Stephen White - Alan Gregory discussion

The latest news from Stephen White! Expect to see THE LAST LIE released sometime between August and December 2010! This will be book 18 in the Alan Gregory series.

A Note From Stephen White

I promised to get back to you when I had some news about the new book.

A first draft was completed in January. At that time, the book was to be called DEVIL'S THUMB. The draft manuscript of DEVIL'S THUMB was just shy of five hundred manuscript pages (double-spaced, one inch margins on all four sides) in length. Since that metric will mean nothing to most of you, I will provide another gauge: Five hundred manuscript pages is long. The only book I’ve written that even approached five hundred manuscript pages was HIGHER AUTHORITY. If I write five hundred pages now, I assume that I’ve written a few things that, well, don’t belong. I don’t consider that a good thing (I try to adhere to Elmore Leonard’s, possibly apocryphal, doctrine: Try not to write the parts that people skip.) If I’ve written five hundred pages, I’ve probably written a few things people will, rightly, skip.

Typically, my first drafts are unreadable. I show them to no one. I don’t write from an outline (I make things up as I go; no, don’t try that at home), which means that I create things in the middle and at the end of books that tend to make the beginning seem unintentionally Lewis Carroll-ish (my apologies to Lewis Carroll, and my apologies for all these parentheses.) A major rewrite is usually required (KILL ME was an exception) to render the first draft into a narrative that makes something resembling sense. In the process of doing that major revision this go-round, I eliminated a significant subplot from what I was beginning to fear was no longer going to be called DEVIL'S THUMB (appropriate jacket art was becoming a problem. Long story. From certain angles, Devil’s Thumb, a prominent Boulder rock formation, looked a bit too much like another, less PG part of the devil’s anatomy.) The excised subplot had to do with Alan Gregory and prostitutes, but not the way you might think. Seriously, not that way at all. It was a lovely subplot, but it had no business in the current manuscript.

The excised subplot is on life support. It may actually survive and someday become it’s own book. But don’t hold your breath for that.

I also removed thirty-seven pages of stuff I probably shouldn’t have written in the first place. Believe me, you won’t miss it. It’s currently resting comfortably in a file called bookeighteen-deletedmaterial.doc. If I ever open that document again, I will be surprised.

After all the excisions and deletions, the manuscript was down to three hundred and ninety-ish pages.

One more rewrite added thirty or so pages of necessary transition and exposition. At the end of last week, I submitted a four hundred and twenty-two page manuscript to my editors at Dutton. The current working title of the trifle they are considering is THE LAST LIE.

THE LAST LIE is not the book I set out to write. It’s much more. The story became much more complex—and, as is my wont—much more controversial, as I got into it.

This is very much a series book. It takes place entirely in Boulder, almost entirely in Spanish Hills in and around Alan and Lauren’s home, and there are appearances or cameos by a multitude of series players, including brief remembrances of characters who have departed Boulder (Carl Luppo) or departed, period (Adrienne and Peter.) Unlike THE SIEGE, a book that advanced no series backstory other than Sam Purdy’s, THE LAST LIE moves everyone’s lives forward. It provides some important answers. What happened to Anvil? Did Carmen’s pregnancy turn out okay? How the heck is Lauren and Alan’s marriage? And it asks some new questions. Are Diane and Alan going to need to find a new office? What’s the puppy’s name? How the heck is Lauren and Alan’s marriage??

For those of you eager to see Dee and Poe again, sorry, not in this book.

For those of you dreading seeing Dee and Poe again, happily, not in this book.

What is THE LAST LIE about? I won’t be spoiling much by telling you that it involves a rape (that revelation is included in the first chapter, and it will undoubtedly be included in the yet-to-be written flapcopy.) But the book is more about the nature of justice in the era of what Sam Purdy calls “lawyer wizards.” (For the record, he also calls them “attorney wizards.”)

In the book, Sam also speaks the phrase “ominous portent” and uses “wizard-y” as an adjective floating in an incomplete sentence. To Alan’s amazement, Sam manages to include the infinitive form of the verb “fletch” in a complete sentence that has, at its heart, nothing to do with archery.

