TRUE FICTION
Lee Goldberg
April 1st, 2018
Thomas and Mercer
Lee Goldberg has written a lot of great books that I have enjoyed. I also enjoy Lee, I’ve seen him on panels and do interviews and have met him a number of times. If anyone out there truly knows what it is like to live the lifestyle of a working author it’s Lee. He knows the business and he knows the aspects of writing for a living.
TRUE FICTION is Lee’s latest and I it seems really obvious that the saying “write what you know” played a big part in Lee’s idea for a new series. This first book introduces Ian Ludlow, a thriller writer. (This is a pseudonym Goldberg used back in the 80s). Ludlow being an author made this book really fun because I can’t help but wonder how much is based on things Lee has experienced himself and how much is pure fiction. The title is damn accurate.
Ian Ludow is on a book tour and while in Seattle he learns that there has been a plane crash which is shockingly familiar. It should be because he is the one who wrote the scenario for it to happen. We learn that Ian along with a number of other authors were recruited by the CIA to come up with worst case scenarios so that they could plan to counter them. Given what he writes Ian is curious and after a little poking around he learns that the other authors involved in this project have all had “accidents” and are dead. And as it turns out the near misses he’s had recently were most likely attempts to kill him. Ian goes on the run. He needs to find out who is behind this and why and hopefully stop them while still being able to walk away after. He is going to need to become the character he writes, Clint Straker, of course Ian isn’t in any real shape for this and will be relying on his wits.
Lee Goldberg’s brain must be a really crazy place because the glimpse we get of that landscape in his writing show a wonderful capacity for creating puzzles and drawing the reader right into them. He plays fair with the reader, but he’s so clever it’s damn hard to keep ahead of what is going on so all you can really do is flip pages faster and faster to keep up. I loved every word of this book and I look forward to more in the series. It feels like Ian Ludlow is an action hero I can relate to. If great pacing with awesome characters are what keep you up at night then make a pot of coffee and open this book.
Jon Jordan
