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Laylah’s Revenge
Laylah’s Revenge, by Lisa Marie Shankles, is a comic crime caper with a wild streak of speculative fiction, mixing sibling rivalry, prison schemes, mistaken identity, Scandinavian settings, ghost lore, and alien mischief into one strange, busy ride. The story follows Laylah as she gets out of prison and sets her sights on revenge against her twin sister, Lilah, whose new life in Sweden with Birger and the mysterious cat Dyngus only makes Laylah more determined to meddle, impersonate, and stir up chaos.
What stood out to me most was the book’s willingness to be odd. It doesn’t tiptoe into its absurdity. It runs straight at it. I liked that. The plot has the energy of a prank that keeps getting bigger than anyone planned, and Shankles clearly enjoys putting her characters in messy situations just to see how far they will go. Laylah is petty, jealous, clever, and often ridiculous, but she is never dull. Lilah, by contrast, brings a softer kind of tension because she still has love for her sister even when she knows Laylah is trouble.
The writing has a loose, playful feel that fits the genre well. As a comic mystery and sci-fi caper, the book works best when it leans into its own weird blend of revenge plotting, mistaken identity, alien cats, and culture-clash humor. Some moments are wonderfully goofy, especially when everyday details like hair salons, meatballs, prison gossip, and travel plans collide with telepathy and fourth-dimensional escapes. At times, the story can feel somewhat crowded, with a lot of names, schemes, and side turns competing for attention. Still, I found myself pulled along because the book has unmistakable personality.
I would recommend Laylah’s Revenge to readers who enjoy quirky, fast-moving comic fiction and don’t mind their crime stories sprinkled with aliens, ghosts, and over-the-top family drama. This isn’t a quiet literary novel, and it’s not trying to be. It’s more like sitting with a friend who keeps saying, “Wait, it gets stranger,” and somehow, it does. Readers who like offbeat genre mashups, mischievous characters, and chaotic sister dynamics will probably have the most fun with it.
Pages: 210 | ASIN : B0CQYK3V4L
Absurdist Adventure
Lies, Lust, and Larceny follows twin sisters whose retirement plans spiral into an adventure that includes identify theft, Norwegian prison fantasies, and an alien encounter. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
I saw a YouTube video about Norwegian prisons and how progressive and humane they are. They looked like dorms or three-star hotels with great food and full amenities! I wondered if anyone had ever tried to get arrested and convicted to gain long-term entrance to these comfortable facilities. Then I built a story around how to + make it happen and I came up with Lies, Lust, and Larceny.
Lilah is more curious and open to adventure, while Laylah is often fueled by envy. How did you develop their contrasting personalities?
I tried to imagine two sides to any given personality and divided them in half and came up with Lilah and Laylah. I wanted them to be mirror images of each other with similarities as well as differences.
The novel often feels like someone telling an unbelievable story over coffee. Was creating that conversational energy part of your writing approach?
I wanted it to come across with the feel of an absurdist adventure novel that spirals out of control with every twist and turn. I wanted the reader to suspend disbelief enough to entertain the notion of alien beings, a 4th dimension, and going to prison on purpose.
What is the next book you are working on, and when will it be available?
Lies, Lust, and Larceny is part 1 of a 4-part series with an addendum. All the parts have been published and are available on Amazon.com.
Author Links: GoodReads | Facebook | Amazon
Lies, Lust, and Larceny
Lies, Lust, and Larceny, by Lisa Marie Shankles, is a satirical novella about twin sisters, Lilah and Laylah Larceny, whose retirement plans spiral into jealousy, identity theft, petty crime, Norwegian prison fantasies, and an unexpectedly strange adventure involving aliens, a mysterious cat named Dyngus, and a trip to Scandinavia. At its heart, this is a comic crime adventure with satirical and light sci-fi elements, built around sibling rivalry and the wild places envy can take a person.
What stood out to me first was the book’s sheer willingness to be odd. It doesn’t ease into its weirdness. It jumps. One moment I was reading about Dyngus Day in Buffalo, family tension, retirement, and salon life, and the next I was following a plan to use Norway’s humane prison system as a retirement strategy. That’s a bold premise, and I appreciated how fully Shankles commits to it. The humor is broad and often deliberately ridiculous, but there is an energy to it that keeps the story moving. It feels like the kind of tale someone might tell over coffee after saying, “You will not believe where this goes.”
I also found the contrast between Lilah and Laylah to be the book’s strongest engine. Lilah is more open, curious, and impulsive, while Laylah is driven by resentment and the ache of always feeling second-best. That emotional thread gives the absurd plot something real to stand on. The writing can be uneven at times, with long explanations and some jokes that land harder than others. It’s going for chaos, color, and momentum. The author’s choices are playful and unafraid, especially in the way she blends crime comedy, travel fantasy, paranormal touches, and alien strangeness into one offbeat package.
Lies, Lust, and Larceny is a light, eccentric satire for readers who enjoy strange premises, flawed characters, and humor that leans into the outrageous. I would recommend it most to fans of quirky novellas, comic crime stories, and anyone who likes their fiction a little unhinged, a little mischievous, and not too concerned with staying inside the lines.
Pages: 182 | ASIN : B0C9S88LGB