When might you expect to see THE LAST LIE?

I’ve heard rumors of August and rumors of December. Yes, 2010. For the late summer rumors to be true, editing will have to be quick and uncomplicated, the manuscript will have to be transmitted (moved from the editorial department to the production department) forthwith, and production (copyediting, designing, proofreading, and manufacturing) will need to be uneventful. When I know more about all of that, I will share.

From the glass is half-full department—if the book doesn’t make it to the stores until December, it will be my first holiday book, ever.

But, if the more-likely August publication date occurs, the book will be released very close to the sixth anniversary of the day that all charges were dropped, with prejudice, in the case of The People of Colorado v. Kobe Bean Bryant.

That, you will discover in THE LAST LIE, is not an insignificant coincidence.


--Stephen White

Thanks for the update. I have my work cut out for me if I want to be caught up by the time this one comes out. The tidbits he dropped about the book are intriguing and some of the characters I do not know as yet. I loved hearing about his writing process.

I'm really excited about this too :-) with the story taking place in Boulder again and mostly in Spanish Hills - I drive right past that area several times a week. Sounds like we'll get some our questions answered in this next book :-)

The latest news from Stephen White's website:

The Last Lie (Coming August 17, 2010)
In The Last Lie, White returns to his Alan Gregory series roots with the popular characters and Boulder setting that first launched him onto the bestseller lists and attracted legions of fiercely loyal fans.

Shortly after Alan and Lauren welcome their affluent new neighbors — a legal legend in women's rights law and his beautiful wife — the couple hosts a housewarming party that ends in quiet disaster. One of their guests, a young widow, elects to spend the night after indulging in too much wine, only to wake the next morning with no memory beyond getting ready for bed. Was she drugged? Raped?

Lauren, a deputy district attorney, and detective Sam Purdy are both privy to facts they can't share with Alan, but Alan soon discovers that he has a most unusual perspective into what truly happened after the dinner party. Before Alan can discover all the pieces to the puzzle, an important witness to the events is murdered. Alan fears that other witnesses — people he loves — will be next.
The Last Lie will be released in hardcover in the USA and Canada on August 17, 2010. We will post an excerpt and more information very soon. Please check back again.

Read An Excerpt From THE LAST LIE

Shortly after Alan and Lauren welcome their affluent new neighbors — a legal legend in women's rights law and his beautiful wife — the couple hosts a housewarming party that ends in quiet disaster. One of their guests, a young widow, elects to spend the night after indulging in too much wine, only to wake the next morning with no memory beyond getting ready for bed. Was she drugged? Raped?

Lauren, a deputy district attorney, and detective Sam Purdy are both privy to facts they can't share with Alan, but Alan soon discovers that he has a most unusual perspective into what truly happened after the housewarming. Before Alan can discover all the pieces to the puzzle, an important witness to the events is murdered. Alan fears that other witnesses — people he loves — will be next.

THE LAST LIE, Stephen White's new novel, is coming out in hardcover on August 17, 2010 in the USA and Canada. Click on the link to read an excerpt.

http://www.authorstephenwhite.com/Boo...

I need to get back to reading Alan Gregory books so I can come close to reading The Last Lie when it comes out later this summer.

Dustin, you have done a great job of rounding up authors for us to read in this group and Koontzland. Thanks! My TBR pile is overflowing with great stuff.

Christine, you still haven't joined my Tess Gerritsen Fans group have you? :-)I've got Tess herself there and 5 of us just got advanced copies of Tess's new book!

Stop! Pretty soon I will have to give up sleep in order to read everything you suggest. hahaha. I think I will pass on Tess Gerritsen. You guys are lucky to get advance copies. Tess is very popular.

:-) Okay, you don't have to join any more groups (I only moderate 3) but don't leave either Stephen White or Koontzland :-) I'm trying to get Stephen White or Jane (who manages his website) to join us on goodreads, but I guess I still have some convincing to do.

That would be awesome. If it can be done, you will do it!

That would be interesting, Dustin.

