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The Face Thief
Eli Gottlieb's previous novel, Now You See Him, was acclaimed by reviewers as "irresistible ... moving" (New York Times Book Review), "a triumph...of literary suspense" (Los Angeles Times), and "gorgeous" (USA Today). With The Face Thief, he returns with a driving, compulsively readable novel that probes the wellsprings of human greed and loyalty beset by temptation.
Gottlieb introduces the mystery of the charismatic Margot, a promising journalist who morphs--with stunning panache--from a high-achieving affluent twentysomething into a grifter making her living preying on the weaknesses of men. Having studied the ancient Chinese art of face reading, she becomes an expert at reading people and is also able to rearrange her look and persona with uncanny skill to fit any social situation. She is an avenging angel, shattering marriages and draining bank accounts.
What drives her quest to deceive and disarm? Exploring this question, The Face Thief moves fluidly forward and back in time, drawing vivid portraits of Margot's rocky childhood and her adult victims: an amiable, newly married man enticed into a catastrophic fraud; an esteemed teacher outwitted by his most dangerous student; and a well-meaning New York City cop tripped up by his belief in redemption.
Ingeniously constructed and exquisitely written, The Face Thief swirls a hypnotic dance of predator and prey, creating a contemporary landscape where the educated are violent, the beautiful ugly, and the well-intentioned hapless. And yet we never give way to despair, because the protagonists of the book push back against the maelstrom and attempt tirelessly to right their toppled lives. Rich in suspense, psychological depth, and nuance, The Face Thief confirms Gottlieb's standing as "a master" (Denver Post) and, in the words of essayist Phillip Lopate, "an enthralling stylist who[se] . . . characters are shockingly, electrically alive."
Gottlieb introduces the mystery of the charismatic Margot, a promising journalist who morphs--with stunning panache--from a high-achieving affluent twentysomething into a grifter making her living preying on the weaknesses of men. Having studied the ancient Chinese art of face reading, she becomes an expert at reading people and is also able to rearrange her look and persona with uncanny skill to fit any social situation. She is an avenging angel, shattering marriages and draining bank accounts.
What drives her quest to deceive and disarm? Exploring this question, The Face Thief moves fluidly forward and back in time, drawing vivid portraits of Margot's rocky childhood and her adult victims: an amiable, newly married man enticed into a catastrophic fraud; an esteemed teacher outwitted by his most dangerous student; and a well-meaning New York City cop tripped up by his belief in redemption.
Ingeniously constructed and exquisitely written, The Face Thief swirls a hypnotic dance of predator and prey, creating a contemporary landscape where the educated are violent, the beautiful ugly, and the well-intentioned hapless. And yet we never give way to despair, because the protagonists of the book push back against the maelstrom and attempt tirelessly to right their toppled lives. Rich in suspense, psychological depth, and nuance, The Face Thief confirms Gottlieb's standing as "a master" (Denver Post) and, in the words of essayist Phillip Lopate, "an enthralling stylist who[se] . . . characters are shockingly, electrically alive."
249 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2012
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February 17, 2021Honestly I can't seem to get into this book. I picked it up on a whim from a yardsale not really wanting it but figured "its a book so why not" I'm not far into it at all and already I'm dreading reading it... I think this is going be one one of those loses I have to take.
August 6, 2016
The Face Thief by Eli Gottlieb begins with a stunning sequence - one that made me wince and flinch with every excruciating sentence. A woman is falling down the stairs and we get a running narrative of her body's physical trauma. Her orbital orb cracking, rib fracturing - However, in between the descriptions of breaking bones, we get the woman's emotional reaction with memorable, lyrical passages in stark contrast to the painful ones.
"Pain had a voice. It spoke to her as she shot off the top step and forward into space, patiently explaining that this was not how her life was supposed to end."
Who is this woman? Who pushed her and why?
By the end of the book, we get the simple answers to these questions, but, like the characters, the truth is very complicated.
As the cryptic title might imply, the novel is about a thief of property, as well as emotions. Though we find out about the events leading up to the woman's fall, her childhood, and part of her adulthood, we never find out her true name. Instead we are given various names she uses and identities she assumes in different situations, in order to steal something from someone. Each time she wears a different face - innocent child, bright ingenue, trustworthy businesswoman, admirable victim - so convincingly that she is able to manipulate everyone around her.
The novel tells the alternating stories of two men this seductive con artist attempts to deceive: one is John, a newlywed of comfortable means who is set up as a relatively cautious, but ultimately easily duped victim of fraud.
In fascinating contrast, the other is Lawrence, a psychologist trained in the science of nonverbal psychological "tells." He's skilled in instantly discerning lies or concealment, no matter how artful that person is. Lawrence is so successful at what he does that he teaches seminars on how to analyze facial and other physical features for business purposes. If anyone can spot and unmask a con artist, it would be Lawrence.
The narrative from his perspective is the most intriguing part of the book. In fact, if such a seminar were offered in real life, I would take it. As I read, I wondered how much of myself I was revealing without saying a word, with every unguarded expression, facial tic, movement, posture, choice of clothes, etc. Our every visible aspect and other subtle clues give away our inner selves, even those desires and fears we're not aware of, let alone those we want to conceal. Anyone skilled in reading the signs would have great advantage, even power, over others.
"..[T]hings aren't necessarily what they appear at first...we deal with the liminal...with the partial, the hidden. To the experienced reader, faces and bodies are like a kabbalistic text in which every word stands for something other than what it seems."
The Face Thief is an impressive work of character study. Gottlieb explores the psychological terrain of his subjects in riveting detail. The novel is not so much about which of the con artist's would be victims pushed her, but what makes each of these characters tick and how their secret natures, despite their attempts at self-control, drive them towards their downfalls.
Where The Face Thief falters is what happens after the woman wakes up in a hospital and is confronted by the police. The plot, involving incredibly quick, superhuman recovery and police custody which is both supertight and incredibly lax, simply lost me at this point.
"Pain had a voice. It spoke to her as she shot off the top step and forward into space, patiently explaining that this was not how her life was supposed to end."
Who is this woman? Who pushed her and why?
By the end of the book, we get the simple answers to these questions, but, like the characters, the truth is very complicated.
As the cryptic title might imply, the novel is about a thief of property, as well as emotions. Though we find out about the events leading up to the woman's fall, her childhood, and part of her adulthood, we never find out her true name. Instead we are given various names she uses and identities she assumes in different situations, in order to steal something from someone. Each time she wears a different face - innocent child, bright ingenue, trustworthy businesswoman, admirable victim - so convincingly that she is able to manipulate everyone around her.
The novel tells the alternating stories of two men this seductive con artist attempts to deceive: one is John, a newlywed of comfortable means who is set up as a relatively cautious, but ultimately easily duped victim of fraud.
In fascinating contrast, the other is Lawrence, a psychologist trained in the science of nonverbal psychological "tells." He's skilled in instantly discerning lies or concealment, no matter how artful that person is. Lawrence is so successful at what he does that he teaches seminars on how to analyze facial and other physical features for business purposes. If anyone can spot and unmask a con artist, it would be Lawrence.
The narrative from his perspective is the most intriguing part of the book. In fact, if such a seminar were offered in real life, I would take it. As I read, I wondered how much of myself I was revealing without saying a word, with every unguarded expression, facial tic, movement, posture, choice of clothes, etc. Our every visible aspect and other subtle clues give away our inner selves, even those desires and fears we're not aware of, let alone those we want to conceal. Anyone skilled in reading the signs would have great advantage, even power, over others.
"..[T]hings aren't necessarily what they appear at first...we deal with the liminal...with the partial, the hidden. To the experienced reader, faces and bodies are like a kabbalistic text in which every word stands for something other than what it seems."
The Face Thief is an impressive work of character study. Gottlieb explores the psychological terrain of his subjects in riveting detail. The novel is not so much about which of the con artist's would be victims pushed her, but what makes each of these characters tick and how their secret natures, despite their attempts at self-control, drive them towards their downfalls.
Where The Face Thief falters is what happens after the woman wakes up in a hospital and is confronted by the police. The plot, involving incredibly quick, superhuman recovery and police custody which is both supertight and incredibly lax, simply lost me at this point.
October 30, 2011
Can any of us ever take our interactions with others at face value? That seems to be the question that’s at the core of Eli Gottlieb’s page-turning psychological suspense novel.
Three characters dominate the book: Margot, the narcissistic chameleon who wrecks havoc with the lives of the men she becomes involved with. At the start of the novel, she has taken a dangerous fall down a long staircase and is in the process of recapturing her memories. Who pushed her? It could be Lawrence Billings, a charismatic teacher of “face reading”, the art of the unfair advantage. Or it might be John Potash, recently and happily married in mid-life, who has just been bilked out of his life’s savings by her.
The “who done it” matters far less than the “whys” in this story. And the “whys” are not explored nearly enough. The novel alternates between focusing on Margot, Lawrence, and John. The sections on Lawrence and John are scintillating; the reader discovers complex characters that are dealing with the aftermath of Margot’s manipulations, and the pages turn quickly. When Lawrence states, “I thought everyone heard the secret sound track. I thought that everyone saw how people form a little mask to protect themselves, and a little story of which they’re the hero, and how the masks rides the story like a horse into the sunset of their own minds,” Gottlieb is at his best. It’s fascinating to see the masks slip and the anxiety-ridden people underneath emerge.
