Liar Liar

Joe Ledger #4.1 - Mad Science

by The Liar's Club (Contributor), Merry Jones (Contributor), Solomon Jones (Contributor)

With an introduction by New York Times best-selling author Sandra Brown, this anthology by the Philadelphia Liars Club contains stories by thirteen talented contemporary writers. The stories are take place in a variety of times and places. They range from crime to science fiction, from fantasy to family life. Despite the varieties of setting and genres, all are linked by one common theme: Each story is based on a lie. Lying takes on many forms, serves many purposes, has many results--some predictable, others not so much. But each lie has unmistakable consequences. And provides a fun, fast-paced, fabulous read.

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories, Horror, Science Fiction, Audiobook, Fantasy, Thriller

268 pages, Paperback

Published August 30, 2011

About the author

The Liars Club is a group of award-winning writers who work in a variety of genres, from literary to mystery to history to horror and beyond. They write stories for adults, young adults, children, and occasionally, werewolves. They advocate for bookstores and libraries, as well as for reading and writing, and give lively talks about books, publishing, writing, and topics related to fiction. Their goal is to promote literacy and a love of books and hope their stories encourage both. That’s no lie.

Reviews

[Badseedgirl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this for the Joe Ledger short story, which ended being one I had read before anyways. I enjoyed the eclectic mix of genres and tones in all these stories.

[Gregory Frost · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anthology by members of the Philadelphia Liars Club. Each story contains a lie of some sort--one that changes characters' lives, or one that they tell themselves. As a result of the contributors--which include Jonathan Maberry, William Lashner, Solomon Jones, and Kelly Simmons--the anthology runs to nearly every flavor of fiction.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5-3
One of the best stories I’ve ever read was in this. Bliss by Merry Jones 5/5!

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This anthology of short stories has one overarching theme - lies. Some of the stories were quite good, and some of them were not. I always enjoy Maberry's Joe Ledger character, so I enjoyed "Mad Science." I was quite disturbed by “The Truth-Telling” by Stephen Susco - but that may be just because the subject matter is one of my hot buttons. Again, some of these stories were fun and interesting and some were meh. I do think that there was great variety in genre and style, so there should be something for almost everyone. It's a decent audiobook, in my opinion.

[Zac · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review specific to Mad Science: This didn't seem to really advance the series much, other than to amplify the relationship between Joe and Violin making the connection stronger where it would come into play later in the series.

[Storm · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anthology by members of the Philadelphia Liars Club. Each story contains a lie of some sort - one that changes characters' lives, or one that they tell themselves. I'm will be reading this because of the Joe Ledger short story.

Mad Science - Joe Ledger #4.2 - Jonathan Maberry - 4⭐
Short story #4.2 in the Joe Ledger series sees Joe, the Echo Team and Violin team up to take down an organization trying to weaponize a new strain of Ebola. The ending "negotiations" were extra tense.


The Gateway - Solomon Jones - 3½⭐
A Preacher whose whole life has been a lie upon compounded lie wants to join a televangelist church, except, they "test" him first because the job requires people of a certain ... disposition.


Shuffle - Kelly Simmons - 3⭐
A boring but happily married tax accountant finds an ipod Shuffle in his house. It seems to belong to the mother of some kids in the same volleyball league as his family, but as it plays what seems to be the soundtrack of his life he begins to develop feelings for the other woman.


She Looks Just Like her Mother - Edward Pettit - 4⭐
Beatrice tells everyone about her imaginary daughter, Irene, that nobody has seen. When her sister Eugenia sees a little girl in Beatrice's house, she calls the police only to have the tables turned on her.


Choosing Teams - Don Lafferty - 4⭐
Fathers who coach baseball have a system of "dividing" up the league so no team has too much advantage, plus they "split" the hot moms among senior coaches. A man who hates nepotism ends up getting the new kid with a smoking hot mom, which leads to issues as his wife is angry he won't put their son into the All Star Team. Yes, there are ulterior motives but basically this is him being a shitty father, an even worse husband, plus people will soon figure out.


What I Did - Marie Lamba - 1⭐
A girl runs away from home, for reasons that don't get revealed until the end of the story. It was annoying and not very good.

Bliss - Merry Jones - 4⭐
A woman murdered by her husband during their "surprise" anniversary becomes a vengeful ghost stuck at the location of her death. To say she is angry would be an understatement.


Under the King's Bridge - Keith R. A. DeCandido - 5⭐
Mr. Gold, a Courser (Slayer ruined by Buffy, Hunter taken by Supernatural) is hired to solve an issue where a Pastor's congregants are no longer showing up, and everyone in the neighborhood is listless. The investigation reveals a whopper of a lie! Great story.


Doe Run Road - Dennis Tafoya - 1⭐
A bank robber on the run reminisces about his mother telling him to get a job, while pessimistically realizing he's going to end up like his father, in jail, for bank robbery. I'm not quite sure what the big "lie" in this story is supposed to be, but the locale (Hobart, Tasmania) kind of reminded me of a worse luck Ned Kelly.


What Lies Between - Keith Strunk - 3⭐
Part horror story, part social commentary on the evils of capitalism, exploitation of workers, and feminism, this was an interesting time travel supernatural story.

For Love - William Lashner - 3⭐
A man kills his heiress wife "For Love" so he can be with his new girl. While on vacation on an island, his new squeeze tells him a man from his deceased wife's law firm is accusing him of murder.


The Return Trip - Jon McGoran - 2⭐
Kyle, a disturbed kid who hurts animals, is dark and well en route to becoming a serial killer. Then he realizes his father is in Witness Protection, so he goes to find his Gangster Grandfather. Lots of liars and bad people in this one, made me wonder if Evil is a product of genes vs. upbringing (Nature vs. Nurture).


