Tiffany D. Jackson is an auto-buy author for me. I love these thrillers, the mystery, and the character depth. And The Scammer is no exception! Keep reading this book review of The Scammer for my full thoughts.
Summary
Out from under her overprotective parents, Jordyn is ready to kill it in prelaw at a prestigious, historically Black university in Washington DC. When her new roommate’s brother is released from prison, the last thing Jordyn expects is to come home and find the ex-convict on their dorm room sofa. But Devonte needs a place to stay while he gets back on his feet—and how could she say no to one of her new best friends?
Devonte is older, as charming as he is intelligent, pushing every student he meets to make better choices about their young lives. But Jordyn senses something sinister beneath his friendly advice and growing group of followers. When one of Jordyn’s roommates goes missing, she must enlist the help of the university’s lone white student to uncover the mystery—or become trapped at the center of a web of lies more tangled than she can imagine.
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
The Scammer never lets us off the hook. Jackson consistently asks us what we tell others around us, how much of who we are do we show to the world. How many layers of the ‘illusion’, the ‘scam’ do we perpetuate? What if we’re lying to ourselves? The Scammer takes this theme and explores it through multiple characters who have to figure out just what they are willing to do. Who they are willing to hurt and how much of themselves will they lay on the line. We can end up trusting people who only show us one side of themselves. In Devonte we not only see the ways in which rhetoric can create this feeling of being chosen, but also poison us.
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It’s a story about how we are enfolded into a ‘family’ which demands absolute loyalty. Full of statements like, “if you really loved me”. It’s about enforcement. The Scammer is a thrilling fast paced story about the traps we can fall into even when we know they’re ahead. Find The Scammer on Goodreads, Storygraph, Amazon, Bookshop. org, Blackwells, & Libro. fm.