Contrary to popular belief, I DO take a long time reading some books (thank you, automatic library renewals). This one I’ve had checked out for two months. *GASP* Typically I’m not a huge non-fiction fan. I have to be really interested in the subject to get through non-fiction stories, but this book about a con man was just so intriguing.
In 1978, Christian Gerhartsreiter came to the US on a student visa and never left. He changed his name and moved from Boston to California to New York to New Hampshire to Boston. After changing his name multiple times, he ended up inventing Clark Rockefeller, a distant relative of John D. Rockefeller, and he used his famous name to schmooze people. From 1978 until 2008, he flitted around conning people with his charm until his true identity came out when his wife was getting a divorce.
In a time before smart phones and instant access Internet, it is just fascinating to see how a person could slip into the US undetected with no job, no social security card, no real identification, and make such a life for themselves. He was married twice—once for a green card and once for prestige and money—and endeared himself to many people, from old ladies in San Mariano, California, to upper crust financiers in New York City.
Not only is he a con man, but when he’s caught, he is also charged with murdering the son of a woman he was conning in California. The unsolved disappearance of Jon and Linda Sohus was not considered murder until years later, but each time the police tried to track down “Christopher Chichester” they came up empty handed. It just added another element of suspense to this already fantastical story.
The one thing that bothered me about the writing style of this book was it was written in first person point of view as the author is researching the mysterious Gerhartsreiter. Sometimes this was confusing because it swapped from “present day” (meaning 2011, when the book was written) to previous years as the author meandered through the con man’s paper trail.
It was a fascinating book, but one that may not interest everyone.
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