The Last Lie

Alan Gregory, Book 18

By: Stephen White

Narrated by: Dick Hill

Length: 14 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's summary

Stephen White’s most recent bestseller, The Siege, featured his series character Sam Purdy in a relentlessly paced stand-alone thriller that critics hailed as “brilliantly conceived and executed” (Publishers Weekly) and “the best and most interesting terrorism thriller I’ve seen.” (The Washington Post) Now, in The Last Lie, White returns to his Alan Gregory series roots with the popular characters and Boulder setting that first launched him onto the bestseller lists and attracted legions of fiercely loyal fans.

Shortly after Alan and Lauren welcome their affluent new neighbors – a legal legend in women’s rights law and his beautiful wife – the couple hosts a dinner party that ends in quiet disaster. One of their guests, a young widow, elects to spend the night after indulging in too much wine, only to wake the next morning with no memory beyond getting ready for bed. Was she drugged? Raped? Lauren, a deputy district attorney, and detective Sam Purdy are both privy to facts they can’t share with Alan, but Alan soon discovers that he has a most unusual perspective into what truly happened after the dinner party. Before Alan can discover all the pieces to the puzzle, an important witness to the events is murdered. Alan fears that other witnesses - people he loves - will be next. Smart, topical, and deftly plotted, The Last Lie delivers the pulse-pounding return of one of contemporary fiction’s most enduring heroes.

©2010 Stephen White (P)2010 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Not good enough for a credit

I've been a Stephen White fan since his first book Alan Gregory Book. This book is a huge disappointment. It was slow, and tedious. At times boring. There was little action and a lot of self talk. The other characters could almost be figments of Alan's imagination as we never really got a sense of who they were except through Alan's mental take on them. I think new comers to Stephen White would think these characters to be flat cardboard cutouts. Maybe it's time to move on from this series into something different.

Better than his last book

I used to be a big fan of Stephen White's Alan Gregory series but have not enjoyed the last few books at all as I found them tedious and boring particularly when they focus on the supporting characters rather than Alan and his family. I agree that this book gets tedious at times too (especially Alan's conversations with Hella and when Sam is describing the Kobe Bryant situation) and does start out slow but the story itself certainly improved about three quarters of the way through to the end. Reading the other reviews I have to agree that reading Stephen White in print is a much better experience than listening to them on audio. I think that Dick Hill is a good narrator once you get used to him but I do not like the voices that he uses in this particular series of books and found that he actually seemed to mess up a couple of times speaking as Sam's voice when it was actually Alan talking. I think that next time I will stick with reading the book in print and skipping the audio. So four stars for this book but 3 stars for the audio presentation.

exciting

starts out a bit slow but soon picks up & then goes like the devil. Great twists & turns --hard to put down for sure. Dick Hill as usual does a super super job. Dick is the best reader that I know of.

One of the better in this series

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, I thought this book was well written and the characters fleshed out. I also like that the antagonist in this is someone so well liked and respected in the community.

Have you listened to any of Dick Hill’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have listened to many of Dick Hill's other performances and look for books that he narrates. He was up to his impeccable standard with this one as with all his others.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I don't know if it "moved me" but I did particularly like the scene when Alan reviews the pictures in sequence with Lauren. It makes you wonder how their son will fare in the next book after all he had seen.

Any additional comments?

I thought this was a good listen, better then some of the previous books Stephen White has written. I will definitely finish the series, I'm only sorry he decided to end it.

Excellent read.

I loved it and didn't want to stop listening. Would listen to this author again.

I liked the book . . .

I can't say it is the best Stephen White book I've listened to. Did not like the narrator at all. But all in all - a good story.

Great Listen!

Really enjoyed this book..love Alan Gregory!! he is always getting into a something! only trouble is ...long time waiting to see what he is up to in the next book...!Dick Hill is my favorite narrator!! He great !!

Enjoyable

I did struggle with this novel at first but as I read on I started understanding it. The narrator was good , very good reading.

Cat Lover

Would you consider the audio edition of The Last Lie to be better than the print version?

Slow start,but wraps up nicely

Have you listened to any of Dick Hill’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

He is one of top 2 in my opinion. He does'nt whistle on "S" pronunciation . That can be irratating to listen to.

Not one of the best

I usually enjoy Stephen White’s books. This one I couldn’t wait for it to be over. Too much time spent by the main character describing minor details over and over and over. Just reworded. Some of the things mention in the book were never resolved so we never find out how or why. Should have been left out completely. Book was too long and in many places way too boring.