Last Liar Standing was the THIRD PLACE fiction winner of the 2023 IndieReader Discovery Awards, where undiscovered talent meets people with the power to make a difference.
Following find an interview with author Danielle M. Wong.
What is the name of the book and when was it published?
Last Liar Standing was published in June 2022!
What’s the book’s first line?
The average person has thirteen secrets right now.
What’s the book about? Give us the “pitch”.
Last Liar Standing is about an amnesiac who must piece together the last decade to solve her husband’s murder and clear her name.
When Veronica (Vonny) Kwan wakes up in a Nevada hospital, the doctors tell her that she was badly injured in a car accident. She claims to be a college student at NYU, but a quick call to the admissions department reveals that she graduated years ago. Vonny has no memory of the past decade and no idea what she was doing in Nevada.
The situation intensifies when a pair of detectives shows up at the hospital. They inform Vonny that her husband, John, was recently found dead. The detectives reveal that John was murdered in an alleyway, and want to begin questioning her immediately. But Vonny doesn’t remember the man she married or the sybaritic life they shared together in San Francisco.
As a homicide investigation ensues, Vonny becomes a prime suspect. She must piece back together the last decade in order to clear her name. This missing chunk of time holds secrets about the person she’s become, the mysterious man she married, and the life she never wanted.
What inspired you to write the book? A particular person? An event?
I was actually on an airplane reading the newspaper when I first came up with the idea for Last Liar Standing. The article claimed that the average person was keeping about thirteen secrets, and I immediately knew I wanted to write a novel inspired by that fact!
Vonny’s keen interest in psychology is a driving force throughout the novel.
What’s the main reason someone should really read this book?
Last Liar Standing is a fast-paced thriller filled with complex characters and shocking plot twists!
Is this the first you’ve written?
Last Liar Standing is my second novel. My debut, Swearing Off Stars, is a travel-inspired historical fiction story that spans decades and continents.