Review by Booklist Review
It's clear from the start that Roy Courtnay, an elderly scam artist with an ugly streak, is plotting to fleece his new girlfriend, Betty, for everything she has. But, as Searle reveals Courtnay's history, starting with his recent swindling of millions from business partners and reaching back to a devastating childhood betrayal, this apparently simple premise takes on an alluring complexity. Con games are the least of Roy's crimes, and each step backward through Roy's past reveals new casualties. Betty, despite being pegged as an easy mark, reveals that she's hiding her own reasons for inviting Roy into her life as she urges her grandson, Stephen, to rein in his open hostility toward Roy. The result is a gut-clenching cat-and-mouse game played out through Roy, Betty, and Stephen's tense interactions, with backstory provided gradually as Roy's past is unveiled a decade at a time and stretches from London to Berlin. This debut novel is a well-crafted, complex tale that will appeal to fans of psychological thrillers.--Tran, Christine Copyright 2016 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
At the start of British author Searle's engrossing debut, octogenarian Roy Courtnay is looking forward to his lunch with Betty McLeish, a wealthy widow he's met online. The apprehensive Betty has her grandson, Stephen, drive her to the appointed restaurant in an unspecified locale she and Roy have agreed on, where he waits outside in the car, prepared to rescue her if need be. Roy and Betty hit it off, and he soon moves into her cottage in the English countryside, where he sets about to bilk her of her fortune. Stephen has his doubts about Roy. Betty lingers in the background, mild-mannered and shrouded in mystery, until she finally takes center stage and her intentions become clear. Equal parts crime novel and character study, the tale is itself an elegantly structured long con. The pace is almost maddeningly deliberate, with details about the characters and their schemes doled out like a controlled substance, but patient readers will be rewarded with devastating third-act twists and a satisfying denouement. Agent: Johnny Geller, Curtis Brown (U.K.). (Feb.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
[DEBUT] For eight decades, Roy was a successful flimflam artist, conning people out of their life savings and wreaking havoc at every turn. When he meets attractive well-to-do widow Betty through an online dating site, she is to be his latest prey. Roy, however, gets more than he's bargaining for with Betty. He soon learns that things are not always as they appear and that a life of deception and fraud can eventually catch up to a person. If fiction readers can tolerate a slow beginning, the initial confusion of alternating story lines crossing multiple decades, and superfluous detail regarding the scams, they will be well rewarded with a riveting story that is chock-full of surprises. Verdict Weaving an intricate story within a story, Searle's clever debut novel, despite a few flaws, catches readers off-guard and compels them to keep reading until the final page.-Mary Todd Chesnut, Northern Kentucky Univ. Lib., Highland Heights © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
In Searle's debut novel, two elderly people meet on a dating site. Each one has a hidden agenda.... Roy has been a con man for most of his life, and now in his 80s, he's looking for one last score by targeting wealthy women he meets online. On the surface, Betty seems like an easy mark, but oblique references suggest from early on that she may be playing her own game with Roy. As the two circle each other, Searle includes flashbacks to Roy's past, illustrating other cons and, slowly, explaining how he became the manipulator he is. Betty's motives are a bit more shadowy until her true identity is revealed to the reader. The plot twist that leads to this revelation is complex and rooted in World War II. But once we understand the true natures of both characters, their past relationship, and their plans for revenge, the ending is relatively unsurprising. One of the greatest strengths of the novel is how Searle recounts Betty's troubled history with sensitivity, but Roy never advances much beyond what he first appears: a gruff sociopath who, expectedly, will finally get his comeuppance for past sins. Despite the efforts to comment on a time in history when people made unimaginable choices that led to devastating tragedy, the novel mostly fails to resonate. Even with layers, the characters fail to inspire much deep interest or sympathy. The truth is interesting and unexpected, but it takes too long to unravel. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
