Leo is one of the good guys. A prosecutor that has been known to go above and way beyond for his clients. Leo didn’t have an easy start in life and still has baggage from things that happened. When a gangster turns up dead with his DNA and fingerprints all over the crime scene, he knows this might be the end of the line…maybe.

Holy cow. David Ellis can weave a story. My head is still spinning from all the bombs dropped continuously throughout this book. But nothing felt outlandish or out of place….I loved it!

After reading Look Closer earlier this year I jumped at the opportunity to read this one because of how much I loved it. While I didn’t love it AS MUCH as Look Closer this is still a diabolical and solid thriller that had me on the edge on my seat from start to finish. A pathological liar for an MC? So much fun. A thriller that deals with real tough topics? Sign me up. All around, this crime thriller was an excellent read and I plowed through it because I simply couldn’t stop reading. If you enjoy darker thrillers and can deal with things such as human trafficking, sex crimes, violence, espionage, corrupt officers, and murder then this is a must read for you.

𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗙𝗘𝗖𝗧 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗙𝗔𝗡𝗦 𝗢𝗙
❥ Dark Crime Thrillers
❥ Books with multiple POVs
❥ Gritty Thrillers

𝗠𝗬 𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Fast paced and twisty David Ellis doesn’t disappoint. This book was a wild ride. I love a book that I can’t figure out the ending till I’m there and this one did it for me.

This is an incredible mystery/thriller. I absolutely love this author's work. His attention to detail is astounding. He weaves a fantastic web of intrigue, and the ending is incredibly satisfying. "Look Closer" by this author was amazing, and this book is a very close second. I wholeheartedly recommend this author and this book.

Thanks to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons for an e-arc in exchange for an unbiased review.

★★★ 3/5 stars

𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 :
-unreliable, morally grey narrators
-the movie The Accountant
-complex plot lines
-organized crime/mafia vibes
-shows like Chicago PD + Law & Order
-multiple POVs & timeline jumps
-Chicago setting

𝙈𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨 :
This book is packed full of secrets, lies, misdirection & unpredictable (sometimes unrealistic) twists.

It read like an extremely long episode of Chicago PD. There was definitely some action & intrigue, but it could have been SO much shorter. The first half of the book was confusing & hard to follow with lots of characters to keep track of. It didn’t pick up until around the 60% mark, & by that time I really didn’t care what happened.

The audiobook had 3 narrators, one for each POV. I was definitely more interested in Leo’s chapters & found myself wishing there were more of those with less of the other 2 perspectives.

There were a lot of lies in this book, but were they The Best Lies? I’m not so sure. I did find it interesting enough to hold my attention, but I didn’t love it the way I loved Look Closer.

Thank you @netgalley & @putnambooks for opportunity to read this arc.

David Ellis's The Best Lies is a thriller that weaves a complex web of deceit, suspense, and moral ambiguity. The novel introduces us to Leo Balanoff, a pathological liar with a knack for bending the truth to his will. His life takes a dramatic turn when he's falsely accused of murder, forcing him to confront his past and the lies that have shaped him.

Ellis masterfully constructs a narrative that keeps readers guessing until the very end. The plot is intricate, with multiple layers of deception that unfold gradually, revealing shocking truths about the characters and their motivations. Leo is a fascinating and deeply flawed protagonist, whose charisma and intelligence are matched only by his propensity for dishonesty.

While the pacing is relentless, the novel doesn't shy away from exploring the psychological impact of lying and its consequences. Ellis delves into the complexities of human nature, raising questions about identity, trust, and the blurred lines between truth and fiction.

The Best Lies is a must-read for fans of thrillers who crave unexpected twists and turns. It's a gripping tale that will leave you breathless and questioning the nature of reality.

David Ellis does it again. I just love his writing and he is a auto buy author for me. Just amazing as always.

We follow Leo our main character who cannot tell the truth to save his live. He runs into his ex Andi and realizes what he is in trouble for she is also involved. Leo decides to turn the case upside down but he doesn't know what hes exposing.

This is a book with twist and turns and edge of your seat action. This was the perfect mix for a book. Was great read and great writing.

Thanks Net Galley for letting me read and review.

Published by G.P. Putnam's Sons on July 23, 2024

Leo Balanoff has a younger brother named Trace. They were raised by a mother who purchased them after she inadvertently killed her own children. She was a decent if overprotective mother to her stolen children, although Leo eventually came to doubt her claim that they needed to keep moving because someone was trying to kill them.