The problem is the character of Margot. She is not nearly as interesting as she could be. Although some back story is provided, I found myself reading quickly to get back to the sections on Lawrence and Potash. We’ve seen iterations of Margot before: the cold, heartless, self-absorbed, beautiful woman who is motivated by human greed and unmoved by human suffering.
My conclusion: at least two-thirds of this novel is mesmerizing and well done, but not all of it. Do I rate this 3-stars? Or 4-stars? I’ll go with the latter for the key reason that there was never a time when I wanted to put it down.
Three characters dominate the book: Margot, the narcissistic chameleon who wrecks havoc with the lives of the men she becomes involved with. At the start of the novel, she has taken a dangerous fall down a long staircase and is in the process of recapturing her memories. Who pushed her? It could be Lawrence Billings, a charismatic teacher of “face reading”, the art of the unfair advantage. Or it might be John Potash, recently and happily married in mid-life, who has just been bilked out of his life’s savings by her.
The “who done it” matters far less than the “whys” in this story. And the “whys” are not explored nearly enough. The novel alternates between focusing on Margot, Lawrence, and John. The sections on Lawrence and John are scintillating; the reader discovers complex characters that are dealing with the aftermath of Margot’s manipulations, and the pages turn quickly. When Lawrence states, “I thought everyone heard the secret sound track. I thought that everyone saw how people form a little mask to protect themselves, and a little story of which they’re the hero, and how the masks rides the story like a horse into the sunset of their own minds,” Gottlieb is at his best. It’s fascinating to see the masks slip and the anxiety-ridden people underneath emerge.
The problem is the character of Margot. She is not nearly as interesting as she could be. Although some back story is provided, I found myself reading quickly to get back to the sections on Lawrence and Potash. We’ve seen iterations of Margot before: the cold, heartless, self-absorbed, beautiful woman who is motivated by human greed and unmoved by human suffering.
My conclusion: at least two-thirds of this novel is mesmerizing and well done, but not all of it. Do I rate this 3-stars? Or 4-stars? I’ll go with the latter for the key reason that there was never a time when I wanted to put it down.
October 28, 2012
There is something I find really intriguing, at least in novels, about a female criminal. Their motivations seem so different from most male criminals — it never seems to be just about greed or power. It’s something more subtle. In The Face Thief by Eli Gottlieb, Margot is a promising young journalist. It doesn’t take long for her to realize that the lavish lifestyle she can glimpse from her assignments is just out of her grasp…but there are ways to extend her reach.
Margot meets Lawrence Billings, a man who is an expert at non-verbal communication. He teaches seminars on body language and reading a person’s face and what their physical attributes can tell you about their personality. Margot is eager to learn, maybe a little desperate, and she is able to use the things she learns from Lawrence to turn more men into her victims. She’s not a killer, but she still destroys their lives. She is beautiful and cunning and ruthless and she takes them for everything they’ve got. Even Lawrence is swept under, in his own way, as she turns his techniques against him.
This is an interesting read, told in a sort of disjointed way, with bits and pieces of the stories of the main characters told moving backwards and forwards in time. There is Margot — her troubled childhood, her ruthless nature and the destruction she leaves behind. There is Lawrence, who is interested in teaching Margot because he senses she is someone special. He eventually pays the price for getting involved with her, even though he tries to do the right thing. There is John Potash, lured into Margot’s web and faced with the destruction of his life and family. And there is Dan France, the mystery man at the hospital, who may decide to throw it all away…
I enjoyed the mystery and the way the reader had to piece the story together. I enjoyed the characters, for the most part. I have to say that I found the subject matter a little harder to swallow. I absolutely believe that you can tell a lot about a person from their body language and their non-verbal cues, but face reading goes well beyond that. Do I really believe that you can tell that someone is an obsessive-compulsive by the indentations at their temples? That people with few friends have short eyebrows or that people who seek attention have deeply cleft chins? Or that you can tell the details of my childhood from my hairline?
“The hairline is like a graph of life during adolescence.” He traced the laser dot along the ridges of her hairline. “And this jagged edge right here, well, that probably means our friend Margot’s adolescence was less than smooth sailing, am I right?”
“You’re right,” she said, speaking intentionally loud enough to be picked up by the overhead mike. “Like many people I had a difficult, um, transition to adulthood.”
No, I don’t believe that. I don’t believe that you can tell anything about my personality from the shape of my ears, because I do not believe that everyone with similarly-shaped ears has certain traits in common. But that didn’t stop me from enjoying the book while I was reading it.
However, I have to admit that, writing this review only a few days after finishing the book, I find that it didn’t really stick with me. I enjoyed it, recommended it to a friend of mine who I think will also enjoy it very much, but I didn’t remember the names of the characters and I had to double check several details as I was thinking this through. Some books are just like that — a pleasure while you read them, but one that fades quickly once you’re done.
Margot meets Lawrence Billings, a man who is an expert at non-verbal communication. He teaches seminars on body language and reading a person’s face and what their physical attributes can tell you about their personality. Margot is eager to learn, maybe a little desperate, and she is able to use the things she learns from Lawrence to turn more men into her victims. She’s not a killer, but she still destroys their lives. She is beautiful and cunning and ruthless and she takes them for everything they’ve got. Even Lawrence is swept under, in his own way, as she turns his techniques against him.
This is an interesting read, told in a sort of disjointed way, with bits and pieces of the stories of the main characters told moving backwards and forwards in time. There is Margot — her troubled childhood, her ruthless nature and the destruction she leaves behind. There is Lawrence, who is interested in teaching Margot because he senses she is someone special. He eventually pays the price for getting involved with her, even though he tries to do the right thing. There is John Potash, lured into Margot’s web and faced with the destruction of his life and family. And there is Dan France, the mystery man at the hospital, who may decide to throw it all away…
I enjoyed the mystery and the way the reader had to piece the story together. I enjoyed the characters, for the most part. I have to say that I found the subject matter a little harder to swallow. I absolutely believe that you can tell a lot about a person from their body language and their non-verbal cues, but face reading goes well beyond that. Do I really believe that you can tell that someone is an obsessive-compulsive by the indentations at their temples? That people with few friends have short eyebrows or that people who seek attention have deeply cleft chins? Or that you can tell the details of my childhood from my hairline?
“The hairline is like a graph of life during adolescence.” He traced the laser dot along the ridges of her hairline. “And this jagged edge right here, well, that probably means our friend Margot’s adolescence was less than smooth sailing, am I right?”
“You’re right,” she said, speaking intentionally loud enough to be picked up by the overhead mike. “Like many people I had a difficult, um, transition to adulthood.”
No, I don’t believe that. I don’t believe that you can tell anything about my personality from the shape of my ears, because I do not believe that everyone with similarly-shaped ears has certain traits in common. But that didn’t stop me from enjoying the book while I was reading it.
However, I have to admit that, writing this review only a few days after finishing the book, I find that it didn’t really stick with me. I enjoyed it, recommended it to a friend of mine who I think will also enjoy it very much, but I didn’t remember the names of the characters and I had to double check several details as I was thinking this through. Some books are just like that — a pleasure while you read them, but one that fades quickly once you’re done.
January 12, 2012
An interesting if ultimately inconsequential read. It almost feels like the prequel you didn't quite need to a series that's otherwise mostly awesome. And I do hope to see Margot again - she's an interesting character. Unfortunately, there isn't a lot of development for anyone else and there's a distinct hollowness to the proceedings. It's well-paced but there's something missing. A level of investment that I never quite put down, even when I was at my most engaged.
More thoughts at RB: http://wp.me/pGVzJ-kw
(NOTE: an advance read thanks to the fine people at William Morrow & Harper)
More thoughts at RB: http://wp.me/pGVzJ-kw
(NOTE: an advance read thanks to the fine people at William Morrow & Harper)
December 29, 2020
A sophisticated psychological thriller - not your run of the mill tale - no single Moms, rotten teenagers or missing girls! Mr Gottlieb has created something quite original and his style of writing is excellent.
January 5, 2012
The Face Thief is a cerebral, character-rich thriller that I found unable to put down. I simply had to finish it before I fell asleep. The narrative flows so well and suspense kept me turning the pages so quickly that I was able to turn out the light long before my husband finished watching television and came to bed.
The beautiful woman's fall down the stairs was probably not an accident and Dan France, the honest detective who can't help falling for the victim, is determined to find out who pushed her. But as the truth unfolds regarding the victim--a manipulative and deceptive woman, it seems there could be several people angry enough to want her dead.
Brilliant at understanding human nature, Gottlieb brings his characters to life and delves into their personalities to uncover the traits that they hide from the world and ultimately shows how many people aren't even honest with themselves.
While I wouldn't exactly say that I was "rooting" for any of the characters, I felt compelled to find out what was going to happen next. Not only is Gottlieb adept at character development, his skill at writing the psychological suspense is superb.
This is one smart read.
The beautiful woman's fall down the stairs was probably not an accident and Dan France, the honest detective who can't help falling for the victim, is determined to find out who pushed her. But as the truth unfolds regarding the victim--a manipulative and deceptive woman, it seems there could be several people angry enough to want her dead.
Brilliant at understanding human nature, Gottlieb brings his characters to life and delves into their personalities to uncover the traits that they hide from the world and ultimately shows how many people aren't even honest with themselves.
