Deceit

by James Siegel

It looks like just another car crash: a head-on collision on a lonely stretch of desert highway that leaves one driver dead. Yet Tom Valle, the local newspaperman assigned to the story, is damned good at spotting lies. He should know--once a star reporter at America's most prestigious daily, he was disgraced after being caught spinning columns of lies and exiled to the smallest town paper that would have him.


Seeking personal redemption and the resurrection of his career, Valle investigates a trail of cover-up, fraud, and murder stretching back for decades. But the path of corruption is so dark, Valle wonders if this story will redeem him, or kill him.

Genres: Thriller, Mystery, Fiction, Suspense, Crime, Audiobook, Unfinished

371 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Kelly · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was eager to read this book after thoroughly enjoying "Derailed" by the same author.

Big mistake. I was completely and utterly disappointed in this book. The ending seemed entirely far-fetched and completely unrealistic. I realize it's fiction, but it was borderline ridiculous to me.

Also, had I not been a history teacher that used to teach the development of the nuclear bomb, its testing, etc, I may not have even understood the ending as clearly.

[Bruce Stoessner · Rating 2 out of 5]

Starts out as a very interesting story. It has wacky twists that make it hard to believe. The ending is really far out and unsatisfying. This is the third book of Siegal's that I've read and the first, "Derailed", was his best. They just got less satisfying for me as I read the next. I'm totally done with any more of his books.

[Deniz Horowits · Rating 5 out of 5]

A first-rate thriller. The more I read this, the more I wanted and hoped that the plot would base on a true story, or at least that it would contain a grain of truth. The author spins a fantastic tale of his feverish imagination:

A remote American town is wiped out by a flood as a result of a dam collapse in 1954. A failed reporter in a nearby village is intrigued by the story and opens a deep and passionate Pandora's box.

After I finished reading, I searched the internet for a thread that would lead me to the author's sources. I couldn't find anything. He invented everything of his imagination.
Fantastic!

Highly recommended!!

[Sharon Lensky · Rating 3 out of 5]

First time I picked up anything by this author. The plot dragged at times but the pace picked up nicely later in the book. It was just a little too clever to be believable in my opinion but it was also a little scary to realize that government cover-ups do happen and that someone can easily disappear. I may pick up another one by this author if there are more on audio and the summary looks interesting.

[Alberto Valverde · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me ha gustado. Al principio engancha su sentido del humor aunque no parece una historia que vaya mucho más allá, pero a medida que avanzamos no solo el humor no desaparece sino que el argumento desemboca en un curioso misterio más profundo de lo que imaginamos de inicio. De hecho me ha llevado a descubrir un acontecimiento del que no tenía ni idea y que fue real. Un autor de esos que te deja con ganas de repetir.

[Phil James · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was in a holiday home I was staying in. I have never heard of the author or the book but it sounded pretty interesting and so I gave it a go. Great book. Easy to read with witty and sparkling dialogue. The protagonist is a disgraced reporter who has taken up a job with a small town newspaper. There he comes across a car crash that doesn't add up. He digs deeper and comes across a 50 year old mystery. Well worth a read and the 360 odd pages fly by.

[Maximiliano Peraita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una verdadera sorpresa. Compré este libro en una de las tantas casas de ofertas de Villa Gesell, Argentina; en uno de esos clásicos combos «3 x pocos pesos».
Resultó ser un libro sumamente entretenido y muy bien escrito, por momentos pensé que se iba a desbarrancar pero logró mantenerse en lo alto hasta el final.
Grata sorpresa.

[Makayla Long · Rating 2 out of 5]

I will have to give this book a 2.5/5. Aside from the casual racism that is mentioned several times in the book (highlighting that this was written in the early 2000s), the ending was a let down. The boy who cries wolf multiple times coincidentally gets assigned an impossible article to write over a devastating incident, and has hope that his former editor will release said information…

[Lit Hamerrsmith · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a perfect book !!!!
This book, which is all one big fiction left me hanging in the air trying to help the hero of the book to discover the truth.
I have no more words to describe this book except Bravo!

