The Con Queen of Hollywood: The Hunt for an Evil Genius

by Scott C. Johnson, Sean Pratt (Narrator)

“This book is as engrossing as anything by Agatha Christie, as unsettling as a novel by Stephen King, and reported with a vigorous empathy that leaves Truman Capote in the dust. Scott Johnson’s courage, his relentless quest for the truth behind a set of brilliantly obscured cruelties, and his examination of the very fabric of psychopathy ultimately lead him to question how the appalling lies spat out by the Con Queen relate to the daily untruths required of us all. His narrative is further deepened by breathtakingly honest reportage about himself and his family, which led him to this radical investigation of a deformed mind. I cannot remember the last time I read anything with such breathless fascination.”—Andrew Solomon The spellbinding tale of an epic international manhunt for a psychopathic con artist who exploited the dreams of creators to steal dozens of identities and millions of dollars. Blending years of deep reporting with distinctive, powerful prose, Scott C. Johnson’s unique true crime narrative recounts the tale of the brilliantly cunning imposter who carved a path of financial and emotional destruction across the world. Gifted with a diabolical flair for impersonation, manipulation, and deception, the Con Queen used their skill with accents and deft psychological insight to sweep through the entertainment industry. Johnson traces the origins of this mastermind and follows the years-long investigation of a singularly determined private detective who helped deliver them to the FBI. Described by one victim as a “crazy, evil genius,” the Con Queen enacted one of the most elaborate scams ever to hit Hollywood—the perfect criminal, committing the perfect crime for our time.  But for what purpose? And with what motive?  Johnson’s unparalleled access to sources—including exclusive interviews with victims and never-before-heard recordings of the Con Queen—brought global attention to the scam, spurred law enforcement to act, and led Johnson himself to venture in search of the Con Queen. Journeying from Los Angeles to the United Kingdom to Jakarta, Johnson eventually came face-to-face with one of the most disturbing criminal minds in recent history, only to realize what chasing the Con Queen revealed about himself and his own troubled family history. 

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, Audiobook, Crime, Psychology, Biography, Journalism

9 pages, Audiobook

First published June 6, 2023

About the author

Scott C. Johnson was a Newsweek foreign correspondent for twelve years, often providing exclusive war reporting from Iraq, Afghanistan, and other fronts in the Middle East. He also served as Newsweek’s bureau chief in Mexico, Baghdad, and Africa; was part of the team that won the 2003 National Magazine Award for reportage of the Iraq War; and received a 2004 Overseas Press Club Honorable Mention for his reporting from Latin America. He is now a freelance journalist and writer living in Santa Monica, California.

Reviews

[Mallory · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had never heard of the Con Queen of Hollywood so I was intrigued to read about it. Identity theft is a very scary thing. I had a hard time getting into this book and I found myself putting it down for all kinds of distractions. The writing was confusing at times. There was way too much detail about some things and no where near enough about others. There were some weird allusions to the authors own experiences, but without the context to understand it would have been better without. It’s funny, there was an investigator who worked to uncover these crimes and I found myself wishing she had written the book as I felt like her story would be more compelling. I wonder if the author got mixed up a bit by the conman and his persuasive ramblings and that’s part of why the book felt so mixed up and hard to follow. I could see this making a great newspaper/magazine article and since it sounds like it started with that I may try to find those.

[Lydia Groezinger · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’ve never heard of the Con Queen, so naturally I was inclined to learn about this infamous being that conned much of Hollywood. Con Queen’s story alone is a baffling tale of deceit and manipulation. Unfortunately, I can’t say that Johnson’s writing does much for it.

From the beginning, I found myself annoyed with the structure of the novel. It’s set up as if it’s going to start from the beginning of the con and move forward but Johnson constantly gets ahead of himself, foreshadowing things to come when it doesn’t seem necessary or fit. As the book moves forward, there are some good sections about the Con Queen’s manipulations, but then it’ll jump to random subjects that are explained more than necessary.

Many of the conclusions drawn make no sense or aren’t as evident to the reader as Johnson must have thought. I’m not really sure what he was trying to say with his conclusion at the end of the book. A lot of his sentence structuring does the same, as it is more confusing than enlightening. A lot of them seem like long-winded ways to say something that are more to show off than to actually lead the reader anywhere.

