"Face of Betrayal" by Lis Wiehl

I love a good mystery as much as the next person. The only problem is that is it exceedingly difficult to find one. I mean, when you have figured it out within the first five chapters, the book quickly becomes irrelevant. No matter how well the characters are developed or how engagingly the book is written.

Luckily, “Face of Betrayal” was a good mystery. One that actually kept me guessing from the first page to the last. Because the characters begin to draw you in from the very beginning, where you are introduced to Allison Pierce. She is a no-nonsense prosecuting attorney who soon finds herself deeply entrenched in the mysterious disappearance of a 17-year old Senate page, Katie. With the help of her friends Cassidy (an up and coming television reporter) and Nicole (an FBI agent), Allison attempts to unravel the twisted threads of Katies life and bring her abductor to light. Over the course of the investigation, it is discovered that Katie may have been carrying on an adulterous affair with a U.S. Senator, which suddenly transforms a missing person case into the story of the year. (In fact, the entire story feels vaguely familiar. It’s as if Lis Wiehl took the most sensational parts of the biggest news stories of the last year or so and combined them into one.)

I am not going to say anything that could be a spoiler, but the entire plot of the story is fantastic. Everything flows, the characters are very well developed, and all of the sub-plots are very relevant and come together in the end. (There’s nothing worse than a stor y full of pointless filler plots and red herrings.) And you will find yourself surprised at the twist at the end when the whodunit is exposed.

Honestly, I didn’t have the highest of expectations for “Face of Betrayal.” I mean, Wiehl is a legal analyist for FOX NEWS. I was actually a little bit afraid (tic). But I changed my tune before I finished chapter one, and I would recommend this book to anyone. Easily 4 ½ out of 5 stars. And this is only book one of the Triple Threat Series. I will now be anxiously awaiting the release of book two, “Hand of Fate” in April of 2010.