The Grift

by Debra Ginsberg

What happens when a pseudo psychic suddenly gets the real gift?

Marina Marks has been on the grift as a psychic since she was a child, forced into the business by a junkie mother who was always desperate for her next fix—and willing to use her solemn dark-haired daughter to peddle an extra buck. As an adult, Marina has earned a handsome living preying on the dreams and fears of her clients. She doesn’t believe there is such a thing as psychic ability, but she does believe in intuition. Her gift is the ability to gain the trust of her clients and subtly raise her fees as they become more attached to her and her readings.

But when Marina moves her “intuitive counseling” business out of muggy, cloying Florida to the milder environs of southern California, her past follows her. As she takes on new clients—a trophy wife desperate to bear a child, a gay man involved with a closeted psychiatrist, and a philandering businessman who’s smitten with her—a former client resurfaces in an eerie way. Suddenly, Marina is in love for the first time, but it is a romance whose roots lie deep in her past and threaten her efforts to reinvent herself.

As Marina’s life gets more and more entangled with those of her clients, she makes a startling she suddenly has the actual ability to see the future. After predicting a murder exactly as it happens, she becomes the sole suspect. Now she’s the desperate one—desperate to clear her name and to discover the meaning behind her visions.

Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Book Club, Magical Realism, Literary Fiction, Fantasy, Supernatural

337 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Debra M. Ginsberg is a London born, American author. She is the author of three memoirs as well as two novels. Her first memoir Waiting: The True Confessions of a Waitress was published by HarperCollins Publishers in 2000, followed by Raising Blaze: A Mother and Son's Long, Strange Journey Into Autism, which chronicled her longtime struggle to get her son the education he was entitled to.

Find Debra on Facebook:
Twitter.com/DebraMGinsberg

Follow Debra on Twitter:
Facebook.com/DebraGinsbergWriter

Reviews

[Lena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Debra Ginsberg's tightly written suspense novel tells the story of a fraudulent psychic, her hopeful, yet needy clientele, and the collision of their lives in a disturbing turn of events that even she couldn't see coming.

At the novel's opening, Marina Marks has been working with retired old ladies in Florida when threats from her more voodoo-inclined competition encourage her to relocate to New Age-friendly Southern California. There, she establishes lucrative relationships with customers including a trophy wife desperate to give her husband the baby he wants, a gay man in love with a closeted doctor, and an incurable ladies' man more interested in Marina herself than the future she predicts for him.

The most interesting aspect of this novel for me by far was Ginsberg' laser-clear understanding of the phenomenon of cold reading and the psychology of those who seek out psychic advice. Marina is successful in her con because she doesn't just take from her clients, but understands what her clients genuinely need and gives that to them along with her vague insights. The detailed description of how she is able to appear so accurate in her readings is a valuable lesson for anyone who has ever been impressed by the seeming ability of a psychic to know our innermost secrets.

Marina's well-controlled act is upended by the arrival of a complicated, attractive new client and disturbing dreams and visions that appear to tell the future she never actually believed she could see. Though I don't believe it's actually possible to predict the future, I was intrigued by how Ginsberg chose have Marina develop psychic abilities that, while accurate in their predictions, were too vague and open to misinterpretation to be of much use before the events themselves occurred. They were, however, very effective in building the suspense that kept me so caught up in the story I read most of the book in one day.

[Shelah · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'd love to read a little bit about how book covers are designed, because I picked up The Grift on the basis of its cover (I like the font and the dotted border and the way the "r" is dropped down from the rest of the word) and its location on one of the tables at the front of the library. When I got home, I saw that it had 4 1/2 stars on Amazon, so I packed it in the bag I brought to the hospital, and it kept me occupied while Isaac and I sat around at PCMC.

Occupied, but not exactly entertained. The book started out promisingly, the story of a fortune teller who leaves Florida for California to start a new life. She becomes entwined in the lives of a few stock-character clients along the way, which isn't great, but still fine. And then she meets a man, falls in love, and goes absolutely CRAZY. Up to that point in her life, she'd been a sham fortune teller, more of an amateur psychologist than anything else, but after a personal tragedy she finds herself with a real clairvoyant gift, and it changes her life. And the book gets very weird. And not very good.

Unless you're better than I am at suspending disbelief, don't judge this book by its cover or its Amazon reviews and stay away.