While I wouldn't exactly say that I was "rooting" for any of the characters, I felt compelled to find out what was going to happen next. Not only is Gottlieb adept at character development, his skill at writing the psychological suspense is superb.
This is one smart read.
September 25, 2012
I enjoyed reading this book up to a point and then felt I had wasted my time doing so. Unless the point of the book is the utter pointlessness of reading such books, in which case, it's an existential whammy. It's well written but the writing tends to call attention to itself, and the characters are sums of their behavior and clothing, but ironically reveal little of themselves in a book about the nature of character. And the plot? Here's a case in which redemption should be had! And punishment dealt! And it is not.
The other annoying thing about this book is that two of the three main characters are supposed to be expert at deciphering the clues of expression and gesture to predict character and behavior. I was looking forward to either learning something or being swept up by the con-artistry of it, but instead we get such gems as the fact that attached earlobes mean commitment to family, and a jagged hairline means a less-than-ideal adolescence. Oh, I get it. Facial phrenology. Please.
I wanted to like this book but it kept letting me down. I would give the author another chance, possibly.
The other annoying thing about this book is that two of the three main characters are supposed to be expert at deciphering the clues of expression and gesture to predict character and behavior. I was looking forward to either learning something or being swept up by the con-artistry of it, but instead we get such gems as the fact that attached earlobes mean commitment to family, and a jagged hairline means a less-than-ideal adolescence. Oh, I get it. Facial phrenology. Please.
I wanted to like this book but it kept letting me down. I would give the author another chance, possibly.
November 27, 2011
Lawrence Billings finds himself with an promising student for his training on how to read faces and body language. But it might just be the professor who fails the final in that class.
John Potash has carefully been building his financial future, and has had a great deal of luck so far. He does his due diligence with a company, eventually buying into it with with most of his life savings, only to find the investment office gone the next day.
In a Manhattan hospital, a young woman is trying to recover from a brutal fall down a set of marble steps. Was it an accident or attempted murder? She remembers nothing...or maybe she does.
What do these three have in common? That's what Gottlieb spends his whole novel weaving up for you. The clues are there, but they don't always add up. What exactly is going on? You'll have to read yourself to figure THAT out.
John Potash has carefully been building his financial future, and has had a great deal of luck so far. He does his due diligence with a company, eventually buying into it with with most of his life savings, only to find the investment office gone the next day.
In a Manhattan hospital, a young woman is trying to recover from a brutal fall down a set of marble steps. Was it an accident or attempted murder? She remembers nothing...or maybe she does.
What do these three have in common? That's what Gottlieb spends his whole novel weaving up for you. The clues are there, but they don't always add up. What exactly is going on? You'll have to read yourself to figure THAT out.
December 12, 2011
This was the first Eli Gottlieb book that I've had the chance to read and it was suspenseful, intriquing, and mentally scary. I would like to give this a 4.5. The way the characters are described and their actions makes the book one that I had to read in one sitting. The main character, Margot, is a sly young woman out to frame the pants off of the other male characters. The ending is superb and highly unexpected. Having a sequel to read would be great. This was an ARC book I received from Bookbrowse.com. I believe that it will come out in February. The Face Thief is named for the way that people are able to be 'read' by how they express themselves both with the body and face. A very different book and one that will "bother" a lot of people!!!
March 14, 2012
Really liked this book. Particularly enjoyed the weaving of the characters'situations. Very fast read. Had the pleasure to meet the author who is charming and an avid people reader also. My favorite line in the book was, "The investigator's large, soft face was creased by a sudden smile, giving Potash time to notice that his two front teeth were crossed one over the other like the legs of a sitting woman. I'll remember that one forever. Eli def has a lot of sex going on with it not going on in this book. His descriptions of how men and women age are spot on as are his thoughts on sex, power and control. Nice book.
May 8, 2012
This was good...but not good enough. The story was there, enough to keep you turning the pages, but another quality, that which makes a novel linger in your brain and being for some time afterward...was lacking. Maybe it's that the characters weren't interesting/memorable enough. The writing is fine, a bit bland. But the story's there. It could have been great but was only okay.
I'd read another novel by Gottlieb in the hope that it's better.
I'd read another novel by Gottlieb in the hope that it's better.
October 26, 2011
Highly recommended for a quick, exhilarating read! This book will be released January 2012. The Face Thief is about a beautiful, conniving woman named Margot who, by interpreting and manipulating the emotions that people unwittingly express across their face, can convince others to give her what she desires.
May 4, 2012
One of the best books I have read this year. Told by three characters, the pace is quick, the value of body language explored, and the startling conclusion is great. This is the story of a sexy female grifter and her uncanny ability to "hoodwink, seduce, and steal" from supposedly smart, successful men. Loved it!
December 31, 2012
Lacks intensity
Any potential here lies with the plot, which actually was interesting. However, I couldn't bring myself to care about any character. The action and dialogue are dry, and that not in the humorous sense. The lack of intensity, or passion, or even a bit of charm made this read mediocre.
Any potential here lies with the plot, which actually was interesting. However, I couldn't bring myself to care about any character. The action and dialogue are dry, and that not in the humorous sense. The lack of intensity, or passion, or even a bit of charm made this read mediocre.
August 8, 2012
Beautifully written, fascinating storyline. Thought-provoking and powerful ending.
October 19, 2014
Another reminder of how unpredictably unfair life can be, when the guilty walk free.... Beware of beautiful women :-P
January 3, 2016
secara keseluruhan ceritanya oke. tp alurnya bikin bingung. di tambah terjemahannya.... :(. sayang bgt deh penerbit ini, nerbitin bukunya bagus2 tp tdk diiringi dgn kualitas terjemahannya.....
March 4, 2012
Gottlieb, Eli (2012). The Face Thief. New York: HarperCollins. 2012.
ISBN 9780061735059. Pagine 256. 11,33 €
Avrei voluto iniziare la mia recensione levando il calice alla nascita di un’altra indimenticabile dark lady, come non ne incontravo da tempo. Ma poi una mia giovane amica, dotata di antica saggezza e cultrice della materia, mi ha domandato: “Dark lady, o gatta morta?” E, davanti alla mia espressione sconcertata, ha subito chiarito: “Dark lady è Barbara Stanwick in La fiamma del peccato, gatta morta è Anee Baxter in Eva contro Eva.”
Giusto per capire meglio le differenze, ecco la dark lady (La fiamma del peccato l’ho recensita qui: vi voglio anche segnalare che su YouTube è disponibile qui per intero, naturalmente nella versione originale):
PHYLLIS (Standing up again) Mr. Neff, why don’t you drop by tomorrow evening about eight-thirty. He’ll be in then.
NEFF Who?
PHYLLIS My husband. You were anxious to talk to him weren’t you?
NEFF Sure, only I’m getting over it a little. If you know what I mean.
PHYLLIS There’s a speed limit in this state, Mr. Neff. Forty-five miles an hour.
NEFF How fast was I going, officer?
PHYLLIS I’d say about ninety.
NEFF Suppose you get down off your motorcycle and give me a ticket.
PHYLLIS Suppose I let you off with a warning this time.
NEFF Suppose it doesn’t take.
PHYLLIS Suppose I have to whack you over the knuckles.
NEFF Suppose I bust out crying and put my head on your shoulder.
PHYLLIS Suppose you try putting it on my husband’s shoulder.
NEFF That tears it.
Neff takes his hat and briefcase.
NEFF Eight-thirty tomorrow evening then, Mrs. Dietrichson.
PHYLLIS That’s what I suggested.
They both move toward the archway.
NEFF Will you be here, too?
PHYLLIS I guess so. I usually am.
NEFF Same chair, same perfume, same anklet?
PHYLLIS (Opening the door) I wonder if I know what you mean.
NEFF I wonder if you wonder.
He walks out.
Anche la protagonista del romanzo di Gottlieb, Margot Lassiter, ha questa grande capacità dialettica, di contrastare e battere l’antagonista maschile sul suo stesso terreno e al suo stesso gioco (Margot, professionista dell’inganno, si fa beffe di un professionista della lettura e del disvelamento dell’inganno, Lawrence Billings, autore di un manuale di successo intitolato The Physique of Finance: The Art of Face Reading and Body Language for Professional Advantage), di fare del predatore la sua preda.
La gatta morta, invece, agisce diversamente. Si finge umile, indifesa, cedevole, ma alla fine micidiale. La gatta morta ottiene ciò che vuole. Chiara Moscardelli, che ci ha scritto un libro (che io però non ho letto: Volevo essere una gatta morta) la descrive così:
La gatta morta è una categoria poco conosciuta, nascosta, silenziosa ma micidiale.
Ha pochi pensieri, chiari, semplici. Nessuna dietrologia, nessuna complicazione. Ha una vita serena perché ha un unico scopo: il matrimonio.
A diciotto anni ha le idee chiare su tutto ed è in grado di realizzare una cena completa per otto persone con sedici portate. Voi non ne siete capaci? Imparate alla svelta.
A venti ha deciso quale sarà l’uomo che sposerà. Magari non è un uomo in carne e ossa ma è comunque la categoria a cui appartiene che inizia a prendere di mira: l’avvocato, l’architetto, il notaio, il dottore. Le qualifiche sono importanti.
[...]
Io le ho studiate a fondo e me ne sono fatta un’idea ben precisa. Le gatte morte sono geniali.
