Book Review: One Last Lie by Rob Kaufman
Today, I will be reviewing One Last Lie by Rob Kaufman, which was an OnlineBookClub.org Book of the Day for July 7th!
About the Book
She’s demonic and evil, a wicked she-devil you’ll love to hate in this riveting psychological thriller that reviewers say is “gripping”, “heart wrenching” and “holding my breath suspenseful”.
Angela is beautiful and charismatic on the outside. But on the inside, a demon rages, determined to get anyone and anything she wants. And now with her biological clock ticking, she seduces her old friend Philip, and his partner Jonathan, into having a child with her through artificial insemination.
From the moment the parenting agreement is signed, Angela’s mask of deceit slips away and she leads the fathers-to-be on a relentless, agonizing journey filled with lies, anguish and finally tragedy that forever changes the lives of everyone involved.
Five star reviewers rave that One Last Lie is a gripping thriller of fiction, a novel of pure suspense from which they are unable to pull themselves away. Like Annie Wilkes from Misery and Alex Forrest from Fatal Attraction, Angela drags innocent lives into her web of insanity – a place from which readers have confessed is hard to escape, even weeks after turning the final page.
ReviewI was initially afraid of reading this book because another review I read mentioned that it was vulgar, but that doesn't necessarily mean that a book is bad. It just depends on how that vulgarity is used. This book is about Angela and John and the very idea of dealing with and facing down doubt. Angela is an interesting character with a lot of issues, and as the novel unfolds we see a lot of this come to life and there are some intense interactions surrounding her preconceptions about the situations she finds herself in.
The problem I had with the book was that the vulgarity (of which there was quite a bit) felt like it was pointless and didn't really belong in the story. I felt like it was simply vulgarity for vulgarity's sake and the book would have been better served without it. There were also some editing problems I found with the book that needed to have been cleaned up, but in general the book was relatively clean.
I felt like the author had a fairly large agenda for this book and some good ideas, but the execution was lacking and the overuse of vulgarity was distracting. I can only give the book 3-stars because sensitive readers would need some sort of warning to steer clear of this one. The writing was okay, the story was interesting and unique, but the execution left something to be desired.
About the Author
As a child, Rob was always fascinated by the stories recited by those around him and the words used to tell them. As he got older, his need to tell his own stories grew, as did his ability to share them in exciting and captivating ways.
However, he wanted to share more than just stories. His primary desire was to create characters with whom people could relate, while at the same time bringing them through a journey from which most would crumble.
His degree in Psychology was the first step toward getting beneath the surface of the people in his life. What followed was a lifelong search for what makes people tick – what forces them to become evil when deep down in their heart of hearts, they are yearning for love. Rob’s characters walk this search with him, deep into the human psyche, creating psychological thrillers from every day events.
Rob’s first book “In the Shadow of Stone” continues to receive great praise and is selling well in both electronic and paperback formats. His current book, “One Last Lie” is much darker than his first, with characters who hold bits and pieces of strangers he’s known, friends he’s had and lunatics he’s only read about.
“This book hits home for me,” says Rob. “There were a few pages that made me laugh out loud as I wrote them... and many that made me cry. And the great thing is, I’m finding that many readers of this book are experiencing the same emotions.”
Through social and other media, Rob hopes to get “One Last Lie” into the hands of millions, so that they, too, can experience the ups, downs, twists, turns and final tragedy that has helped make this book a Five-Star contender