[Yona · Rating 2 out of 5]

-Story took so long to build. It's basically all back story until past the halfway mark.

-That building was done with an over-reliance on flashback and summary, when present-time action would have been possible and BETTER.

-Some of those summaries happened twice, because it happened from multiple characters' perspectives. These added nothing for me--I already knew that had happened, thank you.

-I did appreciate how each character had his or her own distinct voice.

-That said, I didn't really care for any of them. There was no one I wanted to root for.

[Dina Roberts · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marina, the protagonist in this novel, is like Whoopi Goldberg's character in Ghost . She's a fake psychic...a con artist. Or so she thinks. She fakes it and makes money that way. Then later her real powers come to the surface. She sees dead people and she sees the secrets of the living.

I wanted to like this story, and I did to some degree. But I wish I liked it more.

I think it's biggest problem is it jumped around in time. I felt disoriented. In one scene, Marina meets a mysterious man who may or may not be a potential client. Then suddenly we jump forward and there's a romance there. Well, isn't one of the most exciting parts of a romance the time where the two parties are first discovering there's a mutual attraction? I think it was a mistake to skip over that.

Another problem I had with the novel is I found it hard to like Marina. First, it's hard to love a fake psychic. It's not that she's evil. She doesn't seem to get joy out of tricking people out of their money. She's not rubbing her hands together and laughing gleefully. But nor does she seem to feel a lot of guilt. It's kind of like she's just going through the motions.

I found some of the subplots a little more intriguing...these are Marina's clients. I liked the story about the woman married to a wealthy man who cares only about his wife providing him an heir. And I like the story about a gay man who's in a relationship with a man trying to not be gay.

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was in the mood for a psychological thriller when I saw The Grift, by Debra Ginsberg in the NEW Books section of my library. I decided to give it a try.

In this newly released book with a cleaver premise, the author mixes the supernatural along with some mystery.

Marina Marks is an emotionally damaged young woman who has worked as a psychic since she was a young child. As a child, she used her ability to help support her junkie mother, and now as an adult, to support herself. Initially Marina does not believe that psychic abilities even exist. Instead, she uses intuition and her keen sense of observation to trick her clients into thinking she is psychic. The reader is introduced to an interesting group of misfits/clients, each with their own set of issues. As the story develops you learn more about each of the clients.

About half way through the book, Marina's abilities become too real, and she starts receiving eerie visions in the form of dreams. At this point the story becomes more of a mystery, and, although I kept turning the pages to see how it all ends, I did start to lose interest. Marina, in my opinion, was just more interesting as a "grifter".

Rating - 3.5/5

[Alea · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not totally certain how I feel about this book. I liked it but at the same time I felt sort indifferent. I found the story so so serious that it almost became stressful. I would have liked some lighter elements or a bit of humor to counterbalance all the seriousness and all the character's flaws and drama.

Of all the characters and relationships I think I liked Marina and the mysterious Gideon's relationship the most. I would have loved to see that explored even more than it was. I'm very glad that Marina was the main character because she is who I enjoyed the most. It was really interesting to see her change over the course of the book. Besides her and Gideon, I didn't really care for any of the other characters. Cooper was ok, but even he got annoying after awhile.

I thought one really strong thing the book had was the alternating perspectives. It helped keep up the mystery of the story with all the perspectives layered on top of each other. I really like how all the elements of the story slowly came together piece by piece. I also liked learning a bit about psychics and tarot cards. I don't know much about them so it was an interesting subject to read about!

[Gail · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's only one letter difference between grift and gift. Marina learns that difference in a life changing events. Raised by her addicted mother on the streets, Marina learned to save herself from child molesters (her mother's boyfriends and drug dealers) by adopting the persona of a spooky fortune teller. Using tells and signals from others, she became adept at reading people and making a living. Even so, she has a code of ethics about how much money she will extract from people. Marina also keeps herself aloof from others, having learned early to distrust her emotions and her intuition.

She violates her code in order to escape from a bad situation in Florida and move to coastal California. There she makes her living giving psychic readings to regular customers, the rich, spoiled, and self-involved. Then she falls in love. Her intuitive gifts are awakened through a deep, unsettling event. She and some of her regulars are able to find themselves, love, and eventually peace.