Leo’s college life had a little hiccup when he apparently committed a felony assault by punching a cop. The circumstances surrounding the hiccup are revealed as the story unfolds.

In college, Leo became involved with Andi Piotrowski, who planned to become a cop so she could take down human traffickers like the one who sold Trace and Leo. They’ve been apart for five years, but Leo is disappointed to learn that she quit her law enforcement job and is providing private security for a medical research business.

Leo is now a lawyer, although his license was suspended for five years because he induced a guilty man’s confession to save his innocent client by pretending to be an FBI agent. One of the quirks of our criminal justice system is that FBI agents can pretend to be anyone without consequence but pretending to be an FBI agent is a crime. In an effort to save his license, Leo’s law firm arranged for a mental health evaluation that proclaimed Leo to be a pathological liar. Why they thought that would help is beyond me.

As the novel begins, Leo is facing a trial for murdering Cyrus Balik. The evidence against Leo seems solid: his fingerprints on the murder weapon, his blood on the victim’s sleeve. The reader will wonder how Leo is going to get out of this mess.

Most of the novel tells Leo’s backstory. Leo was representing Bonnie Tessler as a cooperating witness against Cyrus. A few weeks after Leo and Bonnie have confidential meetings with the FBI and local law enforcement authorities, Bonnie dies from a drug overdose. Leo believes Bonnie was murdered. He views Cyrus as the logical suspect but wonders how Cyrus learned that Bonnie was cooperating against him.

Leo has more than one reason to regard Cyrus as worthy of vengeance. Leo’s connections to Bonnie and Cyrus are revealed as the story unfolds.

Shortly after Cyrus dies, Leo is drawn into a criminal plot orchestrated by Nico Katsaros. Leo’s connections to Nico are revealed as the story unfolds.

The crime involves industrial espionage for China’s secret police. Chris Roberti is an FBI agent who earns extra income by helping a spy for China. Chris introduces the spy to Nico. Andi has access to plans for technology that the Chinese government would love to acquire. By threatening to expose evidence that Leo committed a murder, Nico induces Leo to act as a courier, ferrying the plans from Andi to the Chinese spy. The criminal plot doesn’t go as planned, in part because Leo’s adversaries underestimate his intelligence.

David Ellis constructed the story brick by brick, each new row adding facts that illuminate or belie facts that form the novel’s foundation. By the novel’s last act, several characters have a motive to murder Leo. Other characters are not who they seem to be. Mistaken identity subplots abound. Good guys cannot easily be distinguished from bad guys.

David Ellis invites the reader to reevaluate the story and its characters after each plot development. My only complaint is that Ellis continues to lay long rows of bricks late in the story, after key plot points are resolved, extending the book by a significant length when abbreviated scenes would have hastened the story to its conclusion. I nevertheless appreciated the plot structure, the strong storytelling, and the intriguing characters.

RECOMMENDED

Leo is a pathological liar and has already been in some trouble. As a lawyer who is trying to right his wrongs he steps into a situation that could turn ugly. Leo gets pressured into a FBI case that could help him for the rest of his life but then he runs into his ex Andi and he realizes she is also involved. Leo decides to turn the case upside down and things start to go haywire but little does he know what is he really exposing.

This was a true political thriller and something I would compare to a spy novel. It kept me on the edge of my seat and I read in one night because I wanted to know what was happening. I didn't think that it would take the turn it did but it was extremely thrilling and was perfect! I thought all in all the book was an interesting and thrilling read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Putnam Books for this E-ARC.

I don’t normally like books that make me feel dumb. But for some reason I would still read David Ellis books even if he called me dumb to my face.

He has a way of writing books that leave me speechless. Which is a problem when trying to write a review. I, for some reason, keep trying to guess what’s gonna happen. I will never guess right. I will never know the twists. There’s just so many. And they are so good.

I don’t actually want to write a description of this book incase I accidentally give something away.

I will just simply say read it. Do yourself a favor and read this book. You won’t regret it. You won’t be able to guess what’s gonna happen. You’ll gasp multiple times. I stood up multiple times while reading this. It was a wild time.

I finished this book in one sitting and I think that tells you everything you need to know. So twisty & suspenseful and SO well executed.

A bit of switching from then to now. In a few spots I got confused, but overall it was probably just me. Leo is a great character; with one heck of a life seeking to save innocent clients and also fixing his damaged past. Great thriller!
Raised as a different person to save his and his brother’s life.