New Stephen White/The Last Lie Interview:

The Last Lie Q & A With Stephen White

Question: Last year's book, The Siege, featured Boulder Detective Sam Purdy and the primary location was the Yale campus in Connecticut. The Last Lie is set back in Boulder and most of the series regulars are present, with Alan and Lauren front and center. Do you feel rejuvenated to write about Boulder and these series characters after you've taken a break from them?

Stephen White: It may sound odd, but I think any author rejuvenation that is apparent may come from the characters being away from me for a while. During the time period (I'm referring, of course, to the alternative reality time period in which the characters exist) that Sam was busy in Florida and New Haven during The Siege, and in the time after, the Boulder characters' lives had a chance to go on without the burden of my examination. Wounds, both literal and psychological, healed and/or festered in the absence of my omniscience. No member of the ensemble has been obligated to deal with the myriad complications and challenges that I tend to throw their way when I am focusing my narrative attention on the Peoples' Republic.

For me? I find that every opportunity I get to reach for new crayons from the box stimulates my creative energy. The challenge I feel when I make a decision to return to Boulder, and to the familiar ensemble, is to make certain—even, yes, damn certain—that I'm selecting new crayons from the box. I live with a quiet terror that after so many years on the Front Range I will begin to paint a scene for the second time, and forget that I've painted it before. So, I try to allow each return to Spanish Hills and Downtown Boulder to serve as a reminder to me that I have an obligation not to fall into the trap of either rewriting a previous story or revisiting characters stuck in too-familiar places in their lives. Although the familiar might be the easiest path, and in fact may be the most comfortable track for both writer and longtime reader, it is not a particularly interesting narrative choice.
Question: Acquaintance rape, a celebrity's reputation, and "lawyer wizards" are part of the plot of The Last Lie. (I believe Sam Purdy coined the phrase, lawyer wizards, in this book!) How did the 2003 Kobe Bryant sexual assault case in Eagle, Colorado inspire this story?

Stephen White: What is The Last Lie about? I will get asked that question a thousand times (okay, maybe a couple of hundred) in the next few months. My answer will probably be that the book is about acquaintance rape. I might add that it's also about the nature of celebrity. And if I'm feeling particularly expansive, I may throw in a tantalizing reference to Sam Purdy's "lawyer wizards."

Why acquaintance rape?

While I was writing the manuscript of this book, the media—mainstream and otherwise—went through periods of prolonged fascination with director Roman Polanski and the crime he committed on a young girl decades ago, and with quarterback Ben Rothlisberger and what assaults he did commit, or did not commit, on two different young women in more recent months. But despite the media's attempt to distract me, the focus for my inspiration remained in the past, specifically on the strange aftermath of an alleged rape that took place in the summer of 2003 at Cordillera resort in Colorado. The alleged assault that occurred then was nothing special—a basketball star was accused of raping a hotel employee he had just met. As a crime—if a crime it was—the interaction was most pedestrian, certainly not the kind of thing that would draw my attention as a novelist.

So why have I written a book about it? My motivation for writing The Last Lie goes back not so much to the days in the summer of 2003 when Kobe Bryant was accused of, and arrested for, that alleged sexual assault, but to a different day that occurred over a year later, shortly after the criminal case had been dismissed on the eve of trial. On that day a peculiar event took place: the alleged rape victim's personal attorney read a brief statement of quasi-apology on behalf of Mr. Kobe Bryant.

I think it is important to read the previous sentence carefully, even slowly. The alleged rape victim's personal attorney read Mr. Bryant's almost-apology. Not his attorney. Her attorney.

Her attorney read his quasi-apology. Huh.

Why? I wondered. Why didn't Mr. Bryant read the statement himself? If that wasn't possible for some reason (no, I couldn't think of the reason; believe me I tried) why didn't Mr. Bryant's attorneys—he had two great ones, lawyer wizards both—read his almost-apology?

