Lethal Lies: The Conspiracy

by Laurence O'Bryan

A global epidemic leads to shockingly real danger for millions. Sound familiar?But who was really responsible?And what have the Russians got to do with it?Enter the world of Robert McNeil, whose brilliance in vaccine science is overshadowed by the heart-wrenching loss of his wife to a new deadly virus. Consumed by grief and a need for truth, McNeil finds himself at the center of a global conspiracy, in the shadow of the Russian/Chinese deep state.At the behest of Faith Gordon, a fast-talking China expert spearheading a high-stakes State Department mission, McNeil is catapulted into a perilous quest to uncover the virus's origins. His vaccine research, a glimmer of hope in a darkening world, makes him a prime target for those desperate to stop him.As McNeil ventures into the heart of China's enigma, he becomes tangled in a game of cat and mouse, pitting him against a ruthless Chinese official notorious for crushing dissent. Soon the mission teeters on the brink of disaster.Will McNeil outmaneuver the treacherous web spun by China and Russia? Can he uncover the dark secrets behind the pandemic that has swept across the globe?Prepare to be taken on a heart-stopping journey of suspense and intrigue.

298 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 27, 2020

About the author

There are five novels in my Puzzle thriller series, three in my series about the life of Constantine the Great and three in my Conspiracy thriller series.

My roots go back to a small estate deep in the Mountains of Mourne, near the Silent Valley, in County Down, Northern Ireland.

I went to school in Dublin, drank way too much, studied English and history, then business, then IT at Oxford University. While a student, I worked as a kitchen porter in a club near the Bank of England.

After that I spent ten years working in the City of London, the creaking hub of world finance.

Now I have three kids and a day job helping writers & publishing companies with their social media and digital marketing.

In 2007 I won the Outstanding Novel Submitted award at the Southern California writer’s conference. That helped.

I founded the Dublin Writers Conference in 2015. My research has taken me all over the world, from San Francisco to deep in the Arab world. I like looking at the stars and listening to the stories of strangers.

Reviews

[Leslie McKee · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a timely tale. It pulled me in, though there were a few places where the story lagged. Overall, I kept reading, as I was curious to see how things played out. The ending felt like there could be an upcoming sequel. Lots of connections to what's currently going on around the world. I would've appreciated a more even pacing and a bit more character development.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy, but I wasn't required to leave a positive review.

[Icy_Space_Cobwebs Join the Penguin Resistance! · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, boy. As a born Conspiracy Theorist, I expect conspiracies under every rock, but after a year of Coronavirus, and 300,000 + fatalities, I really hope the backdrop of THE CONSPIRACY is only fiction, and not a reflection of actual events. Though, who knows?


The theme of THE CONSPIRACY and its sequel THE CONSPIRACY II is of course the current Pandemic of Covid-19, the race to avoid transmission and to discover and produce new effective vaccines, but also the intense race to lay blame. Multiple nations leap on that one, while pharmaceutical corporations compete for the best scientific minds and the biggest profits.


A stunning tragic beginning propels American scientist Robert McNeil, partner in a cutting edge Oxford laboratory, into the vaccine race, from London to Paris to Oxford to Wuhan to Moscow, intensively working to save lives while himself drowning in grief.


THE CONSPIRACY is a heart-in-throat read of constant suspense and implacable terror.

[Frank · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Conspiracy is timely, fair-minded, and well written. It’s a thriller about China, Britain, the US, and Russia, the coronavirus, and how it affects many countries' operatives, never mind what it does to the people harmed and dying from the virus.

O’Bryan knows how to pace his book, interspersing chapters from London, China, and Russa, keeping the chapters short and punchy, not slowing us down much with technicalities (although, of course, the virus is hugely technical in many respects) and keeping our interest and the story moving at a rapid clip.

I loved the fact that while there are bad guys in the book representing their own (and often their bosses’ postures and policies) there are also people (sometimes the same people) who are not on board with those policies but are fearful of saying or doing anything against them.

(‘cause see, they die if they do that. In this book and in real life.)

Also, there are people (again, sometimes the same people) who are working against those policies in clandestine ways representing at least China and Russia.