Dietro la loro apparente passività si nasconde una forza, un’aggressività senza pari. Sono burattinaie che muovono i fili di marionette inconsapevoli. Non c’è niente da fare. Contro di loro non esistono armi. Ve lo dico con tutto il cuore, arrendetevi! Perché gatta morta si nasce, non si diventa.
L’idealtipo della gatta morta è la Eva Harrington di Eva contro Eva, che fingendo una smisurata ammirazione per l’attrice Margo Channing (Bette Davis) si intrufola nella sua vita e le porta via la parte, il successo, il critico teatrale di riferimento (di cui diviene amante) e (poco ci manca) il fidanzato. Qui di seguito la scena memorabile in cui la nostra santarellina racconta a ciglio asciutto come abbia perso il marito in guerra e come la sua fervida adorazione l’abbia portata a seguire per anni la diva ad ogni suo spettacolo. Non c’è bisogno di capire l’inglese: guardate gli occhi e le posture.
Per completare il quadro delle tassonomie ci sarebbe anche la femme fatale, affine alla dark lady, ma a differenza di questa fatale, appunto, ma non necessariamente malvagia. Non necessariamente, cioè, infligge il male volontariamente, per conseguire un obiettivo o per desiderio di annientamento dell’altro. Anche qui, nella mia mente, c’è un idealtipo, ed è la Lola Lola (Marlene Dietrich) dell’Angelo Azzurro di Sternberg (qui in edizione integrale).
Un altro vocabolo che ha continuato a frullarmi per la testa durante la lettura del romanzo di Gottlieb è stato predatrice. E questo aspetto è quello che alla fine mi fa pensare che Margot Lassiter è soprattutto una dark lady. Margot persegue i suoi obiettivi e distrugge le sue vittime (perché in una certa misura potrebbe conseguire i suoi obiettivi anche senza annientare la vittima – come nel caso di John Potash – oppure indulge nella distruzione della vita di Lawrence Billings anche senza grande tornaconto economico) e lo fa reificandole, trattandole come oggetti, utilizzando la prevedibilità del corteggiamento maschile come arma contro i corteggiatori stessi, come accade per il principio dell’attacco-difesa proprio dello judo:
Yawara significa adeguarsi alla forza avversaria al fine di ottenere il pieno controllo. Esempio: se vengo assalito da un avversario che mi spinge con una certa forza, non devo contrastarlo, ma in un primo momento debbo adeguarmi alla sua azione e, avvalendomi proprio della sua forza, attirarlo a me facendogli piegare il corpo in avanti [...] La teoria vale per ogni direzione in cui l’avversario eserciti forza. [Jigorō Kanō, (2005). Fondamenti del Judo. "Cos'è il Kodokan Judo": pp. 23-24. Citato in Wikipedia]
Per scrivere di dark ladies è necessaria una buona dose di misoginia, perché la rappresentazione della dark lady (e delle sue varianti richiamate in precedenza) si pone all’estremo opposto della scala di idealizzazione della donna che vede all’estremo opposto la donna angelicata di Dante e l’eterno femminino di Goethe, ma anche di fascinazione. È necessario anche quel distacco dialettico che permette di comprendere che il comportamento che ci inorridisce in queste eroine femminili al negativo è la pratica quotidiana e la moneta corrente del comportamento maschile nei confronti delle donne, e non sarebbe nemmeno pensabile senza la premessa dell’atteggiamento maschile (ancora una volta il punto di vista dello judo).
Resta da dire che il romanzo, senza essere un capolavoro, è anche ben scritto e ben costruito: ben costruito, perché 4 storie e 4 piani temporali sono alternati e ricostruiti in flashback (in 3 casi su 4, per la verità) a partire dal rovinoso ruzzolone iniziale, mantenendo sempre vivissima l’attenzione (e la voglia di andare avanti) del lettore. Ben scritto, perché è evidente il divertimento dello scrittore nello sfottere un certo mondo (quello dei pomposi manuali per top manager, ad esempio) e nel mantenere la distanza dai suoi personaggi e dalla sua materia.
Di seguito, qualche piccolo esempio del suo stile e qualche curiosità (senza rovinare nulla del thriller):
Her nails were ridgeless and attested to a diet rich in vitamin B and iron, but the moons, he noticed, were invisible: pituitary problems? [616]
The science of touch is called haptics. [1297]
And it was at that moment, for the very first time, that Lawrence Billings felt old. He’d felt mature before; he’d felt accomplished; he’d felt at midcareer, midpoint, midlife before. But at the moment, beached on the sound of that word dear, he simply felt dusty. [1675]
Sex and curiosity occupied the same part of the brain. [2988]
ISBN 9780061735059. Pagine 256. 11,33 €
Avrei voluto iniziare la mia recensione levando il calice alla nascita di un’altra indimenticabile dark lady, come non ne incontravo da tempo. Ma poi una mia giovane amica, dotata di antica saggezza e cultrice della materia, mi ha domandato: “Dark lady, o gatta morta?” E, davanti alla mia espressione sconcertata, ha subito chiarito: “Dark lady è Barbara Stanwick in La fiamma del peccato, gatta morta è Anee Baxter in Eva contro Eva.”
Giusto per capire meglio le differenze, ecco la dark lady (La fiamma del peccato l’ho recensita qui: vi voglio anche segnalare che su YouTube è disponibile qui per intero, naturalmente nella versione originale):
PHYLLIS (Standing up again) Mr. Neff, why don’t you drop by tomorrow evening about eight-thirty. He’ll be in then.
NEFF Who?
PHYLLIS My husband. You were anxious to talk to him weren’t you?
NEFF Sure, only I’m getting over it a little. If you know what I mean.
PHYLLIS There’s a speed limit in this state, Mr. Neff. Forty-five miles an hour.
NEFF How fast was I going, officer?
PHYLLIS I’d say about ninety.
NEFF Suppose you get down off your motorcycle and give me a ticket.
PHYLLIS Suppose I let you off with a warning this time.
NEFF Suppose it doesn’t take.
PHYLLIS Suppose I have to whack you over the knuckles.
NEFF Suppose I bust out crying and put my head on your shoulder.
PHYLLIS Suppose you try putting it on my husband’s shoulder.
NEFF That tears it.
Neff takes his hat and briefcase.
NEFF Eight-thirty tomorrow evening then, Mrs. Dietrichson.
PHYLLIS That’s what I suggested.
They both move toward the archway.
NEFF Will you be here, too?
PHYLLIS I guess so. I usually am.
NEFF Same chair, same perfume, same anklet?
PHYLLIS (Opening the door) I wonder if I know what you mean.
NEFF I wonder if you wonder.
He walks out.
Anche la protagonista del romanzo di Gottlieb, Margot Lassiter, ha questa grande capacità dialettica, di contrastare e battere l’antagonista maschile sul suo stesso terreno e al suo stesso gioco (Margot, professionista dell’inganno, si fa beffe di un professionista della lettura e del disvelamento dell’inganno, Lawrence Billings, autore di un manuale di successo intitolato The Physique of Finance: The Art of Face Reading and Body Language for Professional Advantage), di fare del predatore la sua preda.
La gatta morta, invece, agisce diversamente. Si finge umile, indifesa, cedevole, ma alla fine micidiale. La gatta morta ottiene ciò che vuole. Chiara Moscardelli, che ci ha scritto un libro (che io però non ho letto: Volevo essere una gatta morta) la descrive così:
La gatta morta è una categoria poco conosciuta, nascosta, silenziosa ma micidiale.
Ha pochi pensieri, chiari, semplici. Nessuna dietrologia, nessuna complicazione. Ha una vita serena perché ha un unico scopo: il matrimonio.
A diciotto anni ha le idee chiare su tutto ed è in grado di realizzare una cena completa per otto persone con sedici portate. Voi non ne siete capaci? Imparate alla svelta.
A venti ha deciso quale sarà l’uomo che sposerà. Magari non è un uomo in carne e ossa ma è comunque la categoria a cui appartiene che inizia a prendere di mira: l’avvocato, l’architetto, il notaio, il dottore. Le qualifiche sono importanti.
[...]
Io le ho studiate a fondo e me ne sono fatta un’idea ben precisa. Le gatte morte sono geniali.
Dietro la loro apparente passività si nasconde una forza, un’aggressività senza pari. Sono burattinaie che muovono i fili di marionette inconsapevoli. Non c’è niente da fare. Contro di loro non esistono armi. Ve lo dico con tutto il cuore, arrendetevi! Perché gatta morta si nasce, non si diventa.
L’idealtipo della gatta morta è la Eva Harrington di Eva contro Eva, che fingendo una smisurata ammirazione per l’attrice Margo Channing (Bette Davis) si intrufola nella sua vita e le porta via la parte, il successo, il critico teatrale di riferimento (di cui diviene amante) e (poco ci manca) il fidanzato. Qui di seguito la scena memorabile in cui la nostra santarellina racconta a ciglio asciutto come abbia perso il marito in guerra e come la sua fervida adorazione l’abbia portata a seguire per anni la diva ad ogni suo spettacolo. Non c’è bisogno di capire l’inglese: guardate gli occhi e le posture.
Per completare il quadro delle tassonomie ci sarebbe anche la femme fatale, affine alla dark lady, ma a differenza di questa fatale, appunto, ma non necessariamente malvagia. Non necessariamente, cioè, infligge il male volontariamente, per conseguire un obiettivo o per desiderio di annientamento dell’altro. Anche qui, nella mia mente, c’è un idealtipo, ed è la Lola Lola (Marlene Dietrich) dell’Angelo Azzurro di Sternberg (qui in edizione integrale).