We never really found out the answer to those questions. The media, as is its wont, moved on to something else. But unlike most people, I kept wondering. It turns out that the difficulty I have had digesting the surreal conclusion of that one hypermodern morality play motivated much of the story behind The Last Lie. The statement the accuser's attorney read was such a bizarre document, and in my mind said such profound things about the state of criminal justice in the United States, that I've been determined ever since to find a way to write about it. For almost seven years, in fact, I've been stuck on those unusual circumstances, and on the even more unusual words that the opposing attorney spoke in Mr. Bryant's stead, looking for a way to integrate all the peculiarity into a book.

And, as it turns out, Sam Purdy has been as perplexed as I've been about it, too. How goofy is that? You'll find the answer, or some more questions, in The Last Lie.
Question: Alan and Lauren have gone through major turmoil in their marriage in the last few books. The Last Lie touches on most of their issues and has them making some major decisions about their life together and their family. Does it feel risky to you as a writer of a longtime series to alter major relationships within the series?

Stephen White: Actually, it would feel risky not to alter the dynamics. One of the enduring conclusions of my many years as a psychotherapist was the assurance that the daily details of the lives of the people whose existence falls under the fattest part of the bell curve—that is where most of us hang most of the time—are opaque to observers. With exceptions for some individuals, and exceptions for unusual circumstances—those exceptions exist in the territory where the bell curve flattens out—we know little about the day-to-day interior lives of people in our orbits, certainly less than we think we know. The same is true, I think, for the marriages of our friends and acquaintances. Those relationships, too, are mostly opaque. We collect a smidgeon of data. We make guesses. We make assumptions. And largely, we assume the mundane, because the mundane is what exists in the fat part of the bell curve.

With a long series like this one I have the luxury of being free to shake away the assumption of the mundane, to highlight the fault lines that naturally exist in character, to put relationships and marriages under extreme magnification, and to allow the strengths, and more importantly, the weaknesses, of the familiar players to collide to create conflict and dynamism and change. And, hopefully, something other than the mundane.

I see the chance to mess with Lauren and Alan as opportunity, never as risk.
[SPOILER FOR DRY ICE:]
Question: Adrienne's absence is truly felt throughout this book, especially in connection with her son, Jonas. Her sudden and unexpected death in Dry Ice shocked most readers. It seems like the main characters are really grieving for her in this book. Do you think reading The Last Lie will also give readers the chance to grieve for this beloved character?

Stephen White: At times, lives get cheap in crime fiction. Bodies pile up. Death counts soar. In certain books there is little narrative reflection about the meaning of it all, little time for anything more than a quick nod to loss, and often not even a momentary genuflection to true grief. Through Jonas, and to a lesser extent, Alan, I can permit Adrienne's death to be the kind of real life tragedy that changes lives. Her son's life. Her friends' lives. For years, and forever.

I suspect that the experience of loss, of extended grief, and of unremitting longing will resonate for any readers who have suffered similar experiences. Those readers, I expect, will be the ones who will be the ones most likely to perceive some emotional advantage through their identification with Jonas's struggles in The Last Lie.
Question: Jonas is a child who has experienced way too much loss in his young life. He is very troubled and The Last Lie focuses on Alan's efforts to help guide Jonas through the many changes in his life. It is a very interesting and emotional father/son storyline. Is this relationship another avenue for you to showcase Alan's skills and stretch him as a character?

Stephen White: In my mind—even if in no one else's—these books I write are novels. Yes, they are genre fiction. Yes, they are crime fiction. Yes, they are commercial fiction. But they are novels. The novels I love to read are those that clearly acknowledge serving two masters: story and character. The novels that are most likely to disappoint me are the ones that tithe only to one or the other.

The emphases I place on relationships in the stories—in this book one prime featured relationship is the one between father and son—are an attempt to pay heed to the character master. In this book, as in previous ones, it's not so much a desire to stretch Alan as a character, but a desire to make him that much more real on the page. The more alive I can make him on the page, the more integral I can make him to the narrative. And the closer I have come to writing a better novel.
Question: Part of the plot of The Last Lie is the supervisory role that Alan has with a young therapist named Hella Zoet. Can you briefly explain the role of supervision in psychotherapy?

