Three Books about Spies, Con Men, and the Art of Deceit

One of my favorite things is when my reading starts to fall into patterns that I don’t notice until after I finish reading. This month’s reading theme is deceit, and includes three books — two fiction, one nonfiction — about lies and the people who tell them (mostly spies and con men). Two of the books were good, but the third was downright excellent and may be among my favorites of the year.

Transcription by Kate Atkinson

Transcription is a story about World War II, spies, and secrets that goes back and forth in time. In 1940, Juliet Armstrong was hired by MI5 as a file clerk, but soon is recruited to transcribe meetings between an MI5 operative and British Fascist sympathizers and even run some missions of her own. A decade later, Juliet is a producer at the BBC with a moderately successful career who seems to have transitioned to post-WWII and post-spy life better than some of her colleagues. Then, a chance encounter leads her to believe a secret she thought long buried might be coming to get her.

Transcription has a lot of things I love in good fiction. Dual timelines are always intriguing, since what you know in one can easily change your perspective on events in the other. And although the book is historical fiction, the plot moves along like a classic spy novel or thriller, which was fun to read. I also enjoyed the sense Atkinson built throughout the book that there’s more to the story that you’re getting – a fitting feeling for a novel about spies. But, it was also confusing in parts – a lot of characters, a lot of secrets, and a lot of dual identities to try and keep track of. I could have used with a little less of that. Transcription isn’t destined to be a favorite book, but it was certainly a solid, engaging read to kick off the new year.

Duped: Double Lives, False Identities, and the Con Man I Almost Married by Abby Ellin

Abby Ellin’s courtship with the Commander was a whirlwind. Six months after meeting – and despite red flags like mysterious travel, stories about international espionage, and secrets from his family – the two were engaged. Eventually, though it became apparent that the stories the Commander told weren’t harmless lies, they were wholesale fabrications about his life. After breaking off their relationship, Ellin questioned her judgement and sought to uncover his deceptions.

As she tried to make sense of her experience, Ellin discovered that habitual liars and confidence tricksters are more common than we realize, there’s an art and science to lying, and we all could stand to learn more so we don’t end up duped ourselves. On the whole, I enjoyed Duped quite a bit. I think con men are sort of fascinating, and I think we can all look back to moments in our lives when we allow ourselves to be tricked, or rely on some white lies to get through the day. While some parts of the book got a little repetitive, I thought the stories she told about people who pulled cons or were tricked by them were interesting enough to keep me reading.

A Ladder to the Sky by John Boyne

The con man at the center of A Ladder to the Sky is Maurice Swift, a handsome aspiring writer with charm and ambition well beyond his level of talent. In 1988, while working as a waiter in West Berlin, Maurice “befriends” a lonely, aging writer, discovering a dark secret that he then turns into the material for his first novel… destroying the older man in the process. But of course one novel isn’t enough, and Maurice has to continue seeking out vulnerable, talented people that he can manipulate on his rise to the top.

This book is so, so excellent! The storytelling is great, and had several moments where I actually gasped out loud, thinking that Maurice couldn’t get any worse or do anything more devious trying to find his next book. And then he does! The structure of the book is also great, giving voice to all of the people Maurice manipulates before finally letting the reader get inside his head. It was so effective and almost (almost!) left me with some sympathy for him before an amazing writerly mic drop at the end. Definitely find a time to read this one!