Review of The Big Con

[Tulika Paul]

[Following is a volunteer review of "The Big Con" by Gini Graham Scott.]

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2 out of 5 stars

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The Big Con is an embodiment in book form of the common adage "this meeting could've been an email". It details a scam administered by persons whose real identities are not known, where the perpetrators dupe authors out of substantial sums of money by promising materials and connections to enable book-to-film adaptations by renowned movie studios.

As an endeavour to create awareness and thereby prevent more people from falling prey to this scam, the book is well-intentioned. It's just not very well written. It's also riddled with typographical errors. The scam is summarised time and time again, details of which are repeated ad nauseum. It's also a masterclass in overuse of metaphors, where imagery of a spider's web or fisherman's bait etc. is explained in a positively infantilistic manner.

Half the book is just synopses of other books whose authors were victims of the scam. We also get to see entire emails and letters the writer exchanged with various agencies and organisations, verbatim. She also excerpts large chunks of correspondence she had regarding the scam, interspersed with amateurish graphics. It makes for a disjointed reading experience.

It's not all bad though, as the book concludes with some helpful tips on what to look out for, to differentiate scam from genuine interest. Useful resources have also been provided on the process of reporting fraudulent activity and getting help or redressal.

While the fraud discussed in the book is indeed sad, overall, the book lacks narrative engagement. The reading experience is dull and repetitive. 2 out of 5, would not recommend.

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The Big Con
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