Once A Liar
By A. F. Brady
3/5
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About this ebook
The next gripping thriller from AF Brady…
Peter Caine, a cutthroat Manhattan defense attorney, worked ruthlessly to become the best at his job. On the surface, he is charming and handsome, but inside he is cold and heartless. He fights without remorse to acquit murderers, pedophiles and rapists.
When Charlie Doyle, the daughter of the Manhattan DA—and Peter’s former lover—is murdered, Peter’s world is quickly sent into a tailspin. He becomes the prime suspect as the DA, a professional enemy of Peter’s, embarks on a witch hunt to avenge his daughter’s death, stopping at nothing to ensure Peter is found guilty of the murder.
In the challenge of his career and his life, Peter races against the clock to prove his innocence. As the evidence mounts against him, he’s forced to begin unraveling his own dark web of lies and confront the sins of his past. But the truth of who killed Charlie Doyle is more twisted and sinister than anyone could have imagined…
A. F. Brady
A.F. Brady is a New York State Licensed Mental Health Counselor/Psychotherapist. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Brown University and two Masters degrees in Psychological Counseling from Columbia University. She is a life-long New Yorker, and resides in Manhattan with her husband and their family. The Blind is her first novel.
Read more from A. F. Brady
Once a Liar: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Blind Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5
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Reviews for Once A Liar
14 ratings3 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/54.5 stars.
Narrated in first person by sociopath lawyer Peter Caine, Once a Liar by A. F. Brady is an absolutely compelling mystery.
Peter is a cold, calculating man whose every decision is based on how his choices benefit him. A completely remade, successful defense attorney, his marriage to Juliette ended not long after the birth of their only son, Jamie. Seeing little advantage to paying any attention to Jamie, Peter is content to ignore both son and ex-wife until tragedy strikes. After Jamie comes to live with him, Peter is still aloof and indifferent to the teenager and he leaves his live-in girlfriend Claire to parent the young man.
Peter has recently ended his long time, on again/off again relationship with Charlotte "Charlie" Doyle. However, after she is brutally murdered, suspicion falls on Peter. Fearing his simmering feud with District Attorney Harrison Doyle will result in his arrest, Peter and his partner/attorney Sinan Khan try to unearth evidence that will point to Charlie's killer. Will Peter uncover the perpetrator's identity before he arrested for Charlie's murder?
Peter is an incredibly manipulative man who will do anything to succeed. Except for one memorable (and regrettable) time, he is also quite secretive and cagey about his past. At first completely enamored with Juliette, it does not take make for his love to turn to disdain. Although Peter makes no effort to hide his affair with Charlie during his marriage to Juliette, he is much more circumspect with Claire. He has been completely upfront and honest with Claire about what he does and does not want from their relationship. Fully aware that she has put aside her dream of having kids for him, he puts her yearning for motherhood to good use once Jamie comes to live with them. Having finally seen an advantage to being a parent, Peter's attempts to get to know his son are rather awkward and stilted.
The investigation into Charlie's murder immediately focuses on Peter. With a former client publicly pointing the finger at him, Peter is desperate to change the narrative in hopes of avoiding arrest. Despite his strenuous claims of innocence, it is impossible for Sinan to completely believe Peter. With the noose slowly tightening, Peter makes one last desperate attempt to clear his name. Will his plan succeed?
Once a Liar is a fiendishly clever and highly entertaining mystery. Peter is easy to hate as he carelessly breaks the hearts of the people who love him. With a series of stunning twists and diabolical turns, A. F. Brady keeps readers in suspense about who murdered Charlie and why until the novel's shocking conclusion. A devilishly fascinating read that I absolutely loved and highly recommend to readers of the genre. - Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I did like this book. Although, I found myself not fully invested in the characters, which did take away some from my enjoyment of this book. The other factor was that I found the suspense levels to be a medium. There was some slow burn to the story. At times I did find myself re-reading parts. Despite these factors, I did like this book and would read another book from this author. When it came to the main character, Peter, I had kind of a love/hate relationship with him. Hate because he was void of emotions and thus this is why he was good at his job. Of course, it was easy to see how Peter came to be as I got to know his mentor. The reason I did have a love reason with him is because as much as I did not like him, I was not fully convinced he rightfully deserved the situation he found himself in. However as the saying goes "Once a Liar, Always a Liar."
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The first-person narrator of A.F. Brady’s Once a Liar is exactly what many people assume all Defense Attorneys must be to succeed- callous, soulless and greedy. The book opens as Peter attempts to feign human emotions at the funeral of his ex-wife. He is dismissive of his caring girlfriend and clearly dreads the fact that his estranged 16-year-old son will be coming to live with them. It turns out that Peter was not always this way, evidenced in flashbacks to the time when he met the deceased woman and began his career. Ashamed of his lackluster childhood, Peter has reinvented himself by creating a fabricated life story that allows him to assimilate into the upper echelons of NY society. His ex-wife just happened to be the daughter of his hero and mentor, a famous and ruthless defense lawyer. Over time, Peter loses more and more of himself as he begins to adopt the attitudes and habits of his father-in-law. In the present timeline, the consequences of his secret past and increasingly anti-social and amoral behavior are coming to fruition, and Peter is accused of the murder of a long-time rival DA’s daughter. The evidence piles up against him and even his closest associates don’t believe in his innocence. Even the reader may be suspicious of this character that repeatedly revels in his lack of a moral center. The mystery of the murder concludes satisfyingly, but some of the plot elements are problematic. Much of Peter’s character is based on the idea of sociopathy as predisposed, triggered by a trauma, and potentially reversible by another significant event. If left unaddressed, it can develop into psychopathy. This is not how modern psychological theory describes these traits (diagnosis is Antisocial Personality Disorder). The women in the story are portrayed as unbelievably long-suffering and patient with this man who seems to have no redeeming qualities and is emotionally abusive. The clues for the mystery are a bit transparent and many will be able to spot them easily before the end, thereby ruining a pivotal twist. In summary, Once a Liar is a passably decent thriller with some interesting plot elements that are sometimes overshadowed by characters that are too one-dimensional to connect with the reader.