[Lynne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good premise, not so good book. The interesting part was how a psychic conducts her business--how she examines people to get clues about them so she can know what to give them at their "reading." The uninteresting part was how unbelievable some of the plot was. The author skips from various character's point of view, then drops entire sections of time. The appearance (and subsequent death) of the boyfriend was really not plausible either. A man shows up and watches you for a day, then accosts you in the parking lot and you never ask him why he is there? You just end up in love with him, sleeping with him, and having him father your baby. But he dumps you and is killed at your office. Oh, and you suddenly discover that you really are psychic, you can see dead people and read people's thoughts. The whole plot got worse the more I read. And the resolution was too neat and tidy. Not recommended unless you are desperate.

[Cassandra · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting premise that was let down by a lukewarm, lightly drawn cast of characters. Have never known or cared less about a main character. The third quarter of the book had more spunk, but overall a boring tale. Was able to read this while taking oxycodone, so I recommend this for the addled or drug-induced reader. Also appropriate for the airplane. Nice cover art and typeface.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really liked it, but it lost me a few times. The story is as much about the people who seek out the psychic, as the psychic herself.

[Ella Cutter · Rating 5 out of 5]

picked this up randomly having never heard of it before and it’s become one of my fave reads of 2024

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grift (noun) - a group of methods for obtaining money falsely through the use of swindles, frauds, dishonest gambling, etc.

Ever since she was a child, this is what Marina Marks did. Her method : being a "psychic." She learned the most common methods, tarot and palm reading, and used them to make money. First, for her mother, to support her habits, then to support herself later on. Realistically, she doesn't have any psychic gift, just knowledge of the tarot, what the lines on the palm mean, and how to extract information from her clients. Body language, casual conversation, a piece of jewelry, all help her to seem like the real deal.

After saving enough money in Florida, she moves out to California, where people are more accepting of psychics, to start fresh, and to pursue her real goal - a nice nest egg to live off of. After doing a gig at a swanky party, she builds up a client base, each with his or her own story behind them. One is gay, and wants his partner to be more accepting of homosexuality, and to pay more attention to him. One is a married womanizer, but one of his latest conquests is getting too attached. Yet another is married to a man that wants nothing more than a child, even though she's not too fond of the idea.

As the story goes on, the past catches up to Marina, and coupled with some of her clients getting too attached, she starts having more problems than the expected. On one fateful day, the grift is no more, as her real gift suddenly blooms, and with it, all the pieces start falling into place as she learns to use her gift.

It's a good story, and it keeps you guessing. I honestly didn't expect some of the turns that came about in the story, although I kind of guessed, based on the prologue, that her natural psychic talent would come into play eventually. I thought it's a good book, and I hope other readers won't be disappointed with it.

[Carrie Kitzmiller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Last year, I read Debra Ginsberg’s memoir, About My Sisters. As a woman who also has three sisters, the memoir resonated with me, and has stuck with me since then. When asked to review Ms. Ginsberg’s latest novel, The Grift, I was happy to oblige.

The Grift is the story of Marina Marks, a woman working in Florida as a psychic. She doesn’t believe in psychic abilities, but she uses her keen observation skills and intuition about human relationships to tell her clients what they want to hear. She makes a pretty good living at it, even if she’s deceiving the people she’s helping about the nature of her observations.

When some competition and persecution from other psychics and gypsies force Marina to move from Florida to Southern California, she sets up a prosperous business and is well on her way to her goal of retiring in comfort before age 40. But then a mysterious man shows up who throws a wrinkle into her plans. Not only does she find herself immensely attracted to him, but she suddenly starts having premonitions and visions that she had never had before. Marina has to come to terms with her grift, her gift, and her future.

It took me a while to be drawn into this book. I enjoyed the eclectic group of characters that made up Marina’s clientele, but I wasn’t really compelled to keep reading until Gideon arrived. When he showed up, and along with him, the manifestation of Marina’s true psychic abilities, I was hooked and couldn’t stop reading. I stayed up until almost 1 am finishing it.

As the mystery unfolds, I was sure I knew who the culprit was, but Ms. Ginsberg managed to keep me guessing until the last possible minute. While the ending wasn’t fairytale happy, it ended with resolution for Marina’s story and hope for her future.

