What readers think of The Mark Inside, plus links to write your own review.

After having started this book 3 different times, I finally made it almost to the end and decided enough was enough. Storyline involves a variety con artists and swindlers. Expecting a “Sting-like novel, I found myself getting bogged down with what I though could have been a fascinating subject. I will say, however, that it does contain a great history of the city of Denver. With too much historical information and not enough storyline the flow of the novel stopped for this reader.

This book provides an enlightening overview of the history of confidence men and their plots and schemes to fleece people out of their savings. The author did a lot of research for this book and it shows through the explanations of the history of the con-game and the psychology of how it works which I found very interesting. Overall, this book is different, well paced, well written and I learned something. Good read.

What a fascinating book! I have led a rather sheltered life here in Ohio, and I had no idea "confidence" men would spend such time and effort to pull off a scam--and the psychology and insight that go into the whole thing!

Amy Reading has written an interesting history of con artists and swindles in the 1920s alongside the personal history of a Texan named J. Frank Norfleet who was the victim of a con. While the history of the con and swindlers can be a bit dry, Norfleet's story of revenge is interesting and it may be interesting to narrative nonfiction lovers.

I can't remember the last time I enjoyed a book this much. I found myself laughing at the exploits of Frank Norfleet. While Amy Reading leaves you wondering how much is factual how much is the fanciful wishing of Norfleet, I still found myself having a hard time putting the book down for any length of time.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is a history buff or just enjoys a good story. Don't let the fact that it is a work of nonfiction put you off, it reads like no nonfiction I've ever read.

I was very disappointed with this book. The topic of cons and con men to me is inherently fascinating, yet I found the book very difficult to get through. The author focused immediately, in minute detail, on someone I had never heard of, and then continued to make him the focus of most of the book without ever really making him interesting to me. She clearly had done a great deal of research, and clearly knew her topic very well, but just did not seem to know how to make the story flow in the way that good non-fiction should. The book didn't really get interesting until the last quarter when the focus switched to a major sting operation executed by law enforcers in the city of Denver. At that point the book turned into a page-turner, but it felt like a long slog to get to that part.

The “history” that this author covers in her book is like puff pastry. It looks good but there is nothing inside. The police authorities, who try to make you think they “just found and caught” the culprit, should have stopped these get rich quick artists eons ago.

Swindlers, con men, counterfeiters and scam artists still run the world and it seems no one can do much about it from the FBI on down. There is a lot of truth in the saying there’s a sucker born every minute. Congress seems unwilling to act – saying let the buyer beware.

I had hoped to learn something new in this book but, sadly, I didn’t.

I just could not get into this book... it is so convoluted with history about con men, how the sting came into play and on and on... I guess I wanted to know a bit more information about the characters, not dry facts I could look up in an encyclopedia or even better, use Wikipedia! I give a book 50 to hundred pages before I decide its not for me... this one I gave more... a real yawner... put me to sleep many nights... sorry...