Face of Betrayal (Triple Threat Series #1)

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Overview

Fox News legal correspondent and former Federal Prosecutor Lis Wiehl has created a suspense novel that's as timely as tomorrow's headlines.

While home on Christmas break, a seventeen-year-old Senate page takes her dog out for a walk and never returns. Reporter Cassidy Shaw is the first to break the story. The resulting media firestorm quickly ensnares Federal Prosecutor Allison Pierce and FBI Special Agent Nicole Hedges. The three unique women are life-long friends who call themselves The Triple Threat—a nickname derived from their favorite dessert and their uncanny ability to crack cases via their three positions of power.

Though authorities think Katie might have been kidnapped or run away, those theories shatter when Nicole uncovers Katie's blog. They reveal a girl troubled by a mysterious relationship with an older man. Possibly a U.S. Senator.

As the three women race against time to find Katie alive, their increasing emotional involvement brings out their own inner demons and external enemies. There are many faces of betrayal, but they must find the one face in a crowd of growing suspects before they become the next victims.

In Face of Betrayal, Lis Wiehl's expertise in law, politics, and criminal investigation merges with April Henry's narrative genius to create a gripping mystery filled with rich characters, real danger, and a shocking yet satisfying final twist.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

Wiehl, a Fox News commentator and legal analyst, teams with mystery veteran Henry (Buried Diamonds) on a sizzling political thriller. When 17-year-old Senate page Katie Converse goes missing on her Christmas break near her parents' white Victorian home in Portland, Ore., law enforcement and media personnel go into overdrive in a search for clues. Three friends at the pinnacle of their respective careers-Allison Pierce, a federal prosecutor; Cassidy Shaw, a crime reporter; and Nicole Hedges, an FBI special agent-soon discover that Katie wasn't the picture of innocence painted by her parents. It appears Katie was having an affair with a much older man, a senator whose political careerA could be derailed if the affair was publicized.A The seamless plot offers a plethora of twists and turns. A blurb from Fox News commentator Bill O'Reilly will help draw attention to Wiehl's debut. (Apr.)

Library Journal

Fox News legal correspondent Wiehl teams up with YA mystery novelist Henry (www.aprilhenrymysteries.com) in this first entry in a new series featuring three professional female crime fighters who work together to solve the mystery of a Senate page's disappearance. Actress/narrator Pam Turlow, who previously voiced characters for the "Left Behind" audio series, aptly interprets the female characters here. By contrast, her male voices sound a bit strained and unnatural, but this will not greatly hinder listeners' enjoyment of the book. A good choice for YA and adult female patrons.—Ilka Gordon, Siegal Coll. of Judaic Studies Lib., Cleveland

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781595547057
Publisher: Nelson, Thomas, Inc.
Publication date: 4/7/2009
Pages: 320
Series: Triple Threat Series, #1
Product dimensions: 6.00 (w) x 9.30 (h) x 1.10 (d)

Meet the Author

Lis Wiehl

Lis Wiehl is a Harvard Law School graduate and former federal prosecutor. A widely popular legal analyst and commentator for the Fox News Channel, Wiehl appears regularly on The O'Reilly Factor and was co-host with Bill O'Reilly on the widely-syndicated radio show, The Radio Factor, for the past seven years.

April Henry is the New York Times bestselling author of many acclaimed mysteries for adults and young adults, including the YA novels Girl, Stolen and The Night She Disappeared. She lives in Oregon.

Read an Excerpt

FACE OF BETRAYAL

A Triple Threat Novel

By LIS WIEHL APRIL HENRY
Thomas Nelson
Copyright © 2008

Lis Wiehl and April Henry
All right reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-59554-705-7

Chapter One NORTHWEST PORTLAND December 13

Come on, Jalapeño!"

Katie Converse jerked the dog's leash. Reluctantly, the black Lab mix lifted his nose and followed her. Katie wanted to hurry, but everything seemed to invite Jalapeño to stop, sniff, and lift his leg. And there was no time for that now. Not today.

She had grown up less than two miles from here, but this afternoon everything looked different. It was winter, for one thing, nearly Christmas. And she wasn't the same person she had been the last time she was here, not a month earlier. Then she had been a little girl playing at being a grown-up. Now she was a woman.

Finally, she reached the agreed-upon spot. She was still shaking from what she had said less than two hours earlier. What she had demanded.

Now there was nothing to do but wait. Not an easy task for an impatient seventeen-year-old.

She heard the scuff of footsteps behind her. Unable to suppress a grin, Katie called his name as she turned around.

At the sight of the face, contorted with rage, Jalapeño growled.

