Jackson Workman "Work" Pickens is a young North Carolina lawyer, by most accounts not the go-getter his father (and one-time law partner) was before he went missing some months back. So there is more than a little irony in Pickens' nickname. When John Hart's The King of Lies begins, Work is something of a joke in the legal circles of Rowan County. His social-climbing wife routinely rags on him for his modest aspirations; his emotionally fragile sister will barely speak to him. Work has only one safe harbor, a onetime girlfriend from the wrong side of the tracks, to whom he runs when things spin out of control.

And things are about to do just that. The body of Work's missing father has turned up, and the evidence points to Work. There had been a good deal of animosity between the young lawyer and his tyrannical father, a fact not lost on Rowan County's dogged district attorney. Work has a pretty good alibi for the night his father disappeared: he was at home in bed with his wife. However, things have not been rosy on the home front for some time, and Work faces the distinct possibility that his wife, if she wanted to, could leave him twisting in the wind.

It is always a pleasure to review an outstanding debut mystery. The King of Lies goes a long way toward establishing Hart as the genre's Rookie of the Year. Copyright 2006 BookPage Reviews.

This powerful debut literary thriller starts off slowly but builds momentum like a runaway train. Jackson Workman Pickens, "Work" to his friends, an unambitious criminal defense lawyer in a small North Carolina town, has some serious baggage. He's lost his mother; his father, Ezra, has been missing for more than a year, leaving Work to deal with his psychologically damaged sister; and his marriage is on the rocks. Ezra, a prosperous attorney of questionable ethics and Work's boss, made a lot of enemies, so when his body is found, pretty much everyone is a suspect--but only one man is charged with the murder. Small-town ostracism and a social-climbing wife only add to the difficulties of trying to find out the truth behind the murder, which eventually opens a Pandora's box for Work. The writing is beautiful and the story is gripping, but it is the character study of a damaged Southern lawyer that puts this debut novel on the must-read list. Highly recommended for all libraries. [See Prepub Mystery, LJ 1/06.]--Stacy Alesi, Palm Beach Cty. Lib. Syst., Boca Raton, FL

Hart's stunning debut, an exceptionally deep and complex mystery thriller, compares favorably to the best of Scott Turow. Jackson Workman Pickens, whom most people call "Work," is a struggling North Carolina criminal defense attorney. Work has wrestled with inner demons for most of his life, especially after the death of his mother and the disappearance of his wealthy father, Ezra Pickens, a highly successful lawyer who took him into his practice. Trapped in a loveless marriage and haunted by poor emotional choices and his sister's psychological trauma, Work finds himself under suspicion when his father's corpse surfaces more than a year after Ezra was last seen alive. Work's quest for the truth behind his father's demise opens old wounds and forces him to face the consequences of his own decisions. Few readers will be able to resist devouring this tour-de-force in one or two sittings--or clamoring for more John Hart. 75,000 first printing; 10-city author tour.(May)

Adult/High School Jackson Workman Pickens, or Work, has always lived in the shadow of his larger-than-life father, a respected attorney. His life as he knows itthe law practice he shares with his father, the beautiful home and socialite wifeis a tribute to Ezra Pickens's ideas of success. When Ezra is found shot to death, Work is ambivalent about helping the police find the killer, afraid that the path will lead to his younger sister, Jean. Only he and Jean know how abusive their father was and how his actions ultimately led to their mother's death. Work's reticence only serves to reinforce the lead detective's belief that he is the guilty party, especially since he stands to inherit over $15 million. As Work becomes more enmeshed in a web of circumstantial evidence, he learns that his sister's partner, Alexandria, was convicted of killing her own abusive father, and he begins to fear for his sister's safety as well as his own. Hart has crafted a mystery with fully developed characters and a fast-paced and intelligent plot. He not only gives readers plenty of action and suspense, but also delves unflinchingly into the dynamics of family relationships. Teens who enjoy Grisham and Turow will want to be among the first to read this exciting new voice in the mystery genre.Kim Dare, Fairfax County Public Schools, VA