Some are getting away with it, some are not. And if they are not, there is a heavy price to pay.
It’s like real life!
And it is refreshing and believable especially under cover of a commercial thriller.

So, Laurence O’Bryan has managed to write a thriller that is based on reality without dumbing things down or overstating the mystery. This type of book is generally referred to a “beach” book but in this case, it is much more than that. Real-politic is evident.

Well done!

The central character, Robert McNeil, is underdrawn, presumably to be developed in further stories. But in reality, he does not cause things to happen here, things happen to him.
This is the first of a series.

[Kerry Britnell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for a copy in exchange for an honest review.
I have read several of Laurence O'Bryan's book before and had high hopes for this new series. I was not disappointed. Clearly written in response to the current world situation the plot revolves around conspiracies around the origins of the covid pandemic whilst the central protagonist races to find a vaccine.
Quick, fast paced and exciting..

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

The blurb looked interesting for this book and the subject matter is very current. I enjoyed this book, it was an easy, well written read which was paced well. Robert O’Neil is a man wanted by several countries to work for them, as he is the scientist who has made the most progress creating a Covid vaccine. He is grieving the loss of his wife to the virus and wants to know exactly how she contracted the virus that killed her. So ..... with the Chinese and Russians competing to employ him the book is about scaremongering, secrecy, who is to blame for the outbreak of the virus and how far countries will go to cover the truth. I liked that the book was told through different points of view by the characters although I did feel their reactions to situations they found themselves in was not wholly believable. The author was descriptive setting the scenes in the story which I liked and I enjoyed the intrigue and suspense and wondered what would happen next. Overall a good read and I’d probably look at the authors next two books in this series when I have time.

[Floyd · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author has written the first book of a fictional trilogy examining the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic. The story takes the reader from London to Beijing to Moscow and back to London. This first portion of what should be an attention-grabbing medical thriller falls short for this reader. The first segment of the trilogy never quite grabbed this reader’s attention.

It is hoped that the future volumes will better meet the expectations of a medical thriller. For now, I must give this book three-stars.
______________
This review is based on a free electronic copy provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review. The opinions expressed are mine alone.

[Nicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Truly ripped from the headlines! The story involves conspiracy theories at the country level. How far will China go to cast blame for the covid virus onto some foreign scientist? And then there is Russia. Spies, corruption and the basis of a thriller. I read this one in one sitting. I think it as good as an answer as any we have heard. Lies abound. I liked the book.

I read the book on NetGalley

[Kayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review was made possible through NetGalley.com

Since COVID made its appearance at the beginning of this year, many things in this book have happened: blame, manipulation, and a race against time. It definitely gets the reader thinking about who is "innocent" and that there are always more factors than who's right and who's wrong.

The attention to details was something that I liked, but became annoyed with. For example, the face masks. Their color, their style, the way they fit over the face; it all became too much at one point. And perhaps that's what it was intended to do. A blatant reminder of a blip in the norm. The lack of traffic was another topic that got boring.

I enjoyed the shorter chapters, enabling me to stop as needed. However, some of these chapters could've been eliminated or merged into larger ones.

The mention of Rob's wife Jackie seemed to be nothing more than "moral inspiration". Anytime Rob was faced with a hard choice it was "Jackie would've wanted me to do this. This is what she would've wanted." It seemed when there was nothing else to guide his decision making it was Jackie.

Overall the characters were likeable and developed nicely. Everyone had their own agenda and means that they wanted to reach. It was verbal plays of power and manipulation with no clear ending, similar to the current world. It's definitely a story to get people thinking and talking about what is going on in today's society all across the world.

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author knocked it out of the ballpark. After reading the first page, I was hooked. The best authors write what they know. This book is written against the backdrop of 2020 - the year Coronavirus changed our lives forever. A vaccine doctor goes to China; he had been working at the lab in Wuhan in Nov. 2019. While the book is mainly written while he is in China the author provides information about the Chinese culture - the extent of the Chinese Firewall, cultural history and how important keeping face was addressed as part of the book.

I am not going to provide a summary plot. Masterfully, the author drops hints along the way in order for you to complete the puzzle which made me continue reading.