MARK O. HATFIELD UNITED STATES COURTHOUSE December 14

As she walked to the courtroom podium, federal prosecutor Allison Pierce touched the tiny silver cross she wore on a fine chain. The cross was hidden under her cream-colored silk blouse, but it was always there, close to Allison's heart. Her father had given it to her for her sixteenth birthday.

Allison was dressed in what she thought of as her "court uniform," a navy blue suit with a skirt that, even on her long legs, hit below the knee. This morning she had tamed her curly brown hair into a low bun and put on small silver hoops. She was thirty-three, but in court she wanted to make sure no one thought of her as young or unseasoned.

She took a deep breath and looked up at Judge Fitzpatrick. "Your Honor, I ask for the maximum sentence for Frank Archer. He coldly, calculatedly, and callously plotted his wife's murder. If Mr. Archer had been dealing with a real hired killer instead of an FBI agent, Toni Archer would be dead today. Instead, she is in hiding and in fear for her life."

A year earlier Frank Archer had had what he told friends was a five-foot-four problem. Toni. She wanted a divorce. Archer was an engineer, and he was good at math. A divorce meant splitting all their worldly goods and paying for child support. But if Toni were to die? Then not only would Archer avoid a divorce settlement, but he would benefit from Toni's $300,000 life insurance policy.

Archer asked an old friend from high school-who also happened to be an ex-con-if he knew anyone who could help. The old friend found Rod Emerick, but Rod wasn't a hired killer-he was an FBI agent. Archer agreed to meet Rod in a hotel room, which the FBI bugged. In a windowless van parked outside, Allison monitored the grainy black-and-white feed, all shadows and snow, waiting until they had enough to make an arrest before she gave the order. With gritted teeth, she had watched Archer hand over a snapshot of Toni, her license number, her work schedule, and $5,000 in fifties and hundreds. She sometimes understood those who killed from passion-but killers motivated by greed left her cold.

Given the strength of the evidence, Archer had had no choice but to plead guilty. Now, as Allison advocated for the maximum possible sentence, she didn't look over at him once. He was a small man, with thinning blonde hair and glasses. He looked nothing like a killer. But after five years as a federal prosecutor, Allison had learned that few killers did.

After she finished, she rejoined Rod at the prosecutor's table and listened to the defense attorney's sad litany of excuses. Archer hadn't known what he was doing, he was distraught, he was under a lot of stress, he wasn't sleeping well, and he never intended to go through with it-lies that everyone in the crowded courtroom could see through.

"Do you have anything you would like to say to the court before sentencing?" Judge Fitzpatrick asked Archer.

Archer got to his feet, eyes brimming with crocodile tears. "I'm very, very sorry. Words cannot describe how I feel. It was all a huge mistake. I love Toni very much."

Allison didn't realize she was shaking her head until she felt Rod's size 12 loafer squishing the toe of her sensible navy blue pump.

They all rose for the sentence.

"Frank Archer, you have pled guilty to the cowardly and despicable act of plotting to have your spouse murdered." Judge Fitzpatrick's face was like a stone. "Today's sentence should send a strong message to cowards who think they can hide by hiring a stranger to commit an act of violence. I hereby sentence you to ten years for attempted capital murder-for-hire, to be followed by two years of supervised release."

Allison felt a sense of relief. She had an excellent track record, but the previous case she had prosecuted had shaken her confidence. The date rapist had been pronounced innocent, which had left his victim stunned, fearful, and angry-and left Allison feeling guilty that she hadn't been able to put him away for years. Today, at least, she had made the world a safer place.

A second later, her mood was shattered.

"It's all your fault!" Archer shouted. He wasn't yelling at Toni-his ex-wife was too afraid to be in the courtroom. Instead, he was pointing at Allison and Rod. "You set me up!"

Archer was dragged from the courtroom, and Rod patted Allison's arm. "Don't worry," he said. "We'll keep an eye on him."

She nodded and managed a smile. Still, she felt a pulse of fear. Ten years from now, would the man come back to take his revenge?

Shaking off the feeling of foreboding, Allison walked out of the courthouse-known to Portlanders as the "Schick Razor Building" because of its curved, overhanging roof-while she called Toni with the good news. In the parking lot, she pressed the fob on her key chain, unlocked her car door, and slid behind the wheel, still talking.

Only after she had accepted Toni's thanks and said good-bye did she see the folded paper underneath her windshield wiper. Muttering under her breath about junk advertising, she got back out of the car and tugged the paper free.

Then she unfolded it.

