The Cruelest Lie

by Milton E. Lyles

The CRUELEST LIE is a gritty telling of treachery, greed, love, betrayal, and courage set against the lush background of the Louisiana bayou country. The story centers around the deaths of three young men and the small town corruption and avarice that threatens to destroy an innocent boy setting in motion a deadly struggle between integrity and iniquity, truth and deceit.Bo LeDeaux, at seventeen, by fate and cruel circumstances is compelled to escape the ruthless judgment of Sheriff Gilbow Brown, a man who uses the law to fuel his insatiable appetite for money and power. Bo’s confrontation with the sheriff is complicated by the murderous scheming of Tommy Sligo. A madman acting on the commands of an unforgiving God, and by Bo’s own wild mother, who fights to preserve her own ebbing sanity and her insatiable desire for cocaine long enough to save her son from the sheriff’s malice. Bo, Ruby and Gilbow Brown engage in a deadly struggle that plays Ruby’s beauty and cunning against Bo’s youthful isolation and Gilbow’s brute strength and unmitigated corruption, a struggle certain to doom Bo if Gilbow triumphs.The ensuing melee unearths the web of lies that grips their small Louisiana town, lies that delineate past sins, heartless betrayals, brutal murders, and unremitting evil until only one lie remains, the cruelest lie that threatens to destroy them all.

320 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 1, 1998

Reviews

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

As I read The Cruelest Lie, I truly had the sense I was reading a great novel.
Vivid, compelling characters, all believably flawed, are what initially drew me in. Death, murder, madness, lies and betrayal comprise the story's rich thematic backdrop. The language of the novel was reminiscent to me of Shelby Foote's Follow Me Down while the brutality of the characters and the story itself reminded me of Flannery O'Connor.

In giving the sense of the novel, I cannot improve upon the summary supplied her by Goodreads. I'm really interested in learning what others thought about this book.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was an interesting addition to the Southern Gothic genre of literature. Set in Lake Charles, Louisiana during the mid twentieth century, it is tale of corruption and hope. I hear that it is going to be made into a movie soon.