Simply lies

by David Baldacci

Large Print, 2023

Publication

GCP Grand Central Large Print, 2023

Collection

Eiland Center

Call number

Large Print Fiction B

Physical description

580 p.; 24 cm

Status

Available

Call number

Large Print Fiction B

Description

Fiction. Mystery. Thriller. HTML: From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The 6:20 Man comes a twisting new psychological thriller in which two women�??one a former detective, the other a dangerous con artist�??go head-to-head in an electrifying game of cat and mouse. Mickey Gibson, single mother and former detective, leads a hectic life similar to that of many moms: juggling the demands of her two small children with the tasks of her job working remotely for ProEye, a global investigation company that hunts down wealthy tax and credit cheats. When Mickey gets a call from a colleague named Arlene Robinson, she thinks nothing of Arlene's unusual request for her to go inventory the vacant home of an arms dealer who cheated ProEye's clients and fled. That is, until she arrives at the mansion to discover a dead body in a secret room�??and that nothing is as it seems. Not only does the arms dealer not exist but the murder victim turns out to be Harry Lancaster, a man with mob ties who used to be in Witness Protection. What's more, no one named Arlene Robinson works at ProEye. In the blink of an eye, Gibson has become a prime suspect in a murder investigation�??and now her job is also on the line until she proves that she was set up. Before long, Gibson is locked in a battle of wits with a brilliant woman with no name, a hidden past, and unknown motives�??whose end game is as mysterious as it… (more)

Genres

User reviews

LibraryThing member Cats57

If you can put aside pure logic for most of this book, then you may find this an enjoyable read.

I had some difficulty keeping track of all the characters, the AKAs, and the timelines. Figuring out who was genuinely evil was near impossible, and the number of red herrings was enough to repopulate

the Atlantic!

I love mafia books, and I wish this book dealt with that aspect a little more. I got bogged down and flustered when electronic currency (near the end) and the like were being discussed, as I had no clue what the author was talking about.

It took me a little while to drop my sense of logic and really get into this book. However, once I did get into it, I was in it for the long haul.

*ARC was supplied by the publisher Grand Central Publishing, the author, and NetGalley.

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LibraryThing member LiteraryLeftovers

Simply Lies by David Baldacci

Mickey Gibson has settled into her life as a single mother - working from home, far from the dangerous streets she used to prowl as part of the police force. When a mysterious phone call upends her comfortable existence, Mickey is drawn into a tantalizing world filled

with secret identities, murder, and a whole ton of cold, hard cash.

Baldacci is a true master of his genre, and for anyone who has liked reading his previous novels, Simply Lies will be sure to satisfy. It has all the hallmarks of a typical Baldacci book, from the steadily moving pace, to the thrilling reveals. He seems to enjoy creating strong female characters, and Mickey is no exception to that standard (nor is her foil - but I can’t even name that character without giving away too much of the plot). The storyline is intriguing, the developments easily draw you in, and overall this is a very entertaining read. If I had a criticism, it’s the fact that he often refers to the main character by her last name - something a female author usually wouldn’t do with her characters, but it is a commonplace tactic for a male author, and a frequently used device from Baldacci. This may be more of a comment than a critique, but it is interesting to note. I am a longtime fan of Baldacci’s writing, and I will be interested to see how Mickey Gibson is received - will she be interesting enough to star in her own series? After this adventure, I’d be happy to read more.

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LibraryThing member lamb521

Title: Simply Lies
Author: David Baldacci
Pages: 432
Year: 2023
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
My rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Mickey Gibson is a single mom, a former police officer, and a divorcée who works for a firm called ProEye. Her job is to attempt to find assets that can be claimed by the

