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Let Them Come Through by Neil Forsyth
Nick Santini would have made a good living as a medium if his manager wasn't a thief and he didn't operate in a world of endless corruption. With a TV show cancelled in murky circumstances, a crew member dead on his tour and the police and his past fast catching up with him, Santini is a man on the edge.
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First published January 1, 2009
9 people want to read
About the author
Neil Forsyth
36 books15 followersNeil Forsyth was born in Scotland in 1978 and grew up in the much admired city of Dundee. His writing career began in books (a largely forgotten form of communication made famous by Jesus and, separately, Agatha Christie). He has written two novels, Let Them Come Through and San Carlos while Other People’s Money, the true story of the Scottish credit card fraudster Elliot Castro was released in seven countries and is being developed as a feature film.
Forsyth first created Bob Servant in a trilogy of books: Delete This At Your Peril – The Bob Servant Emails, Bob Servant – Hero Of Dundee and Why Me? The Very Important Emails of Bob Servant. Forsyth wrote a BBC Radio 4 adaptation - The Bob Servant Emails followed by the television series Bob Servant Independent for BBC4.
Forsyth is currently developing sitcoms with the BBC and a show with ABC/DreamWorks for American TV. In 2012, he memorably came third in the Dundee Evening Telegraph’s Spirit of Dundee competition, losing out to television presenter Lorraine Kelly and the Verdant Works Jute Museum.
Forsyth first created Bob Servant in a trilogy of books: Delete This At Your Peril – The Bob Servant Emails, Bob Servant – Hero Of Dundee and Why Me? The Very Important Emails of Bob Servant. Forsyth wrote a BBC Radio 4 adaptation - The Bob Servant Emails followed by the television series Bob Servant Independent for BBC4.
Forsyth is currently developing sitcoms with the BBC and a show with ABC/DreamWorks for American TV. In 2012, he memorably came third in the Dundee Evening Telegraph’s Spirit of Dundee competition, losing out to television presenter Lorraine Kelly and the Verdant Works Jute Museum.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 30, 2020
The idea of this book sounded better than the book was. Th.d story centers on Nick Santini, a young mostly .com artist/medium who takes you backstage and you get to understand the statistical basis and observation of audience that allows him to convey "messages from the beyond." Nick who begins his career reading customers in his shifty unreliable father's pub. His mother is not much better which explains in part why he's out on his own after an horrid scene with his father, begging an old " gypsy" fortune teller to help him learn his trade. In a short time he has his own office, a sketchy receptionist - and then is scooped up by the husband of one of his customers, Tony. Tony has little charm but managed his career stealing more than half of what he makes on tour, on shop and ultimately in TV. There are a couple of deaths, but this is not a murder mystery. It is a prolonged study of the underbelly of the world of performance. There is hardly a likeable person in the book. Merry who is a worker in his father's multimeter pub is the closest to a decent fellow one encounters. One begins to just wish it would get over because you don't want to spend any more time worth The characters. It is not a long hoping It out took me three days to finish it because I didn't want to pick it up again. It is written well enough but the subject and the corrupt cast of characters begin to push you away early on -- and the depressing turn of events and folk.never let up.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 3, 2011
Scot charms with con-man plots
An Interview with Neil Forsyth
The Miami Herald
http://bit.ly/ggrMs2
By John Hood
Medium Nick Santini is everything you wouldn’t want in a man – and then some. Unkind and incorrigible, not to mention incompatible with anyone other than himself, he’s got guile as wide as the sky and an ego as fathomless as the deep blue sea. Despite all these lowly attributes however, the not-so-great Santini has a knack for attracting those who seek signs of a higher realm. In fact, he’s rather masterful at it. And it isn’t long before legions of the sort of folks Barnum (reportedly) said were born every minute succumb to his charms.
But no matter how many suckers there are in the world, even a bad man can’t make good on being a medium forever, especially if his manager turns out to be a thief. When Santini’s spirit scam falls out of favor and he’s roundly fleeced, the bad man is forced to become even worse.
Such is the deliciously malicious thrust of Neil Forsyth’s Let Them Come Through (Serpent’s Tail, $15.95), a fierce piece of fiction which tells the could-be-true tale of a table-turner who has the tables turned right back on him.
