The Promise of a Lie
subtitle
By Howard Roughan

      Recently widowed psychologist Dr. David Kemler is an emotional sitting duck and doesn't even know it. He's had three years to get used to being alone after losing his wife and unborn child to a car accident, but is still surprised to find he's attracted to a mysterious new patient named Samantha Kent. A beautiful blonde fearful of her abusive husband, she brings out in David a latent protectiveness he didn't know he possessed. In fact, his normal professional distance melts like ice cream on a hot July day when she calls to say she's killed her husband. And it sounds like she's dying, herself.

      When David learns he's the unwitting victim of the perfect crime, he struggles to keep it together at the same time his fortunes are fading and his very life is at stake. He's a professional, for heaven's sake. It's just never been his hide on the line before, and indeed, he must keep his wits about him to prove his innocence, while methodically untangling the web of deceit that threatens to undo him.

      In his masterful way, Mr. Roughan has made his protagonist, David Kemler, a man of considerable wit with a glib tongue who I found delightful from beginning to end. His characters are as good as they get, and his endless curveballs and twists of fate kept me guessing, making The Promise of a Lie one of the best and most satisfying suspense novels I've ever read. And that's saying a lot.

      Clearly this talented new author has the potential of surpassing Grisham and Clancy if this work is any indication of what's to come. I can't wait for his encore performance.