4 out of 5 stars.

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked Debra Ginsberg's first novel, Blind Submission, which is set in the book publishing world. In The Grift, she enters the fortune telling trade. You know: palm readings, tarot cards, psychic counselors, etc. in contemporary times.

Marina Marks, raised by a single mom strung out on drugs, was pushed into the psychic business by that very mother at a young age. It was a way to keep money coming in. By the time she is an adult and her mother has died, giving readings is the only skill Marina has. Though she does not believe in psychic abilities and knows full well it is a scam, she is good at what she does due to excellent powers of observation and an active imagination.

Since she is basically running a highly lucrative grift and because her clients have serious life issues, there is bound to be trouble. Marina's past comes back to haunt her, her present goes up in flames (literally), and her future looks grim. Just to complicate matters, she suddenly truly does have psychic powers. And yes, there is a lover involved.

The whole imaginative set-up is highly entertaining. While Ginsberg's writing and plotting are a bit shaky, she made me read as fast as I could to find out what was going to happen. She has a gimlet eye for the odd characters that make up daily life, especially in California, where both books are set.

I used to read every Judith Krantz and Jackie Collins (who by the way has a new one called Poor Little Bitch Girl) as they came out. Like those exciting reads, Ginsberg's books are a little trashy, somewhat improbable but they have strong female leads who do not trod the beaten path.

[Deanna Madden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although I shelved this as murder and women's fiction, it doesn't really fit into either of those categories, although there is a murder and it is about a woman. I picked up the novel after reading the premise on a book-a-day calendar. The plot revolves around a woman who makes her living as a psychic after having been raised by an addict mother who used her to raise money for drugs. Then falling in love and experiencing a traumatic loss awakens genuine psychic powers which she would prefer not to have. Her life is intertwined with those of her clients, and we get their points of view too. I thought Ginsberg was very good with characterization, and it was a dynamite premise which did not disappoint. I liked the disorienting change Marina experienced when her world turned upside down. The main weak point was Gideon, who seemed like a flimsy stereotype--tall, blond, good-looking, in a lumberjack shirt. When the author was so good at everybody else's characterization, how could she not give us the details about Gideon to make him come to life too? I also did not care for some of the jumping about in time, which seemed solely to withhold information. Aside from those quibbles, I liked this novel very much. Especially recommended for readers who liked the movie Ghost.

[Jean · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Grift kept my interest throughout. The characters are well developed and Ginsberg gets into their heads beautifully. She presents alternating perspectives which allows one to stay interested in the characters although most were seriously flawed.

Madeline, is a georgeous money grubber and her older husband, Andrew is mean with a great deal of anger. Max and Cooper are a gay couple, however Max wants to be heterosexual and Cooper is insanely in love with
him.

Eddie is a married womanizer who is in love with himself and Cassie is a manipulator who wants Eddie at all cost.

Rosa is a pleasant person who is unable to let her recently dead daughter "rest in peace".

Marina, was forced to become a seer of sorts from a very young age. She managed to do this by becoming exceptionally great at reading peoples actions but later in life she actually receives the gift. All of these characters wants Marina to help them in their plights.

The story is written to include mini-mysteries which are quickly ended so that they reader stays interested to the end.

[Nikki · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm glad the library had this on their "featured books" shelf, or I may not have heard about it. The Grift is about a fake psychic who becomes a real psychic, and it involves a set of complex connections and interactions between her and a set of clients she meets at a party.

The book is strong on character. You end up liking and disliking just about everyone, and I found myself caring about them all, which is really what makes or breaks a book for me.

I wish, though, that it had examined more thoroughly the change in mindset it took for Marina to go from a logical, if intuitive, thinker, to a real psychic, and what that did to her worldview. I know Ginsberg tried to do that; I'm just not convinced she did it as well as she could have.

I also think the book was weak when it came to the relationship between Marina and Gideon. Or maybe it was just weak on Gideon. In any case, I wasn't totally convinced by their romance, and I was left wanting more depth. I want to be devastated when a character is lost, but I wasn't in this case because he wasn't fully drawn.

[Trin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Starts out as an interesting book about a con woman, Marina, whose excellent skills at reading people make her a fantastic fake psychic. She sets up in a wealthy Southern California town, where she encounters a lot of rich people with assorted rich people problems, some of which may escalate...to MURDER! Dun dun dun.

Actually, all of that is quite fun, although even in its earliest parts, this novel does suffer from too many POV characters and a bit too much jumping around in time. Where it really runs off the rails, though, is when Marina starts having real visions. I am not opposed to this concept out of hand: in fact, I think the idea of a fake psychic becoming actually psychic is potentially awesome. (If the show Psych went in that direction, I would even consider trying to watch it again.) However, I really hated how it was handled here, and in regards to the ending, I was equally Not Fond. Overall, I think this book would have been better if it had taken itself much less seriously.

[Terri]

Really enjoyed this one! It was the cover that got me initially, and I'm glad I picked it up. Marina is making a living as an “intuitive counselor" (fake psychic). She doesn't believe in being psychic, but is very good at picking up tells and giving her clients what they want to hear. For about half the book, we get to know Marina and a few of her main clients, then the poop hits the fan, and people's lives begin to unravel. While it's not her fault, Marina's input was not helpful. She on the other hand has finally found love and has never been happier. UNTIL she finds out the truth about her boyfriend, and on one fateful day, develops a true psychic gift. The last third of the book deals with everything that goes on after that one day.

This description, and that on the Goodreads website, does not do the book justice at all. I could not put the book down. Even though she was taking people's money, I just really liked Marina and was rooting for her. Give this book a try for something different.

[Rtriptow · Rating 3 out of 5]

A NY Times review made this sound like a gripping mystery written in the Shirley Jackson style. The story is about a phony psychic who suddenly develops real clairvoyance and can't cope with it. Meanwhile, a murder takes place -- ooooh!

The Grift was pretty interesting, I read it through to the end, but there wasn't too much mystery to it. I knew where the plot was going as soon as all the major characters had been introduced. This is a problem I have with any kind of "whodunnit," so for me the biggest redeeming quality such a book could have would be to have unusual characters and to portray them in illuminating ways -- as Shirley Jackson does (because one knows where her plots are going, too, of course). Most of Ginsberg's characters are too shallowly drawn for me.

It was a diverting enough novel, and I did enjoy it. It's a book that can be read in one or two sittings. P robably on an airplane. Then give it away, 'cause you're not going to read it again.

[Kristi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marina has been shilling as a psychic ever since she was a small child and her drug addicted mother decided to make money off her daughter. Marina knew the tools of her trade and she knew people. She was really good at what she did, but she didn't know love. But when love strikes, so does REAL psychic ability and Marina is left reeling. All the skills she learned before are useless and her rich and powerful clientele get angry. Very angry. In fact, angry enough to kill. And now, Marina wants to find out who.

This was a fairly decent read. I enjoyed it somewhat, even if I felt that the murderer was pretty obvious. The author threw in some red-herrings to distract you, but I didn't think it was really anyone other than who actually did it. It was a well-written (VERY if you compare it to others in the genre) piece of paranormal mystery.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Often I choose a book by its cover. I saw The Grift and was immediately drawn to the cover. It seemed mysterious, gothic and unique. The first several chapters were just that and I blew threw them. The last half of the book read much like any chick lit book which was disappointing.

I did enjoy the author's style of writing. She was very detailed and because the story was mostly based in San Diego, I knew her details were dead on. My experience with psychics and tarot cards is non-existent but because the other details were so accurate, I was led to believe that her details about this alternative lifestyle were also very accurate.

The Grift was a fun and enjoyable, yet forgettable read. I will pick up another of Ginsberg's books, The Neighbor's are Watching, when I want another light and familiar read.

[Scilla · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn't sure I'd like this book in the beginning, but it was quite good - perhaps a 3.5. Marina, a psychic daughter of an unwed woman was working in Florida at the beginning of the book. A client gives her a ruby ring on a chain to protect her son. Soon after, Marina moves to California. When she thinks about perhaps returning the ring, the number has been dropped. Among Marina's clients are Madeleine, the trophy wife whose husband wants an heir and hates Marina's influence on his wife; a hairdresser, who is in love with a married man; the married man, Eddie, who loves his wife, but is a womanizer and has a "thing" about Marina; Cooper, a gay who keeps being dumped by his psychiatrist lover who doesn't want to be gay. Then Marina falls in love with Gideon and things start going wrong.

