Book Spotlight: One Last Lie by Rob Kaufman

One Last Lie – A Novel

Where it came from and where it’s going…

“Can I have your sperm, please?”

Three years ago this question came out of my best friend’s mouth – a woman I’d known for many years and had never asked for anything more than a sip of my Caramel Machiatto. She talked about her motherly instincts and the ticking of her “biological clock”. It seemed she’d given it much thought, talked with many people and was now ready to proceed. Apparently, I was the last to know.

I was stunned and speechless, although quite flattered. I grabbed her hand and asked for a few days to think about it.

Coincidentally, I was having lunch with my lawyer the next day and I brought up my friend’s question – which was now my new problem.

She dropped her fork. “Absolutely not!” she snapped.

“Why not?” I snapped back.

“The law is too unclear. Even if she says that she doesn’t want money or support, she might change her mind. What if she’s really a nut and her pregnancy hormones put her over the edge? Seriously, what if she’s unstable?”

“She’s not,” I said adamantly.

“But what if she is?” she insisted.

“She’s not,” I insisted back.

“But what if…”

“She’s not.”

And that was the beginning of One Last Lie.

In the end, I didn’t give my friend the sperm she’d asked for. I decided our friendship was too important to jeopardize. After I told her I couldn’t help her out, she never spoke to me again, so I guess I made the right decision.

On the positive side, the experience was the start of my best book so far – One Last Lie – a novel that has made people mad, sad, happy and most importantly, it has made them think.