So Coldly Sweet, So Deadly Fair - Gregory Frost - 5⭐
Epistolary story about Abraham Van Helsing's first introduction to Nosferatu when he, his wife and son head out to a country retreat so the wife can "separate" their son from another boy he is too fond of. Evil abounds. The local rich man's son is afflicted, gypsies warn of Nosferatu and young folk go missing. Soon Van Helsing is caught up in the maelstrom of the hunt as he helps the Romany Gypsies set things straight to protect his family. Neat twist ending.


The Truth-Telling - Stephen Susco - 2⭐
Beautifully written story of a woman writing an obituary for her piece of shit husband whose death would leave humanity better off.


Two Guns in Liar's Canyon - Chuck Wendig - 2½⭐
Gunslingers, bible quotes, and angst in the Wild West as Gerald hunts his father who he thinks is possessed by a demon. IMO it tried to be way too edgy for a western with gruff manly men.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not sure what I was expecting but Liar Liar was a little more violent than I had expected. Don't know how I missed the whole serial killer plot in the description... So, for me, not really the type of book I enjoy. However, I did appreciate the friendships illustrated in the story and I loved the Australian accents on the audio tape.

[Melissa Allen · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you like lying - cheating - killing - & other bad things - you'll love these short stories! Some are good - some just so so - only a couple I didn't like at all. Interesting enough -- but nothing worth getting super excited about.

[Angela]

There is no introduction in the Blackstone Audio version

Mad Science by Jonathon Maberry - the reason I borrowed this audio book from the library, gotta catch up on my Joe Ledger books. This was a great addition to the saga, and showed a bit darker side to Joe, and had Violin, who is a great character!

The Gateway by Solomon Jones - a take on religion, in particular the TV evangelists - are they really on God's side?

Shuffle by Kelly Simmons - Happy in his marriage, and yet .. intrigued by a possible soul mate - not quite an infidelity story

She Looks Just Like her Mother by Edward Pettit - starts out a bit weird, and then just gets creepy.

Choosing Teams by Don Lafferty - a little confusing, but a story of infidelity, and a realization of what you have

What I Did by Marie Lamba - I had to relisten to this one to get a brief - and I am 10 minutes in and I still don't quite recall what happens in it. So, not one that leaves an impression.

Bliss by Merry Jones - interesting premise, I enjoyed this one quite a lot, though I think Claire didn't know what she was getting herself into at the end.

Under the King's Bridge Keith R. A. DeCandido - this one had some of the same feel (though not as humourous) as Sigler's Hunter Hunterson and Sons stories (if you liked this story, I rec hunting down Sigler's short stories - I like the Haunted Safeway story)

Doe Run Road by Dennis Tafoya - meh, I didn't like this one

What Lies Between by Keith Strunk - a bit of supernatural, a bit of time travel, they likely could make a pretty decent movie off this story. I enjoyed it, but felt like it needed a bit more fleshing out

For Love by William Lashner - this had some "You" (from Netflix) vibes

The Return Trip by Jon McGoran - I really liked the premise, and can appreciate where the story went, but not sure it is a favorite.

So Coldly Sweet, So Deadly Fair by Gregory Frost - a look at Abraham Van Helsing's first introduction to the world of the Vampire. I liked this - was even told in letters, so it was a nice call back to Dracula.

The Truth-Telling by Stephen Susco - disturbing. I would really like to see this one as a short movie. The language the author uses is just beautiful (well, what he is discussing is not beautiful, but the way he discusses and describes? beautiful).

Two Guns in Liar's Canyon by Chuck Wendig. A nice western entry to the collection.

[Carly Lockwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice little collection of short stories. All about lies, either lies that people tell themselves or finding out a situation isn’t what you assumed. There are some crazy plot twists in some of these stories. Not all of them were great, but the book as a whole was pretty enjoyable.

[Orestes · Rating 4 out of 5]

I admit to have only read the first story. It's the one I wanted to read.

[K9Capers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Only listened to the Ledger short story

[Kelly Audiogirl.booking.it · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5

I really enjoyed the first few short stories but the majority of them were way to weird for him surreal and magical sci-fi all things I don’t enjoy!!

[Ed Adams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun collection. Great to hear a bunch of short stories from different writers and readers.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audiobook/Short Stories/All genres by Liars Club Philadelphia members.

[Michele · Rating 3 out of 5]

This anthology was a mixed bag. Some of the stories were good, others not so much.

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

A couple of really good ones in there.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hard to get into. Parts were good, others dense, like sifting through fog. Karr can be humourous and her story is more believable than Jeannette Walls. Sometimes I thought she went on too long about situations and people (e.g. her Dad) and I kept thinking "come on; get on with it". Still, I got a good sense of her toughness and that of her sister. Read that the stories she wrote about were fiction - so why call it a memoir? And some of these fiction stories were boring. Starting reading her next novel, Cherry, but have put it down for now.

[Shawn Kass · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great couple stories with a few okay ones.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hit or miss with these stories. Very diverse styles.

[Andrew Seddon]

Anyone know how to get past the discription and download the book. please :)

[PNJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a great collection of short stories all surrounding the effects of lying. Many great authors show case their talents here. Watch for a full review on my site coming soon!

[B Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A wide ranging collection of short stories, mysteries, Sci Fi, horror. something for everyone.

[Prima Seadiva · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. Reader ok.
Some stories were ok others ho hum. Nothing that makes me want to run and check out the authors' other works.

[Twainy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just listened to the first story ... Joe Ledger ... Great to see Violyn