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Red Hot Lies  By  cover art

Red Hot Lies

By: Laura Caldwell
Narrated by: Nancy Liem
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Editorial reviews

In Red Hot Lies everybody's got a secret. But when the secrets start crashing into each other, the pillars of Izzy McNiell's world crumble faster than she can run around in her stilletos to prop them back up. Izzy, the redheaded bombshell lawyer in figure-hugging power suits, is having a very, very bad day. Her client and mentor, Forrester Picket, is dead. And Sam, her fiancé, is missing along with $30 million in Forrester's real estate bonds.

Capturing the nail-biting pace and smart, sexy energy of this first book in Laura Caldwell's sizzling summer trilogy, Nancy Liem's terrific narration of Red Hot Lies brings the resilient, upbeat, and gutsy Izzy McNiell to life. From the opening scene, Liem's charm and command of the character are complete she even sounds like a redhead. And she shifts effortlessly from character to character, between 20-something Izzy and a street smart, cynical PI; from a series of Panamanian real estate agents to a four-year-old diva with an attitude.

With the cops and FBI staking her out, Izzy has to find her fiancé fast. She turns to PI John Mayburn for help and barters her assistance on one of his cases in exchange for his expertise in tracking down Sam and the $30 million. Liem's pacing, especially in the scene where Izzy hacks a mobster's computer to download evidence, is so in tune with the action it will leave your heart pounding and your palms sweating.

Red Hot Lies is Lisa Scottoline meets Janet Evanovich, with a whole lot that's pure Laura Caldwell. And Liem captures Izzy McNiell's tenacity, her sexy exuberance, and her vulnerability with the sparkle of sunshine on the Chicago shoreline. There's no better way to spend summer downtime than listening to the perfect marriage of Laura Caldwell and Nancy Liem in this season's best mystery series: Red Hot Lies, Red Blooded Murder, and Red White & Dead. Nancy Carter

Publisher's summary

"Usually I pride myself on my intuition. I listen to that voice that says, 'Something bad is happening...' or maybe 'Get out. Now.' But on that Tuesday at the end of October, my psyche must have been protecting the one remaining day I still believed life was orderly and the universe liked me. Because I didn't hear that voice. I never saw it coming."

They say bad things happen in threes. When her fiancé, Sam, disappears on the same day her mentor and biggest client is killed, hotshot Chicago attorney Izzy McNeil starts counting. But trouble keeps coming. Sam is implicated in the client's death, her apartment is broken into and it's not just the authorities who are following her.

Now, to find Sam and uncover her client's murderer, Izzy will have to push past limits she never imagined. Lucky for her she's always thrived under pressure, because her world is falling apart. Fast. And the trail of half-truths and lies is red-hot.

Listen now to author Laura Caldwell and narrator Nancy Liem discuss how the three Izzy McNeil mysteries - Red Hot Lies, Red Blooded Murder, and Red, White & Dead - came together in the Audible studios.
©2009 Laura Caldwell (P)2009 Audible, Inc.

What listeners say about Red Hot Lies

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

A bit uneven, but fun!

Usually I don't care for characters for whom money is no object, especially when they are young and beautiful like Izzy and her clique. Wealth often drives the plot along too easily, too neatly, and the characters seem one-dimensional. But in Red Hot Lies, I got over my initial skepticism, and I "fell in love" with Izzy.

Audacious but earnest, naive but smart, Izzy is the kind of female character I can love to hate: she's young, beautiful, smart, rash, and loyal to a fault. Her credit card seems to know no bounds as she tries to solve the mystery of her fiance's disappearance as well as the death of an extremely important client.

Nancy Liem's narration was spot-on ... all her inflections brought to life the world of young, know-it-all upstarts. I think it's harder for female narrators to take on male characters, but Nancy did a fine job. She should get kudos for taking on such a range of characters: from drunk gay men to a bratty 10-year-old to Spanish real estate agents.

The novel is generally fast-paced (with one particular scene so nail-biting that I had to listen until the end even though it was way past my bedtime). I was kept guessing about the primary culprit until the end, although in looking back, I think Caldwell left plenty of clues. All the parts of the mysteries fell neatly into place, but the final scene was not pat. It was more realistic than I would have imagined, and I'm grateful for that.

The novel has a fair amount of romance, but not gratuitous sex, and it was still heavy on the mysteries, which is why I wanted to try it out. In the end, Caldwell definitely leaves you wanting to know what Izzy will do next.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Huh! I loved it!

So surprised to see the negative reviews -- I loved it, and this isn't my normal choice for something to listen to. I thought the narrator did a great job -- I could picture Izzy - and especially Lucy. Several of the characters reminded me of people I knew -- but then, I spent 35 years practicing law, too, so I've had my own runins with crooks and connivers. She had those types down cold.

Two evening in a row I chose to listen to this book rather than read a paper one -- that doesn't happen often. If you like plenty of suspense -- the scenes when she's downloading from the computer -- plenty of surprises -- all of it -- I think you'll like this book. Don't believe all the negativity.

This book just shows, I think, how many really good authors are out there. It's not just the big names -- it's dozens of these lesser known people who are writing books that are at least as good, often better, than their more famous counterparts. I'm definitely looking for more in this series.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Not awful but not great

This book won't keep you up at night, or make you hurry back to listen.
Good Narrator, very mediocre book. Very predictable.
I won't be buying the rest in the series. Don't waste your credits.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

not a great book

I did get through the book but not a great good. The narrators voice is the only reason I got through the book. Not one I will read again for sure, nor will I try the other books in the series. One was enough.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Good Book

Any additional comments?

I thought this was a good book and was surprised to see the negative reviews. Yes the book was long, but that is what I like. It kept me interested all the way to the end. I am getting the next one now.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Oh My!

This is bar none the most awful book I listened to the plot was so sappy, and the narrator is horrible. Glad I only paid 4.95... Don't waste your money.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Not Really Sure

I myself had a very hard time getting into this book right from the start. I don't know if it was my mood or if it was the person reading the book. I could not finish it.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Interesting story but way too long

The story line itself is interesting, it just takes forever to get anywhere. Without giving too much away, the heroine is a lawyer working mostly for one self-made man named Forrester, who is extremely lovable, and early on in the novel, dies from a (suspicious) heart attack. In the night of the death, her fiance Sam, a financial advisor to Forrester, takes off with 30 million dollars of Forrester's money. For most of the novel she keeps repeating her doubts about Sam, who apparently is so different from the man she'd thought he was. She also attempts to find out whether Forrester's heart attack was what it seemed to be, as he'd asked her to do just that should he die suddenly.
I don't want to remove what little suspense there is, but there are a pile of pointers about what had really happened and I kept waiting through all the numerous versions of "how could Sam do this", hoping there'd be a more interesting twist eventually. There wasn't. The whole story, except for the final knowledge who the bad guy was, is extremely predictable. It was a waste of time to listen through the whole thing. So my apologies for going on for ages myself, but I felt "good story but too long" is not quite sufficient to explain why I'm so annoyed with the thing.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

A worthy read

I loved this mystery which wasn't gory (gives me nightmares) and peppered with some romance and family "stuff." All THREE of Laura's "Red Hot" books are wonderful. Nancy Liem's narration is one of the best...... love her voice and intonations. I wish there were more Laura Caldwell books on Audible.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Entertaining

This is an entertaining listen. I had to adjust to the narrator.

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1 person found this helpful