Un altro vocabolo che ha continuato a frullarmi per la testa durante la lettura del romanzo di Gottlieb è stato predatrice. E questo aspetto è quello che alla fine mi fa pensare che Margot Lassiter è soprattutto una dark lady. Margot persegue i suoi obiettivi e distrugge le sue vittime (perché in una certa misura potrebbe conseguire i suoi obiettivi anche senza annientare la vittima – come nel caso di John Potash – oppure indulge nella distruzione della vita di Lawrence Billings anche senza grande tornaconto economico) e lo fa reificandole, trattandole come oggetti, utilizzando la prevedibilità del corteggiamento maschile come arma contro i corteggiatori stessi, come accade per il principio dell’attacco-difesa proprio dello judo:
Yawara significa adeguarsi alla forza avversaria al fine di ottenere il pieno controllo. Esempio: se vengo assalito da un avversario che mi spinge con una certa forza, non devo contrastarlo, ma in un primo momento debbo adeguarmi alla sua azione e, avvalendomi proprio della sua forza, attirarlo a me facendogli piegare il corpo in avanti [...] La teoria vale per ogni direzione in cui l’avversario eserciti forza. [Jigorō Kanō, (2005). Fondamenti del Judo. "Cos'è il Kodokan Judo": pp. 23-24. Citato in Wikipedia]
Per scrivere di dark ladies è necessaria una buona dose di misoginia, perché la rappresentazione della dark lady (e delle sue varianti richiamate in precedenza) si pone all’estremo opposto della scala di idealizzazione della donna che vede all’estremo opposto la donna angelicata di Dante e l’eterno femminino di Goethe, ma anche di fascinazione. È necessario anche quel distacco dialettico che permette di comprendere che il comportamento che ci inorridisce in queste eroine femminili al negativo è la pratica quotidiana e la moneta corrente del comportamento maschile nei confronti delle donne, e non sarebbe nemmeno pensabile senza la premessa dell’atteggiamento maschile (ancora una volta il punto di vista dello judo).
Resta da dire che il romanzo, senza essere un capolavoro, è anche ben scritto e ben costruito: ben costruito, perché 4 storie e 4 piani temporali sono alternati e ricostruiti in flashback (in 3 casi su 4, per la verità) a partire dal rovinoso ruzzolone iniziale, mantenendo sempre vivissima l’attenzione (e la voglia di andare avanti) del lettore. Ben scritto, perché è evidente il divertimento dello scrittore nello sfottere un certo mondo (quello dei pomposi manuali per top manager, ad esempio) e nel mantenere la distanza dai suoi personaggi e dalla sua materia.
Di seguito, qualche piccolo esempio del suo stile e qualche curiosità (senza rovinare nulla del thriller):
Her nails were ridgeless and attested to a diet rich in vitamin B and iron, but the moons, he noticed, were invisible: pituitary problems? [616]
The science of touch is called haptics. [1297]
And it was at that moment, for the very first time, that Lawrence Billings felt old. He’d felt mature before; he’d felt accomplished; he’d felt at midcareer, midpoint, midlife before. But at the moment, beached on the sound of that word dear, he simply felt dusty. [1675]
Sex and curiosity occupied the same part of the brain. [2988]
February 12, 2012
Guy Savage was on the one to recommend Eli Gottlieb's book NOW YOU SEE HIM (http://swiftlytiltingplanet.wordpress...), which I considered a 5 star read... so when Guy mentioned that he was reading an arc of THE FACE THIEF, I was very curious and anxious to hear his comments... and to read it for myself.
Guy was not very forthcoming regarding comments on this book... but offered to send the arc to me when finished with it.
It is very hard to love a book that doesn't have any nice characters in it... and this is what I found with THE FACE THIEF. Also, as someone who does not believe that there is any quick way to make loads of money and if there is, there is probably something morally wrong about how that money is earned... well the premise of the book is no more pleasant than its characters.
To summarize briefly, THE FACE THIEF involves 3 people; each story being told in separate and alternating chapters.
It opens with Margot Lassiter in a hospital room having experienced some kind of bad tumble down a steep set of stairs that results in memory loss. As the story reveals itself it is very probable that Margot did not have an accident, that someone had every intention of messy her up very badly and the question becomes whom, since it seems any number of people might like to hurt her as she recalls her life as she regains her memory.
Lawrence Billings is an expert on body language and facial ticks, teaches seminars on how to gain financially from reading the face and body, which ultimately means learning to manipulate one's own body/face. Margot attend one of these seminars and signs on for some private lessons. Billings admits to having slipped in his marriage a couple times in the past, and Margot makes it difficult for him to keep his promise to be faithful... but he does, which does not sit well with Margot who is not used to getting what she wants. Anyway, this whole thing blows up in his face (hah, I had to say it), and his wife leaves him, possibly for good. Billings is out to exact revenge with Margot.
Meanwhile John Potash, a schmuck who is on a second marriage with a younger, beautiful and sexual wife but is unemployed after relocating to the west coast for said new wife. John meets one Jeanette Styles of Greenleaf Financial, "a consortium of forward-seeking investment advisors and analysts" who "roamed the world seeking the latest cutting-edge sustainable products." An investment firm that was "predatory, cash-rich, not averse to opportunistic bottom-feeding." Being able to increase their nest egg -- which in my opinion is sizable enough to begin with -- is a way he feels that he can show worth to his new bride. So after what he considers careful consideration - he invests not only his money, but his mother's and his wife's money, without consulting them. He considers the sizable gain will be a nice present to each. Nearly as fast as he wires the money, Janet Styles and Greenleaf disappear off the planet along with the money. Potash is frantic, especially after learning that the FBI may take years to recover the money, if at all.
It is unclear at first that each viewpoint has its own timeline... but once that is established and as more is revealed it is easier to see the how & who as to Margot's accident. But the story doesn't stop here. When it ends you get the feeling that the moral of the story is that men are stupid because they can be so easily manipulated by lust (i.e. body language), at least that's Margot's approach to the world.
While the concept of the seminar The Physique of Finance: The Art of Face Reading and Body Language for Professional Advantage is interesting and we do learn a bit during the Lawrence Billings chapters, it is not new if anyone is familiar with the TV Series "Lie to Me." Of course, in the TV show the techniques are used to sort out a variety of human folly and backed with lots of real life people/situations that helps us see how it works. Even so, with the TV show and the book I take it at "face value" that these techniques work but it is like learning a foreign language, something I am absolutely unskilled at.
Gottlieb is a decent writer or else I never would have finished this book. While there are no sympathetic characters and, in fact, each seems morally corrupt, the story hangs together and it is somewhat "compulsively readable" if only to confirm what you already think will happen. Like Guy Savage, I can't so much recommend the book, but I will send you my copy if you want to see for yourself. However, if you haven't explored this author before, I suggest reading NOW YOU SEE HIM.
Guy was not very forthcoming regarding comments on this book... but offered to send the arc to me when finished with it.
It is very hard to love a book that doesn't have any nice characters in it... and this is what I found with THE FACE THIEF. Also, as someone who does not believe that there is any quick way to make loads of money and if there is, there is probably something morally wrong about how that money is earned... well the premise of the book is no more pleasant than its characters.
To summarize briefly, THE FACE THIEF involves 3 people; each story being told in separate and alternating chapters.
It opens with Margot Lassiter in a hospital room having experienced some kind of bad tumble down a steep set of stairs that results in memory loss. As the story reveals itself it is very probable that Margot did not have an accident, that someone had every intention of messy her up very badly and the question becomes whom, since it seems any number of people might like to hurt her as she recalls her life as she regains her memory.
Lawrence Billings is an expert on body language and facial ticks, teaches seminars on how to gain financially from reading the face and body, which ultimately means learning to manipulate one's own body/face. Margot attend one of these seminars and signs on for some private lessons. Billings admits to having slipped in his marriage a couple times in the past, and Margot makes it difficult for him to keep his promise to be faithful... but he does, which does not sit well with Margot who is not used to getting what she wants. Anyway, this whole thing blows up in his face (hah, I had to say it), and his wife leaves him, possibly for good. Billings is out to exact revenge with Margot.
Meanwhile John Potash, a schmuck who is on a second marriage with a younger, beautiful and sexual wife but is unemployed after relocating to the west coast for said new wife. John meets one Jeanette Styles of Greenleaf Financial, "a consortium of forward-seeking investment advisors and analysts" who "roamed the world seeking the latest cutting-edge sustainable products." An investment firm that was "predatory, cash-rich, not averse to opportunistic bottom-feeding." Being able to increase their nest egg -- which in my opinion is sizable enough to begin with -- is a way he feels that he can show worth to his new bride. So after what he considers careful consideration - he invests not only his money, but his mother's and his wife's money, without consulting them. He considers the sizable gain will be a nice present to each. Nearly as fast as he wires the money, Janet Styles and Greenleaf disappear off the planet along with the money. Potash is frantic, especially after learning that the FBI may take years to recover the money, if at all.
It is unclear at first that each viewpoint has its own timeline... but once that is established and as more is revealed it is easier to see the how & who as to Margot's accident. But the story doesn't stop here. When it ends you get the feeling that the moral of the story is that men are stupid because they can be so easily manipulated by lust (i.e. body language), at least that's Margot's approach to the world.
