Paul Willetts

I wasn't quite sure what to make of this book. Some parts of the book are extremely funny (if you weren't the titular con man's victims), but it can get repetitive at times, and I do suspect just how fluent the quotes and narratives are. There's a trend these days toward filling in the blanks that I'm not precisely keen on, and I suspect Willets has used it here. The story, incidentally, involves a con artist who post as a Native American, fleecing suckers in the US, UK, France, Italy and Switzerland for a period of a decade before getting caught; the author estimates he took in the modern day equivalent of $50 million (presumably. how the titular con man gets to be the greatest impostor, as the cover blurb says). It is amazing, at least in the way the author presents it, how long he was able to get away with it, even with telegraphic coordination (or sometimes, lack thereof). The con artist himself isn't particularly redeeming, what with his sexual escapades, drug habits, and treatment of loved ones. Very mixed feelings about the man, and the biography of him.… (más)

If I told you King Con: The Bizarre Adventures of the Jazz Age's Greatest Impostor by Paul Willetts was fiction, you would totally believe my statement. The misadventures and audacity of Edgar Laplante sound far-fetched and unbelievable except that he was completely real. Dissect the title of this book, and you understand this entertaining story. My key lesson from reading this book is that truth absolutely can be stranger than fiction.

Read my complete review at rel="nofollow" target="_top">http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2019/01/king-con.html

Reviewed for Penguin First to Read program.… (más)

This is an exciting account of 2 people involved in trying to overthrow the British Government and another trying to prevent them.
The 3 main protagonists are a double agent, a White Russian dress designer who happen to be a Nazi spy.
The story centres on an exchange of telegrams between Winston Churchill and President Roosevelt and the efforts of spies to get them and MI5 to stop them.
A great mustread that anyone interested in espionage especially during WW2 should have in their library.
This digital book was given to me by the publisher via Netgalley in return for an honest unbiased review.… (más)