government who is owed money by uber rich people on the dodge. Out of the blue Mickey gets a call from a supposed coworker and is tasked with going to a home to view what tangible assets can be impounded to pay off back taxes. When Mickey arrives, she immediately notices that something is not right since there is no electricity, a yet to be identified odor, and it looks as if no one has been there is ages. However, that assumption quickly changes when Mickey locates a body that’s been there for a while.
When the police arrive, Mickey quickly becomes the focus of their investigation when her employer denies sending her to the home. It soon becomes apparent that Mickey hasn’t only been conned but purposefully pulled into a mob mess with a long history! The action in the tale really begins as Mickey gets contacted multiple times by the woman who sent her to the house. Unless her identity can be figured out, Mickey’s life is now in danger!
Clarisse is the name of the woman who has contacted Mickey and wants Mickey to help figure out who killed the man. Throughout the novel Clarisse assumes many identities. She has multiple costumes she changes into with the hope that her true identity is never discovered. If it is, she believes her life will end. The interesting thread in the story is that Clarisse and Mickey have crossed paths many times over the years, except Mickey hasn’t recognized her.
I did enjoy the story and hope these two characters come back in new thrillers in the future. At first, it was hard to see where the story line was going, but if readers press through it makes sense. There are themes of sexual abuse in the book, so please don’t read it if it’s a no-go subject for you. I found some of the material in the book interesting regarding WITSEC, NFT’s, and more. How much is real and how much is fiction? I don’t know. Once again, it seems as if the antagonists were from a certain community, and I don’t know why that needs to be in the story repeatedly over the last two books. I hope the second 6:20 Man that is due out in the fall of 2023 has a stronger story line and mystery without the useless repeated characterizations.
Note: The opinions shared in this review are solely my responsibility.

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LibraryThing member CandyH

This was quite a thriller by a favorite author. At times it was hard to figure out who was doing what. And some of the information about money was hard to understand.

LibraryThing member waldhaus1

Two women investigate murder of mob accountant. They also work to discover money he stole from mob.

LibraryThing member GrandmaCootie

I always look forward to the latest book by David Baldacci because I know it will be intense, suspenseful and keep me turning pages as fast as I can. Simply Lies is simply fantastic. Mickey Gibson is a single mom of two small children who used to have an exciting career in law enforcement and now

spends her days working remotely tracking wealthy tax and credit cheats. Not very exciting but it pays the bills and allows her to be home with her children. Not very exciting until she receives an unusual assignment which turns out to be a set up and results in her being a murder suspect. No more boring days working remotely until she figures out who is playing her and ensures her family is safe.

Mickey is clever, tenacious and a character I would like to see more of. She is a constant, but your loyalties will shift back and forth about the rest of the characters, and you will be surprised many times over until the very satisfying ending. Baldacci continues to delight. Highly recommend.

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LibraryThing member Ronrose1

I won’t lie, this book, Simply Lies, by David Baldacci, is simply not up to his usual writing. I couldn’t really get into the main character, Mickey Gibson and her upchucking kids. An ex-cop, now doing home computer based tracing of funds of shady characters for a major investigation company,

Mickey is all too easily drawn into helping an unknown caller into an all too risky scheme. Whatever happened to look before you leap? Well if she did we wouldn’t have much of a plot would we. It just doesn’t play for me that a supposedly well qualified fact checker would fall so easily for the story line presented by the unsubstantiated caller that is the crutch of this book. If you start off with a weak basis for the plot, it is hard to play catch up through the rest of the book. The book is pretty standard fair throughout. Not really up to Mr. Baldacci’s usually superior writing. This book was provided for review by #NovelSuspectsInsiders.

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LibraryThing member silversurfer

A very complex story with engaging characters.
Looks like this will be a new series.
Looking forward to it and anything new by one of my favorite Authors

LibraryThing member Judiex

Mickey Gibson changed her life when she left her job as a detective to stay home and raise her small children, one of whom vomits too much.. A single mother, she began working remotely for an investigation company that focused on tax evasion.
She didn’t know a lot of her co-workers and when she

got a call from Arlene Robinson to go inventory the home of an arms dealer, she followed through without checking with the company. Big mistake. When she got to the house, she found a hidden corpse.
She called the police and when the entire situation turns out to be questionable, she becomes the prime suspect and is placed on leave for not following company procedure.
It takes all of her expertise to unwrap all the lies and distortions to find the truth behind the location, the murder, and the mysterious caller.
I have read and appreciated all of David Baldacci’s books. This one was a great disappointment. Unrealistic characters and situations.

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LibraryThing member creighley

Mickey Gibson, single mother and former detective, leads a hectic life similar to that of many moms: juggling the demands of her two children with her job at Pro-Eye, a global investigation company that hunts down wealthy tax and credit cheats.
When Mickey gets a call from a colleague to go

inventory the vacant home of an arms dealer, who cheated Pro-Rye’s clients, she thinks nothing of it. That is, until she arrives and finds a dead body.
Books is slow to develop and not very plausible. Would Mickey REALLY do the things she was told to do by people she had never seen or ,et?? One would hope not…

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LibraryThing member thewanderingjew

Simply lies, David Baldacci, Lisa Flanagan, Corey Carthew

Mickey Gibson is a single mother struggling to make ends meet. A former cop, she now works from home as a digital investigator so she can concentrate on raising her two young children. It seems her husband was “allergic to fatherhood, and

he absconded with another woman, leaving Mick without support. She often turns to her parents for help because money is tight.