Finally, the thing that feels the most off to me is Johnson’s insertion of his own issues. At first, it felt so unneeded but I wanted to give it a chance. I took in his story and his comparisons with interest. The issue is once you’re actually interested in it, you realize Johnson isn’t going to reveal anything. He’s vague about what happened to his mother and even more vague about what happened the summer he found out. I genuinely have no idea what Johnson was saying happened with his step-brother. He seems to elude to something while stepping completely around it. It honestly seems as if he took a page from Harvey’s book in side-stepping the truth. I honestly think Johnson inserted himself because there was no plot without some kind of conclusion. The Con Queen’s story isn’t finished yet so Johnson had to show that some part of his story came to a close because of his interactions with him. But, because Johnson is so vague and his conclusions confusing, this doesn’t really have that affect.

This book feels at its best when Johnson is in pursuit of finding the Con Queen, talking with him, and ultimately falling into his manipulations. Sadly, this is only for about 1/4 of the book at the end. The ending is even more disappointing given that the author has so little clarity about the answers he’s been given and that much of the Con Queens trial is still on going.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I could have just read the magazine article (which this originally was). I was more interested in the logistics of the scams in the first half than the (quasi) resolution in the second half.

[Michael Lynch · Rating 1 out of 5]

Somewhere along the line, Scott Johnson lost track of what book he was attempting to write. What began as a true crime exposé turned into a journey of self-discovery for the author. Journalists are not supposed to become part of the story, but Johnson becomes the story. I have a much better understanding of what happened with this case after I looked it up on the internet then I did from reading this book.

[Renata · Rating 3 out of 5]

this was a wild ride and a pretty quick read, I read the whole thing in the waiting room at the car shop (which granted I was there for like 4 hours with my problem child). I had not read the magazine article that this was expanded from and I think tbh you could just read the article, or wait for the Netflix documentary that the end of the book says is coming. But Johnson (and the private detective Nicoletta Kotsianas who was separately investigating this) did a lot of research and it's pretty compelling.

I think the insertion of Johnson's family history was a bit less compelling TBH but, whatever.

[Mjdrean · Rating 2 out of 5]

Choppy, draggy.

[Hannah Twine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I now have a new fear of scammers and con artists. I really liked the way this book was written, it was like I was listening to a true crime podcast

[Alicia Mesa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is more about the author than the Con Queen himself. I kept hoping it would get better or at least get back to Harvey, the con artist… it never did.

[Lee Thornton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I could not put this book down. It is a real page turner...not only as an intriguing and chilling story of one of the most brilliant con artists of the century who ruined many lives, but more profoundly as a fascinating exploration of the nature of evil. Some of the hallmarks of evil are revealed both in the author's pursuit of the Con Queen and in the revelations this pursuit brings to light in his personal life.

One of evil's hallmarks is its capacity to engender confusion through lies so consistent and twisted, so convoluted and distorted that victims are often rendered unable to think clearly, and left also to doubt their own sensibilities. From the beginning of the book, I experienced a sense of dissolution in my own mind as I was drawn into the psychological entanglements generated by the Con Queen. His or Her own limitless and monstrous layers of self-deception are projected onto the victim, drawing him or her into the complex web of lies that threatens to destroy them. In essence, evil as embodied by the Con Queen, wields its destruction by going to the root of what fosters the creation of Life itself: the soul or spirit of the individual.

Other hallmarks of evil are explored, such as malignant narcissism; the mastery of disguise and manipulation by donning masks of charm, kindness, vulnerability, and other higher states; or consignment to hell through an eternal flight from the light of self-exposure. Even the author, an investigative journalist turned detective, who is astute and keenly adept at detecting evil, has moments in which he himself is drawn into the lair of the perpetrator's web of deception. "Is the con queen evil or sick, needing help?" he wonders. And thus in the course of following the author’s dangerous pursuit, I found myself also drawn into the web of lies that sometimes threatened to turn my own reality upside down.

For the author’s persevering courage in confronting evil at his own risk, this book surpasses acclaim for simply an intriguing yarn, and in its search for truth, it deserves five stars.

