Like most great capers, Confidence begins with a scrappy underdog down on his luck ... Dark and cutting humor ... Confidence is a propulsive, cheeky, eat-the-rich page-turner to satisfy the craving for a well-crafted caper.
Ezra is a clever narrator, brought to life by Frumkin in a knowing and well-paced first-person that gives Confidence the propulsive thrum of a tell-all.
Frumkin is superb at dissecting all manner of malfeasance and corruption ... In a world where well-heeled heels are arrested for cryptocurrency scams, squillionaires gleefully trash their own vanity projects and masters of the universe disgrace themselves over and over, Confidence’s arrival is beyond timely.
Gatsby for the 21st century, this book offers a satiric look at corporate-think, the desire for easy fixes, and the dissolution of the American Dream. Written with a dry, tongue-in-cheek wit, the novel also explores how the desire for love and connection can cause a kind of obliviousness.
The novel’s greatest strength isn’t its analysis of American-made frauds but as a love story, ending with a plot twist that’s at once witty and wrenching ... An earnest riff on evergreen themes of love, money, and betrayal.
Frumkin’s exuberant latest pulls off a queer take on the caper novel ... Frumkin’s sharp observations and clever plotting echo the Theranos scandal and the NXIVM cult, though some of the twists are a bit improbable. In the end, Frumkin advances the subversive notion that love might be the biggest con of all. For the reader, the deception is thoroughly enjoyable.