The professional part of Allison immediately began to take notes. For one thing, except in a movie, she had never actually seen a threat written in letters cut from a magazine. For another, were her own fingerprints obscuring those of the person who had done this?

But the human side of Allison couldn't help trembling. For all her detachment, she couldn't tamp down her horror as she read the message.

I'm going to rape you. And you're going to like it. And then I'm going to cut you into little pieces. And I'm going to like it.

MYSPACE.COM/THEDCPAGE Better Not Let Me Talk to Boys September 5

Hi! I'm a Senate page on Capitol Hill. This blog will tell about my experiences here in Pageland.

Washington DC is all tall buildings, honking cabs & humidity that feels like someone wrapped you up in a blanket of steam. Plus it smells funky. Like hot garbage.

It turns out that the Vietnam Memorial & the Washington Monument & the statue of Lincoln are all a couple of blocks apart. My stepmom V has been trying to get me to all the famous sites, even though there will be trips every other weekend just for the pages. (Now she's asleep & I'm writing this in the bathroom of the hotel, which has free wireless.)

I can't believe that the whole time we've been here it's been raining. For some reason, I never thought it would rain in DC. Luckily some guy on the street was selling umbrellas.

After all the sightseeing, we went out to dinner with Senator X. He got me this internship, but I probably won't see him very much. I'll be working for all the senators, especially the 50 Republicans, not just him. (Working in the Senate is better than working in the House. I hear they have to stare at hundreds of photos so they can memorize all the faces & names in their party. Compared to that, 50 is a piece of cake.)

We ate at an elegant Japanese restaurant, where I had many things that I can't pronounce. Not only are the Japanese people good at anime, but they know how to cook.

Before our food came, V told these people at the next table to keep their toddler under control. He had a cup of Cheerios & was throwing some on the floor. So of course she had to boss them around. Then V started telling the senator that he had better keep an eye on me & not let me talk to boys. I just wanted to crawl under the table, even though they both pretended she was joking.

Doesn't she realize that I'm not a little kid anymore? In eight days, I'm going to be seventeen!

PIERCE RESIDENCE December 14

Allison set the pregnancy test on the edge of the tub. Marshall was in the living room, stretching in front of the TV news, getting ready to go for a run.

All afternoon, this moment had been in the back of her mind, providing a welcome distraction from her anxiety whenever she thought about the threatening note. Rod had come as soon as she called and had taken the document away as evidence. He asked her if she had any enemies, but they both knew the question was a joke.

Of course Allison had made enemies, most recently Archer. She was a third-generation prosecutor, so she knew it came with the territory.

The so-called blue-collar criminals-bank robbers and drug dealers-weren't so bad to deal with. For them, getting caught and doing time was an accepted risk, a cost of doing business. They were professionals, like she was. In a weird way, they understood that Allison was just doing her job.

It was the other ones, the ones who had been fairly upstanding citizens until they snapped at dinner and stabbed their spouse or decided that bank robbery was a perfect way to balance the family budget. Those were the ones you needed to watch out for. Their feelings for Allison were personal. Personal-and dangerous. For now, she would be extra careful, and Rod had alerted the Portland police to make additional patrols past her house.

Her watch said 6:21. She told herself that she wouldn't pick up the white stick again until 6:30. The test only took three minutes, but she wanted to be sure. How many times had she watched one of these stupid tests, willing two crossed lines to show up in the results window but seeing only one?

"I'll be back in about forty minutes, honey," Marshall called from the living room. She heard the sound of the front door closing.

Allison hadn't told him she was going to take the test today. She was four days late, but she had been four days late before. After so many failed tests, so many months in which being even a day late had filled her with feverish speculation, Marshall no longer inquired too closely into the details.

When they started this journey two years ago, she had been sure that she and Marshall would conceive easily. Any teenager could have a baby. How hard could it be? She and Marshall had always been scrupulous about birth control. Now it seemed like a bitter joke. She had wasted hundreds of dollars preventing something that would never have happened anyway.

They had started trying a month after her thirty-first birthday, giddy to be "playing without a net." At the end of the first month, Allison was sure she was pregnant: her breasts felt different, the taste of food changed, and she often felt dizzy when she stood up. But then her period arrived on schedule.

As the months passed she got more serious, tracked her temperature, made charts. Even though she had read all the statistics about how fertility declined with every passing year, it hadn't seemed like they applied to her.

How many crime victims had she met who had never believed that anything bad could happen to them? Because they were special?

"It's in your hands, Lord," she murmured. The idea was one she struggled with every day, at home and at work. How much was she responsible for? How much was out of her control? She had never been good at letting go.