[Brittany · Rating 2 out of 5]

I need to read a 4+ star non-fiction novel soon or I'm going to shrivel up😭

[Maggie Carr · Rating 4 out of 5]

True crime.

The spellbinding tale of an epic international manhunt for a psychopathic con artist who exploited the dreams of creators to steal dozens of identities and millions of dollars.

[Leslie Zemeckis]

Someone is impersonating powerful female Hollywood producers - setting up elaborate schemes and bilking thousands from screenwriters etc hoping to make it big

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This kind of felt like a fever dream - the journalist gets super involved with the criminal and makes the whole book feel like an unreliable narrator. Minus 1 star for the general unsettling feeling it left me with lol

[Selena · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to the audiobook version because I enjoy the narrator Sean Pratt.

The book itself was really a mixed bag for me. I thought that the parts having to do with the actual con were intriguing and I wanted more of that. But the author would meander to stuff about his personal life that might have been interesting on its own, but I didn’t feel was relevant to the story of the con.

[Katelyn Coleman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This piece of non fiction was expertly researched and reported. The inclusion of his family's story, while not obvious at first, speaks to the writer's obsession with shame, dirty secrets and the evil humans are capable of.

[Ann · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had heard or read snippets of this story, about a scammer who impersonated Hollywood power players in order to send photographers and script writers on wild-goose chases in Indonesia. There they were ordered to use certain drivers, guides and translators, paying for this out of their own pocket. What I had not been able to understand was: why such an elaborate charade for relatively small sums?

Well, this book clarified that point: the scammer (let's call him Gavin, one of this many names) did all of this out of pure sadistic pleasure. Getting people to jump on planes to Indonesia, Bali or Hong Kong apparently satisfied some nasty need to disrupt people's lives.

The book was written on 3 levels. It starts with stories about the fraud, and with the independent investigator who tracked all the aliases, instagram accounts, Facebook posts and other online activity of the scammer, analyzed the voice recordings and tried to get the FBI interested. This is classic true-crime type writing.

The second level is that of Gavin's life story: a privileged childhood in Indonesia, stays in various institutions to correct his antisocial behavior, several years in the USA, where he participated in debate contest and perfected his accents, and then his life in the UK, where his official persona was that of a foodie and restaurant connoisseur. Throughout these years, he honed his innate gift of mimicry, of being able to assume various voices and accents at will, and his persuasive powers. Ideal tools to prey on aspiring scriptwriters, photographers, travel writers and others for whom the lure of a potentially lucrative contract with a Hollywood producer was irresistible. This went on for half a decade, until he was arrested in the UK.

The third layer in the book is that of the author's own life, which I believe he has written about in a memoir. This is where I got bored. So the author's dad was a CIA spy, and his grandfather had abused his mother. So yes, perhaps the author grew up in a family of secrets and duplicity, and he felt the need to think deeply about topics such as the nature of deceit, our willingness to be believe what we want to hear. All worthy topics, no doubt, but these ruminations slowed down the pace of the book. The long section about the author traveling to Manchester, UK, to take a room in the same hotel where Gavin was staying, and stalking him until he could start a conversation, which then led, after the author's return to the USA, to months of phone conversations, didn't really interest me. Gavin's whole scam was built around his persuasive persona on the phone, his ability to spin tales. The quotes from the phone conversations were vague and could be interpreted in many ways, like a horoscope or the results of an online personality test. This part of the book read like filler to me.

In summary: the book was "just OK", and thus gets a two-star rating from me, because of the unsuccessful mix of personal memoir and true-crime investigation.

[Pegi Eyers · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love good investigative journalism, and polished this book off in a couple of days. Yes, Harvey (Hargobind Punjabi Tahilramani) is a "Con Queen" and Johnson correctly identifies him as a criminal mastermind, but also as a sad and pathetic figure. This is a great book that tracks the capture of this criminal, but there are some systemic societal issues and psychological aspects that the author does NOT cover. He does not cover white privilege, and has the audacity to equate his own early childhood years in India as a member of the colonial class, to Harvey's own experience as a member of the Indian diaspora in Indonesia.

