A Perfect Life

Tom McInnes #4

by Mike Stewart

A PERFECT PLAN...

Scott Thomas doesn’t know it, but he has been chosen. Not because he’s handsome, smart, or on the verge of a brilliant career as a clinical psychologist trained at Harvard. No, Scott has been chosen because he has the perfect life–for someone who needs a life to destroy.…

A PERFECT LIE...

It starts with a bizarre carjacking, followed by an apparent burglary in his Cambridge apartment. Then a woman is murdered at the hospital where he works, and evidence of Scott’s guilt is all around him–on his computer, in his apartment, in the dead woman’s room. With police hunting for him and a bizarre stranger watching his every move, Scott must take a chance on trusting a beautiful woman and searching through a shadow world of computer hackers and unclosed chapters of his own past. Because with the perfect frame closing around him and a killer growing more violent, Scott has only one choice now: to take back his life–or die trying….

Genres: Fiction

432 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Michael Garnet Stewart is an American author.

A native of Vredenburgh, Alabama, in Monroe County, Stewart attended Tabor Academy for the first two years of high school but graduated from Wilcox Academy in Camden, Alabama. He received his undergraduate degree from Auburn University. In between school terms, he spent the summers working as a forest technician and farmhand. After graduating from college, he worked as a copy editor for the Atlanta Journal and assisted on a friend's unsuccessful gubernatorial.

In 1985, Stewart enrolled at Cumberland School of Law, where he became an associate editor of the Cumberland Law Review and moot court champion. He was a leadership scholarship recipient and the author of a published case note cited by the Alabama Supreme Court.

After graduating from law school, Stewart was admitted to the Alabama Bar and began work as a corporate attorney, specializing in healthcare law. In the 1990s, he retired from his position as General Counsel of Complete Health, a large healthcare company, and pursued his lifelong dream of writing novels. Stewart lives in Birmingham with his family.

Reviews

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I started out confused because I had no idea where the plot was headed. Then things started making sense and I thought the middle of the story was really gripping. By the end I thought it was very disjointed. I found it strange how Scott didn't ask his brother where he had been all of those years. He just seemed mildly surprised that his brother kept turning up. The scenes on the island were not written well. I felt like the author had a self imposed page limit and was trying to quickly wrap up the ending. I don't think I'll read any more books from this author.

[Marti · Rating 3 out of 5]

this was a rather strange book--the characters you might think were good turned out not to be, and weird things happened from time to time. scott thomas didn't know that his brother and mother had survived a fire set by his father. an old jazz musician ends up helping him out--for no apparent reason. one beautiful woman can't be trusted--can the other one? the settings change from cambridge and harvard to north carolina.

[Sallie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not as good as his Tom McInnes books

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Again, a cast of characters that complicates the plot initially. Enjoyed the Birmingham Author. Mike Stewart is the only other person I know, besides my mother, who was born in Vredenburgh, Al.

[Mannu Cherie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think it was a good story,,however sometimes it felt like too pushed or like too many ppl had weird sexual fantasies. the story itself was interesting enough to keep me reading.

[Cheryl Beseler]

The plot of "A Perfect Life" was well-developed and enthralling. Although somewhat predictable at times, it was an entertaining read. I would read other novels by this author in the future.