Handsome Devil

By: Jeff Maysh

Narrated by: Graham Vick

Length: 2 hrs and 19 mins

Publisher's summary

For fans of Catch Me if You Can and The Sting, Handsome Devil is the dazzling true story of Count Victor Lustig, history's most daring - and flamboyant - con man.

In Paris he sold the Eiffel Tower to scrap metal dealers, not once - but twice. His confidence games and sleight-of-hand scams relieved the filthy rich of their cash during America's depraved Jazz era. He evaded the law like a figure from fiction, slipping into disguise, leaping from jail cell windows, and leaving sneering letters for his enemies at the Secret Service. In Handsome Devil, acclaimed journalist Jeff Maysh brings to life one of the 20th century's most unforgettable public enemies, "Count" Victor Lustig, a dashing criminal mastermind and counterfeiter whose fake banknotes threatened to topple America's economy. Written in staggering detail and culminating in a desperate manhunt led by FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, Handsome Devil reveals the real man behind the myth: a genius who applied his talents to crime, and who kept a loving wife and daughter in the dark for most of his storied career. Set during America's original financial "bubble", Lustig's tale, from petty thief on the streets of Europe, to the most wanted man in the world, is the ultimate parable of American greed.

Jeff Maysh investigates outrageous criminal plots and urban legends. His deeply immersive stories have appeared in publications including the Atlantic, Playboy, and Cosmopolitan. His story about the rise and fall of the "Bombshell Bandit" for the BBC was named the best crime story of 2015 by Longform.org. He is British, and lives in Los Angeles.

©2016 Jeff Maysh (P)2017 Audible, Inc.

Very interesting

This man was something else, brilliant, some of his cons were amazing, and others just normal. I would have to say he was the best con man I have heard off. Some of the cons where just amazing, I would never have thought anyone could pull them off but he did with no trouble. I thought the author did a nice job laying out the story, at times he did lose my attention but was able to bring me back.

I thought the narrator did a great job, loved the character voices but at times I did get confused with who was talking. There are no repeating of words, no volume changes and no background noises. It is a very clear audio. The narrator has a pleasant voice and is easy to listen to.

I thought this was a very interesting story and enjoyed the short listen.

Most interesting story about someone of whom I knew nothing

If you are a fan of "catch me if you can" or "the Sting" you will very much enjoy this presentation of a man whose life of deveption may well have inspired the protagonists in these other works. The presentation is enjoyable. Whatever the equivalent is of "not putting a book down" this is the story that achieves that level of maintenance of rapt attention.

Very interesting

Wish the book was longer, went more in-depth. its pretty much a Joe Friday story.

Great

Enjoyed thoroughly. A bit of history I knew nothing about. Would love to read more by this author.