Stephen White: Supervision—such a benign name for such a powerful professional relationship—is one of the enduring secrets (dirty little secrets?) of the mental health professions (psychology, psychiatry, and clinical social work.) Regardless of medium, there are few mentions, let alone explorations, of the supervisory relationship in contemporary fiction. Not many patients outside of training settings ever become aware that their one-on-one work with a therapist has an unseen, highly influential participant, lurking in the background.

That person is known as the supervisor.

I'm not sure I can describe the relationship between supervisor and psychotherapist better than I do in The Last Lie:

My guide on the perilous journey to becoming a functioning psychotherapist was my "supervisor," a well-practiced clinician who would educate, guide, inform, instruct, confront, critique, cajole, explore, and do whatever else he or she determined was necessary in order to help me develop the knowledge, the skills, the maturity, the self-awareness, and the sensitivity necessary to be an effective therapist.

In this story, Alan's role as a supervisor provided me a literary device that widened the scope of his personal experience so that he could be in a position of knowledge to narrate the story. After completing The Last Lie readers will be able to imagine how little of the story Alan could have told from his personal perspective had he not had a supervisory relationship with Hella Zoet. Inherent restrictions in first person narration often require writers to use creative avenues to render otherwise untellable stories tellable. In this book, supervision provided Alan—and me—that narrative perspective. Without it? I think I would have had to write this story in the third person, absent Alan's familiar narration.

continued...

Question: When The Last Lie ends many changes are afoot for Alan's family and his practice, changes that will impact future books. Do these changes just reflect the normal ebb and flow of life or are you shaking things up for another reason?

Stephen White: Shaking things up for a reason would imply that I have a plan, which—fortunately or unfortunately—isn't the case. I don't project a future story arc for the series, or for any of the characters [i.e. Alan may indeed enter the priesthood in book 22, but I'm not aware of it yet.:] At times, I admit I feel concern that some of the narrative choices I make in one book will necessarily tie my hands in inopportune ways in future stories. But narrowed circumstances are part of the ebb and flow of life, real and fictional, and as far as The Last Lie is concerned, I have no choice but to accept the corners that I have just painted myself into.

What comes next? We'll all find out together.

link to the interview on Stephen White's website:
http://www.authorstephenwhite.com/Int...

Link to read an Excerpt of THE LAST LIE:
http://www.authorstephenwhite.com/Boo...

Thanks for the interview. I thought that was pretty interesting.

Actually, I received Dry Ice from a therapist (not mine) who was acquainted with Stephen White and, I think, had recently seen him at a conference. I haven't read it yet. But I won't remember that spoiler by the time I get to it.

Has anyone started reading this? I'm waiting for a library copy to become available, but it's a pretty popular book at the Boulder Public Library for some reason :-)

I'm still waiting for a copy at the library, I think there are several ahead of me; of course I have several stacks of things to read here, so am not feeling impatient for this one. I finished The Siege last week, and really liked it.

I'm still waiting for a library copy, too. It shouldn't be long now, even though I'm 30th in line, because there are quite a few copies.

Janice wrote: "I finished The Siege last week, and really liked it."

I thought you read it last year in hardcover - did you wait for paperback or was this a re-read?

I may break down and buy a copy. My Border's employee discount increases to 43% off in September - I'm hoping they'll put it on sale at 50% off like they did with Reckless (not that I bought that one yet :-) Unfortunately, I can not add both discounts and get 93% off - I have to take whichever is greater and 50% is better than 43%. I haven't bought any new books in quite a while - I kinda need a new bookshelf as the one I currently have is rather full :-)

if it was me, with an employee's discount, i'd be buying the store out! last week i found a perfectly good folding bookcase. so i was able to shelve a bunch more books.

Yes, I've seen those folding bookcases recently too and I've thought about it. My budget is rather tight at present so I'm planning on a bookshelf and then books will follow :-)

Dustin Crazy wrote: "Janice wrote: "I finished The Siege last week, and really liked it."

I thought you read it last year in hardcover - did you wait for paperback or was this a re-read?"

No, I didn't read it last year. I am always a little behind, because I usually wait until the clamor dies down a little, and copies more readily available at the library. But with The Last Lie I think I will be one of the first on the waiting list to get it, or at least there are not too many ahead of me. I can get the CD copy by next weekend, the hardback will take longer to get.

