I was given OneLastLie by Rob Kaufman in exchange for an honest review while it was the OnlineBookClub.org book of the Day.
In the first chapter of OneLastLie, which is told in the third person, we are introduced to an old man named Jonathan who is dying in hospital. His partner, Philip, had died, or been murdered, thirty-five years before and he has wanted to die too ever since. He is a crotchety person, who loves no-one, and for whom no-one’s best efforts are good enough.
In the following twenty-two chapters, we are told about his relationship with Philip and some of the things that they they got up, including one of Philip’s old college friends who was in love with him, despite the fact that she knew that he was gay. The woman, Angela, plays a significant role in the book as she inveigles herself into the two men’s lives and ultimately has a permanent influence upon them.
Other characters become caught up in the story as it proceeds, both Angela’s and those of Jonathan and Philip, until in the very last few pages we discover the truth behind the title.
The cover of OneLastLie is suitable for the story, which has been very well edited. Basically, the novel is about a gay, middle-class, American couple’ the love between them, and how that can be abused by others.
Ithoroughly enjoyed OneLastLie. I liked everything about it from the story line to the style, the cover and the title. It has been very well written and presented. The characters are full-bodied, and there are not so many of them that they are difficult to remember, and, what is a bonus to me, descriptions of scenery and people is just enough to be helpful, without becoming intrusive, or seeming like padding.
I give OneLastLie full marks; OneLastLie is my kind of book and I would like to read more by Kaufman.
Keep ’em coming, Rob!
If you would like to know more about OneLastLie by Rob Kaufman, please click the following link:
Owen Jones, Amazon Best-Selling Author from Barry, Wales, has lived in several countries and travelled in many more. While studying Russian in the USSR in the '70's, he hobnobbed with spies on a regular basis; in Suriname, he got caught up in the 1982 coup; and while a company director, he joined the crew of four as the galley slave to sail from Barry to Gibraltar a home-made concrete yacht, which was almost rammed by a Russian oil tanker and an American aircraft carrier.
“I am a Celt, and we are romantic”, he said when asked about his writing style, “and I firmly believe in reincarnation, Karma and Fate, so, sayings like 'Do unto another...', and 'What goes round comes around' are central to my life and reflected in my work. I write about what I see, or think I see, or dream... and, in the end it is all the same really”. He speaks seven languages and is learning Thai, since he lives in Thailand with his Thai wife of fifteen years.
His first novel, Daddy's Hobby is from the seven-part series 'Behind The Smile: The Story of Lek, a Bar Girl in Pattaya', but his largest collection is 'The Megan Series', twenty-three novelettes on the psychic development of a teenage girl, the subtitle of which, 'A Spirit Guide, A Ghost Tiger and One Scary Mother!' sums them up nicely. He has written fifty novels and novelettes, including: Dead Centre; Andropov's Cuckoo; Fate Twister; The Disallowed (a philosophical comedy); Tiger Lily of Bangkok; and A Night in Annwn (Annwn being the ancient Welsh word for Heaven). Many have been translated into foreign languages and narrated into audio books.
Owen Jones writes stories set in Wales, Spain and Thailand, where he now lives. He is a life-long Spiritualist, and this belief is interwoven, in a very realistic way, into many of his books and storylines. If you like a touch of the 'supernatural', try his books
He sums his life up thus: “Born in the Land of Song, Living in the Land of Smiles”.
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