How did Tom plummet so far? Well he woke up a bit late one morning and realized he could not make a flight so he made up the story. That went over so well he got away with it so he made up another story or fifty.

When he is discovered he not only loses his job but the editor he so devoutly respected is fired also for not having noticed the lies.

Now Tom has stumbled on the story of a lifetime, and nobody believes him. After all he is a known liar. Tom covers the 100th birthday of a woman who convinces him her son just came to see her. Unfortunately her son died in a flood that claimed a large part of a small community, years ago.

Then there is the wreck out on the highway. The man is identified by his license and shipped home for burial, until his mother calls and says -guess who just walked in the door?

How can Tom reclaim his reliability, salvage his career and convince people he is really on to something? Perhaps he won't get the chance; it seems someone may not want him to write this story, as he is chased off the road late one night and someone shoots a close colleague who is standing right beside him. Is it really someone after Tom or is his paranoia out of control?

This was my first James Siegel but I enjoyed the way he developed his characters and navigated the turns that made the story so puzzling.