I'm starting THE LAST LIE Tonight! I can't wait any longer!!!! I have to read this book!

I am nearing the end of The Last Lie; it is another great read from Stephen White. Dustin, does Colorado have a "Distracted Driving" law violation, as mentioned in this book?

Janice wrote: "I am nearing the end of The Last Lie; it is another great read from Stephen White. Dustin, does Colorado have a "Distracted Driving" law violation, as mentioned in this book?"

Was it a law about cell phone usage? I know that was a fairly recent law. I haven't gotten far in the book so I'm not sure. I've extended this book to be featured as a group read through October since not many people have read it yet. Hope to get book on CD to help me out.

If it is about cell phone usage or texting while driving, it has been the law in Chicago and Illinois. It is even the law inmy sfor a while now. It has e even been made the law in my suburb, especially near the schools.

I just finished The Last Lie and I enjoyed it but it wasn't my favorite of the four (I think) Stephen White books I've read so far. I gave it three stars, and my review is
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/... if anyone is interested.

I have to admit that I don't know if there is a general "driving while distracted" law in Colorado, but if there isn't, there should be. When I used to commute, I saw drivers reading books, eating bowls of cereal, putting on mascara, shaving (fortunately, beards, not other places), all sorts of crazy things.

Has anyone else finished this book yet? What are your thoughts?

Susan wrote: "I don't know if there is a general "driving while distracted" law in Colorado, but if there isn't, there should be. When I used to commute, I saw drivers reading books, eating bowls of cereal, putting on mascara, shaving (fortunately, beards, not other places), all sorts of crazy things. ."

This comment made me laugh - it's too true what people will do. Makes me think of a new title for a Dr. Seuss book, which could be titled "I Can Drive With My Eyes Shut." I will admit when I was in high school I did stupid stuff while driving like hanging my foot out the window or fulling reclining my seat with hands to the reach the steering wheel. Also when I drove a van and was stopped at a red light in busy traffic I would hurry and get out of my seatbelt and climb in the back of the van to get something I thought I needed before the light turned green. I used to always speed and got several tickets in a matter of months. I am of course, a much smarter, safer driver now, but most of the time I just take the bus or walk as I feel that's the safest for everyone. As a pedestrian though I am scared of vehicles. Some people drive way too fast and I think some drivers want to run me down so I run across most cross walks. As a kid I played a game of running in front of cars but I don't do that very often anymore.

I just realized that I never added my review of The Last Lie after finishing it. I enjoyed it, but don't think it is as good as The Siege, or several of my other favorites from Stephen White. Here is my review:
Alan Gregory has frequently struggled with some ethical boundaries in this series, and in this book he really gets into some muddy waters: he is right in the middle of a possible crime, and receiving information from a law enforcement perspective through his friend Sam Purdy, from a prosecutorial perspective from his wife Lauren, and from a professional and clinical perspective from his supervisee, who it the therapist for the victim of the alleged crime. Alan ends up with more information than anyone, from all three of these sources, but unable for ethical reasons to share any of his information. What a dilemma. And Sam becomes pretty disgruntled with the whole process, when it appears that once again justice will be circumvented through deals and exchanges of money that occur outside the courtroom. Another good read from Stephen White.

Thanks Janice. I still haven't read it - waiting for an audiobook on CD from the library at this point. Still going to try to read In The Shadow of Gotham, our Edgar Nominee Group Read.

I am hoping to get to In the Shadow of Gothamsoon; what are you thinking of it so far?

I'm only on chapter 3 but I am enjoying it so far.

Dustin Crazy wrote: "Thanks Janice. I still haven't read it - waiting for an audiobook on CD from the library at this point. Still going to try to read In The Shadow of Gotham, our Edgar Nominee Group Read.

[bookcover..."

I'm probably going to start In the Shadow of Gotham next week. I'm glad you and Janice will be reading too. I look forward to reading it with you. Is there a thread for this book? I haven't looked

I just noticed, while browsing on Amazon, that there is now a sequel.