While the concept of the seminar The Physique of Finance: The Art of Face Reading and Body Language for Professional Advantage is interesting and we do learn a bit during the Lawrence Billings chapters, it is not new if anyone is familiar with the TV Series "Lie to Me." Of course, in the TV show the techniques are used to sort out a variety of human folly and backed with lots of real life people/situations that helps us see how it works. Even so, with the TV show and the book I take it at "face value" that these techniques work but it is like learning a foreign language, something I am absolutely unskilled at.
Gottlieb is a decent writer or else I never would have finished this book. While there are no sympathetic characters and, in fact, each seems morally corrupt, the story hangs together and it is somewhat "compulsively readable" if only to confirm what you already think will happen. Like Guy Savage, I can't so much recommend the book, but I will send you my copy if you want to see for yourself. However, if you haven't explored this author before, I suggest reading NOW YOU SEE HIM.
February 9, 2012
Spoiler alert. The following is a summary of the entire story, including the ending, written as an exercise and for my own use.
The Face Thief begins with a mystery. A woman lies badly injured in a hospital bed. We are inside her head, thinking her thoughts as she struggles to figure out what has happened and why she's not in the English country house she's always wanted to end up in. A handsome man sits by her side, waiting for her to regain consciousness. He is a policeman, and because she is a victim of a murder attempt with amnesia, he has begun an investigation of her life in order to identify likely suspects.
Switch to an all-day seminar called The Physique of Finance: The Art of Face Reading and Body Language for Professional Advantage. A middle-aged married man named Lawrence Billings makes his living teaching people how to "read" other people. Billings had realized early in life that people lie to one another all the time, and that he could tell. He taught at his seminar that people with short eyebrows have no friends. Perfectionists have more than two vertical lines between their eyebrows, and a person with a big chin has always got to be right. When he calls the beautiful stranger, Margot, to the stage for an exercise, he is intrigued. She's good at reading people. She is manipulating him, he knows he's being manipulated and blocks her, but is still attracted. He takes her on as a private pupil and begins a flirtation that ends up with Margot making a pass at him, which he rejects.
Cut to John Potash, a professional investor who has amassed enough money to retire to the West Coast with his aging hippy new wife and her demon seed sons. In his new community, Potash apparently loses his edge, or that's what the author surmises. When Janelle Sykes approaches him with an investment idea, he is dazzled by her beauty, sex appeal, and her presentation of her business opportunity, complete with several "partners" and lots of fake documentation. He is enticed to invest all of his own money, his wife's savings, as his widowed mother's nest egg, and when Janelle disappears the next day, understands that he has been swindled.
Meanwhile, the woman in the hospital is slowly recovering. The handsome policeman has discovered that she has huge holes in her resume. The woman rests and plans her escape from him and former entanglements. Meanwhile, her magical manipulation skills return a little at a time and she turns her charm on for the policeman, making him fall in love with her.
Flashback to Billings. When he rejected her advances, Margot becomes angry. She had been after his money all along, not his special knowledge, and she punishes him by sending e-mail and a letter to his home which convince his wife that he has been cheating again. The wife leaves as she has done before when she discovered his infidelities, and Billings decides to hurt Margot. He takes her to dinner, pretends to be in lust with her, then pushes her down a flight of stairs, which explains how she ended up in the hospital with a head injury.
Meanwhile, Potash has hired a private detective to find Janelle, who is also Margot, and he locates her in the hospital. She is later moved to a safe house by the handsome policeman. Potash in on the East Coast to attend his father's unveiling. His mother has a mini stroke when she finds out her money is gone. His wife in CA struggles to manage her sons in his absence, and is planning family vacations and her husband is borrowing money to keep them afloat from his college roommate. Potash manages to find the safe house, and plans to confront Janelle there and try to get at least some of his money back, but Janelle escapes through the bathroom window and is never seen again.
Potash goes to his mother's house to see how she's doing, and as he talks with her, she dies, leaving him her house, which he knows is worth enough to replace all the money he lost with Janelle. Billings's wife returns as she always does and he resumes his life as before. In other words, despite Margot-Janelle, both men are left wiser but otherwise unharmed.
I thought the book was average in every way. I wouldn't recommend it particularly, and didn't feel it was time well spent.
The Face Thief begins with a mystery. A woman lies badly injured in a hospital bed. We are inside her head, thinking her thoughts as she struggles to figure out what has happened and why she's not in the English country house she's always wanted to end up in. A handsome man sits by her side, waiting for her to regain consciousness. He is a policeman, and because she is a victim of a murder attempt with amnesia, he has begun an investigation of her life in order to identify likely suspects.
Switch to an all-day seminar called The Physique of Finance: The Art of Face Reading and Body Language for Professional Advantage. A middle-aged married man named Lawrence Billings makes his living teaching people how to "read" other people. Billings had realized early in life that people lie to one another all the time, and that he could tell. He taught at his seminar that people with short eyebrows have no friends. Perfectionists have more than two vertical lines between their eyebrows, and a person with a big chin has always got to be right. When he calls the beautiful stranger, Margot, to the stage for an exercise, he is intrigued. She's good at reading people. She is manipulating him, he knows he's being manipulated and blocks her, but is still attracted. He takes her on as a private pupil and begins a flirtation that ends up with Margot making a pass at him, which he rejects.
Cut to John Potash, a professional investor who has amassed enough money to retire to the West Coast with his aging hippy new wife and her demon seed sons. In his new community, Potash apparently loses his edge, or that's what the author surmises. When Janelle Sykes approaches him with an investment idea, he is dazzled by her beauty, sex appeal, and her presentation of her business opportunity, complete with several "partners" and lots of fake documentation. He is enticed to invest all of his own money, his wife's savings, as his widowed mother's nest egg, and when Janelle disappears the next day, understands that he has been swindled.
Meanwhile, the woman in the hospital is slowly recovering. The handsome policeman has discovered that she has huge holes in her resume. The woman rests and plans her escape from him and former entanglements. Meanwhile, her magical manipulation skills return a little at a time and she turns her charm on for the policeman, making him fall in love with her.
Flashback to Billings. When he rejected her advances, Margot becomes angry. She had been after his money all along, not his special knowledge, and she punishes him by sending e-mail and a letter to his home which convince his wife that he has been cheating again. The wife leaves as she has done before when she discovered his infidelities, and Billings decides to hurt Margot. He takes her to dinner, pretends to be in lust with her, then pushes her down a flight of stairs, which explains how she ended up in the hospital with a head injury.
Meanwhile, Potash has hired a private detective to find Janelle, who is also Margot, and he locates her in the hospital. She is later moved to a safe house by the handsome policeman. Potash in on the East Coast to attend his father's unveiling. His mother has a mini stroke when she finds out her money is gone. His wife in CA struggles to manage her sons in his absence, and is planning family vacations and her husband is borrowing money to keep them afloat from his college roommate. Potash manages to find the safe house, and plans to confront Janelle there and try to get at least some of his money back, but Janelle escapes through the bathroom window and is never seen again.
Potash goes to his mother's house to see how she's doing, and as he talks with her, she dies, leaving him her house, which he knows is worth enough to replace all the money he lost with Janelle. Billings's wife returns as she always does and he resumes his life as before. In other words, despite Margot-Janelle, both men are left wiser but otherwise unharmed.
I thought the book was average in every way. I wouldn't recommend it particularly, and didn't feel it was time well spent.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 29, 2012
The perfect criminal is one who can read the body language and facial features of their victim and that is just the premise for the latest book from Eli Gottlieb, The Face Thief.
The book revolves around the lives of three people involving a series of circumstances with a common thread. The more you know about a person, the better it enables you to gain the upper hand. If you can define someone simply by how they carry themselves and what their face tells you that their words don't can be very beneficial if you know how to read them.
Margot is a promising up and coming journalist who wants to gain the advantage in the business world in learning to read faces and define the subtle movements our body language portrays. She hopes it may give her the advantage she will need to climb the corporate ladder in the competitive world of journalism where being a female may be the disadvantage. So when she signs up to take a course designed by the expert in reading body languages and faces, she gets more than she ever thought she would.
Lawrence Billings has made a name for himself as a best selling author and successful business man now leading seminars discussing The Physique of Finance: The Art of Face Reading and Body Language for Professional Advantage. He always had unique gift of seeing things others missed and now it was paying off in a big way at fifty three and still married to Glynis even after his indiscretions. Life was perfect until Margot showed up in his class. Things were about to change and not in the way he would have expected.
John Potash has finally struck gold. When Janell Styles of Greenleaf Financial calls and offers him the best investment opportunity of a lifetime, one he's been waiting for his whole life, he takes a chance after his initial investments have returned better than expected returns. Now just when his personal life has finally settled down after a recent divorce, he plans to invest in their future in a very big way. However life isn't always what we expect despite how we may think we have it all figured out.
I received The Face Thief by Eli Gottlieb compliments of William Morrow, a division of Harper Collins for my honest review. This book really does have quite a few twists and turns and until about half way through I didn't realize what was happening with the three different story lines in the book, however now looking back I could see how it all played out. As a reader, keeping that in mind, it will make the book much more enjoyable knowing that when you begin and throughout the book, you will find the pattern that shows how they all interconnect without realizing it. I would rate this book a 4 out of 5 stars for that reason. It deals with preying upon peoples trust and weakness to make a fast buck no matter what the cost and having the best tools on hand can make it that much easier.
