When her son is recruited by a Division I school, a struggling single mom's efforts are complicated by her son's teammate who is luring him down a dark path and a new teacher with a mysterious agenda. - (Baker & Taylor)

"One Perfect Lie is an emotional thriller and a suburban crime story that will keep you guessing until you turn the very last page. On the surface, it tells the tale of the struggling single mother of a high-school pitcher, a shy kid so athletically talented that he's being recruited for a full-ride scholarship to a Division I college, with a future in major-league baseball. But the mother fears that she's losing her grip on her son because he's being lured down a darker path by one of his teammates, a secretly disturbed young man from an affluent family, whose excellent grades and fun-loving manner conceal his violent criminal plans. Add a handsome stranger who comes to town and infiltrates the high school, posing as a teacher but with a hidden agenda all his own. The mix becomes combustible when a beloved faculty member turns up dead as a suicide, in circumstances equally consistent with murder. Only then is the true identity of the fake teacher revealed, and the single mother finds herself engaged in a battle for the future, the soul, and the very life of her only son. One Perfect Lie is a riveting and suspenseful family drama, and by the time you close the book, you will realize that nothing was as it seemed at the beginning"-- - (Baker & Taylor)

A single mom's efforts to support her shy star athlete son's recruitment into a Division I college are violently complicated by a secretly disturbed young man from an affluent family and a new teacher with a mysterious agenda. By the Edgar Award-winning author of Most Wanted. - (Baker & Taylor)

Enthralling and suspenseful, Lisa Scottoline's New York Times bestseller, One Perfect Lie, is an emotional thriller and a suburban crime story that will have readers riveted up to the shocking end, with killer twists and characters you won’t soon forget.

"Scottoline keeps the pace relentless as she drops a looming threat into the heart of an idyllic suburban community, causing readers to hold their breath in anticipation." –Booklist

"Readers can be assured that the author nails the high school milieu, from athletic rivalries to sexting...they're in for one thrilling ride." –Kirkus Reviews

"Entertaining...This fast-paced read culminates in a daring chase that would play well on the big screen." –Publishers Weekly

On paper, Chris Brennan looks perfect. He's applying for a job as a high school government teacher, he's ready to step in as an assistant baseball coach, and his references are impeccable.

But everything about Chris Brennan is a lie.

Susan Sematov is proud of her son Raz, a high school pitcher so athletically talented that he's being recruited for a full-ride scholarship to a Division I college, with a future in major-league baseball. But Raz’s father died only a few months ago, leaving her son in a vulnerable place where any new father figure might influence him for good, or evil.

Heather Larkin is a struggling single mother who lives for her son Jordan's baseball games. But Jordan is shy, and Heather fears he is being lured down a dark path by one of his teammates, a young man from an affluent family whose fun-loving manner might possibly conceal his violent plans.

Mindy Kostis succumbs to the pressure of being a surgeon's wife by filling her days with social events and too many gin and tonics. But she doesn’t know that her husband and her son, Evan, are keeping secrets from her – secrets that might destroy all of them.

At the center of all of them is Chris Brennan. Why is he there? What does he want? And what is he willing to do to get it?

LISA SCOTTOLINE is a New York Times bestselling and Edgar Award–winning author of more than twenty-five novels. She has 30 million copies of her books in print in the United States, she has been published in thirty-five countries, and her thrillers have been optioned for television and film. Lisa also writes a weekly column with her daughter, Francesca Serritella, for The Philadelphia Inquirer, and those stories have been adapted into a series of bestselling memoirs, the first of which is entitled Why My Third Husband Will Be A Dog. Lisa lives on a Pennsylvania farm with an array of disobedient pets. - (McMillan Palgrave)

Booklist Reviews

Central Valley High's new government teacher and assistant baseball coach, Chris Brennan, is looking for a boy that fits his precise criteria: a little lost and open to a malevolent scheme. He has a truck and a bunch of fertilizer but needs the perfect accomplice as the anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing approaches. But he is on shaky ground—one of his fellow teachers just happens to be from his hometown and threatens to blow his cover in a gust of friendly gestures. More importantly, the moms of Chris' three top prospects all have family dramas that distract Chris from his goal. Heather, mom of a talented player, is broke and desperate to make ends meet. Insecure Mindy suspects her husband of using their son's money to hide an affair. Susan's dead husband looms large in the background as she struggles with a troubled older son, while her younger son is clearly in over his head. Scottoline keeps the pace relentless as she drops a looming threat into the heart of an idyllic suburban community, causing readers to hold their breath in anticipation. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Best-selling Scottoline's latest promises plot twists that will keep readers flipping pages. Copyright 2017 Booklist Reviews.

School Library Journal Reviews

Readers meet Chris Brennan just in time for his job interview at Central Valley High School, where he hopes to teach government, economics, and criminal justice and serve as the assistant varsity baseball coach. The second sentence of the novel makes it clear that he is a fraud, but Scottoline doesn't expand. After obtaining the job, Chris gets to know his students, particularly the baseball players, and readers discover that he has a criminal act in mind. Teens are introduced to some of the players on the baseball team and find out a bit about their family lives, but it's not until a third of the way through the narrative that they learn who Chris really is. Something big is stirring in this small town in Pennsylvania, and a plot with nationwide consequences could create an uproar in the lives of the baseball players and their families. As Scottoline tracks the progress of the investigation step-by-step, readers will be drawn into this exciting and absorbing page-turner. VERDICT Recommend this fast-paced read to teens who enjoy tales of espionage and action.—Marlyn K. Beebe, Los Alamitos, CA