Forsyth, a Scottish author who appears Tuesday at Books & Books in Miami Beach, first struck gold with a story about infamous credit card fraudster Elliot Castro ( Other People’s Money); then struck platinum with the spam-spurred series of e-mail exchanges he put into play under the name Bob Servant ( Delete This at Your Peril). He’s on a first-name basis with malfeasance. He’s also extremely funny. And his portrayal of Nick Santini cuts about as close to the bone of a con man’s contention as you can get without risking a limb – or a lawsuit.
We caught up with the wordslinger before he set off for the States.
Q. Where does Nick Santini come from, and why should we care?
The character came from a trip to a theater in Edinburgh to watch a medium perform. I’d seen him on the TV and found him amusing, but watching the live show was incredible. The suspension of belief between him and the audience, the level of his talent in portraying this fantasy – it was fascinating. More than anything I thought, ‘What kind of life would a man have that he’d wind up doing that?’ And that’s when I started writing the book.
Q. Why did you decide to fictionalize him?
For one thing, the guy is famous. For another, he is famously litigious. And he has much deeper pockets than me.
Q. Is there a real-life counterpart to his manager Tony, too?
No, but I wanted the amoral nature of Santini’s profession to continue off-stage, and giving him a totally corrupt manager and companion was an easy way to do that.
Q. Why did it take so long for you to get around to fiction anyway?
I’m not sure. There’s no plan. But I’m halfway through my second novel, which will be out with Random House in early 2012, so I’d hope to be writing more novels around the other stuff.
Q. Word is this book’s being made into a movie – do you have details?
Actually, it’s being developed for TV, but it’s in the very initial stages. I think it’s got a decent chance. My two other books are also being developed – it’s a case of getting them on the slate at various places and then seeing what happens. I think Let Them Come Through will lend itself very well to television.
Q. Will you write yourself into the show?
Well, we’ve already developed Bob Servant for radio and Brian Cox, the Scotch actor, flew in from New York and played him for BBC Radio. I wrote the scripts for that. And we’re hoping that Brian will also be involved with anything on the TV side too.
Q. Speaking of books turned into movies, you’re pals with Irvine Welsh, who’s perhaps most famous for “Trainspotting.” How’d you guys connect?
Irvine’s been great. He’s not only a great guy, but also he’s a keen supporter of young British/Scottish writers. We met through my first book, Other People’s Money, which he was kind enough to endorse. And he’s supported my work greatly since then – mentioning it in magazine interviews and so on. Since the book’s been published, one of the most exciting things for me was being able to meet people like Irvine – I mean, having someone like that endorse your work is fantastic.
Q. Have you two hit the pubs lately?
We were hoping to get together over Christmas while he’s here (in Scotland), but I’ve gotta head to New York. The last time we raved was on a boat in London, and it was good fun. I think every man should have a night out with Irvine Welsh at some time in their life.
Q. I’d also like to ask you about being the current president of the National Football Association of the Principality of Sealand. What exactly is that?
Oh God, this is gonna make me sound even more strange after I explain it. Sealand is the former military platform in the North Sea, and it is run as a principality by a family called Bates. To cut a long story short, I met Prince Michael Bates, and we had a few drinks. I asked him if Sealand’s a country, then why doesn’t it have its own national football team. He then asked me if I would like to be president, and I said yes. Then he said: “I’ve now formed the National Football Association, and you’re its president.” I’ve had interviews with foreign magazines where the journalist has picked up on this, and they’ve asked me in a very serious way if this was a full-time job, which is hilarious when you consider it basically was something that was signed-off on a beer nap.
John Hood is a Miami-based correspondent and columnist.
An Interview with Neil Forsyth
The Miami Herald
http://bit.ly/ggrMs2
By John Hood
Medium Nick Santini is everything you wouldn’t want in a man – and then some. Unkind and incorrigible, not to mention incompatible with anyone other than himself, he’s got guile as wide as the sky and an ego as fathomless as the deep blue sea. Despite all these lowly attributes however, the not-so-great Santini has a knack for attracting those who seek signs of a higher realm. In fact, he’s rather masterful at it. And it isn’t long before legions of the sort of folks Barnum (reportedly) said were born every minute succumb to his charms.
But no matter how many suckers there are in the world, even a bad man can’t make good on being a medium forever, especially if his manager turns out to be a thief. When Santini’s spirit scam falls out of favor and he’s roundly fleeced, the bad man is forced to become even worse.
