Reviewed by Lorena Padureanu
Larry and Rosemary’s book is such a wonderful discovery. Blending mystery, thriller, and espionage around a warm core of family and human connection, Kauai Spies and Bald-faced Lies completely draws you in from the first page to the last. Purchase Here.
The novel opens in 1996 Russia, where Max and Anya Volkov are left without a home or a future after a brutal antisemitic attack, with no choice but to emigrate to America alongside their closest family. Over the span of years, we follow their journey, from fleeing a homeland that had nothing left to offer them to slowly, painstakingly building a new life in a place completely foreign to them.
After learning about the Volkov’s family history, the narrative shifts to the year 2006 and to Kent Brukner, former spy turned Honolulu attorney, whose quiet daily rhythm is disrupted when a mysterious new client draws him into a dangerous case filled with hidden agendas. What begins as a legal dispute over a stretch of land bordering a U.S. military missile range quickly spirals into something far darker — a web of secrets, espionage, kidnapping, and gunfire that tightens with every chapter.
Throughout the novel, we follow Kent as the case pulls him deeper at every turn, all the while becoming increasingly involved in the Volkovs’ unfolding fate in ways none of them could have anticipated.
As the tension and dangers deepen, eventually reaching into Kent’s own home and threatening those he loves most, his former spy instincts are tested to their limits, as the truth proves harder to reach than he ever expected.
Beyond the gripping mystery and nerve-racking suspense, what sets this book apart is the human warmth that runs through it. At the core of every challenge, every danger, and every difficult choice stands the sustaining force of family, friendship, and human connection. It is these bonds, between husband and wife, between sisters, between unlikely allies, that give the characters the strength to endure, to grow, and to find their way through.
The Volkov family stands as the novel’s most powerful example of togetherness in both joy and hardship. From the moment they are driven from their home in Russia, Max and Anya face every obstacle as one. Watching them navigate a new country and a new life, always side by side, is one of the most quietly moving threads in the entire book.
Kent’s home life is one of the novel’s other treasures. His marriage to Katcha feels completely genuine – a partnership of equals, full of mutual devotion and trust. When a colleague is invited into their home and glimpses the warm family life, she finds herself wondering, with a pang of envy, whether she will ever be that lucky.
Larry and Rosemary Mild’s own partnership shines through the characters and the relationships they have built — loyal, generous, honest, and real. Characters lean on one another across distance, difference, and danger, and those bonds prove as vital to survival as any act of courage.
Kauai Spies and Bald-faced Lies delivers on every front: the plot keeps you invested, the characters keep you caring, and the ending brings both threads together in a deeply satisfying way.