Private Lies [Hardcover]

It makes perfect sense that Hollywood once bought the movie rights of Private Lies. It reads like a movie. If you need to be entertained, everything you need is right here: interesting characters, adventure, passion, sex, jealousy, love and hate, and the beautiful landscapes of Africa. One can easily imagine certain actors playing the lead roles. With Private Lies Warren Adler has delivered one of his finest novels. (To know your reviewer: I've read a dozen at least. In general I'm a reader of both serious works by authors such as J.M. Coetzee and J.G. Ballard, and purely entertaining works by authors such as Warren Adler, Simenon, as well as the stuff in between, such as Philip K. Dick.) For me Private Lies ranks high with Adler's The David Embrace and Trans-Siberian Express. Why? Three reasons. Characters, plot and twists. The protagonists in Private Lies are well worked out, each with her/his own past decisions that have shaped their lives and explain the drastic actions they are about to take, influenced by the African heat. For the story please read the publisher's info. I do not want to spoil it for you here. All I'll say is: it's entertaining. In that sense it is exactly what it is intended to be: a fine escape into lies and deceit, all induced by the destructive fires of love. For a while this can be so exciting that one almost believes their lives are indeed more adventurous than our own. But it's the twisting of the plot that provides the finishing touch. Several times, up to the very end, Warren Adler surprised me with an unexpected development. So is this novel up your alley? What about the other reviews here on Amazon? I'd say: you'll probably enjoy Private Lies if you like the mixture of romance and adventure, if you like the romantic notion of the 'one love', the true love for which all others will have to take a step back. Way back. I hope you agree.

Ken and Carol meet again, years after the passionate and sultry love affair of their youth. Each married to others, they plot together to end Carol's marriage. They must find a way to keep her wealth from falling prey to her prenuptual agreement, which could leave her virtually penniless, which Ken knows all to well, not being a financial success himself. This book is so far off the mark - it's really all over the place, including a Safari complete with raging elephants, a drunken guide who speaks swahili and sex drives that are just too much to be of any interest to the listener (or reader). This is adult material, with far too much of the sappy description of private body parts and their functions, usually reserved for the romance novel set. Reader, David Dukes not particularly proficient at the voice characterizations on this one. My advice - don't waste your time on this audio cassette.

PRIVATE LIES is a mesmerizing read, starting with the powerful voice of Ken Kramer in the opening pages. I'm not going to provide a detailed plot summary, other than to say that this novel is a commanding glimpse into the minds of four very distinct characters. Mr. Adler rotates between these points of view, from a dispirited writer who has lost his dream and now settles for a job writing ads (Ken), to his long ago ballerina lover with whom he parted ways twenty years earlier and who he now runs into by a pure twist of fate (Carol), to his loving and enthusiastic wife, a virtual "earth mother," who has organized his life and bore him two children (Maggie), to the final corner of this very odd rhombus, a self-engrossed, gourmand who's always touting his latest "cause" and who can talk the best dinner partners under the table (Eliot).

One is immediately plunged into mystery and suspense when the story opens with a chance meeting between Ken, his wife Maggie, her new client Eliot, and his spouse, Carol. Ken knows she's Carol--his past lover--yet she doesn't acknowledge him. Not a glance, no eye contact, no conversation. Ken spends the whole evening wonder if this ethereal, swan-necked, divine creature is really the woman with whom he spent months of hot passion two decades ago. He's positive it's her; but why does she pretend not to know him?

Little by little, delicious secrets are unveiled. We discover Carol's past, which I won't divulge here, and finally get a peak into her mind.

I expected the story would stay in New York, set in apartments and coffee shops and restaurants, when suddenly the plot twists and we are airlifted to Africa!

The contrast between the scenes in the dark, dirty city to Africa are vibrantly divergent. Africa--land of the parching sun, torrential downpours, rare danger, and raw resplendent beauty--invades the minds of the quartet by unleashing inner urges, some not so pretty. The land influences and entices, invades sensible thoughts and tempts all four to go where they hadn't dared before.

If it seems like I'm being cryptic here, I am. I don't want to spoil the plot.

There are several twists in this story that made me stand up and applaud. Well done, Mr. Adler! It was these twists that grabbed my attention and made me love the book even more. As they should, secrets are unveiled and the plot runs wild with surprises coming in more frequent waves toward the end. Most satisfying.

I would recommend this book for adults only, particularly those who aren't shy about reading delicately described sexual encounters. These tastefully drawn passages of great passion were evocative and sensual, adding to the texture of this finely woven literary tapestry. As in THE DAVID EMBRACE, Mr. Adler writes voluptuous and fiery passages when it comes to passion in the bedroom, or in the mind.

I've heard that PRIVATE LIES was up for a movie, and that was one of my first thoughts when I finished it. "What a great movie PRIVATE LIES would make!" I do hope that Hollywood grabs hold of this one and runs with it.

I highly recommend PRIVATE LIES for the thinking man or woman, and for those who enjoy diabolical, twisty plots and lush scenery.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 4 reviews  3.5 out of 5 stars