The book revolves around the lives of three people involving a series of circumstances with a common thread. The more you know about a person, the better it enables you to gain the upper hand. If you can define someone simply by how they carry themselves and what their face tells you that their words don't can be very beneficial if you know how to read them.
Margot is a promising up and coming journalist who wants to gain the advantage in the business world in learning to read faces and define the subtle movements our body language portrays. She hopes it may give her the advantage she will need to climb the corporate ladder in the competitive world of journalism where being a female may be the disadvantage. So when she signs up to take a course designed by the expert in reading body languages and faces, she gets more than she ever thought she would.
Lawrence Billings has made a name for himself as a best selling author and successful business man now leading seminars discussing The Physique of Finance: The Art of Face Reading and Body Language for Professional Advantage. He always had unique gift of seeing things others missed and now it was paying off in a big way at fifty three and still married to Glynis even after his indiscretions. Life was perfect until Margot showed up in his class. Things were about to change and not in the way he would have expected.
John Potash has finally struck gold. When Janell Styles of Greenleaf Financial calls and offers him the best investment opportunity of a lifetime, one he's been waiting for his whole life, he takes a chance after his initial investments have returned better than expected returns. Now just when his personal life has finally settled down after a recent divorce, he plans to invest in their future in a very big way. However life isn't always what we expect despite how we may think we have it all figured out.
I received The Face Thief by Eli Gottlieb compliments of William Morrow, a division of Harper Collins for my honest review. This book really does have quite a few twists and turns and until about half way through I didn't realize what was happening with the three different story lines in the book, however now looking back I could see how it all played out. As a reader, keeping that in mind, it will make the book much more enjoyable knowing that when you begin and throughout the book, you will find the pattern that shows how they all interconnect without realizing it. I would rate this book a 4 out of 5 stars for that reason. It deals with preying upon peoples trust and weakness to make a fast buck no matter what the cost and having the best tools on hand can make it that much easier.
November 14, 2011
What does your face say about you? What secret desire lies buried in your smile, in the arch of your eyebrow, in your eyes? Anyone who has ever read a book about or gone to a seminar explaining "body language" will be able to appreciate and understand the premise of THE FACE THIEF by Eli Gottlieb. Rather than focusing on the non-verbal positive and negative emotions communicated by the body, Mr. Gottlieb has chosen to concentrate his tale on the machinations of a woman who has become an expert in mastering control over the unconsciously transmitted "tells" of her own face while at the same time being able to read the faces of others, ascertaining the secret desires they unknowingly convey, thereby allowing her to gain the upper hand in matters ranging from sensory pleasure to business dealings. While I will admit that some of the things supposedly transmitted by ones facial expressions that are described in this novel are a bit far fetched, in this instance it is advisable to abandon logic and just go along for the ride.
The story begins with Margot Lassiter's bone crunching fall down a long marble staircase and presents the reader with the question, "Did she trip or was she pushed". If she was indeed pushed, who did it and why? What follows is an intense and fascinating narrative of the duplicity and lies outlining the circumstances that led to Margot's fall.
Margot, it appears, is the ultimate survivor who spins a web of destruction that ensnares every man who crosses her path. It is her unshakable belief that all men are liars and cheats who "speak a stench" and her unfeeling psychopathic need to beat them at any cost is mesmerizing and frightening to behold. I might add that and none of the male characters in this book appear to display any positive qualities that would contradict Margot's assumption.
This chameleon like female protagonist bears a striking resemblance to Patricia Highsmith's character, Tom Ripley. Like Ripley, Margot Lassiter is a calculating sociopath who believes it's better to be a rich fake somebody than a real nobody. The conclusion of the story leaves the impression that, like Highsmith's Tom Ripley, Margot too may appear in future novels penned by Mr. Gottlieb. If that is his plan, I sincerely hope that he gives us a little more background on Margot and the circumstances that made her the woman she is today. With more information on Margot, this 3 1/2 could have been a 4 star review.
The story begins with Margot Lassiter's bone crunching fall down a long marble staircase and presents the reader with the question, "Did she trip or was she pushed". If she was indeed pushed, who did it and why? What follows is an intense and fascinating narrative of the duplicity and lies outlining the circumstances that led to Margot's fall.
Margot, it appears, is the ultimate survivor who spins a web of destruction that ensnares every man who crosses her path. It is her unshakable belief that all men are liars and cheats who "speak a stench" and her unfeeling psychopathic need to beat them at any cost is mesmerizing and frightening to behold. I might add that and none of the male characters in this book appear to display any positive qualities that would contradict Margot's assumption.
This chameleon like female protagonist bears a striking resemblance to Patricia Highsmith's character, Tom Ripley. Like Ripley, Margot Lassiter is a calculating sociopath who believes it's better to be a rich fake somebody than a real nobody. The conclusion of the story leaves the impression that, like Highsmith's Tom Ripley, Margot too may appear in future novels penned by Mr. Gottlieb. If that is his plan, I sincerely hope that he gives us a little more background on Margot and the circumstances that made her the woman she is today. With more information on Margot, this 3 1/2 could have been a 4 star review.
May 16, 2013
Gottlieb was trying way too hard with this. I think the most often used note I have in my kindle copy of this book is "blechh" or "very blechh" (read as Alfred E Neuman please). These "blechh"s are peppered throughout when Gottlieb tried to educate the reader. Even if I granted him the evolutionary psych stuff upon which his "erudite" Lawrence character is based, it was so overtly stuffed down my face as to require a "blechh" every few pages (and no, as a social psychologist I am fundamentally unable to grant him any credit whatsoever towards his proposed evolutionary psych theories on physiognomy. I'm sorry, but reading my personality from my scalp went out of fashion along with ouija boards 'round about the Victorian period).
Gottlieb also occasionally attempted poetic and philosophical (also earning him "blechh"): "Behind him were the ranked rows of liquor bottles, lit from below and glowing like isotopes." or "psychic feints and dodges were as familiar to him as anything he knew, and it was fitting that, according to historical script, they would be taking place in the emotional epicenter of the home: the kitchen." Sorry, but this is just not a literary book. It is a plot driven attempt at suspense.
Unfortunately, the plot is not very good. It was fairly transparent (early on I figured out that there was only one female character...she must be the same person!). It is also totally unbelievable. Lawrence hates Margot simply because she wants him? What? Up until the point that he pushes her down the stairs (really because she is now not in lust with him, but just trying to sell him something) why is he so angry? All the cops that Potash encounters tell him useful info that is supposed to be confidential. What? And even Margot, after escaping, is able to somehow pay the taxi that takes her to the bank and allows her to access her security deposit box. Where did she get her id and wallet? Oh yeah, and Dan France is in love with her too? It is just all so ridiculous.
Overall not worth the time (despite being rather short); just not very interesting or compelling.
Gottlieb also occasionally attempted poetic and philosophical (also earning him "blechh"): "Behind him were the ranked rows of liquor bottles, lit from below and glowing like isotopes." or "psychic feints and dodges were as familiar to him as anything he knew, and it was fitting that, according to historical script, they would be taking place in the emotional epicenter of the home: the kitchen." Sorry, but this is just not a literary book. It is a plot driven attempt at suspense.
Unfortunately, the plot is not very good. It was fairly transparent (early on I figured out that there was only one female character...she must be the same person!). It is also totally unbelievable. Lawrence hates Margot simply because she wants him? What? Up until the point that he pushes her down the stairs (really because she is now not in lust with him, but just trying to sell him something) why is he so angry? All the cops that Potash encounters tell him useful info that is supposed to be confidential. What? And even Margot, after escaping, is able to somehow pay the taxi that takes her to the bank and allows her to access her security deposit box. Where did she get her id and wallet? Oh yeah, and Dan France is in love with her too? It is just all so ridiculous.
Overall not worth the time (despite being rather short); just not very interesting or compelling.
January 16, 2012
You would think I would love this book....after all, it's about a woman using men. Surprisingly, I didn't care for it much. I thought I was getting a book following a woman and a detective...but really, the book is about the woman, but told from the POVs of two different men.
Was it done well? I guess so, but too much testosterone for me, and I couldn't stand the woman either. One man is happily married-at least I think so. He does go on about his wife's weight and lack of youth, but he's not a spring chicken himself-and is an expert at reading body language and faces. Enter the chick. She seduces him while taking private classes and then tries to convince him to invest lots of his money. He resists her, but she sets out to try to destroy his marriage, leaving him incriminating notes and sending him emails that his wife sees.
The other man is an idiot on wife number two, a younger model of course than the first one, and beguiled by the woman, hands over over 600 thousand dollars.. The rest of his parts go on and on about his mother and his dead dad and trying to get his money back. Pointless, I felt.
The woman and the detective parts were minimal and I came to like her even less whereas I should have felt sympathy...I think. The detective..like everyone else seems enamored with her. It got old. I didn't feel there was enough of him to warrant mentioning him in the blurb though.
Was it done well? I guess so, but too much testosterone for me, and I couldn't stand the woman either. One man is happily married-at least I think so. He does go on about his wife's weight and lack of youth, but he's not a spring chicken himself-and is an expert at reading body language and faces. Enter the chick. She seduces him while taking private classes and then tries to convince him to invest lots of his money. He resists her, but she sets out to try to destroy his marriage, leaving him incriminating notes and sending him emails that his wife sees.
