Leo the Liar by Bernie Donnelly

With a disagreeable and dishonorable, yet vaguely charming lout at its core, Leo the Liar is an amusing and unpredictable family drama from Bernie Donnelly.

After not seeing his father for decades, Leo decides to make the jump from Dublin to Florida and reconnect with the long-lost Milo. Awkwardness aside, Leo has grown up to be a smooth-talking liar, a charmer with a silver tongue, a conman with motives that are difficult to suss out. Not only that, but an attraction from Leo’s new stepmother threatens to rock the boat of familiar normalcy. Peppered with clever turns of phrase and tense moments of lies nearly unearthed, the prolific Bernie Donnelly proves himself once again as a skilled puppeteer and an author who can stretch tension, no matter the story.

However, the writing lacks polish in many places, often relying on clichéd phrases and idioms throughout the narration. The dialogue sparkles on one page, and then may come across as stilted on the next. Fortunately, these issues are easily overcome by a compelling plot packed with larger-than-life characters, which is proving to be Donnelly’s calling card.

In the case of Leo the Liar, intense family dynamics, emotional manipulation, and vulnerable explorations of identity are the supporting strengths beneath an entertaining and fast-moving read.

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