Harvey was only one generation removed from his root culture in India, as his parents were forced to relocate to Jakarta in the chaos of the India/Pakistan partition (caused by British colonialism). Through globalization, Harvey was exposed to the American entertainment industry, and movies and the movie industry became his identity. Johnson does not talk about the anomie and displacement that happens to people when they are violently separated from their homelands and heritage. The author also normalizes globalization, not questioning why a young boy in Jakarta would have such easy access to American movies, and without a real culture or sense of belonging, take on the movie industry as his sole identity.

There is no doubt that Harvey's psychosis was real, and his criminal machinations were based on the need to "get revenge." As an outsider, he was blocked from the worlds of entertainment he so admired. The issue of "celebrity culture" being toxic to both the celebrity and the fan/follower/fanatic, also deserves far more coverage. Johnson does not delve into these aspects of Harvey's psychology enough, nor does he talk about the effects of class hierarchy, homophobia and racism that Harvey certainly experienced. Overall, this book covers some extremely shocking events, and the reader is still left with unanswered questions. Harvey's need to con people remains, in many aspects, a mystery.

His rip-offs and con jobs ruined people's lives all over the world, but perhaps his untreated long-standing psychosis was rooted in a sense of non-belonging. Harvey may have been a misunderstood genius, and instead of using his prodigious imagination and talent for creative projects, was blocked by the hierarchy of class and race so common in our techno-capitalist society. He is quite possibly one of the most talented voice artists and mimics the world has ever known.

One last fascinating point, is how during the #MeToo movement, Harvey targeted the top women executives in the movie industry in Hollywood with his scams, in retaliation to what was happening to his hero Harvey Weinstein. SO BIZARRE.

[Michelle Skelton · Rating 3 out of 5]

For over a year, a cunning con artist impersonated powerful women in the entertainment industry. Using deception and intimidation, the imposter lured victims with promises of work in Indonesia, convincing them to hand over small amounts of money for expenses.

This "Con Queen" scheme collectively stole hundreds of thousands of dollars. The scammer changed tactics after being exposed, leading to investigations by K2 Intelligence and the FBI. The story has also been covered in documentaries, podcasts, and this book, "The Con Queen of Hollywood" based on the Hollywood Reporter article.

So why is the book so dull?

Don't get me wrong, I was HERE for it. I have no problem with the minutia of complex crimes, that can be a fun part of the puzzle.

I really appreciated the contextualized background of key elements of the crime, the phone technology, the science of impersonation, the psychology of the alleged perpetrator.

Unfortunately, it just goes on, & on, & on.

I was initially excited about the book, but I found it to be quite drawn out. It gets sidetracked with what I felt were unrelated stories, like the author's family history. This journalism style sometimes really works. It just didn't resonate for me.

"Get to the story!"

It's clear that the author put a lot of effort into creating a comprehensive picture of the victims' involvement, respecting their experiences and explaining how and why they were deceived.

However, I couldn't help but wish the book would get to the point more quickly. It's a complex story with many Hollywood players, and while some readers might appreciate the in-depth exploration, I felt it could have been more engaging as a podcast or a shorter series. The book's length somewhat diminished the drama of the crime for me.

[Russell Sanders · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have read the morning newspaper for most of my life. Although I can read a novel that is hundreds of pages long, I find that a newspaper story that is more than a couple of columns rarely holds my attention to the end. I will read the first paragraphs and then skim the rest. Scott C. Johnson’s The Con Queen of Hollywood is a piece of reporting closely akin to those long newspaper stories. I wanted to read the book, but I found it simply was not holding my attention. I did finish it, but mostly because it was a gift, and I felt like I would be dishonoring the giver if I didn’t read to the end. Johnson’s tale—from the title—seems to be a scandalous story involving, perhaps, movie stars. What it is, however, is a story about a con man who impersonates, among others, Hollywood producers to scam is victims out of their money. None of the story takes place in Hollywood. Most of the action is in Indonesia, with the scammer living in the United Kingdom. The author—who must be wealthy himself because he travels to both England and Indonesia to pursue the scam artist—is relentless in his pursuit. He mostly, it seems, want to understand why this con artist is the way he is. I lost interest somewhere around the middle of this pursuit. And, when the author—in the last ten pages—tries to draw parallels between this guy and himself, I truly didn’t care. The book is an interesting story, and the con man has a complex personality, but ultimately, I was extremely glad when the book ended. That being said, others might follow the story and truly find it compelling. Alas, I didn’t.

