Book #1 The Caspian Wine Series
Suspense/Thriller
Date Published: October 2012
She was kidnapped not once but twice and now someone wants her dead because of it...
Her life was a lie!
Bailey knew her upbringing wasn’t normal but she’s worked hard to stabilize her life. At 29, she finally has a good business, a stable home; her life is miles from that of her childhood. Then suddenly her mother dies, leaving a gaping hole and a discovery that they may not even be related. If Guy, the private investigator is to be believed, her life is a lie. Using the skills she learned on the streets, Bailey travels back through a sketchy and dangerous past, to find answers. Dodging bullets, staying ahead of those who want her dead and convincing Guy she can do it alone, are making it difficult to discover not only the secrets of her mother’s past but that of a family claiming she is theirs.
Everyone seems to have a story... but who’s telling the truth? And who wants her dead? Is Guy part of the solution? Or part of the problem? To discover the facts, she’ll have to untangle a web of deceit, lies, and secrets, dating back over thirty years.
But can she do it in time...
Captured Lies won Book of the Month LAS Reviews (March 2014)
"This is a story that when you start to read it you don’t want to put it down until you finish it." Cindy's Reviews
"Captured Lies is a very edge of your seat sort of book... I was totally enthralled with this book..." Tammy's Tea Time
"Maggie Thom has a hidden gem with Captured Lies!... Like an onion, each layer of this action-packed tale becomes more involved, more wickedly deceitful and more dangerous..." Tome Tender
"Captured Lies is an outstanding book and it was a book I couldn't put down..." Dee Sauter (Moderator Linda Howard Book Junkies)
Excerpt:
Bailey wasn’t sure what had hit her harder—her mom being dead, or her mom having health problems and not sharing that with her.
Straightening, she squared her shoulders. “Just tell me who put out the money to pay for my mom’s funeral. Who organized it? It doesn’t make any sense.” The problem was that her mom had no friends, just Bailey.
Mr. Sommervold pushed up his round wire-rimmed glasses. She’d already noticed that they had a tendency to slide down his nose.
“I’m not leaving without answers.”
The door opened, his assistant, a stunning auburn-haired woman, poked her head in. “Mr. Sommervold, the Greenings are here. They have a few things they’d like to discuss with you before the funeral this afternoon.”
Solemn-faced, he nodded then turned to face Bailey. “I don’t know who paid for it. Mr. Lund sent me a letter requesting all that she wanted for a funeral. He also provided a second letter.” He opened the folder in front of him, pulled out an envelope, closed the file and dropped it into the bottom drawer of his desk. After a short hesitation, he slid the envelope across to Bailey.
She stared at him for a full minute before reaching out and picking it up. Her name was scrawled across it in her mother’s handwriting. She pressed it between her palms.
“I’m sure this will answer some of your questions. For any others you have, you’ll need to talk to Mr. Lund. Here’s his business card.”
Bailey stared at the envelope. Would it give her the answers she needed?
“Now if you’ll excuse me. I have other clients I need to see.”
She jerked up her head. Mr. Sommervold was standing in the open doorway, obviously waiting for her to leave. A bit dazed, she stood and walked past him to the main foyer, where she stopped.
Everything seemed surreal. Even the rich, immaculate oak entranceway was too perfect, too daunting. Soft hymn music drifted through the building. Quiet voices, whispered, reverent tones heard only at solemn times, drifted to her. They made everything more unreal.
She felt like a character in dream. A bad one. An unexpected shiver shook her out of her reverie.
Review:
The first scene in Captured Lies is attention grabbing. It is obvious later on in the book that the main character was involved in the first scene. Although we're not sure why or what happened to lead to that scene so there's still plenty of mystery left. Then there was also the fact that a lot of people seemed to be after Bailey and discovering their motives becomes the main motive of the reader(or at least it was mine).
Much of Captured Lies had a lot of attention to detail. The author was through and made sure that the reader could easily picture everyone and everything. It wasn't hard to see the book as a movie going through my head. I enjoyed the descriptions and the ease that the author had when describing things.
It was clear that everyone was connected somehow and sometimes we'd be given little glimpses of the connections but it took a while to put together how people were connected, especially to Bailey and why they all wanted to find her and/or hurt her. It was interesting to see all of these connections come to light. I enjoyed it and the difficultly of trying to figure out who was connected with whom and why.
Then there were the characters. Bailey was an interesting character. She had absolutely no idea who she really was and when it came to light she didn't go looking for a payout or anything. She just wanted to get to know the family she never had. It was refreshing in a book full of characters that were greedy. And Guy. Guy was great! He was amusing, refreshing, and appreciated everything he was given. I have to admit that he was my favorite character in Captured Lies.
Captured Lies is a good read for people who enjoy suspense and mysteries. It was an interesting book, with lots of connections to figure out.
Maggie Thom
Award winning author, Maggie Thom, took the challenge and leapt off, leaving a fulltime, twenty year career in management, to write full time. After publishing her first suspense/thriller book Captured Lies, October 2012, she published her second novel, Tainted Waters, April, 2013. Tainted Waters went on to win 2013 Suspense and Thriller Book of the Year through Turning the Pages Magazine and Captured Lies won book of the Month through LAS Reviews (February 2014). She published her third novel, Deceitful Truths (The Caspian Wine Series - Book 2), March 2014. An avid reader and writer her whole life, she decided to break the monotony of wishing to be an author by making it happen. She is a wholehearted nature lover and likes nothing better than to take a book, hike to a remote spot by a river or waterfalls and read. Married to her best friend, she is learning that humor, love and patience help her navigate her way through her twins’ teen years. Her motto: Escape to read and Read to escape. "Maggie Thom writes a fast paced thriller laced with romance that keeps the reader interested and on edge!" InDtale Magazine
Website: www.maggiethom.com
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BUY LINKS
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/maggie-thom
Thank you for not only hosting but for reading and reviewing Captured Lies. I am thrilled that you were easily able to see it as a movie in your head. Guy was one of my favorite characters, too. :)
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