"Terrific Suspenseful Novel"

Therapist and author Dr. David Remler has a successful Manhattan practice but feels a void since the untimely death of his pregnant wife several years ago. New patient Samantha Kent confides to David that her husband is an abusive rich and powerful man who will stop at nothing to claim custody of their young child should she leave him. Sam has had thoughts of killing her husband, but David doesn't believe that she will act on those impulses.

After a chance meeting outside the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Samantha convinces David to let her fix him dinner at his apartment, and doesn't act on his desire for her, promptly escorting her home following dinner. Later that evening, in the early hours of morning, Sam phones David and indicates that she has killed her husband. Acting purely on instinct, David travels to Sam's address only to discover her dead husband. With the imminent arrival of the police, David explains how he has arrived at Sam's home.

But this cut and dry case increases dramatically in complexity when David is arrested for the murder of Conrad Birch, Samantha's husband, and when the real Sam Kent appears, she is not his client. As high powered attorneys attempt to prove David's innocence, he pins his hopes for acquittal on locating the elusive woman impersonating Samantha Kent, thereby proving the existence of his mystery client. Suspense escalates to a fever pitch when the judge in David's trial receives a mysterious envelope which has the power to help his case. With plenty of red herrings thrown in, the reader will be stunned at the cataclysmic conclusion which is certain to make many readers a fan of author Howard Roughan.

Reviewed by Sheri Melnick
Posted April 21, 2004

Summary

Howard Roughan's debut, The Up and Comer, was hailed as one of the most hip and entertaining thrillers of the year. Now Roughan returns at full stride with a scintillating novel of deception that begins when a gifted young psychologist becomes entangled in the life of a beautiful and calculating patient. THE PROMISE OF A LIE Nothing can prepare Dr. David Remler for the shocking phone call he receives from a patient named Samantha Kent. Stunned and anxious to help, he rushes out into the Manhattan night to keep a bloody act of violence from spinning further out of control. He knows he is too involved, that he's crossed a line, and that his professional reputation is at stake. But he has no idea what awaits him at his destination...that he's become a pawn in a very deadly game of revenge. Suddenly the focus of a criminal case that flares into an out-of-control media circus, David has only one shot to clear his name. But first he has to clear up the mystery of his patient, "Samantha Kent." Just who is she? And why did she choose to involve David? Little by little, the outlines of a brilliant plot emerge—and, with it, the horrifying power of a single lie... In this richly textured tale of a man's battle against the mother of all manipulations, the perfect setup is even more diabolical than it looks.