Review: Choke On Your Lies
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 05 12, 2011
Choke On Your Lies by Anthony Neil Smith is set in the beautiful city of Minneapolis. I've never been to Minneapolis, but after seeing pictures online I have a strong desire to go there. In Minneapolis you'll find "mean girl" Octavia VanderPlatts. Octavia is the wealthy, intelligent, powerful, fat brat that has made her money from discrimination lawsuits.  She's a genius that is comfortable with her weight and has no problem setting people up to get what she wants. And setting people us is exactly what she does in this book.As you might be able to guess, when Octavia offers to help her long time friend, Mick Thooft, with his upcoming divorce her reasons for doing so are personal. Octavia has a bone to pick with Mick's future ex, Frances. Apparently Frances, in her mean days, refused to allow Octavia to attend their wedding for fear that Octavia would eat all the food.  Scarred by the memory, Octavia digs up dirt on Frances which helps to turn what would have been an uncomplicated divorce into something much more...uhhhh, what's the word? Deadly?As the story unfolds you'll find a complicated mess involving forgery, black mail, swingers clubs, sex tapes, love, reconciliation, murder, and suicide. Oh! You'll also get to read about Octavia being double crossed and humiliated by one of her closest confidants. But don't worry, Octavia isn't one you can knock down very easily. She's gonna get back up, and when she does, she's gonna knock someone else down instead.Octavia's ability to always remain standing even when she shouldn't gives me hope that there might be a sequel. It's also one of the reasons why I like the character so much.  In real life I'm nothing like this character, but as I read the book, I couldn't help but want to be her for just a day or two. Maybe even three. I might not care to channel all of her meanness, but I think everyone would like to have some of her confidence now and again.