To distract herself, Allison turned on the small TV they kept in the bedroom on top of an oak highboy. After a Subaru commercial, the Channel Four news anchor said, "And now we have a special bulletin from our crime reporter, Cassidy Shaw. Cassidy?"

Allison's old friend stood in front of a beautiful white Victorian house. She wore a coral suit that set off her blonde shoulder-length hair. Her blue eyes looked startlingly topaz-either she was wearing colored contacts or the TV set needed to be adjusted.

"A family is asking for your help in finding a teenager who has been missing from Northwest Portland since yesterday afternoon," Cassidy said, wearing the expression reporters reserved for serious events. "Seventeen-year-old Katie Converse left her parents a note saying she was taking the family dog for a walk-and she has not been seen since. Here's a recent photo of Katie, who is on winter break from the United States Senate's page program."

The camera cut to a photograph of a pretty blonde girl with a snub nose and a dusting of freckles. Allison caught her breath. Even though Katie was blonde and Lindsay had dark hair, it was almost like looking at her sister when she was Katie's age. The nose was the same, the shape of her eyes, even the same shy half smile. Lindsay, back when she was young and innocent and full of life.

Cassidy continued, "Katie is five feet, two inches tall and weighs 105 pounds. She has blue eyes, blonde hair, and freckles. She was last seen wearing a black sweater, blue jeans, a navy blue Columbia parka, and Nike tennis shoes. The dog, named Jalapeño, is a black Lab mix.

"Authorities are investigating. The family asks that if you have seen Katie, to please call the number on your screen. This is Cassidy Shaw, reporting from Northwest Portland."

Allison said a quick prayer that the girl would be safe. But a young woman like that would have no reason to run away, not if she was already living away from home. Nor was she likely to be out partying. Allison knew a little bit about the page program. It was fiercely competitive, attracting smart, serious, college-bound students whose idea of fun was the mock state legislature. The kind of kid Allison had been, back when she and Cassidy were in high school.

She looked at her watch and was surprised to see it was already 6:29. She made herself wait until the clock clicked over to 6:30, then reached for the pregnancy test. The first time she had bought only one, sure that was all she would need. Now, two years later, she bought them in multipacks at Costco.

In the control window was a pink horizontal line. And in the other window, the results window, were pink crosshairs.

Not single pink lines in both windows.

She was pregnant.

PORTLAND FBI HEADQUARTERS December 15

The words popped up on FBI special agent Nicole Hedges's screen.

PDXer: Whats ur favorite subject?

Nic-using the screen name BubbleBeth-and some guy going by the name PDXer were in a private area of a chat room called Younger Girls/Older Men.

BubbleBeth: Lunch

It was what Nic always answered. She could disconnect from her fingers, from the reality behind her keyboard and the words that appeared on her screen. Which was good. Because if she thought about it too much, she would go crazy.

At first, working for Innocent Images, the FBI's cyber-crime squad's effort to take down online predators, had seemed like a perfect fit. Regular hours, which were kind of a must when you were a single parent. The downside was that she spent all day exposed to vile men eager to have sex with a girl who barely qualified as a teen.

Most people were surprised that it wasn't the creepy guy in the raincoat who went online trolling for young girls. If only. In real life it was the teacher, the doctor, the grandpa, the restaurant manager. The average offender was a professional white male aged twenty-five to forty-five.

PDXer: How old R U?

BubbleBeth: 13

In Oregon, eighteen was the age of consent. But prosecutors preferred to keep it clear-cut to make it easier for the jury to convict. So Nic told the guys she met online that she was thirteen or fourteen, never older. Some typed L8R-later-as soon as Nic told them her imaginary age. For the rest, it was like throwing a piece of raw meat into a dog kennel.

PDXer: Kewl

Surveys had shown that one in seven kids had received an online sexual solicitation in the past year. It was Nic's job to find the places where the chances weren't one in seven, but 100 percent, which meant going to chat rooms.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from FACE OF BETRAYAL by LIS WIEHL APRIL HENRY Copyright © 2008 by Lis Wiehl and April Henry. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Chickfilady

Posted April 28, 2009

more from this reviewer

17-year old girl disappears while walking dog. Senator investigated for involvement.

Words are not adequate to describe this book. Lis Wiehl drew on her own personal experiences as a federal prosecutor, TV journalist, and the law to write her first "Triple Threat Novel" and I am anxiously awaiting the release of the second.

When seventeen year old Katie disappears over Christmas break, reporter Cassidy Shaw is the first to spread the news to the media. In step her friends and former classmates, Federal Prosecutor Allison Pierce and FBI Agent Nicole Hedges. Together the three ladies work to figure out what happened to Katie--was she kidnapped? Did she runaway? Was she involved with the Senator? Most importantly was she still alive?

