James Siegel

James Siegel has demonstrated in three finely honed thrillers prior to Deceit that he is one of the most adroit practitioners at work in the field today. Those books (all distinguished by their terse, one-word titles: Epitaph, Derailed and Detour) were a triumph of no-nonsense, ever-accelerating writing whose purpose was to transfix the reader -- a trick that Siegel pulls off once again with Deceit. Tom Valle is a Californian journalist with a very unspectacular career, covering what appears to be an everyday car crash. Then strange facts present themselves to Valle -- including the fact that the autopsy indicates that the car crash victim has been castrated. And although the driving licence says otherwise, the corpse is that of a black man rather than a white. Valle sees this as a chance to re-energise his career, and uncover some nasty secrets. But he has made a rod for his own back by some ill-advised journalistic double-dealing in the past, such as some fictitious stories he has ...

Una mezcla explosiva entre Atracción Fatal y Sospechosos habituales.Tras un encuentro fortuito en un tren, se despierta una atracción irresistible entre dos extraños. Charlie es un publicista volcado en su familia. Lucinda, una mujer casada de belleza espectacular. Dejándose llevar por la obsesión creciente que esta mujer le provoca, Charlie acaba con Lucinda en un hotel neoyorquino.Esa primera cita será la última entre ambos; un hecho terrible cambiará la vida de él para siempre.

When an English teacher at Attica State Prison asks his incarcerated students to write about why they're in prison, he is astounded by the story of Charles Schine, imprisoned for hiring a hitman to kill the man who assaulted him and his girlfriend and then blackmailed them.

This compelling thriller about the horrifying consequences of an adulterous liaison inspired a 2005 movie starring Clive Owen and Jennifer Aniston. A chance encounter on a commuter train between Charles, a married ad exec, and Lucinda, an equally married stockbroker, eventually leads to a rendezvous in a hotel room. Their tryst has an unexpected and shocking ending: a man invades the hotel room and robs them both, assaults Charles, rapes Lucinda, and then proceeds to blackmail Charles. When Charles finally resolves to put a stop to the harassment, he resorts to methods that only succeed in digging him deeper and deeper into catastrophe.

Plotted to perfection, James Siegel's debut novel is a captivating mix of atmosphere, emotion and page-turning power from a terrific new talent. Advertising director Charles Schine is just another New York commuter, regularly catching the 8.43 to work. But the day he misses his train is the day that changes his life. Catching the 9.05 instead, he can't help but be drawn by the sight of the person opposite. Charles has never cheated on his wife in eighteen years of marriage. But then Charles has never met anyone like Lucinda Harris before. Charming, beautiful and a seductively good listener, Charles finds himself instantly attracted. And though Lucinda is married too, it is immediately apparent that the feeling is mutual. Their journeys into work become lunch dates, which become cocktails and eventually lead to a rented room in a seedy hotel. They both know the risks they are taking, but not in their worst nightmares could they foresee what is to follow. Suddenly their temptation turns horrifically sour, and their illicit liaison becomes caught up in something bigger, more dangerous, more brutally violent. Unable to talk to his partner or the police, Charles finds himself trapped in a world of dark conspiracy and psychological games. Somehow he's got to find a way to fight back, or his entire life will be spectacularly derailed for good . . .

Central Park, New York. It was the small girl chasing a pink balloon that had given Paul and Joanna the idea to end five years of failing to conceive, and to adopt. Which is why they are travelling to the Santa Regina orphanage in Columbia, to meet their new daughter, Joelle. It is meant to be a new beginning in their lives. But it is not the new beginning they were expecting. Columbia is a dangerous place, particularly for a foreigner with a wife and daughter to protect. Paul would do anything for Joanna, and now he is going to have to. He's got eighteen hours to get a deadly consignment to an address in New York. He dare not be late. He dare not dial 911. Because if the delivery doesn't arrive, he'll never see his newly created family ever again ...

Advertising director Charles Schine is just another New York commuter, the 8.43 to Penn Station his daily journey to work. But the day he misses his regular train is the day that changes his life. Catching the 9.05 instead, he can't help but be drawn by the sight of the person opposite. Charles has never cheated on his wife in eighteen years of marriage. But then Charles has never met anyone like Lucinda Harris before. Charming, beautiful and a seductively good listener, Charles finds himself instantly attracted. And though Lucinda is married too, it is immediately apparent that the feeling is mutual. Their journeys into work become lunch dates, lunch dates become cocktails, and cocktails become a rented room in a seedy Manhattan hotel. Charles and Lucinda both know the risks they are taking, but not in their worst nightmares could they foresee what is to follow. A dazzling thriller from a terrific new talent, Derailed is a captivating mix of atmosphere, emotion and page-turning power.

Tras un encuentro fortuito en un tren, se despierta una atracción irresistible entre dos extraños. Charlie es un publicista volcado en su familia. Lucinda, una mujer casada de belleza espectacular. Dejándose llevar por la obsesión creciente que esta mujer le provoca, Charlie acaba con Lucinda en un hotel neoyorquino.Esa primera cita será la última entre ambos; un hecho terrible cambiará la vida de él para siempre.Tomando como protagonista a un hombre en una situación limite, y con un estilo que recuerda a los clásicos del cine negro, James Siegel concibe una novela inteligente, rica en descripciones atmosféricas, que, yendo allá del engaño, el chantaje y la venganza, se cierra con una ingeniosa vuelta de tuerca.

Hace muchos años que Paul y Joanna solo desean una cosa por encima de todo: un hijo. Pero la naturaleza no les ha sido propicia, y sus reiterados intentos con la reproducción asistida no han funcionado. Alguien les sugiere la adopción, y solo han de decidir en qué país llevarla a cabo. En India y China les obligan a esperar varios años más. En Colombia, en cambio, la espera para su sueño es muy corta. Allí se verán rodeados por la violencia que asola el país, un clima que parece no afectarles mientras sostienen en sus brazos a la niña que les ha otorgado el orfanato. Pero las cosas cambian cuando Joanna descubre que la niñera recomendada por el Orfanato ha aprovechado unas horas a solas para cambiarla por otra niña.

Tras escribir más de cincuenta historias falsas en un afamado periódico neoyorquino, Tom Valle (acusado formalmente de ello y repudiado por el editor que no fue capaz de advertir sus mentiras) trabaja duramente en una pequeña publicación californiana. Los cumpleaños de los ancianos de la comunidad y las inauguraciones de centros comerciales conforman la materia prima de sus noticias. Pero uno de estos sucesos insignificantes le va a dar la oportunidad de redimirse. Comienza a investigar, contrasta hechos, revela mentira tras mentira, y se encuentra solo en medio de una trama de corrupción, fraude y muertes que parece tener su origen muchos años atrás.