On one particular trying morning, Mick gets a call from a fellow employee who asks her to inspect an abandoned mansion for valuable assets. The owner has gone missing without paying his debts. She needs to check to see if anything in the house is worthwhile and can be used to help the company’s clients recoup their losses. The woman, who calls herself Arline, tells Mick that she works for the same boss she does, Jeb, and mentions pertinent information from Mick’s recent conversation with him. Mick trusts her and doesn’t check her out. That turns out to be a big mistake.

When she goes to investigate, she finds a dead body in a secret room, and her life turns upside down. Although she calls it in to the police immediately, she becomes a suspect in the murder. The owner is dead, and it turns out that the woman, Arline, does not exist at her company. Why did she set Mick up? How can Mick prove she is not the killer? Mick’s father is a former cop. When she decides to investigate on her own, to clear her name and protect her family, she calls on him and his contacts for help. It seems the dead man had another identity when her dad walked the beat. He had been a gangster involved with the mob, and his criminal behavior was well-known.
Years before, this victim and his family had been in the FBI Witness Protection Program. He had turned on the mob to save himself. However, at a certain point, he and his family just disappeared. The FBI lost contact with him, but he was still evil. He abused his wife and children, using them to make money. He was involved in sex trafficking, drugs, money laundering and murder. He became a very rich man committing very heinous crimes. Did the mob find him and kill him? Did one of his victims murder him? Many people wanted to find his hidden fortune, too, if not to steal it, then to get a finder’s fee. His mind was demonic and he had left cryptic clues for those who were searching for it.

This book is about people who have been compromised by the system, about good and bad cops, about a compromised FBI, and the breakdown of law and order allowing mob violence to flourish. No one is squeaky clean. Desperate people do desperate things. When Mick involves herself in this complicated, psychological mystery, governed by mind games and manipulation, she places herself and her family in grave danger. She feels she must solve this crime and find out who is using her. It is a puzzle she must solve, and the missing pieces keep her on her toes. The people involved are dangerous and have long memories, holding grudges that will not disappear. Will she succeed? Can she keep her family safe?

Although the book did hold my interest, the dialogue between the characters often seemed trite and/or meant for a young adult audience rather than the general, reading public. It did not feel as exciting as a typical Baldacci mystery. At times, the plot even seemed unrealistic requiring me to suspend disbelief in order to keep reading. There were often extraneous tangents that did nothing to create interest, but seemed meant to fill up pages, like the descriptions of the children eating or throwing up or her visits to the toilet, or the highlights of the babysitter’s time with the kids, or the kidnapping of a woman in an assisted living facility in order to bring two new characters into the plot. Also, the ending seemed a bit like a fairytale, as well, even with the traumatic events that occurred as the hunt for the killers and treasure continued. Still, in spite of the shortcomings, midway, it did get exciting enough to keep me wondering how the drama would be resolved.

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LibraryThing member Carolesrandomlife

I had a great time with this book! I haven’t read too many books in David Baldacci’s impressive backlist but I have enjoyed the ones that I have picked up, so I was thrilled to get the chance to dive into his newest book that kicks off the new Mickey Gibson series. I liked the characters right

away and was quickly absorbed by the mystery. I am so glad that I decided to give this book a try.

Mickey Gibson is a former detective turned private investigator and single mother of two small children. Let’s just say that she has her hands very full juggling the demands of her children with that of her job. She is lucky enough to be able to work remotely from her home but when she gets a call to check something out in person, she agrees. She finds a body belonging to a man that had been a part of the witness protection program. Mickey is soon pulled into a case that might be bigger than she could have ever imagined.

Mickey was an incredibly authentic character. I liked the fact that motherhood was not glamorized in this book but it was obvious how much Mickey loved her kids. She was a smart and intuitive investigator who refused to give up. I felt like there were just the right amount of twists and turns to keep things very interesting and I couldn’t wait to see how things would work out in the end.