[Brian O'Leary · Rating 3 out of 5]

A reporter that was making up stories finally get the real story

[Stephen Selbst · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice premise for a thriller, a disgraced journalist who fabricated stories stumbles onto a mammoth cover-up, but nobody believes him. The weakness is that the story ultimately proves improbable.

[Sarah Rigg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining, but not memorable.

[Jesus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Es un libro bastante bueno, eso sin decir que a medida que avanza las historia te deja mas intrigado por saber lo que pasará después.

[CJ Dennis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a well written novel that lacks the building suspense that was evident in Siegel’s other books.it is a worthwhile read, lots of lies and deceit.

[Marcia · Rating 1 out of 5]

The worst book I have ever read!!!

[Karen Suhorsky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book I believe it is the first I have ever read by this author but won't be the last. Riveting.

[Tonya Lucas · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was so slow and I lost interest from the slow story. It was a good book, but just read too slow for me to stay connected.

[Jim Shubnell]

a bit confusing with the characters. The main character was actually a patient in psych ward! potrayed as a demoted journalist. Difficult to follow.

[Maureen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nope did not like this book

[Bob Box · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read in 2006. Explosive thriller about a disgraced journalist who stubbles upon an unimaginable conspiracy. One of my favorites that year.

[Thomas F. Marsh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting premise but confusing at times.

[Zale Tabakman · Rating 2 out of 5]

eh.
story was one of those forward/backward things.
plot was not believable
the story didt hold together

[Andrea Escaffi · Rating 3 out of 5]

:)

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This review was originally posted to Jen in Bookland

I started reading Deceit while on vacation and it was literally the only English language book to borrow where we were staying. It sounded alright and a good read for a rainy day.

Tom Valle is working at a small town paper. He used to be a hot shot reporter, but ended up losing it all after it came out that he made up a lot of his stories. His career was ruined and he had a bit of a rough time of it, but was trying to make a new start with the small town paper. Not that it was exciting or anything, but at least he was still reporting.

Then some strange things start happening. He is sent out to work on a story about a 100 year old lady at the home in town, then a car accident with a dead body that just doesn't add up, and finding someone broke into his house and Tom is determined to get to the bottom of it all. It doesn't seem like it all fits together, but what if it is all connected? Who broke into his place and why? What is actually happening? And why won't anyone talk about the flood that wiped out the entire neighboring town many years ago?

It was interesting reading the story as it is written like Tom is writing it as he is waiting for the bad guys to get him. He is writing it to you, the reader, so you can see what happened. You can connect the dots just like he did. I liked how everything unfolded slowly. All the pieces started fitting together to make the whole picture.

The bad guys were really great. Everything that happens, how everything is connected and everything they did to Tom was genius. I really enjoyed that. Overall what was going on was a bit eh - the story they wanted hidden, but it was a good read. The writing itself was a bit lacking for me which made it just a good read and not a great read. Still a fun way to spend a rainy day at the beach.

[Monique · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmm..was this close to giving this book a four until the last twenty or so pages then the page turning action stopped, the plot was revealed and the rest of the book dragged for me..since I did enjoy most of it I finished but was disappointed with the reveal..Okay so to set the stage there is a disgraced reporter Tom Valle, a journalistic failure who was revealed to have fabricated at least fifty six stories..After being exposed, humiliated and fired he wallowed in his misfortune until he found a job at another newspaper in a small town in California..As he began to accept his life as a writer covering the fascinating aspects of mall openings, birthday parties and regular small town life he picks up the scent of a story of a lifetime, but who would believe a self proclaimed and proven liar? I thought the backstory on our main character was awesome and I love how his lies were exposed little by little throughout the book as the new story emerges...Tom was sent to cover a woman's 100th birthday and a local car crash and those two events sparked a string of events worth investigating and the truth, while shocking was a little farfetched..To be clear I cant say enough about the writing, I found his style humourous, witty and compelling, one reviewer even claimed James Siegel has a snarky sense of humor and honestly there is no better word to describe his style, it makes you read, laugh and sneer at his word choice and his characters..I recommend this book I supppose, there are political and nuclear references, conspiracy plots and some interesting concepts here but overall I didnt enjoy the ending and wish there was more..will definitely check out more from this author as I was totally blown away by the movie Derailed and want to read something just as gripping..

