Confident Women

 Confident Women: Swindlers, Grifters, and Shapeshifters of the Feminine Persuasion by Tori Telfer, 352 pages.

Tori Telfer follows the history of female cons and grifters from the 18th century to present. The book is roughly sorted by the general types of scams the women pulled off, and it gives the overall impression of a very thorough treatment of the topic. Although mostly centered in America, Telfer also takes the occasional field trip to other parts of the world, furthering this impression of a broad view. 

In addition to relating the facts of the case and the specifics of the stories that these women told, Telfer spends a lot of time considering why we, societally, are so fascinated by grifters. Their feats of audacity made many of these women media sensations in their own times, and the allure does not seem to have faded. I listened to the audiobook, which really had the feeling of being told outrageous stories. I think this, more than anything else, really made the newspaper readers ravenous for more details very relatable to me. This is a light, fascinating nonfiction work. I would definitely recommend it to people who like reading about crimes that lean towards the spectacular, emphasis on the spectacle. 

Dance with the Devil

Dance with the Devil (Mercenary Librarians #3) by Kit Rocha (2022) 352 pages

I continued to enjoy this series. It picks up immediately after the events of the second book, and a relatively short span of time has past in total in all three books. The TechCorps security memos and such, which are inserted between chapters, are contemporary, so we are past the flashback scientific observation entries from the training days of various members of the team. Dani and Rafe now get to be the center of attention. Their relationship is developed. Their skills are needed especially for the key mission. Dani's superspeed and inability to feel pain as a security expert and Rafe's supersoldier intelligence officer experience make for an entertaining and tense grifter scenario amongst the rich on The Hill. It was teased at the end of the previous book that we would meet Rafe's family and we do. The team of reliable people building a community in the oppressed Five-Points neighborhood of Atlanta continues to grow. The found family continues to care for each other. Despite the gap between the rich and poor as well as the tech and medical dystopia setting, the main characters always find hope in each other. This third part perhaps has more sexiness and more pulse pounding action. There are still chapters from the point of view of each of the main team members, but they are short. This one wrapped up a lot of the story threads from the previous two books. However, there are still characters from the widening circle of Five-Points residents that have not had their chance at the center of a story, and we get hints of a future threat from the Franklin Center for Genetic Research that will lead to further adventures.