I thought that the narrators did a great job with this audiobook. Lisa Flanagan handled the bulk of the narration with Corey Carthew covering all of the male dialogue. I thought that they both had a wonderful range and I loved the voices that they used that helped to bring this cast of characters to life. Their voices complimented each other nicely and I thought that their performance added to my overall enjoyment.

I would recommend this book to others. I was hooked by this story immediately and found it hard to put down. I am excited by the fact that this is the first book in a new series and cannot wait to go on further adventures with Mickey Gibson.

I received a review copy of this book from Grand Central Publishing.

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LibraryThing member srms.reads

Happy Publication Day!
April 18, 2023

Mickey Gibson, a former detective and single mother of two toddlers, works for ProEye, a global investigation company that specializes in financial fraud, locating hidden assets of criminals and those looking to evade taxes. Her role allows her to mostly work

from home, is a perfect arrangement for her. A woman claiming to be a colleague (convincingly so) calls her with an assignment and lures her to an old mansion under false pretenses where she discovers the body of a man in a secret room with a cryptic message left on the wall.

“DO AS I SAY, NOT AS I DO”

Subsequently, Mickey finds herself a suspect in a murder investigation. It is clear that she is being set up and her employer, not too happy with the firm’s name being dragged into the investigation, forces her to take time off from her job. Mickey correctly assumes that her employment is at risk unless she can prove her innocence. She continues to receive phone calls from the mysterious woman who calls herself “Clarisse.” Clarisse seems to know a lot about Mickey, persistently baiting her and pushing her to delve deeper into the background of the murder victim who is discovered to have been a criminal with ties to the mob. Who is the killer? Clarisse? Who is Clarisse and why did she involve Mickey in her schemes, endangering her and her family in the process?

With its consistent pacing, strong female characters in the lead, and an intriguing plot, David Baldacci’s Simply Lies is a twisty thriller that I thoroughly enjoyed. There are several characters and multiple threads crucial to the plot but the author masterfully weaves a twisty and thrilling story without it becoming convoluted or confusing for the reader. I found the segments on cryptocurrency and NFTs really interesting. Both Mickey and Clarisse are interesting characters and I enjoyed following their trajectories, though I would question a few of Mickey’s choices. An aspect of the story that was truly well-executed is the evolving dynamic between these two characters, given that for the larger part of the narrative they only interact through phone conversations. Overall, this is an absorbing read that kept me engaged till the very last page.

I’ve been reading the author’s books for over twenty years and though I can't say that I’ve enjoyed all of the books I’ve read in equal measure when it comes to action-packed thrillers, David Baldacci is one of my go-to authors. With Simply Lies, David Baldacci does not disappoint! This is supposedly a standalone thriller, but I would love more stories featuring these two characters working together. They would make a formidable team! I hope that this book marks the beginning of a new series.

Many thanks to author David Baldacci, Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for the much-appreciated digital review copy of this novel. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

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LibraryThing member Baochuan

I always enjoy the fast pace of the story by David Balducci. This is no exception, I am not quite sure about the characters. Mickey Gibson has his usual signature, but I am not sure about Francine.

LibraryThing member decaturmamaof2

Fun, fast read. A bit different than Baldacci's usual style.

LibraryThing member Eyejaybee

I am not sure why I hadn’t read any of David Baldacci’s novels before. I know he has been prolific, and his book are immensely popular – perhaps there was some subconscious attempt to resist that aspect of the crime fiction zeitgeist. If I am going to be honest, I only really tried this

because I was able to buy an e-copy at a ridiculously cheap price.

It was money well spent because I found it very enjoyable. I was gripped within a few paragraphs, and found myself enmeshed in a very complex plot involving various local and federal police and investigative agencies, and the extensive tendrils of organised crime gangs. Mickey Gibson works from home in her role as asset tracer for a prominent private investigation agency. A former police detective, she has moved into the private sector to utilise their more flexible working pattern so that she can also look after her two young children. One morning, shortly after concluding a case discussion with her boss, she takes a call from someone else purporting to work in the organisation asking her to check out a substantial property nearby.

This pitches her into a murder investigation, and brings her up against Francine Langhorne, an expert in the art of manipulation, who has a very complicated agenda of her own. The story develops along several directions, and moves with great pace. Baldacci doesn’t indulge in deep or detailed descriptions of his characters, but they all come across as highly plausible.

I enjoyed reading this, and will certainly look for more books by Baldacci.

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