Such is the deliciously malicious thrust of Neil Forsyth’s Let Them Come Through (Serpent’s Tail, $15.95), a fierce piece of fiction which tells the could-be-true tale of a table-turner who has the tables turned right back on him.
Forsyth, a Scottish author who appears Tuesday at Books & Books in Miami Beach, first struck gold with a story about infamous credit card fraudster Elliot Castro ( Other People’s Money); then struck platinum with the spam-spurred series of e-mail exchanges he put into play under the name Bob Servant ( Delete This at Your Peril). He’s on a first-name basis with malfeasance. He’s also extremely funny. And his portrayal of Nick Santini cuts about as close to the bone of a con man’s contention as you can get without risking a limb – or a lawsuit.
We caught up with the wordslinger before he set off for the States.
Q. Where does Nick Santini come from, and why should we care?
The character came from a trip to a theater in Edinburgh to watch a medium perform. I’d seen him on the TV and found him amusing, but watching the live show was incredible. The suspension of belief between him and the audience, the level of his talent in portraying this fantasy – it was fascinating. More than anything I thought, ‘What kind of life would a man have that he’d wind up doing that?’ And that’s when I started writing the book.
Q. Why did you decide to fictionalize him?
For one thing, the guy is famous. For another, he is famously litigious. And he has much deeper pockets than me.
Q. Is there a real-life counterpart to his manager Tony, too?
No, but I wanted the amoral nature of Santini’s profession to continue off-stage, and giving him a totally corrupt manager and companion was an easy way to do that.
Q. Why did it take so long for you to get around to fiction anyway?
I’m not sure. There’s no plan. But I’m halfway through my second novel, which will be out with Random House in early 2012, so I’d hope to be writing more novels around the other stuff.
Q. Word is this book’s being made into a movie – do you have details?
Actually, it’s being developed for TV, but it’s in the very initial stages. I think it’s got a decent chance. My two other books are also being developed – it’s a case of getting them on the slate at various places and then seeing what happens. I think Let Them Come Through will lend itself very well to television.
Q. Will you write yourself into the show?
Well, we’ve already developed Bob Servant for radio and Brian Cox, the Scotch actor, flew in from New York and played him for BBC Radio. I wrote the scripts for that. And we’re hoping that Brian will also be involved with anything on the TV side too.
Q. Speaking of books turned into movies, you’re pals with Irvine Welsh, who’s perhaps most famous for “Trainspotting.” How’d you guys connect?
Irvine’s been great. He’s not only a great guy, but also he’s a keen supporter of young British/Scottish writers. We met through my first book, Other People’s Money, which he was kind enough to endorse. And he’s supported my work greatly since then – mentioning it in magazine interviews and so on. Since the book’s been published, one of the most exciting things for me was being able to meet people like Irvine – I mean, having someone like that endorse your work is fantastic.
Q. Have you two hit the pubs lately?
We were hoping to get together over Christmas while he’s here (in Scotland), but I’ve gotta head to New York. The last time we raved was on a boat in London, and it was good fun. I think every man should have a night out with Irvine Welsh at some time in their life.
Q. I’d also like to ask you about being the current president of the National Football Association of the Principality of Sealand. What exactly is that?
Oh God, this is gonna make me sound even more strange after I explain it. Sealand is the former military platform in the North Sea, and it is run as a principality by a family called Bates. To cut a long story short, I met Prince Michael Bates, and we had a few drinks. I asked him if Sealand’s a country, then why doesn’t it have its own national football team. He then asked me if I would like to be president, and I said yes. Then he said: “I’ve now formed the National Football Association, and you’re its president.” I’ve had interviews with foreign magazines where the journalist has picked up on this, and they’ve asked me in a very serious way if this was a full-time job, which is hilarious when you consider it basically was something that was signed-off on a beer nap.
John Hood is a Miami-based correspondent and columnist.
November 22, 2010
Loved this. Gripping, believable and has the added depth that comes from the author's experience as a crime journalist. It seemed to slip under the radar a bit which was a shame - and it would make a great film.
April 5, 2015
I tried to like this but I couldn't. I couldn't even get beyond the first 10% of it.
January 25, 2017
Quite entertaining although I never really warmed to the central character.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews