X is an identity thief extraordinaire who steals the identity of the worst possible person! He soon becomes a fugitive, hunted by every intelligence agency in the world. The international adventures of this sardonic and amoral anti-hero combine the irony of The Third Man with the fast-paced thrills of The Bourne Identity.
To survive, X must use his talent for deceit and his chameleon-like ability to adopt one persona after another, as his predicament becomes steadily more harrowing and the stakes mount.
A former writer for the satirical tabloid The Weekly World News, C. Michael Forsyth peppers The Identity Thief with sly humor and delicious twists. His acclaimed novel Hour of the Beast was hailed by Horror Fiction Review as a “fast-paced, rip-snorting, action-packed, sexy college romp.” Critics called his epic romantic adventure The Blood of Titans “an engrossing and well-crafted tale.”
C. Michael Forsyth's 2011 first novel Hour of the Beast was hailed by Horror Fiction Review as a “fast-paced, rip-snorting, action-packed, sexy college romp.” He is also the author of The Blood of Titans and The Identity Thief.
Forsyth is a Yale graduate with an MFA from NYU. For 10 year he was senior writer for Weekly World News, the outrageous satirical tabloid. Those stories can be found in a collection titled Batboy Lives, from Sterling Publishing. His first children’s book Brothers was published by the Greenville Family Partnership in August.
Forsyth taught film and journalism at Coker College in Hartsville, SC. He currently resides in Greenville, SC. His blog, featuring movie reviews and weird news, http://freedomshammer.wordpress.com, is visited by 300 to 500 fans daily.
The Identity Thief features an oddly likeable antihero—X an identity thief looking for a big score. If you take this character outside of the world of fiction, he would be a despicable person. Someone who assumes the identity of someone else and bilks them of their money. X does have a certain Robin Hood quality about him, looking for those who deserve it, in his mind. He gets in well over his head when he tries to take on the identity of a Middle Eastern playboy who turns out to be a terrorist. X then becomes a pawn of a shadow government agency who wants to use his skills to continue assuming the role of the terrorist he’s playing and to steal the funds of a major terrorist threat.
As I mentioned earlier, X is a fun and enjoyable character. He certainly has his warts, but he has enough personality to get you to root for him. Nothing comes easily for him and he gets himself into really difficult predicaments that he has to use his cunning and ingenuity to get himself out of. It was fun to see him dig himself out of one hole after another. My only real complaint was that there were some spots that stretched believability. I listened to the audio version of the book. The author narrates the book, and gives a top notch performance that enhanced my enjoyment of this novel. This is an excellent book that I highly recommend reading.
I'm not sure how Forsyth did it, but he has managed to come up with an action-packed thriller that's absolutely hilarious. This is one of the most creative stories I've read in a long time.
There are so many twists and turns in this story that it's difficult to say much at all about it without spoiling it, but I'll try. An identity thief greedily steals the identity of someone with a LOT of money with the intent of stealing some of said money and winds up in a really bad spot when the "mark" he is impersonating turns out to be a bad dude to be. He then spends the rest of the book trying to get himself out of the mess he's gotten himself into.
I'm not sure what else to say without ruining it. You should read it. There are plenty of details in this story that just aren't believable, but it's quite an entertaining read.
The only problem I have personally with this book is that there are some sections that I don't consider appropriate for my kids to read. Too bad, I think they would really like this story otherwise. I almost gave it four stars instead of five because of that, but I enjoyed the rest so much that I just couldn't. Beware of some sexually explicit material. Otherwise a really great book, in my opinion.
I was a first reads winner for this book. I enjoyed the book; it was fast paced with tons of twists, only one of which I really saw coming. Some of the things they talk about are not realistic, but it was a well thought out story and worth the read if you like this genre. Basically, an identity thief whose karma catches up to him, and causes him to get himself out of a mess.
There were some explicit sections that some people who are sensitive to that kind of thing would dislike.
can't finish this one. struggling with the torture and rape and foul language. I tried twice but just can't stomach the content of the book. it is an I yersting story, we'll written and researched. just not my cup of tea.
A fun story of a con man who steals the identity of a Saudi national and then becomes hunted by intelligence services when it comes to light that Saudi is an Islamic Terrorist. A fast paced novel with many satirical elements
A fun story of a con man who steals the identity of a Saudi national and then becomes hunted by intelligence services when it comes to light that Saudi is an Islamic Terrorist. A fast paced novel with many satirical elements.
The identity thief was a fun ride. It was a little over the top. The narcissistic protagonist weaves the web that is fascinating fantasy with glimpses of true humanity.
For someone that was subject to credit card fraud within the last week, this was never-the-less a fun read. The premise of the story was interesting and I enjoyed character "X" immensely. I have not read this author before, but will seek him out in the future.
Except for the crude humor and some adult content, the book is really great. A smashing read, pacing and humor topnotch! I'd recommend it to anyone who is looking for light reading with easy prose and lot of funny situations and suitable jokes.