DEADLY PRETENDER

Rating:
Summary: Stranger than fiction, by far! Bet you can't put it down!
Review: Like the equally fascinating true crime masterpiece, Final Vows, the book Deadly Pretender by Karen Kingsbury is too compelling a read to put down until you have devoured the very last page(I read through the night when I could never find a good stopping place!).

This is the story of David Miller, a successful political lobbyist who many would have envied--wealthy, reasonably attractive, good at his job, accepted in exciting social circles, he seemed to have it all. Yet, inexplicably, David isn't satisfied with these blessings and becomes increasingly addicted to a life of deceit. On his fateful course, he finds himself drawn to higher and higher levels of deception to feel challenged and fulfilled. While some of us are content to take a trip or find a new hobby if life feels flat and dull, not so for this guy. Instead, he raises the stakes all the time, weaving more and more intricate lies as he goes.

Deciding he was too special to be a mere bachelor OR just a married man, he decides he deserves to be both. This leads to his marrying Dorothy, and convincing his wife that he is an undercover agent to explain his extended absences from home. His ruse allows him to take cruises and enjoy every svelte young lady who meets his fancy, then rush home to Dorothy's arms after his "mission" is over. Had it stopped there, he may have been able to pull off the deception indefinitely, but his escalating need for risk drives him to unethical business practices, bigamy, and the expenses of a dual lifestyle with two different families, ultimately ending in a tragic murder of wife Jayne.

As hard as it is to believe that the entire twisted tale is true, court documents and trial transcripts support that in this case, fact is far and away more compelling than fiction. And sadly for Dorothy, only too real in the way it ruined her world, and even worse, deprived Jayne of her very life.