[Teresa Brock · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hargobind Tahilramani was able to cause at least 500 victims to lose around $2 million over the course of his (yes I said it – his) run. While long believed to be a female, that was in fact wrong. Tahilramani was able to impersonate both male and female Hollywood executives in order to take advantage of makeup artists, stunt actors and members of private security details. There is an Apple TV docu-series based on this novel by Scott Johnson that is out now.
Scott Johnson didn’t just blog about this. He spent years uncovering this scandal. Even from the first page of the novel, you know that this investigative reporter went above and beyond to detail everything from weather and climate in areas that he was writing about to detailed conversations.
Tahilramani didn’t just stop when one scam blew up. He continued on. Johnson’s extensive research and travel and hard work pays off when he gets to interview Hargobind after a decade has passed during which he was running this operation.
For those of you who like books by Gregg Olsen, David Gran and Katheryn Miles this is for you. True crime podcast junkies – yep – for you. I love it when a nonfiction book reads like fiction and tells the facts. I find it mind blowing the amount of time and effort that goes into something like this.

[Ronald Koltnow · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is actually a 3 1/2 rating. Some years ago, people on the lower rungs of the industry in Hollywood started getting calls from powerful women producers. They wanted the writers/photographers/etc. to get involved in a project in Jakarta, in Indonesia. These poor saps wanted to believe that this was their big break. The calls actually came from a person Scott C. Johnson named "The Con Queen." The Con Queen impersonated Amy Pascal (producer of the new Spider-Man movie), Rupert Murdoch's ex, and a variety of others. Nicole, an investigator with a prominent East Coast firm, started digging, and found the truth about the Con Queen. Eventually, Johnson wrote an article about the Con Queen and dedicated his career to tracking the criminal down. This is a fascinating study of a real life, but non-violent, Hannibal Lecter, a person who can get inside peoples heads and manipulate them coldly. Johnson eventually finds the psycho's lair. From there, the book goes downhill. It gets a tad repetitive and Johnson brings his own family history of abuse into the narrative. Johnson's family history may influence his knowledge of psychos, but it is frankly none of our business. He should have kept his focus on the Con Queen.

[Lydia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Synopsis:
Blending years of deep reporting with distinctive, powerful prose, Scott C. Johnson’s unique true crime narrative recounts the tale of the brilliantly cunning imposter who carved a path of financial and emotional destruction across the world. Gifted with a diabolical flair for impersonation, manipulation, and deception, the Con Queen used their skill with accents and deft psychological insight to sweep through the entertainment industry. Johnson traces the origins of this mastermind and follows the years-long investigation of a singularly determined private detective who helped deliver them to the FBI. Described by one victim as a “crazy, evil genius,” the Con Queen enacted one of the most elaborate scams ever to hit Hollywood—the perfect criminal, committing the perfect crime for our time.

But for what purpose? And with what motive?

Thoughts:
Scott Johnston's non-fiction book will probably be the best true crime story I will read this year. It's the story of an incredible scammer, a crazy, evil genius, as described by one victim. The story is as riveting as any fiction story I've read. Johnston created a masterpiece.

[Jeanette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Until the last 40 or so pages it was close to a 5. Fully 4.5 stars in the incredible complexity of having to review and analysis the title character. And the tech skill of chase too.

This is written by two seekers beyond the prime nasty. Nicole had the better voice.

I could go eons long for the psych slants alone. If you are schooled and in depth for that field.-this one will be a read to chew. Do you believe some are merely sick or just from the get go pure evil?

Indonesia also stars. Its literary legacy at points, did make me groggy. Too much copy about himself and his family in the last sections by Scott. He needed filler? Although such mind games do have pondering points. What doesn't kill people but merely destroys their core?

OMG, read this and be shocked. I learned tons about the study of voice and sound in speech imitation or mimic skill. This is a mimic from hell tale set on every continent but one.

