The Lying Tongue***** by Andrew WilsonFiction, hardcover, 320 pgs. (2007)
Atria Press
I really enjoyed this tense psychological suspense. A young English writer-to-be, Adam Woods takes a job in Venice and comes to realize that he's actually working for a famous old reclusive author named Gordon Crace. He has strict instructions not to ask about or even mention the old man's writing. Crace even goes to some lengths to prevent any biography from ever being written about himself.
Determined that there's a book in it for him, Adam keeps secret notes on the writer's doings while caring for the man's household needs. He's not above snooping through papers and spying on the old man to get what he wants either. Gordon Crace is not a very likeable man but then neither is Adam. He even takes a trip back to England to investigate the writer's past and prevent another biographer from getting the jump on him. Tense and and intriguing from the start, the tension winds up as Adam fears discovery of what he's doing and learns what Crace has been hiding. Very well written and highly recommended.
Andrew Wilson is author of the acclaimed recent biography of Patricia Highsmith, author of The Talented Mr. Ripley and many others. This novel seems to me to be quite up to her standard.