I enjoyed how Wiehl moved the story back and forth telling the narrative, but mixing in blog posts written by Katie before her disappearance. This kept the story moving and allowed the reader to get to know Katie in a way that we otherwise would not have.

It is refreshing to read a book that showed three strong women in places of position that is not written with a pro-fem mentality in mind. These are just a group of friends who work together to solve a mystery. And yet as strong as these women are each one is faced with her own vulnerabilities--infertility, domestic abuse, shattered dreams, haunted pasts--Wiehl captures it all under one cover.

Overall, this is a book I would highly recommend. It twists and turns and leaves you turning page after page to see what happens next. I am typically pretty good about guessing the end to a story--not this one. Pick it up today.

6 out of 6 people found this review helpful.
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waterthatplant

Posted February 5, 2010

Face of Betrayal by Lis Wiehl and April Henry

I read this book to review it for booksneeze.com. This is a Triple Threat Novel. Triple Threat is a "club" of three women who's lives are interwoven by their careers - federal prosecutor, FBI agent, and journalist. Face of Betrayal follows the case of a missing teenager who was involved with a US Senator.
This is a book for fans of John Grisham or Kathy Reichs. It's a thriller, and does get to be a "page-turner" at times. I thought the main characters were a little stereo-typed - dealing with all of the "women issues" like pregnancy, single-parenthood, abuse. The women each have different religious views - Christian, atheist, and kind of New-Agey. I think they could have had some more original situations, but maybe women want to read about these things. This book probably wouldn't appeal to guys, but I think women will enjoy it if they like other political thrillers.
Overall, I enjoyed it, but it's not the kind of book that I tell all my friends they have to read.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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JVoorhies

Posted January 25, 2010

A mixed bag.

Face of Betrayal was written by Lis Wiehl with April Henry. Lis Wiehl is a former attorney and a legal correspondent for Fox News. April Henry gets no bio on the book, so I expect she's the ghost writer here.

The lead characters are three women, former high school friends who have reconnected now that they have reached their thirties. Though they seem to have next to nothing in common, they have rebonded and refer to themselves as the Triple Threat, the name of a chocolate dessert they love.

One is a married DA, one a blonde, single TV reporter at a local Portland (Oregon) station, and the third a black single mother and FBI agent. The first glimpse of one of them that we get gives you more detail on what she is wearing than a feel for her as a person.

It's actually not bad as a story concept. A young Senate page, Katie Converse, has disappeared while back in Portland for Christmas. Since there's no body yet, there are very few clues As the reporter covers the story of the disappearance and the FBI agent tries to follow what few clues there are, slowly but surely the three all become involved in the case.

But it's not fast-paced. We're well past halfway into the book before there are any clues beyond Katie's MySpace blog posts, and only then because a coyote is seen in the park with the young girl's hand. From that point on, the clues come fast and furious.

Reading this was a mixed bag. The characters aren't as richly developed as they should be to let you emphathize with them - they're two-dimensional. And the story line is transparent. The plusses are that the lead characters are atypical role models, career-oriented women facing what life throws at them - things like pregnancy, abuse (not the same woman) and conflicts from their work environments.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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FeatheredQuillBookReviews

Posted November 23, 2009

more from this reviewer

A fun romp into the mystery world

Katie Converse is a US Senate page who comes home to Portland, Oregon on Christmas break. While home, she takes the family dog, Jalapeno, out for a walk. Katie never returns. Is it a simple case of a runaway teen or has something more sinister happened? Enter the triple threat; Allison Pierce, a federal prosecutor, Nicole Hedges, an FBI agent, and Cassidy Shaw, a TV reporter. These are three women with very different careers who just happen to be best friends.

It isn't long before Katie's MySpace page is discovered, her entries seem to point in one direction, to Senator Fairview, Katie's Washington sponsor. As the investigation heats up, the three friends use their unique talents to find the missing girl, or perhaps, locate her body. Allison convenes a grand jury, Nicole works with the girl's parents and shifts through a limited number of clues, while Cassidy uses her connections at her TV station to try and get a scoop.

When Katie's body is discovered, her death at first appears to be a suicide. But is it? And what about the homeless man and his young daughter who are living within shouting distance of the girl's body? Could it be the grower of the large marijuana field found nearby? There are a multitude of possibilities and Allison, Nicole, and Cassidy are kept quite busy sorting through the clues.

