Blog Tour Review | "Favors and Lies" by Mark Gilleo

Favors and Lies by Mark Gilleo
Mystery/Thriller published July 1, 2014
The Story Plant

Where to find Mark Gilleo Online:

Website
Goodreads Author Page

Buy the Book:  Amazon   |   Barnes and Noble

Synopsis from Goodreads

Dan Lord is a forty-year-old private detective with a law degree working the blurred line between right and wrong in the Nation’s Capital. As a self-employed solutions broker and legal consultant, he works for a very select clientele. He doesn’t advertise and only takes cases on referral. But when two people close to him are murdered, Dan's work becomes very personal.

With the assistance of a newly hired female intern, extracting clues from a ladder of acquaintances, Dan bounds through both the underbelly and elite of society, each step bringing more questions and yet ultimately taking him closer to the answer he seeks. A bail bondsman, a recluse hacker, a court clerk, a university student, an old-school barber, a high-class madam, an intelligence officer, a medical doctor, and a police detective are among the list of people Dan must cajole for help. His quest will lead him to discover things he never wanted to know, and put him in the position to reveal things that important people would prefer remain unrevealed.

Tense, ingenious, and filled with the unforgettable characters that have become a Mark Gilleo trademark, FAVORS AND LIES is the most thrilling novel yet from one of the great new voices in suspense fiction.

My Thoughts...

This is the second book by Mark Gilleo that I have read and I must say that I enjoyed this one even more than the first one.  I think I managed to finish this one in 2 sittings, I was hooked from the first chapter and I really didn't want to put it down.  

Dan Lord is a 40 year old man with a very complicated past that lends a thick air of mystery to his character throughout the course of the book.  Dan gets a call in the middle of the night that changes the course of his life and it takes all the resources he has in his repertoire to solve this case.  As he gets more involved things become more dangerous for him and anyone he has contact with.  Even the people he starts to trust aren't who they seem and when we finally find out who is behind the whole thing it's a huge shock.  This is all I am going to say about the plat for fear of spoiling it and that would be a shame to do since this whole book is so plot driven.

The whole book is full of twists and turns and it's pretty much non stop from the very first chapter.  The characters are very well written and Dan is just one of those guys you love from the first page.   There were a few rambling bits that I didn't feel were altogether necessary to further the story.  They did provide back story for some of the more minor characters and I suppose they did lend them an air of credibility in the end.  Marks' writing style is very easy to be drawn into and I can't wait to see what he comes up with next, although I would love to see more of Dan Lord in the future!

If you love a good suspense, murder mystery story then I can't recommend Mark Gilleo enough and this book is a great way to get a sense of his writing style for sure.

XOXO, Shelly

Author Bio

Mark Gilleo holds a graduate degree in international business from the University of South Carolina and an undergraduate degree in business from George Mason University. He enjoys traveling, hiking and biking. He speaks Japanese. A fourth-generation Washingtonian, he currently resides in the D.C. area. His first two novels were recognized as finalist and semifinalist, respectively, in the William Faulkner Wisdom creative writing competition. 

*Disclaimer: I was provided with a copy of this book courtesy of the publisher in exchange for my honest review.*