Company of Liars

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Allison Pagone is lying dead in her bathtub presumably by her own hand. She was about to be convicted of the murder of her boyfriend Sam Dillon, bludgeoned to death with a marble-based statuette that, although it had been missing since the murder several months prior, is now prominently displayed in Allison's home. It all looks very cut and dried and possibly very convenient. An FBI special operations division knew exactly what was going to happen.

COMPANY OF LIARS | Kirkus Reviews COMPANY OF LIARS | Kirkus Reviews

Not all is bad in this book, for the suspense factor is maintained throughout. By this I don’t mean that we don’t know the murderer, in fact we do. However, the why of those murders and why does this person murder the others is kept a suspense throughout. Unfortunately though, it remains a mystery even at the end. No reason, no conclusion, nothing is provided by the author and it is left to the reader to fathom. While I don’t usually mind such narratives, this one irked me a lot. It felt as if the author took us readers for a ride, promising a lot of things but not delivering it. I felt completely let down and felt that I had actually wasted a lot of time reading this book. It was the end that kept me going through all the boring and repetitive parts, it was the hope that there would be some clarifications, but I got naught. In fact, at that point, I would have settled for a fantastical if implausible ending but I didn’t even get that. What I got was a stereotyped ending, which did nothing to endear me to this book. Sorry for the rant, this is probably not about this book, but about historical fiction in general. We want characters to be like us in some ways and to have similar values, but then the mindset of the period gets a bit confused. Tenemos a Zophiel, supuesto mago y dueño de carromato y caballo, que transporta, entre otras lindezas, un supuesto bebé de sirena, por el que la ciudadanía paga por contemplar. Tenemos a Rodrigo y Jofre, músico y aprendiz, que vivieron tiempos mejores. Tenemos a Osmond y Adela, un matrimonio que huye del repudio de la familia (ella está embarazada). Tenemos a Pleasance, una curandera y partera, que ayuda a Adela a sobrellevar su embarazo por esas peligrosas veredas. Tenemos a Cygnus, un contador de historias que, como su nombre indica, nació con un brazo deforme… que no es tal, sino ala de cisne a medio formar. Tenemos a Camelot, nuestro personaje principal y desfigurado de cara, vendedor de reliquias más falsas que Judas, pero muy necesarias en estos tiempos convulsos de pecado y contrición. Y, por si fueran pocos, a este grupo de ocho se sumará Narigorm, una extraña chiquilla de blanca piel, que sabe interpretar las runas, y, de este modo, ayudar al grupo a elegir los mejores caminos y a eludir las peores adversidades. I almost subtracted another star for the ideology that Maitland sneaks within some of her chapter headings and paragraph length quotes. Oh, they are definitely quotable. But I will put none of them here. Because some of them are more than incorrect to my life's opinion, and they simply don't come from that plague century either.

Company of Liars

Suffice to say that the plague sets the tone. The villages and the English countryside are stench real. And the outcomes, despite the level of the tales told by the company, never seemed to be one of any hope or optimism. Not by this reader. The novelist who commits suicide is Allison Pagone, likely to be convicted of the murder of her lover, Sam Dillon, a partner in a lobbying firm with Allison’s ex-husband. But her death isn’t all it seems. It was murder, made to look like a suicide. The killer? A Pakistani terrorist who has a plot—or two or three—of his own. A Company of Liars is the story of a group of nine strangers who travel together in an effort to escape the plague that is spreading death throughout England. It is not simply a story about travelers or pestilence, however, it is also a story about darkness, superstition, secrets and guilt. Each of the travelers has a secret, and it is the interpersonal relationships and the unraveling of those secrets that keep the reader enthralled. Company of Liars reads more like a tale of psychological horror (with the odd unexplained, paranormal element) and the setting – time and place – are intrinsic parts of it. The fear and paranoia brought by the spreading plague as well as certain medieval customs and beliefs compound to form with the particular tale of this particular group of people a gripping story. We know that these people are all liars – some by profession, others for self-preservation – including the narrator, which adds a bit of unreliability to Camelot’s narrative. It is a relentlessly dark story too – with violence, as well as terrible deaths and loss. I really enjoyed this aspect of the story and especially how it ended. Upon reflexion, I was never sad though, there was always a degree of emotional disconnect with the story. I think this is important when considering this book – so many deaths, so many horrible things happening and I was never sad. For a book about the Plague and psychological torment, I would expect to feel a certain amount of sadness especially considering how some of the characters suffer terribly. It reminds me of another Plague book – Doomsday Book by Connie Willis which is also full of death and loss but in its case: so, so heartbreaking (Agnes!). There is also a state of the nation feel about it (possibly then and now) as Maitland brings it the plight of the Jews in fourteenth century England, being queer, xenophobia (dislike of foreigners is nothing new), religious superstition, fear of those who do not conform, incest and a well signalled twist at the end. Some of the stories are not given much depth and there is a bit of unreliable narration. The whole thing falls apart a bit at the end and I felt Maitland was unsure how to end it.

In The Company Of Liars by David Ellis | Goodreads In The Company Of Liars by David Ellis | Goodreads

My last lie had been the most honest, the most honourable of them all, for there is an art greater even than the creation of hope. The greatest art of all is the destruction of truth.” This group will have to face superstition and mystery, and one by they will become victim to the child rune reader, who somehow compels each of her companions to tell their stories, or face the consequences. Mezcla de novela histórica y fantástica, con sus apuntes culturales de la Inglaterra de la época. En ese aspecto, el del viaje, y el de los personajes, me ha parecido una novela extraordinaria. Pero quizás no tanto la resolución de algunas situaciones, que se me quedan por debajo de lo que yo esperaba. La ambientación también me parece soberbia. Y, por supuesto, la superstición y las creencias en mitos y supercherías están bien descritas a cada vuelta de página. The cast of characters is varied and well-imagined. The narrator, Camelot, is never identified by name, only by his profession. At first I didn't like Camelot: he was surly and world-weary and I wondered how he could act as an appropriate filter for the drama that would inevitably unfold. Camelot grew on me, however; maybe it was his kindness toward strangers, which is the origin of the formation of the eponymous "Company of Liars." Joining Camelot: Rodrigo and Jofre, minstrels; Zophiel, a charlatan conjuror; Adela and Osmond, an expectant couple; Cygnus, a one-armed storyteller; and Pleasance and Narigorm, a nurse/midwife and the book's poster Creepy Child, respectively. All of the book's conflict stems from these characters' interactions, even threats that at first seem external. My other quibble with Company of Liars is the amount of hype around the characters' so-called secrets. Most of these secrets are far too obvious. I'm particularly disappointed with the final secret, the twist involving Camelot and his past--it's just so unoriginal and predictable that it's disappointing. Now, the twist itself makes sense within the context of the plot ... it's just a bit of a let down after such an enjoyable story otherwise.Unfortunately, “Company of Liars” becomes tedious as the story progresses with the plot being repetitive. This is the premise of the tale and therefore must be accepted but readers searching for a more detailed and multidimensional narrative may find themselves to be disappointed. Because it’s very hard to write, probably. But in the end, the principles are the same. You are processing facts and trying to guess the outcome—only this time, the outcome is how the story began, and how each new fact will change what you thought you already knew. I wanted to challenge myself. I wanted to challenge the reader. I wanted to challenge convention. I wanted to give readers something that they have never seen before. How many mystery writers, these days, can say that?