Face of Betrayal has plenty of plot twists to keep the reader turning pages. Blaming Katie's disappearance on the Senator seems too easy so the reader is led to believe the culprit must be somebody else.or perhaps the Senator is the wrongdoer. As the plot develops, the lives of the three friends play more of a pivotal part in the mystery. Each is dealing with their own problems (Allison has a stalker, Cassidy is dealing with an abusive boyfriend), while trying to solve the case.

The roles of Allison and Nicole are well-developed and these two seem to hold the bulk of attention from the author. That is until well into the story when Cassidy comes upon a key piece of evidence. Then the young newscaster's role jumps to the forefront. Regardless, it is nice to read a mystery where the key players are all strong woman characters.

The ending to Face of Betrayal seems a bit rushed with the suspect confessing much too easily, yet, it is unlikely that the reader will discover just who-dun-it until the very end. The several twists should leave one satisfied with this quick reading mystery.

Quill says: A fun romp into the mystery world with three strong female leads.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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MRD48

Posted August 17, 2009

Great beach read.

I loved the political backdrop to this story; it was fast paced and easy to read. I will definitely read Ms. Wiehl's next book.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Jerry_Beers

Posted August 12, 2009

Fast paced political thriller

A young Senate page home on vacation turns up dead. The resulting investigation reveals a possible relationship with a Senator. Three friends, a reporter, a Federal Prosecutor, and an FBI Special Agent work the case to its conclusion.

The story has a familiar ring to it. I like fiction stories that pull their subject matter from the headlines. Somehow it makes the story seem more real and draws you in. This story also adds the interesting dynamic between three friends working the case from different angles. This dynamic allows the reader to experience the action from every angle.

Face of Betrayal is a fast-paced book with a compelling story and interesting twists and turns. It is an interesting blend of a political and crime thriller that was fun to read.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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pepRP

Posted August 8, 2009

Just could not set it down

Lis has used her experience with the legal system to write a story that is easy to believe that this actually is a true story pulled out of the headlines (which I believe it was). She introduces the main characters in such a way that you are interested in their daily life. And sympathy for the victim cannot be escaped. The added twists will keep you from wanting to set the book down. I read through half of the novel and had to force myself to place a book marker and get ready for bed. This is a great book to read while traveling in a plane. Lis keeps you in suspense until the very end. She provides an interview she had with Bill O'Reilly and describes the story line for her next novel and entices you with the first two chapters. If you enjoy a good story, I strongly recommend reading Face of Betrayal!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Coy

Posted August 1, 2009

I Also Recommend:

Staccato Writing Style

I felt like I was being jerked along with short sentences that interfered with my enjoyment of the story. The concept of the three friends working together to solve a mystery is a good one.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Deborah_K

Posted July 22, 2009

more from this reviewer

Ripped Straight from the Headlines

This book was another surprising read of the year. I was really amazed at how into the book I got and found it to be an intense all night page turner. I don't watch Fox News so I honestly didn't know who Lis Wiehl was when picking up this book. Other than the Bill O'Reilly endorsement on the front, I had no idea this was a book by a newscaster. It all makes sense now though because this is a story that could be ripped straight from the headlines. It was really interesting to see the story from three different angles - the lawyer, the investigator and the reporter. What I found unique is that usually the reporter tends to have problems with everyone else because their first thoughts are to promote themselves with the story. In this book, however, the reporter allows the clues to come to her and doesn't go out hunting for them. This could be due to the fact that she respects her friends and their feelings even though she is trying to climb the career ladder as well. I really enjoyed reading the mystery about what happened to Katie and I felt the suspense building up throughout the entire book.

Katie's blog entries were well written and did sound convincingly like an actual teen would have written then. Although I'm not too sure that she would have used a MySpace page to blog her thoughts, as I think by now most teens have moved onto Facebook. It was a little difficult reading the entries at first because the story went from third person to first person abruptly but this qualm was erased after you got used to it. The ending was one I didn't see coming and it also raised questions about spousal abuse from a different perspective. I felt the book was extremely well written and it gave an insider's look to what goes on during a crime investigation. The women are likable and I'm eager to read more about them in future books. The story is not preachy, faith is a topic brought up, but it is not in your face. This was a great thriller and a must read suspense book. I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the Triple Threat series.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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LovenGod

Posted May 5, 2009

more from this reviewer

Face of Betrayal

Face of Betrayal A Triple Threat Novel
Lis Wiehl with April Henry
2008
Thomas Nelson
Fiction/Mystery
ISBN 978-1-59554-705-7

