The Scammer: A Psychological Thriller from the author of Allegedly

Very good. Didn’t expect the plot twist at the end.

The Scammer takes inspiration from true crime and explores the psychology of manipulation, cults, and exploitation, presenting a pretty ambitious idea. From a psychological standpoint, the choices made by the vulnerable girls make sense. Grooming, fear, and emotional control can realistically push people into decisions that seem irrational from the outside. Jackson understands these dynamics to an extent. However, as a reader, I found it surprisingly difficult to fully place myself in the girls’ shoes. The emotional bridge between their vulnerability and their loyalty to the scam didn’t quite feel complete. I understood why they acted the way they did, but I didn’t always feel it, which created a gap that weakened the story’s emotional pull. The tone and structure didn’t really match what had been so carefully set up. It felt rushed, slightly off-key, and emotionally unresolved, as if the story wrapped up because it had to, not because it naturally led there. Some big plot points popped up suddenly or didn’t have enough foundation to feel cohesive, which made the overall logic of the story weaker. Overall, Scammer is an absorbing but flawed read, strong in concept and psychological intent, yet weakened by rushed storytelling choices and unresolved character arcs.

Scammers in the form of a cult at an HBCU? OK, this could work. This is a YA about a group of college girls being scammed by a con man Finishing this book I was sorta kinda able to see how people could mindlessly conform to someone's conspiracy theories. It only takes one message to get someone suckered in to the sham, because when Devontae started talking about a pig being manufactured from cat, rat and dog, I was done. With pork. I liked that this story was set at an HBCU and how Nick's character is what we see more and more of lately, but he didn’t warrant so much detail. He just wasn’t a central figure in this. The ending was where things got really good with action finally coming into play.  Unfortunately, this was a miss for me. The first 30-40% of the book was boring and inside of Jordyn's thoughts. It wasn't until the cat-rat-dog part that I finally tuned in SMH. The story wasn't what the synopsis said it would be about, well, not entirely. The synopsis, i.e. part that's central to the story was a small percentage of the story and didn't kick in until towards the end.  I would've liked to have gotten a different POV from the girls who were easily swayed by Devontae's message. I would’ve liked to see what they were going through, how they collectively all just blindly started doing what this man told them to do. What caused these intelligent girls to so easily fall victim to a felon? Hmm....light bulb moment💡! Is TDJ subliminally linking that to the mindless maga cult who brainlessly follows the fotus? Whenever I see cult leaders I'm always surprised by their appearance. I could possibly 1% understand succumbing to someone's direction if they at least had the looks, charisma, intelligence and charm. Not a whole buffoon looking FELON! SMH. Bonus point for that! OK back to the story. Hmm... see maybe I would've enjoyed the story more if I had buddy read it and discussed some of the themes with others.  YA may be the target audience, and may enjoy this better than someone like me who tends to want more details and resolution.  January LaVoy is the narrator and gave a great performance, as usual. Thanks to libro.fm for the audiobook!!