The King of Lies » (Reprint)

John Hart was born and raised in North Carolina. For a time he practiced criminal defense law, but left his practice to write The King of Lies and work for a major Wall Street firm. John used to do foolish things, like fly helicopters and sail small boats across large oceans. Now, with two young daughters and a wife whom he loves, he writes books, which is harder but safer. John still makes his home in North Carolina.

"A STRIKING NEW TALENT."
--ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY
Jackson Workman Pickens--known to most as "Work"--mindlessly holds together his disintegrating life: a failing law practice left to him when his father, Ezra, mysteriously disappeared, a distant wife who shares their loveless marriage, and an estranged sister who bore the brunt of their childhood trauma.

And then Ezra's body is discovered.

"READS LIKE A BOOK ON FIRE."--PAT CONROY
Set to inherit his father's fortune, Work becomes a prime suspect. But so does his sister, Jean. As much as Work's life was overshadowed by his domineering father, Jean's life was nearly destroyed by him. But does that make her capable of a vicious murder? Fearing the worst, Work launches his own investigation, crossing paths with a power-hungry detective, a string of damning evidence, and the ugly rumors that swirl within his small, moneyed Southern town.

"AN EXCEPTIONALLY DEEP AND COMPLEX MYSTERY THRILLER."
--PUBLISHERS WEEKLY (STARRED REVIEW)
Desperate for the redemption that has eluded him for so many years and stripped of everything he once valued, he fights to save his sister and clear his name--in this poignant and thrilling anatomy of a murder and its ripple effect within a family and a community.

www.johnhartfiction.com

The Denver Post

A marriage of carefully crafted prose alongside have-to-keep-reading suspense.

Thomas Perry, author of Dead Aim:
A suspenseful novel about the unraveling of the poisonous legacy of a southern lawyer brings us a strong new voice in crime fiction. A writer to watch.