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Radio 2 Fiction Book Club: The Good Liar

The Good Liar by Nicholas Searle will be featured on the Radio 2 Book Club on Monday 18 January. The book was selected with the help of a panel of librarians from across the UK.

We have two reading group sets (10 copies in each) available to win – just take a look at our Noticeboard. You can read an exclusive extract of The Good Liar first!

The Good Liar

Roy is a conman living in a small English town, about to pull off his final con. He is going to meet and woo a beautiful woman and slip away with her life savings.

But who is the man behind the con and what has he had to do to survive this life of lies? And why is this beautiful woman so willing to be his next victim?

Selection panel review

Our reading panel of staff from The Reading Agency and public library staff loved The Good Liar – here are some of their comments:

“This a fascinating book, well-written and very cleverly arranged, developing from being the story of a conman to a much more involved plot with a clever twist. As this was revealed, I had to go back through the book to find the clues I had missed to each new revelation.”

“This a very cleverly constructed book, which made me feel more outraged by the main character’s acts as each new story was revealed. The twist was very unexpected. A gripping read.”

“This book was excellent. It was described as the ‘psychological thriller of 2016’ and it was not wrong. Superb read.”

About the author

Nicholas Searle was a civil servant who spent much of his time working on security matters before deciding to leave in 2011 and begin writing fiction. The Good Liar is his first novel.

A note from Nicholas

“To say I’m delighted that The Good Liar has been chosen for the Radio 2 Book Club is an understatement. For me as a debut author this is a huge thing. When I wrote The Good Liar I had in mind an impression of the readers I was searching for that was concrete on one level – above all, ordinary people like me with sensitivity who liked reading with a bit of bite and challenge – but extraordinarily vague on another – I hoped that almost anybody I might meet would like the book. So the layering of the book was deliberate, so that as many people as possible would enjoy the book in one way or another and take something from it that was uniquely theirs.

When I finished the book I was amazed and excited that my first reader – my wife – liked it, and even more so when my agent and publishers did. Each single positive comment as we’ve moved forward through the publishing process has filled me with wonder. And that’s why its choice by the Radio 2 Book Club is so important. It gives the book the greatest opportunity to reach the widest possible readership, through purchases, through reading groups and critically via libraries, which when I was growing up formed such a crucial part of my education, formal and informal.

For me, this isn’t about sales or numbers, it’s about the enjoyment that I hope can be derived from the book. I think of a younger me, wondering which book to buy or borrow next, and I’m glad that the Book Club gives as many people as possible the chance to consider The Good Liar as their next book."

Get involved

Tune in to Simon Mayo’s Drivetime show on Monday 18 January to hear a live interview with Nicholas Searle talking about his book.

Have you read The Good Liar? You can share your thoughts with us on Twitter, post a review, or add it to your group’s reading list. You can also follow author Nicholas Searle on Twitter.

Want to find out more? Take a look at the Radio 2 Book Club Twitter feed or find out more on the Radio 2 Book Club website.

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