Reviewed by Cindy Loven

A Triple Threat Novel, presents us with Cassidy, a TV news reporter, Nicole, a FBI agent, and Allison the prosecutor. Combine the three of them and you get the Triple Threat. High school friends, reunited after their 10 year reunion, they have become close over the years.
Katie, a 17 year old Senate page has disappeared while walking her sister's dog, and the Triple Threat, come together, working as a team to solve Katie's disappearance. Throw in scandal with a married Senator, who has a history of dallying with the pages, and you have the makings of a great mystery.
Lis Wiehl, has presented us with a book that is a awesome read, I personally was thrilled to read a great mystery, without filth, as most tend to have. The fact that Allison, the prosecutor has a great faith in the Lord, really made the book for me. Her faith was strong and unwavering, and a perfect example that we can have mysteries that are clean. I loved that I did not figure out the mystery until the very end of the book. Lis Wiehl kept me guessing the entire book, just when I thought I had it solved, I would see I was on the track.
This book was a book I could not put down until I read it to the end, the end has a list of discussion questions for a book club or group setting. Most definitely a book I recommend to all mystery lovers.
291 pages $24.99 US

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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A-Davis

Posted April 27, 2009

Great Mystery Book

"The Face Of Betrayal" is very captivating, mysterious, and the first in a series of three. I read the entire book over the course of 2 days. I found it very difficult to put down. Lis Wiehl and April Henry. Katie Converse goes home over the Christmas break. Her family reports her missing and the media goes crazy searching for clues as to what happened and where Katie is assuming the worst has happened and takes over the search for her. Allison Pierce (prosecutor), Cassidy Shaw (reporter), Nicole Hedges (FBI agent) uncover interesting info that Katie is not the person everyone describes her as. She is however having an affair with an extremely older senator whose political career could come to an end if everyone found out. The Senator will do anything to keep Katie a secret. If any one is looking for an excellent mystery book this is the one to get it will keep you on the edge of your seat through out the whole book. I highly recommend this book! I can't wait for the next one to come out. After reading this must read I find it difficult waiting to finish the series. I give it 5 stars!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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amajor

Posted April 24, 2009

more from this reviewer

Face of Betrayal - Lis Wiehl & April Henry

"Face of Betrayal" is a mystery about a young girl named Katie Converse who takes her dog for a walk and never comes home. The story follows 3 women as they try to find out what happened to Katie: Allison the prosecutor, Nicole the FBI agent, and Cassidy the reporter. These three women are close friends, and work together throughout the entire novel, referring to themselves as the "Triple Threat Club". So what happened to Katie? Was it murder? Suicide? And where is her body?

The first thing I did when I got the book was look at the cover. The front is rather plain, just a scary looking woman's face and the standard text. But I turned it over and saw a picture of Lis and I immediately recognized her. If you've ever watched Fox News for more than five minutes, you will recognize her too. Lis chose a great topic for herself to write about, considering she has personal experience in every aspect of this book. She was a prosecutor, she works on TV, and her father was an FBI agent. Everything in the novel is very believable, and her true life experiences are what made that possible.

This is a classic crime mystery/suspense novel. I did guess the outcome early on in the novel, but there were many twists and turns throughout the book that had me questioning myself and even dismissing my ideas. I felt very connected to all of the characters. Sometimes when an author includes as many "main" characters as Lis did, it's hard to relate to each of them. In my opinion, she did an excellent job of making each of them feel "real".

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes this genre, and here's to reading the next Triple Threat novel - "Hand of Fate" available April 2010. You can catch the first two chapters at the end of "Face of Betrayal".

Preview the first 5 pages here: http://www.thomasnelson.com/consumer/widget.asp?sku=1595547053

5/5!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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ADixon

Posted April 16, 2009

Keeps You Guessing

Face of Betrayal is a "triple threat" that packs mystery, romance and justice. Seventeen year old, Katie Converse, goes missing a few days before Christmas. She is home in Oregon after a semester of being a U.S. Senate page. The clues all point to Senator X but who is he? And is he really innocent?

It's up to the triple threat club to uncover the truth and bring the perpetrator to justice. Allison Pierce is a third generation federal prosecutor and bringing the bad guys to justice is in her blood.Cassidy Shaw is a TV crime reporter looking for her big break. And Nicole Hedges is an FBI special agent who is trying to balance a grueling work schedule with being a single mom. Together, these three friends make up the triple threat club.

Face of Betrayal is great - I finished it in one night! The characters are very well developed and three dimensional. You don't just know their jobs but their families, personal lives, faith, struggles, even what they like to eat. The story is intriguing. It keeps you guessing until the very last page. I can't wait until the second book in the series comes out in April 2010.

