I've read this three or more times now (audio book = good) and it gets better each time I read it. I love the honesty, the authenticity, and even the uncertainty of the MC. ( )

This is a book with a conservative main character. Set just a bit into the future, it deals with the growing threat of Islamic terrorism. I thought Jason was an interesting character - one deeply flawed and human, but fighting to do better to be better. Mr. Klavan's portrayal of liberal America, while somewhat exaggerated, still seemed pointedly accurate. The idea that "ideas" are more important than reality is certainly being played out today on the national front. This isn't my preferred genre of fiction - too much sex and offensive language - but the ideas that Mr. Klavan explores are certainly timely. ( )

Andrew Klavan is an excellent writer and a wonderful storyteller, both of which serve to obscure the fact that his plots are a little thin: Empire of Lies is a completely forgettable story but a real page turner.

Narrator Jason Harrow is a man who has been born again, put his murky past behind him, and moved into upper income Suburbia in a small, affluent city with his perfect white bread wife Cathy and three children.

A committed Christian, politically conservative and a pillar of the middle class community, former journalist turned rich businessman Jason is not best please when he receives a call for help from Loren, a woman he dated in his former life, a life he is determined to hide from his family.

Back then, Jason and Loren led an alternative lifestyle, not just politically, artistically and philosophically but, most importantly, sexually. They were part of The Scene, enjoying orgies, rough group sex and perverse fantasies with strangers in which sexual sadism played a major role.

“Acting out the universal male fantasies of rape and conquest and damnation had a childishly gluttonous quality. It was like sitting cross legged on the floor and stuffing chocolate cake into your mouth until the whole cake was gone. It was just like that, in fact: delicious – then compulsive – and finally sickening.”

Jason has put all that behind him but Loren asks him to help find her runaway daughter Serena – a child she swears Jason fathered. Evidently, Klavan does not shrink from the cliché.

A superb raconteur and an absolute master of the cliff hanger, Andrew Klavan knows how to hook his audience and reel them in during the first few pages, after which the plot-driven narrative proceeds at a fast and furious pace, effortlessly negotiating unexpected twists and turns until, at last, reaching a satisfactory conclusion.

Unusually for Klavan, at least in my experience, he introduces thinly disguised pastiches of real people into the plot, and the story features versions of William Shattner and the whole Angelina Jolie Brad Pitt Jennifer Aniston triangle. Pretty Juliette is pregnant with hunky husband Todd Bingham’s baby, but Todd has fallen for sexy, sultry costar Angelica Eden.

The three of them are at the premier of a blockbuster called The End of Civilization as we Know It , but the screening is disturbed by an on-stage show down between Jason Harrow, his daughter Serena, and Patrick Piersall, the William Shattner character who saves the day but looses his life.

Fittingly, there is a Hollywood Ending and Jason is able to resume his American Dream with barely a hiccough while the evil terrorists are completely foiled and Tinsel Town survives to fight another day: as substantial and enjoyable as the latest box office hit. ( )

‘Oxymoron’ is so fashionable I’m reluctant to use it, but what better description of a Conservative writer of thriller novels? --perhaps the first creditable one since Bill Buckley Jr. penned his swashbuckling patriot, Blackford Oakes. Andrew Klavan’s hero, Jason Harrow, is more complex, possibly more conservative and just as patriotic; consequently he’s more rewarding.

And he swashbuckles with the best of them.

Klaven, author behind the Clint Eastwood movie, True Crime, clearly knows how to write a thriller and makes full use of his technical mastery of the genre: keeping the action taut, just enough foreshadowing to pull you along without getting in the way, a leap in technology that feels like like of course, that’s probably the next step, all the rest. If you like thrillers with lots of tight action and suspense, you’ll like this book. If you’re a Conservative feeling alienated from NYT Best Sellers, you’ll feel vindicated. If you’re a Liberal you’d better read it.

Five stars not because it's a great book, but because the author succeeds at what he set out to do. ( )

Jason Harrow began his adulthood as a sadist, but after a particularly bad encounter he reformed his ways, moved away from New York City, and began his life over with God's help. Now he is happily married, has a fulfilling job, and lovely family. Then out of the blue, he receives a phone call from an old girlfriend, who asks for his help without giving any details. He drops everything to return to his old haunts, using as an excuse that he must sell his deceased mother's house. This is the first book by Andrew Klavan which I have read, so I can't say whether it is typical of his work. I found it very enjoyable. ( )