I cannot wait for the next book in the series and recommend this book.

****I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Jane Shambler · Rating 5 out of 5]

What can you say about something that you know is true? Because even though this is a book of fiction it is also a book of reality. Maybe not character wise but definitely subject wise.

I'm not going to give a plot summary just that it's something close to all our hearts. The competition between nations to find the best scientists, the first vaccine. Countries who should have been working together to save lives. This was global.

I'll admit it had me hooked from the first page. Maybe it was because we had just lived through it and are still living it.

The author has an amazing technique of grabbing your attention. He is also a good story teller. Conspiracy theorists will have a field day with this.

Enjoy!

[Mary Pimbblet · Rating 2 out of 5]

This felt rather irresponsible, stirring up theories of the current coronavirus pandemic being manufactured in China. The western characters are all good, the Chinese and Russian characters are pretty much Bond villain stereotypes.
It's fast paced, easy to read, but I just get the feeling after reading it seems irresponsible to publish a plot of this nature at the moment, given that some people may actually believe it.

[Charlie Medcalf · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this first book was much better than the second book which I read first. I think this is because by reading the first book I am better introduced to the plot and can understand what is going on better. I, therefore, recommend you read the books in this series in order.

Please see my full review on my blog at the following link-
https://cembookportal.blogspot.com/20...

[D.J. Harrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

An up to the minute thriller

Compelling, exciting, superbly executed thriller by an excellent author. Highly recommended for anyone who loves a good crime thriller. Looking forward the his next one.

[Lin Perrett · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Conspiracy is based on the Coronavirus. A UK based vaccine scientist Robert McNeil joins the US State Department to find out the origins of the virus. The Chinese and Russians become involved. I was a little disappointed waiting for the twist and found the ending abrupt.

[Chel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book tackles an interesting, contemporary topic, with it's focus on COVID-19. It's an easy read, and gripping. Suspenseful and intriguing. I'll definitely read more of the author's books in future. Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to enjoy this book due to the theme around COVID and it's current relevancy but no matter how much I tried I couldn't get into it.

[Hazel · Rating 5 out of 5]

My thanks to NetGalley and puplisher BooksGoSocial for the electronic copy.

This is Book#1 in The Conspiracy series and, set in our contemporary world of a coronavirus pandemic, well, anything could be true - couldn't it?

Dr Robert McNeil is an American and world-leading vaccine scientist at an Oxford lab. He'd visited the Wuhan labs some months before this April, taking with him samples of his proposed vaccine. He was doing the same in Paris when he got word that his wife Jackie was in hospital with the virus and, driving home in London, was run off the road - although he escaped with minor injuries. He had to find out how and why his wife dies so quickly.

Faith Gordon, a US State Department employee steps in to help him answer those questions, resulting in them going to Wuhan where Rob is accused of releasing the virus in their labs. Incarceration ensues until Wang, charged with overseeing the Wuhan labs and getting a confession from Rob, is ordered to take them to Beijing

Meanwhile, Vladimir (Russian) is tying up loose ends in London and presenting the US Embassy there with "proof" that China is responsible for the virus leak. However, he's also keen to work with the Chinese. - Complicated - you bet!

The conspiracy surrounds these three superpowers - China, the US and Russia - and poor Rob is in the middle of it all. Each country has it's own agenda regarding vaccines and their world-standing.

An intriguing read with plenty of thought-provoking scenarios to keep conspiracy theorists happy..

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very timely book, with it revolving around conspiracies over the Coronavirus Pandemic. Rob is a scientist who is developing a vaccine. His wife has mysteriously just died of Coronavirus and China, Russia and the US are all competing by fair means, or more likely foul, to get him working for them.

This was a quick read and the plot moves along very quickly. At times though I felt it could have done with a bit more character development. It’s a good read and there is plenty of skulduggery going on and has quite an insight into China and Chinese politics. It is all set up very nicely for a sequel, which I notice has already been published. Quite compulsive reading and I will definitely quickly get hold of the next book to see how it all ends.

Overall I would give this book 4 stars and I am happy to recommend it, always enjoy reading Laurence’s books. I would like to say thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for providing a copy of this book to me for an open and honest review.