Thomas Nelson Book Reviewer
http://brb.thomasnelson.com/

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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harstan

Posted February 19, 2009

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A terrific political thriller

In Portland, Oregon seventeen year old US Senate page Katie Converse goes home during the Christmas recess. However, when her family reports her missing, the media goes into a feeding frenzy searching for any nuance as Katie is the All American paragon; the press seeks clues to her whereabouts while assuming the worst occurred and intrudes on the law enforcement search for her.

Federal prosecutor Allison Pierce, crime reporter Cassidy Shaw, and FBI Special Agent Nicole Hedges uncover incriminating information that Katie is not the role model her parents and others describe. In fact the teen page was having an affair with a much older senator whose political career would be nuked if the truth came out. He will do anything including obstructing justice to conceal his involvement with Katie.

Mindful of Congressman Gary Condit and the murder of Federal Bureau of Prisons intern Chandra Levy scandal that fell off the media scope with 9/11; FACE OF BETRAYAL is a terrific political thriller with a homicide investigation as its underpinning. The story line is fast-paced but loaded with plausible twists that add taut suspense to the inquiry. Lis Wiehl and April Henry provide a superb tale that hooks the reader from the start and never slows down until the final convergence.

Harriet Klausner

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Anonymous

Posted October 22, 2011

Excellant read

I really enjoyed this book. Very well written and the characters are real and believable. Would highly recommend to anyone who likes this type of novel.
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bekks1227

Posted August 29, 2011

No text was provided for this review.
zzbethNJ

Posted August 16, 2011

Good read

The book is well written and interesting, although the religious undertones are jarring and seem tacked on as an afterthought. If the authors want to have a religious (or politcal) seam they are required to have a deft hand to make it work. Think about Faye Kellerman or Clare Ferguson. These authors should stick to the mystery, which they do very well. The characters are interesting, but somewhat stereotypical. Given that this is the 1st of a series, I can see that the authors may be able to give more flesh to them over time.

Worth a read at the price.
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DSaff

Posted October 23, 2010

more from this reviewer

Exciting and fast-paced

A missing Senate page, a grieving family, a Senator, a stalker, and more await you in "Face of Betrayal" by Lis Wiehl. The main conflict of the story is that of Katie Converse, a high school senior and Senate Page. She left her home to walk the dog and never came back. What happened to her? While following this story, we meet the women of the "Triple Threat Club," a police officer, a reporter, and a federal prosecutor. Each has her own life with its problems, and we get to see their vulnerabilities as Katie's story unfolds. The intriguing story also leads to a homeless man and his daughter who have been living in the park for about two years. Do they have anything to do with what happened to Katie? Who is stalking Allison? What will happen with Rick and Cassidy? What about Nicole? And, how does Katie's story end? This fast-paced book will keep you guessing to the end.

What a great book! I love crime stories, but especially those that entwine the lives of the investigators and bystanders into them. This book filled all the requirements and, while I had a suspect at the beginning, I didn't know for sure until the end. Hats off to Lis Wiehl and April Henry. It was interesting to find more than one "Face of Betrayal." I can't wait to get a copy of "Hand of Fate."
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JadeBlossom

Posted September 3, 2010

more from this reviewer

Two Thumbs Up!

Definitly a page turner. Face of Betrayal starts out with a bang and does not let up. You go through so many emotions and feel like you are right there with the characters as they struggle on. It was an excellent book and would translate very well into movie (or tv) format. There is also a very informative Q&A session at the end of the book that everyone should read.
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Anonymous

Posted July 31, 2010

So glad it was free

I'm very happy that I only wasted my time and not my money on this one.
Not only was this story slow and plodding, the characters (including the three main ones) are very poorly fleshed out. There is no emotional connection for the reader at all. The most interesting part of this novel is finding out who the stalker is, yet with all the build up, this too, was rather anticlimactic. The writing was all over the place and very difficult to follow at times. Keeping track of who's who and their neuroses gets old fast. Read this only if you have nothing else to do and you have time to waste.
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17-year old girl disappears while walking dog. Senator investigated for involvement.

Face of Betrayal by Lis Wiehl and April Henry

A mixed bag.

A fun romp into the mystery world

Great beach read.

Fast paced political thriller

Just could not set it down

Staccato Writing Style

Ripped Straight from the Headlines

Face of Betrayal

Great Mystery Book

Face of Betrayal - Lis Wiehl & April Henry

Keeps You Guessing

A terrific political thriller

Excellant read

Good read

Exciting and fast-paced

Two Thumbs Up!

So glad it was free