The Good Liar, Week 3

Welcome to Week 3 of the Online Book Club discussion of The Good Liar. 

How did you enjoy this section? Were you excited about the details you got, or did you feel like you were still left wanting more? Do you have a better handle on what's going on? 

Chapter 7 started in a disconcerting way. Roy is excited to steal money from Betty, and he explains he does it just because he can. It's sad that he's lying to Betty and acting like he cares when he really doesn't. I just hate that he is able to treat her horribly so easily. Roy gives an explanation about his life, but it doesn't seem complete. He certainly doesn't tell her about his criminal activities. Betty doesn't seem entirely satisfied with his answers, but she doesn't push him. Could you believe he was sharing such an innocent picture of himself with her? 

What did you think about the part where Roy took Bob's body and hid it? I was very surprised by that section. Bob's death was an accident, right? I don't know why Roy went to all that trouble to hide the body and pretend like he didn't know anything about the incident. He couldn't have gotten that much money from Bob's account. I feel like there must be an easier way to make money. It seemed like, at least at this point in Roy's life, that he wasn't making criminal choices. He seemed like he was living a clean life. But, this incident maybe put him down that road? This chapter was very confusing. I feel like all of the information I learn about Roy just makes me understand him less instead of more. 

I thought the other two flashback sections were really interesting. What do you think about the fact that we keep going farther and farther back in time in Roy's memories? Usually, it seems like we would get the oldest story first, so it's unusual that the first flashback was more recent than the later chapters. With each memory, you can see Roy getting more jaded, which in turn, is opening him up to the criminal acts he commits in his later years. The flashback in chapter 10 had Roy working as a "fixer" for Lord Stanbrook. Once Roy was approached to do some spying, I assumed that's how the chapter was going to end. So, I was really surprised when he refused to spy and then was forced to leave his job. Did you think that chapter helped to explain why he acted the way he did in the Bob chapter? In chapter 12, we go even farther back and see that Roy was helping to hunt down Nazis after WWII. Were you surprised that he was working on something so noble? Then, his friend is murdered, and that obviously affects Roy and has him question his future in the military. What did you think of that chapter? How did that chapter shape Roy into the older man he becomes? 

In the current times chapters, Roy is still working to get money from Betty, and it seems like Betty is going to give it to him. She agrees to meet with Vincent, and she tells her grandson that she is interested in the plan that Vincent has. Why is Betty willing to do this? Do you think she's being truthful to Roy? Why is she trusting him so much? 

She does ask Roy what he thinks about women. I thought that conversation was a little odd. Why do you think she would ask him that out of the blue? It seems like she is searching for something when she asks Roy all of these questions. And, in the end of that conversation, we get a little glimpse into Betty's thoughts. She says that she enjoys goading him, and she knows that she's smarter than he is. I just don't understand her game. She must have a reason for wanting to be with Roy, and she must be wanting to find out something about him, but I can't figure out what she wants to find out. 

I think we're going to find out at least one more thing about Roy's past because when he was thinking about Bob, he mentioned all of the people he had wronged in his life, and he says something about some sisters. We haven't heard any stories about any sisters, so I assume that's going to be a story that comes up later in the book. I wonder what that story will entail. 

Normally, I'd like to give you all another article about the author and his writing process, but he's pretty mysterious. There aren't many details about him! So, instead, I'll just leave you with another video of the stars of the movie version. Enjoy them sharing lies about themselves!

I hope you're able to finish the book for next week! I can't wait to hear what you all think of this section in the comments!