This book is very different from Ellis' last one. It's not as thrilling but just as twisted and surprising. I enjoyed it but had to adjust my expectations a bit to get there.

This plot is a behemoth, intricate and full of misdirection and subterfuge. I stopped trying to figure it out and just went along for the ride -- I know from experience that I won't guess all the ways everyone and everything are interconnected until it's revealed. It all makes for a great exploration of corporate espionage, foreign spies, and morality.

I had the same issues with this book as I did the last one: it's hard to connect to the characters and the narrative is unnecessarily repetitive. The former makes sense since there are a lot of characters and you never know who is telling the truth. The latter is just annoying.

All said, I like Ellis' writing on the whole and will happily recommend this book!

<i>Many thanks to NetGalley, G.P. Putnam's Sons, and the author for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review.</i>

Having truly enjoyed Look Closer, I jumped at the chance to read and review The Best Lies. I know I'm at outlier, but unfortunately I struggled to get through it. This was an interesting story with twists and turns, but it took too long to get everything set up and going and I never really got invested in these characters.

Was so excited to receive an ARC of this book. David Ellis is great at writing stories full of twists, and twisting the twist into another twist. So pretty much.. this book is full of them. When you think you see what’s coming, you don’t. This is a story of Leo, a pathological liar and lawyer who is accused of murder. Did he do it? Why are the police officials suspicious?
The Best Lies by David Ellis hit the shelves on July 23, 2024. It’s a must read this summer. Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a well written story. I enjoyed the characters. This will probably work very well for people that like crime stories. It's not my preference.

When Cyrus Balik, a ruthless drug dealer and human trafficker is found dead and Leo’s fingerprints are found on the murder weapon, Leo Balanoff has a decision to make-risk his life going undercover for the Feds or head straight to prison for murder?

Leo accepts the FBI’s offer—but who should he fear more? The ambitious FBI agent, Chris Roberti who is his handler, or Cyrus’s cruel, calculating crime boss, Nico Katsaros?

And, how does his ex, Andi Piotrowski, a former cop and “the one who got away tie into this case?


I really enjoyed the first book by this Author. But I didn’t love this one. I think I just am not into this type of thriller (crime, mob, fbi). Not a bad story at all and still a great author- but just not my type of thriller

This is the 2nd book I have read by David Ellis and although I loved Look Closer more, this had all the makings of a wild twisty thriller. It kept me guessing the whole time. I really liked, not only the multiple viewpoints, but the way he jumps back and forth in time for big reveals about what is really going on in the story.

This story take place in Chicago where Leo is accused of murdering a boss of a crime ring and gets convinced to take on a job to save himself from going to prison but not is all as it seems and that is all anyone should know before going into this book!

I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend for people who like fast paced mysteries that make you think the entire time.

Ellis always writes a thriller that keeps you guessing, but that you know will tie up in a nice little bow. This one is no exception. I could have used a little more action, quicker the pace. But overall very solid.

Thank you so much @kayepublicity & to the publisher for a #gifted copy! Thank you PRH Audio for the audiobook!
——
𝐿𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝐶𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑟 was among my top favorite 2022 books so naturally, I was very excited to read The Best Lies. While this book differs from its predecessor in many ways, the fine attention to plot details and heart-pounding pacing remains the same.

The Best Lies is part thriller, part police procedural, part corporate espionage drama, and at the center of it all, is Leo Balanoff, a criminal defense attorney, who has a very dark past and is also a diagnosed pathological liar. Now here’s the fun part. The reader will be questioning multiple times throughout the book if Leo is a good guy or a bad guy despite his diagnosis and that was where I enjoyed this book the most.

Aside from Leo, the other main players include Andi, a cop turned to private security but also Leo’s former lover. We also have gangsters who are involved in human trafficking and drug dealing. Finally, we have Chris, an FBI agent who has just battled cancer and badly needs to get his mojo back in the FBI game. The chapters are divided into Leo, Andi and Chris’ POVs with some chapters dedicated to Leo’s past.

As you can expect with David Ellis’ writing, nothing is as at it seems and everyone is suspicious until you reach the end. I also appreciate that we get little nuggets of twists throughout the book as opposed to twists poured down like cold water in the final pages that some thrillers do. At the end of the book, my mind was a pretzel from the rollercoaster ride. This book absolutely lives up to its title. 1000% recommend.