ILONA ANDREWS

#1 New York Times Bestselling Author

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Shifty Liars

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Woman crossing her fingers

Celia frowned.  “I’m so sorry, but it is our policy to process such requests in writing.  If you submit a written request, I should be able to get back to you in a couple of weeks?  By Friday after next, at the latest.”

Two weeks. 

We didn’t have two weeks.  More importantly, she was lying.

Online resources and crime dramas stressed the importance of microexpressions or signs of nervousness when trying to judge when someone was telling the truth. Shifting eyes, looking up in the direction opposite of your dominant hand, sweating, pursed mouth, and so on.  Accomplished liars exhibited none of those.  However, I had grown up with a human lie detector of a sister and Nevada had clued me in on an indicator that proved right most of the time.

Frequent liars maintained eye contact. 

When I was little, my mother would sit me and Arabella down and ask who started the fight.  “Look me in the eye and tell me you didn’t do it.” We both quickly figured out that as long as we looked her in the eye while we lied, she was much more likely to trust us. I had no idea why parents believed into the supernatural truth-serum power of their gaze, but most of them did.  And they taught their children that shifty-eyed liars didn’t meet one’s stare under tough questioning.

Celia had maintained eye contact like a champ.  So much so, it was slightly unsettling.  Most people looked away when they were embarrassed, or uncomfortable, or when they tried to process things. We were discussing a very uncomfortable topic, yet Celia had stared straight at me, emitting trustworthiness.

I concentrated. 

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Comments

  2. Can’t wait for this! Started working out again and Burn for me is the first audio book up in my list to listen too.

  3. Your little snippets always make my day!
    Catalina seems to have grown up so much. I can’t wait to see her in action!

  5. So true- whenever I lied to parents/teachers (usually about the state of my homework) I went to great pains to be as direct and eye-contact-y as possible. It only failed a month later when people started checking grades.

    • I always went in more for method acting (though preceded me knowing what method acting was by some years…) And then I was a bit shaken, because people generally believed my lies, and at some level I’d supposed that the natural order of things, as a kid, is that one tried lying, and was caught, at least much of the time. …so I ended up lying very rarely, because no one else was going to set appropriate limits.

      (I mean, my father caught me out once, but that was kind of the exception that proves the rule, especially in retrospect.)

  6. I love when snippets pop up and I don’t expect it ? thank you so much !
    Can’t wait to read the book !

  7. Ohhh I love snippets! I just re-read Diamond Fire because I had a Hidden Legacy craving. Now I think I’ll begin the 5th re-read of the series ?
    I can’t wait to read a full novel with Catalina as the MC, and being Italian of course I’m curious about Alessandro Sagredo and his story ?

  8. People really lost hope for snippets, a month ago there would be a hundred comments by now:))) wow we are spoiled!!!

    Thank you for this wonderful snippets! ????

  10. Catalina has grown. I hope Rogan’s mom features in this, too. Only seems fair since she’s gained three daughters instead of just one.

    Thank you for the snippets.

  13. Super excited about this project. I wasn’t excited about it shifting to Catalina until the novella came out, now I’m all in and ready!!!

  15. One of the main reasons I have loved all of your series, is that you are so excellent at character development. And it’s because you sprinkle them with witticisms and universal truths.

    Ugh. So good. Can’t wait…

  17. Love snippets, just did my daily check and was rewarded .
    You write scenes that not only propel the story forward, but you give insights into the characters, psychology of families and strategy .
    And humor!!
    Thank you .
    Everyone stay warm and safe.

  18. Thank you! I’ve had a full week of Mondays at work, and the fun (not!) is expected to continue for several more days. Your snippets are rays of sunshine and greatly appreciated.

  19. I always thought that looking up in the direction opposite your dominant hand was ‘recall’. Up and to the right is to show you’re lying. An observation not a critique – love the story!

    • I’m not an expert, but I believe that’s a tell for unpractised liars. Accomplished liars don’t do that.

      Of course, most of my knowledge of this and many other subjects is from reading so much. Which relies on the authors researching thoroughly. I know Ilona does, can’t be certain of others.

  30. Thank you! I had a feeling and was hoping, and there was the snippet. It’s going to be glorious amongst many other adjectives!

  34. I have ASD, I rarely keep eye contact with people. I usually look at their mouth. That being said, I did learn to keep eye contact when lying to my mother.

    • When I came over to US, increased demand for eye contact was very difficult. 🙂 Hair is also an excellent target.

        • I think she meant looking at a person’s hair is another option since I tend to look at the person’s mouth. 🙂

          I tend to look at the mouth so I can focus on what they are saying. I have a bit of the auditory processing disorder where my hearing itself is just fine (my ears work) but my brain has problems processing the sounds sometimes.

      • Eye contact was very hard for me, still is. When I was young, Mom suggested looking between the eyes. That worked for me.

  38. I think one of the things that separates the amazing author-lords from others is the beauty that is characters growing up and developing personally. I only hope that my development is as rich as the characters in these books. 🙂

  39. O K
    First a tentative publishing timeline and now a
    SNIPPET! ! !

    Crap! …u know, the day after tomorrow is February, hmmm
    No, … still Crap
    August is still 6 whole months away aaahhhh
    . . . at first I was outraged, I was stupefied . . . didn’t know how I’d blahblah blah blah bla blah . . . I Will Survive!
    Heck to the yeah, I ain’t going till I gotz my Flame . . . thanks @-0

  43. The figure with the crossed fingers at the back triggered my memory of the only novel I have purchased because of the cover. It was Victor Gischler’s novel Stay. The cover shows the hero holding his infant son on his hip. The baby’s socked left foot is resting on a pistol in the father’s jeans pocket. The book is a very bloody shoot’em up thriller.

    I as many of the BDH love these snippets. But, they just make my hunger pangs worse. Fortunately every few weeks a new book comes out that I’m interested in reading. Michelle Sagara’s Cast in Oblivion was released on Tuesday. Kaylin’s powers and value increase in the Elantran universe. Lois McMaster Bujold recently released a novella in the Sharing Knife Universe titled the Knife Children. One of the secondary Patroller characters to Dag, Barr Foxbush, leads in this book. Knife Children measures up to Bujold’s Penric novellas.

  44. A book suggestion – just dropping it here because I just finished it and I have that groggy just finished feeling and this is where I go when I think “good book!” A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer

  46. May the Almighty bless u n ur pen n the generous hearts that share there gems with us..
    Love u n love 2 u!

  49. You are so awesome!! Love the snippets!! Thank you! *happy dance* ??

    Whenever I tried lying and maintaining eye contact when I was growing up, if I had to maintain the eye contact for longer than a few seconds, I inevitably lost it!! I was, and still am I suppose, terrible at lying, and didn’t get away with much. That was not a lot of fun, as I could never get away with anything! My sister, on the other hand, was a masterful liar!! I so envied that!! ?

  58. And, today’s Word Of The Day from Dictionary.com is …

    sirenic [sahy-ren-ik]
    adjective
    1. melodious, tempting, or alluring.

    Origin of sirenic First recorded in 1695–1705; siren + -ic

  60. More teasing! I love it! Can’t wait for the book. But I have to. I am attempting to cultivate patience because rushed work is never as good but sometimes I wish for the ability to hop forward in time to when the book comes out and read it! LOL

  61. Thank you! Can’t wait for this book to come out 🙂 (in an “I’m excited” kinda way, not a “hurry up” one).

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