Chicago, Illinois; St. Marabel, Quebec, Canada; Brazil, and Elsewhere

At its most personal level, THE GOOD LIAR is about love and friendship; on a larger level, it's about love of country and the desire to protect it. In both spheres, it's about truth, trust, idealism, and the best of intentions -- and how they can often go wrong...or be spoiled by those with agendas of their own.

The main characters in this novel are three: Kate Livingston, an accountant; Liza Kinglsey, international sales representative for Presario Pharmaceuticals; and Michael Waller, an older man Liza knows from Presario. Now in their late thirties, Kate and Liza have been best friends since seventh grade. Months ago, Liza saw Kate through a difficult divorce, and in an attempt to prod her out of her rut, recently fixed her up with Michael. Had Liza known that Kate and Michael would fall in love and marry, she would not have introduced them, for Liza and Michael have a secret they can never share with Kate: Presario is a front for Trust.

The Trust is a super-secret, private organization founded by Liza's father, an ex-colonel, after he was disillusioned with government entities during the Viet Nam War. The Trust's purpose was set up solely to safeguard the country from its enemies within and without its borders. Kingsley set up strict ethical guidelines; foremost among them is do no collateral damage. Michael had been an early recruit of the colonel's, under whom he served in Viet Nam. No one leaves the Trust, but after meeting Kate, Michael retires from active status. Besides, lately he's begun to wonder about the direction the Trust is heading since the colonel's death. And Kate begins to wonder about Michael, who is open and loving for the most part, but also seems to have a secretive side. And Liza? She tries to ease the pain of losing an old love in the arms of a chance-met stranger.

THE GOOD LIAR has many secondary characters, not all of them above greed, betrayal, and murder.

Kate is given her own first person voice; the rest of the time the story is told in third person. The settings -- time as well as and place -- and points of view change often, giving a somewhat disjointed quality to the whole that sets the observer at a distance. However, Ms. Caldwell writes with a clarity that makes the complex plot easy to follow. We know early on who are the good guys and can empathize with them as they struggle with doubts.

THE GOOD LIAR provides much food for thought about how government protects its people and what lengths it should go to in doing so. What place does the private sector play if any, and should it? Do we know? Are all of the things Liza and Michael have done justifiable? THE GOOD LIAR would be an excellent choice for a group discussion.

Jane Bowers