[David Diamantes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Deceit was a good, but not great story. Siegel has a gift for creating great characters with plenty of depth. His protagonist in this story, like the one in Derailed, is a likable, smart guy with a flaw that's his undoing. Siegel's dialog is excellent. Read it aloud and you'll find yourself performing... that's the sign of a good storyteller. Why only 3 stars? Deceit was a little weaker than Derailed. There were a couple of places where I had to suspend reality in order to make it work. Then there was the cardinal sin of getting the details of a 1960s TV show wrong. The sheriff calls Tom Valle, "Lucas" as in Lucas McCord, the disgraced Army officer accused of cowardice in the TV show Branded. He's saying that Tom is a liar-- which he is, or has been. Neat touch that I liked. But then Siegel incorrectly refers to the battle where McCord was accused of running as Bull Run, NOT Bitter Creek. Wrong battle, wrong war. There are a few things you have to get right-- references to guns, music, movies and TV shows. I had to fight not to put it down. I'm glad I didn't.

[Bill Lancaster · Rating 3 out of 5]

This fast-paced novel starts with an automobile accident that is not really an accident, but the scene of a murder, though this is not obvious at the time. It continues with the 100th birthday of Belinda Washington in a retirement home and a reporter's discovery of a current happy birthday card from a son who is considered long dead.

From there it quickly moves into a page-turner with a wild series of incidents, some believable, some not so. Such as dam failures, the disappearance of a town, mental hospitals, a nuclear disaster and the elaborate attempts to cover all of this up.

I most enjoyed the numerous dropped hints that are planted early and came back later to be instrumental to the ending. My biggest disappointment was that the last pages seemed meaninglessly because the reader already knew the ultimate outcome.

With a story too convoluted to recite, a Jayson Blair-like main character, and though not a great novel, it was still fun to read - the author is fast on his feet, and a master of the snappy dialog.

[Bern · Rating 2 out of 5]

Deceit is a tough one to review because although I rather enjoyed Mr. Siegel's style and thought the book was very good overall, some aspects of it were confusing and the plot gets hazy by the book's end.

I think it was a stroke of genius how the author used Tom Valle's widely-heard-of discredit to make me wonder whether the whole thing was just another lie Tom was spinning for some deranged purpose his mind felt needed tending to. As thrillers go, Deceit had me at the figurative edge of my seat, but by its end the entire story felt at odds with the dry, grounded tone used to convey it; everything was a bit too convoluted and slightly contrived.

I will probably read other books by James Siegel, especially since I remember watching the movie based on his other novel, Derailed, quite some years ago, but just as with Tom Valle's fake news pieces, I will read Siegel's books with a grain of salt.

[Carl Alves · Rating 3 out of 5]

In Deceit, Tom Valle, once a prominent reporter whose career has derailed, is covering what appears to be an ordinary car crash, but as he dives into the case, he starts to see that this is no ordinary case. The man who died in the crash had been castrated, and despite his license claiming him to be a white male, he was actually a black man. This plunges the novel into a tale lies, corruption, and conspiracy.

There was sufficient tension and twists in this novel, but there were also major plot holes that bring it down. The writing is also subpar at times. If the plot had been tightened, then I think this could be a good novel, but as it stands it is imminently forgettable and doesn’t stand out in any way. Just an okay novel.

Carl Alves – author of Blood Street

[Victoria Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Deceit" by James Siegel is a mystery fiction that's written in a non-fiction style. Although the protagonist, journalist Tom Valle isn't very likeable his proficiency as a journalist is undeniable. As the story unfolds it doesn't seem that all of the parts will come together but Siegel does a great job of wrapping everything up. Providing the tension between Valle's past in New York and his present in Littleton, California is a thrilling incident that reflects contemporary issues our society is still grappling with. The writing, though exciting, is also thought provoking making for an unforgettable mystery that had me pondering its message long after I finished it.