The relatively small number of stars for this book does not reflect the quality of the writing, the plot, the setting or the characterization, but only that I guess it was just a bit too dark for me. As in [b:The Fault Tree|1616329|The Place Will Comfort You Stories|Naama Goldstein|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1185927113s/1616329.jpg|1610204], Ure has a protagonist with a lot of issues, and as the book goes on more and more is revealed. The initial event is a very up-to-the-minute one, in which protagonist Jessie, who is an operator with a service similar to GM's OnStar, gets a call about a car accident that quickly turns into either an assault or a murder. The incident ends up taking her back from Phoenix to Tucson, where some very disturbing incidents in her past took place. If you can stand a fair amount of violence and a really messed-up protagonist, this would be a good book for you. ( )

This was a DNF for me. I wasn't crazy about the premise and then made the mistake of reading part of a review. The review confirmed my belief that I wasn't going to enjoy this book, so I decided to just quit. Have too many other things to read to bother with ones I won't enjoy.

I read Louise Ure's first three books and enjoyed them tremendously, so I think it was the subject matter, not the writing style. In fact, I could finish this based on how she pulls people along, I just don't think I would enjoy the trip. ( )

First Line: I got away with murder once, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen again.

Roadside assistance operator Jessie Dancing receives a call from a driver in Tucson who sounds as if he's being murdered. Not content to let the police handle the situation, Jessie takes a copy of the tape to the driver's wife who tells her that her husband is very much alive. Taking some time off from her job in Phoenix, Jessie finds that being home in Tucson is bringing her past back to haunt her-- a past that includes being acquitted for murder. During the course of her own investigation, a young woman Jessie meets near the site of the driver's phone call is blown up in her car, and Jessie is once more dealing with a world in which guilt and innocence are both slightly out of focus.

Ure is no stranger to the Sonoran Desert, as you can see from passages like this:

"The steering wheel on Bonita's car was so hot that I wished I had oven mitts. It wasn't supposed to be this hot in September. We should have been on Simmer by now, not Deep Fry. I guided the VW to the freeway with a delicate two-finger grip that would at least cut down on the number of blisters."

Two fingers, Jessie? I've learned to drive with one fingertip! (That way only one fingerprint is burned beyond recognition.)

I enjoy Ure's writing for the setting and for the convoluted plots centered around one very conflicted main character. The more I read about Jessie, the more I realized just how damaged she was. For most people, the setting, the pacing, the plot and the main character are going to be strengths leading to enjoyable reads.

In my case, I've come to the conclusion that I'm going to have to agree to disagree. I can see all these good things as I read, but in Ure's last two books, The Fault Tree and here in Liars Anonymous, she's created two conflicted characters that drive me crazy. The main character in The Fault Tree was raised to accept blame for everything that happened. It didn't take long for me to stop feeling compassionate and to start wanting to tell her to put on her big girl panties and deal with it. I had roughly the same reaction to Jessie in this book. Jessie's childhood somehow seemed to teach her that no one was going to listen to her, and if she saw wrong being done, she was going to have to take care of it herself. However, it's never a good idea to take the law into your own hands, no matter how much Jessie disagrees with me.

While I found Jessie to be exasperating and infuriating, that doesn't mean you will. Louise Ure is an excellent writer who is skilled at intricate plots and interesting characters. Don't be afraid to give her a try just because this curmudgeon is sometimes easily irritated! ( )

The main characters makes an interesting anti-herione and the story is fresh. The combination makes for an interesting page-turner of a novel. I just never felt connected to the main character, Jessie, however, which made it a bit difficult to care about what happened to her. Plus, the book's title is absolutely silly. ( )

Louise Ure’s book is aptly named, Jessie Dancing the tough, tattooed, roadside assistance operator has lied to get her job, her house sitting gig, and her new life and it all comes undone when she answers a call from Darren Markson, a real estate tycoon, who was rear-ended. Not liking what she hears Jessie breaks the rules and connects back to the car where she records what sounds like the murder of Markson.

Jessie dutifully reports it to her supervisors and the local cops, she doesn’t exactly lie to them but she doesn’t play it straight either. Asked to return to Tucson, for an interview, Jessie’s estrangement from her family and her past hits her square in the face and when she’s accused of involvement in Markson’s death she isn't willing to idly sit by.

Jessie digs herself in deep by trying to track down the murderers herself, lying about who she is to uncover the truth, more bodies are the result and the biggest lies yet are the ones she’s told to herself. This is a fast paced, gritty mystery/ suspense littered with tough characters, the unforgiving harshness of the desert, and a heroine who isn’t exactly a hero. ( )