Link to In the Shadow of Gotham Discussion (not much going on there yet - so y'all feel free to post :-)
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/4...

Thanks for putting up the post. I hope to start this week!

Finally finished The Last Lie - 4 stars - Here's my Goodreads Review:

I waited and waited for an audiobook to become available through the Boulder Public Library. I listened on audiobook while walking in Boulder - I enjoyed the story, even if it wasn't one of my favorites. Recently, The Daily Camera (Boulder's Newspaper) did move it's operations from Downtown, just like the book said, I guess I should be watching for a new multi-use building :-)

A lot does happen in this story to affect Alan Gregory's family: new neighbors and thoughts of moving from Spanish Hills. Looks like book Nineteen will also be taking place in Boulder (many stories take the characters on investigations away from home). Book Nineteen will likely be released in the Fall of 2011.

There were a lot of penises in this book, but I guess that's to be expected - Is the rock formation "Devil's Thumb" or "Devil's Dick" ? It's all in the way you look at things - some people can look at the same thing and see differently. Personally, I always thought of the formation as a snag tooth :-)

If you love reading Stephen White's Alan Gregory Series, come join us in the Stephen White - Alan Gregory Group on Goodreads. I'm the moderator.

Just started the book. A little slow going in the beginning but is beginning to pick up.

Just finished the book. Liked it, but not one of the best Gregory books I've read. Rather slow-going and the plot never really develops into anything memorable. Still, the characters are interesting and White writes well as always. The discussion about the nature of justice and celebrities is presented in a different way (the Kobe Bryant analysis by Sam) but, in the end, doesn't really offer any insights we haven't heard before.

I agree. Thanks for sharing your thoughts Gatorman :-)

THE LAST LIE Is Available Now In Paperback

Stephen White's 2010 novel, featuring Boulder psychologist Alan Gregory, is now available as a mass market paperback in the USA and Canada.
Shortly after Alan and Lauren welcome their affluent new neighbors, a legal legend in women's rights law and his beautiful wife, the couple hosts a housewarming party that ends in quiet disaster. One of their guests, a young widow, elects to spend the night after indulging in too much wine, only to wake the next morning with no memory beyond getting ready for bed. Was she drugged? Raped?

Lauren, a deputy district attorney, and detective Sam Purdy are both privy to facts they can't share with Alan, but Alan soon discovers that he has a most unusual perspective into what truly happened after the housewarming. Before Alan can discover all the pieces to the puzzle, an important witness to the events is murdered. Alan fears that other witnesses — people he loves — will be next.

A Note From Stephen

I have been assuming that by the time of the release of the mass market (read above) version of The Last Lie, I would be able to reveal some details of the next series hardcover. But, alas (I don’t get to use “alas” as much as I would like,) The Last Lie is now available in paperback, and my publisher and I are not quite ready to reveal important details about the next new book.

One big piece of news I can reveal is that the—sorry, as yet untitled—new manuscript is finished. The editorial process has begun. I don’t expect the process to be time-consuming. What that means is that a title will soon be selected, the editing of the manuscript will soon be completed, and the book will be transmitted from the editorial side of my publisher’s domain to the production side. The editorial side is responsible for the words. The production side is responsible for turning those words into all the varied forms—printed, e-book, audio, etc.—of a modern book.

Soon, I hope to share with you important news about the book, including the anticipated publication date, and of course, the title. I also hope to be able to begin to describe the significant ways that the nineteenth book in the series will be a major departure from the eighteen that preceded it.

Thanks for your patience. Stay tuned.

Stephen White
www.authorstephenwhite.com

Link to our group's discussion thread on book #19:
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/4...

Just an FYI:
Stephen White will be at the Barnes & Noble in Boulder, CO on November 19th (Sat) at 1:00pm!

Robin wrote: "Just an FYI:
Stephen White will be at the Barnes & Noble in Boulder, CO on November 19th (Sat) at 1:00pm!"

Are you kidding me!!! I have to work at the Damn Sunflower Farmers Market. I can't Bloody the Hell go!