve Duncan series still remains a favorite. I picked this book because it was the first in the series and a great introduction to Eve, Joe, and Logan. Johansen does a fabulous job at creating a w...more
I have read several books by Iris Johansen in the past,
including this one. But it was over ten years ago and I just
found out that this one is the first in a series of ten books.
And the eleventh book is coming out next month.
I love love love reading series.
So now I'm really excited about reading the next book.
I give this book a B+.
Here is how I rate my books:
A+ - Awesome book - couldn't put it down.
A - Really good book - would read it again and again.
B+ - Good book - would maybe read it again...more
including this one. But it was over ten years ago and I just
found out that this one is the first in a series of ten books.
And the eleventh book is coming out next month.
I love love love reading series.
So now I'm really excited about reading the next book.
I give this book a B+.
Here is how I rate my books:
A+ - Awesome book - couldn't put it down.
A - Really good book - would read it again and again.
B+ - Good book - would maybe read it again...more
So this is the first story in the Eve Duncan series. My second introduction to Eve, Logan and Joe, and it was still new enough to have me like them.
Logan's manipulative, but not so that he'd harm Eve. Joe's bristling anger at everything that Logan represents and says to Eve is amusing, and slightly frustrating. Eve's desire to do what she needs to do to get out from under the thumb of Logan, even as she's falling for him, was pretty much the same as the second book.
I must say, though, that I li...more
Logan's manipulative, but not so that he'd harm Eve. Joe's bristling anger at everything that Logan represents and says to Eve is amusing, and slightly frustrating. Eve's desire to do what she needs to do to get out from under the thumb of Logan, even as she's falling for him, was pretty much the same as the second book.
I must say, though, that I li...more
While I'm not a huge mystery fan, I was assured by my best friend that this series was worth reading.
Eve Duncan is a forensic sculptor, who gets more than she bargained for when hired by Billionaire John Logan to reconstruct a skull.
I have to say that the story was there. There was plenty of action, and alot of great backstory. I did think the dialogue was a bit stilted. It didn't really sound natural to me. Other than that, I enjoyed it.
Eve Duncan is a forensic sculptor, who gets more than she bargained for when hired by Billionaire John Logan to reconstruct a skull.
I have to say that the story was there. There was plenty of action, and alot of great backstory. I did think the dialogue was a bit stilted. It didn't really sound natural to me. Other than that, I enjoyed it.
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iris Johansen fans: The Face of Deception (EDS #1) | 2 | 6 | Jan 20, 2012 11:54pm |
Johansen began writing after her children left home for college. She first achieved success in the early 1980s writing category romances. In 1991, Johansen began writing suspense historical romance novels, starting with the publication of The Wind Dancer. In 1996 Johansen switched genres, turning to crime fiction, with which she has had great success. She had seventeen consecutive New York Times b...more
More about Iris Johansen...
Share This Book
1 trivia question
More quizzes & trivia...