The other man is an idiot on wife number two, a younger model of course than the first one, and beguiled by the woman, hands over over 600 thousand dollars.. The rest of his parts go on and on about his mother and his dead dad and trying to get his money back. Pointless, I felt.
The woman and the detective parts were minimal and I came to like her even less whereas I should have felt sympathy...I think. The detective..like everyone else seems enamored with her. It got old. I didn't feel there was enough of him to warrant mentioning him in the blurb though.
March 11, 2012
I really enjoyed this book. It was a great look into the minds of people and how one person can use knowledge to completely manipulate others and become the perfect criminal.
It was hard in the beginning to see how each story would tie together. The lives of John Potash and Lawrence Billings are very different, separated by the country and seemingly not connected at all. But as the story unravels, you can see just how Billings’s actions, through Margot, directly affect the life of Potash.
And then you have the story of Margot, told as she recovers from a horrible "accident." She can't remember who she is, but slowly, her life comes back to her. You see what led to her being the person she is and you see that she was good at one point, but life happens and you see through her slowly recovered memories what made her the perfect criminal she is throughout the rest of the novel.
What I enjoyed most about this book is I was less interested in figuring out the "who" of the crime, and more invested in the "why." I wanted to know more about the people and their actions instead of trying to figure out what happened.
I greatly enjoyed the look into human action and what can lead a person to make the choices they do. It was a wonderful read and I plan on picking up Gottlieb's other books soon.
It was hard in the beginning to see how each story would tie together. The lives of John Potash and Lawrence Billings are very different, separated by the country and seemingly not connected at all. But as the story unravels, you can see just how Billings’s actions, through Margot, directly affect the life of Potash.
And then you have the story of Margot, told as she recovers from a horrible "accident." She can't remember who she is, but slowly, her life comes back to her. You see what led to her being the person she is and you see that she was good at one point, but life happens and you see through her slowly recovered memories what made her the perfect criminal she is throughout the rest of the novel.
What I enjoyed most about this book is I was less interested in figuring out the "who" of the crime, and more invested in the "why." I wanted to know more about the people and their actions instead of trying to figure out what happened.
I greatly enjoyed the look into human action and what can lead a person to make the choices they do. It was a wonderful read and I plan on picking up Gottlieb's other books soon.
November 23, 2011
It begins with a fall, the experience and shock of being pushed down a set of stairs. But who pushed Margot, and why? This is the central mystery around which The Face Thief is built.
It's the story of three characters, each presenting a superficial identity and hiding their true selves under layer after layer of deception. It's a story told not only in words an dialogue, but also in body language and subtle hints. As Margot recovers from her fall we discover that she may not be an innocent victim. We also hear the story of two men, each of whom met an intriguing woman, each of whom had reason to hate her.
The Face Thief is an elegantly told tale. Often impressive in its craft and language, occasionally frustrating in its distance and cool tones, overall a stirring story of hidden passions and secret motivations, revealed not through shocking revelations but through glimpses and suggestions.
The Face Thief is a mystery in the truest sense. In discovering the forgotten identity of Margot, in discovering the story of who committed a violent act, Eli Gottlieb also explores the secrets of identity itself. Who these characters are isn't just in what they say - it's also in the secrets they keep, and in the faces they hide.
It's the story of three characters, each presenting a superficial identity and hiding their true selves under layer after layer of deception. It's a story told not only in words an dialogue, but also in body language and subtle hints. As Margot recovers from her fall we discover that she may not be an innocent victim. We also hear the story of two men, each of whom met an intriguing woman, each of whom had reason to hate her.
The Face Thief is an elegantly told tale. Often impressive in its craft and language, occasionally frustrating in its distance and cool tones, overall a stirring story of hidden passions and secret motivations, revealed not through shocking revelations but through glimpses and suggestions.
The Face Thief is a mystery in the truest sense. In discovering the forgotten identity of Margot, in discovering the story of who committed a violent act, Eli Gottlieb also explores the secrets of identity itself. Who these characters are isn't just in what they say - it's also in the secrets they keep, and in the faces they hide.
September 23, 2012
Jika seorang penulis dituntut kreatif. Maka seorang pembaca pun harus demikian. Pemikiran ini saya dapat setelah membaca cerita tentang seorang wanita bernama Margot, yang memiliki keahlian membaca wajah seseorang. Bukan membaca biasa, tapi langsung menebak seperti apa sifatnya, apa kekurangan serta kelebihannya.
Kemampuan Margot ini didapatkannya dari sang guru Lawrence, yang dulunya mahasiswa psikologi sebelum Lawrence banting setir menjadi pembicara dan penulis buku mengenai ilmu membaca wajah seseorang. Sebuah pengetahuan yang berasal dari Cina. Sayang, pelajaran yang diberikan oleh Lawrence tidak dimanfaatkan oleh Margot untuk mencari klien demi usahanya. Memang, Margot yang manis dan menarik hati setiap pria yang meliriknya itu mencari klien. Tapi bukan klien yang seperti dipikirkan oleh Lawrence.
Perlahan...hubungan Lawrence dan Margot pun menyerang kehidupan pribadi Lawrence. Tapi, bisakah Lawrence mengalahkan Margot? Murid yang Lawrence sendiri akui memiliki kemampuan di atasnya.
Sebuah kisah suspense yang cukup menegangkan. Walau di beberapa bagian ada kesalahan ketik untuk nama Lawrence, yang menjadi Pathos (hal. 124). Serta diksi yang sedikit mengganggu proses membaca. Namun selebihnya saya masih bisa merasakan esensi serta taste dari karya Eli Gottlieb ini.
Kemampuan Margot ini didapatkannya dari sang guru Lawrence, yang dulunya mahasiswa psikologi sebelum Lawrence banting setir menjadi pembicara dan penulis buku mengenai ilmu membaca wajah seseorang. Sebuah pengetahuan yang berasal dari Cina. Sayang, pelajaran yang diberikan oleh Lawrence tidak dimanfaatkan oleh Margot untuk mencari klien demi usahanya. Memang, Margot yang manis dan menarik hati setiap pria yang meliriknya itu mencari klien. Tapi bukan klien yang seperti dipikirkan oleh Lawrence.
Perlahan...hubungan Lawrence dan Margot pun menyerang kehidupan pribadi Lawrence. Tapi, bisakah Lawrence mengalahkan Margot? Murid yang Lawrence sendiri akui memiliki kemampuan di atasnya.
Sebuah kisah suspense yang cukup menegangkan. Walau di beberapa bagian ada kesalahan ketik untuk nama Lawrence, yang menjadi Pathos (hal. 124). Serta diksi yang sedikit mengganggu proses membaca. Namun selebihnya saya masih bisa merasakan esensi serta taste dari karya Eli Gottlieb ini.
July 25, 2012
Grade: C
L/C Ratio: 60/40
(This means I estimate the author devoted 60% of his effort to creating a literary work of art and 40% of his effort to creating a commercial bestseller.)
Thematic Breakdown:
40% - The art of the con
30% - Body language
20% - Relationships
10% - Mystery
The story of a con man – or in the case of The Face Thief, a con woman – can work in one of two ways. Either the reader gets attached to the victim of the con, or the writer pulls a Sawyer (as in LOST) and makes the con man a sympathetic character. Gottlieb does neither, and it kills the momentum of his literary thriller.
As a wordsmith, however, Gottlieb deserves praise. Much of The Face Thief revolves around the importance of body language, and he does a masterful job of translating visual subjects into detailed text without relying on a waterfall of descriptions.
Noteworthy Quote:
She was thinking that the secret of the universe was that everything lived apart from everything else but was connected by the bright, living fluid of eyesight. And in eyesight there were no failures or winters or famines. Instead, everything was perfect and extended forever in all directions like daylight.
L/C Ratio: 60/40
(This means I estimate the author devoted 60% of his effort to creating a literary work of art and 40% of his effort to creating a commercial bestseller.)
Thematic Breakdown:
40% - The art of the con
30% - Body language
20% - Relationships
10% - Mystery
The story of a con man – or in the case of The Face Thief, a con woman – can work in one of two ways. Either the reader gets attached to the victim of the con, or the writer pulls a Sawyer (as in LOST) and makes the con man a sympathetic character. Gottlieb does neither, and it kills the momentum of his literary thriller.
As a wordsmith, however, Gottlieb deserves praise. Much of The Face Thief revolves around the importance of body language, and he does a masterful job of translating visual subjects into detailed text without relying on a waterfall of descriptions.
Noteworthy Quote:
She was thinking that the secret of the universe was that everything lived apart from everything else but was connected by the bright, living fluid of eyesight. And in eyesight there were no failures or winters or famines. Instead, everything was perfect and extended forever in all directions like daylight.
January 10, 2012
The way the people's lives in this book intertwine is fascinating. At first I found myself wandering what one person had to do with another, but I kept reading and soon found out how they were all connected. They were all linked together by one woman. This womans name was Margot and she was hell bent on destroying every man that she came in contact with. She is definitely an interesting character and she is not a nice person. She is about as self centered as anyone can be, but it goes much deeper than just Narcissisim. She is also dangerous. It may be that she has finally crossed the wrong person because she has had a bad accident or was it really an accident?
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Please visit http://booktalkswithcharl.blogspot.com
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