[Angelic Lovestrong · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this read and intend to read more of Ginsberg's writing. I really like that she has also written memoir. The story lagged a little in the middle for me, but it grabbed and kept my attention for the majority of the story and I cried a little in the end. Ginsberg does a wonderful job of weaving several character's stories into each other without losing the reader or chopping of the flow of the book. This book was about a psychic and I really enjoyed that - it wasn't a subject I'd read in fiction before. I didn't see the heroine so much as a heroine as just another woman moving through life's struggles in her own way. I could relate to that part of the character - we all have our specific challenges. Life is full of love and loss and the bittersweet and Ginsberg's recipe for combining those ingredients was delicious!

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marina Marks' junkie mom has the idea to have her daughter con people with psychic readings to keep her in drugs. A childhood complete with a tattoo of all the zodiac on her back, Marina continues to make her living as a "psychic" as an adult, never staying in one area very long. One last move, she thinks, from FL to CA and after a couple years, she hopes to "retire". Enter some very needy clients that Marina intuitively counsels, a love interest and the sudden realization that Marina really can see the future makes for an entertaining read. Our heroine feels a bit chaotic at the end, as she isn't able to control or turn off the voices and images in her head, eventually leading to the conclusion of what turns out to be a bit of a murder mystery.

[Cami · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars
It's been awhile since I read a real page turner and this was one. The main character, a psychic who runs a profitable grift, named Marina, was interesting and I was very interested to see the direction her life would take. Her story was very satisfying, she was by far the most moral character of the bunch...

However, I cannot recommend this book to others. A lot of sex (the kind that makes a gal like me squirm just skimming over it) and a lot of LOSERS! As a psychic, Marina attracts a lot of scummy, moral-free people. They all are quite dark and unpleasant and have abortion, adultery, alcoholism, and arson amongst their choices, and that's just the 'A's.

Good writing and definitely excellent character building. I've never disliked a group characters so much.

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

An unusual novel about a psychic, Marina, who half way through the story develops actual psychic abilities (or discovers that she has them) - to that point Marina wasn't an actual believer in psychic ability, so this development takes her by not-happy surprise. The story is intertwined with Marina and certain of her clients, and the book overall has a mixture of tones: old-fashioned gothic, humor, romance, mystery, a twinge of horror. Author Debra Ginsberg is a wonderfully talented writer. While this is a fiction book, coincidentally I read her first book, the non-fiction and autobiographical "Waiting" (about her life as a waitress), years ago and enjoyed that tremendously as well. I'm impressed that she handles fiction as deftly as non-fiction and plan to read her other books.

[Cindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I literally, and I do not use that word lightly, could not put this book down. The story grabbed me from the start and didn't let go until the very end. I discovered this book on my book a day calendar yesterday and was intrigued. I checked out the reviews on goodreads, which were okay, then headed straight to Amazon to download it to my kindle. The intertwining of the lives of the characters is at the same time simple and delicate and incredibly complex. I was expecting a good read, three stars or so; what I was not expecting was a story to grab me and not let go. I actually had no conscious thought about the rating; the stars popped up on the screen and I had touched five before I even realized it. I definitely recommend The Grift.

[jillian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a compelling mystery book, full of twists, turns, and cliches. The latter aside, I couldn't put this one down: the suspense was too good to let go. "Psychic" Marina lives her life grifting others, telling them what they want to hear, using the skills of perception she developed since her exploitative childhood. Forced into fortune telling by a drug addicted mother, Marina takes advantage where she can, and ends up in a trap of her own making, her life - and that of her lover - in grave danger. It is a cliche to have a grift turn into a real gift, but the plot twists in this book more than make up for that one central premise.

[Karin Bartimole · Rating 4 out of 5]

While Marina is told she "has the gift" of psychic ability as a child, she is led to believe that the messenger is just a nut case by her mother, who exploits her daughter to support her own lifestyle. Hardened and isolated Marina becomes a grifter/psychic, never believing in soothsaying or any aspect of psychic abilities, until she cannot deny the things she begins to "see" and "know". How she gets there, the denial system she has armed her self with, and why, are all fascinating. I enjoyed the journey of seeing her be constructed, deconstructed, and reconstructed - along with the clients she collects on the way.