[alan zarembo · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Con Queen is one of the most memorable characters I've encountered in non-fiction -- or in fiction, for that matter -- in a long time. I don't want to say too much about the plot, because the surprises in this book are some of its biggest rewards. Ultimately it is a study of the nature of deception with the seductive lure of Hollywood as the backdrop, and Scott Johnson is masterful as both a detective and a story-teller. I know there is some debate on this forum about the ways that he diverts from the central storyline, but I have to say that I appreciated those detours. In particular, his reflections on his own methods in getting the story reminded me of the assertion by Janet Malcolm that journalism itself is fundamentally an act of deception. This book easily clears my two biggest hurdles for great non-fiction: It's a gripping yarn, and it makes you think about some very big issues in new ways.

[Avid Reader and Geek Girl · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read this book if you're in the mood for something: dark, emotional, informative, & slow-paced

Book Rating: 2.5 stars
While this is an interesting story. The focus was entirely too much on the Con Queen and the author, and not enough on the victims. You get almost an entire biography of the Con Queen, and not nearly enough about how this scam affected the futures of the victims.
I have listened to a podcast on the subject that did a better job of telling an engaging story and was more concise on the subject.
Overall, an okay book, but also a bit too slow-paced.

Narrator Rating: 4.0 stars
The narrator was the best part of the book, to be honest.

Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia

Moderate: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Child abuse, Sexual assault, and Suicide

[Keith Cameron · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good friend "strongly" recommended this book, knowing that I'm interested in how lives intertwine and frequently resemble, for all of us, dark recesses of failure and prominent examples of success. In this case it involved an extremely talented and psychotically troubled con artist, who deceived dozens of otherwise rational and discerning people. We can find ourselves in all of the characters the author, whose writing talents are obvious throughout the book, describes in detail. This is the account of the search for a criminal, that becomes, the more we learn about him, the search for an understanding of the human condition. It is first rate, and I'm extremely grateful to the friend who recommended it.

[Gary Sassaman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the premise of this true crime book to be fascinating. Someone was personating high-level Hollywood talent, like Spider-Man movie producer Amy Pascal, sending people around the world and bilking them out of their—and their family’s—savings with promises of high-end show biz jobs. But the book falls apart and gets really tedious when it concentrates on the “villain,” and his backstory and examines his psychological reasons and history to try and explain why he does what he does. The author also inserts himself too much into the story; I felt the book was at its best when it dealt with the person investigating the crimes for a private firm. I eventually finished it, but it was a bit of a slog at times.

[Sherry Cohen · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Con Queen of Hollywood: The Hunt for an Evil Genius was a tease in the beginning, and then a let down after that. The story, about the amazing ways one person conned so many people in the film industry or who wanted to be in the film industry, was interrupted by the author's own personal family history. That part was totally irrelevant to the story about Harvey In addition, there is a lot about another investigator's attempt to find the culprit. It is possible to have multiple stories in a book about one subject, and to do it right, as Erik Larson did in The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness, but Johnson delivered a sloppy manuscript that was poorly edited. I'd love to read a book about this and other cases by the other investigator.

[Katie Bee · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think this story probably worked much better as a longform article than it does as a book (I haven't read the original article). The pacing, structure, and timeline of the book is all over the place, and the author gets very enmeshed in the story and it becomes a sort of memoir.

The kernel of the story - the actual Con Queen investigation, particularly by Nicole - makes for quick, shocking reading when it keeps its focus. The web of scams Harvey weaves is mammoth in its scope and breathtaking in its skill and adaptability. The pain and fear felt by Harvey's victims is very sad, and I hope they have found healing and that the investigation (and Harvey's arrest, although his case is far from over) has brought them some closure.

Good story with flawed execution.

[Connie Bischoff · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I started reading the book, it made for a great story... and then I found out that it really happened. As I live in Miami, I had not heard the gossip from California. The Con Queen of Hollywood: Hunt For An Evil Genius is amazing. This tale of a Super Scam damages many lives. When I found out that it was a true story, I wanted to go back and read it even more closely. To make it more of a horror story, Scott Johnson reveals that the Real Scammer is a real mess. He is a man of many voices. I cannot tell you more about him or it might ruin the book. If you enjoy mysteries, you will love this TRUE Mystery.