"Scambait" by Ryan R. Campbell is a surpsing and funny story that draws the audience into a surprisingly fun journey on online escapades. Scambaited by someone who claims to be his father, the book serves not only as an entertaining read but also as a reflection of father, son relationships.

I sometimes choose to pick up a book by an author I have not heard of, with a topic that I do not usually encounter, and have fun with it. This was one such case.
Scambait is a very interesting take on a topic that has reared its head multiple times in the last few years (more than in previous years, to my knowledge). Our lead protagonist improves his daily job by spending time talking to phishers who send out random emails. He then gets details from them and reports their accounts to the banks. This is not a spoiler because it is pretty much in the first few pages of the book. My parents had a near miss with such fraudsters, who sent a code via WhatsApp with minimal information, asking to scan it to proceed with a digital transaction. My father asked one too many questions, and the man vanished and did not respond to his calls again. There are so many ways even the most digitally aware person can be taken for a ride, and this book covers a lot of them.
You cannot but feel for Eric Amundsen as he lives his almost lonely life, taking care of his grandmother's rescue dog. Into the mix, a blast from the past makes contact and throws his routine into chaos. He misses a step or two, and then things cascade into an actual adventure where his very life may be in danger.
The writing is simple and to the point, just emotional enough to make Eric feel like a real person who is out of his depth after a point and clearly in need of a break.
I highly recommend this to readers who want to try a different story with a small cast of people who all contribute significantly to the chaos in the narrative.
I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.

Eric is a foreign liaison for a bank to South America, but he spends most of his days responding to scammers that contact him through his email one day while going through his spam he sees an email from someone claiming to be his dad. Eric however thinks his father is dead but he can’t seem to delete the email and when he responds and eventually meet him it will change the whole course of that works life. I only did a brief summary for the book cost so much of what happens isn’t stated in the book summary and it made for much better reading. Let me just say this book is funny and I mean hilariously funny it’s a reference on so many levels and he even has a dog named Boulder. Who doesn’t love a book with the main character has a pet dog. I love this book I love the admiration he had for his grandma I just love the book I don’t know what more I could say except if you like funny books with great plots then you definitely need to read scam bait. Eric cannot stand a scammer and not just the virtual ones. If he feels he is being scammed he puts them on his list and although the List is long so is Eric’s memory. He wants to make them pay especially after what they did to his beloved grandma. I loved this book and highly recommend it. I received it from NetGalley and the publisher but I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review. All opinions are definitely my own.

Thanks to BooksGoSocial and NetGalley for the eARC of this International Book Award Finalist selection!

Main character Eric is down on his luck in this humorous tale. I wanted more of the details of his scam baiting from the beginning of the book. The more and more I read the more I became Eric’s cheerleader. I loved the boundary-boss Adriana and her conversational hilarity.

I am looking forward to picking up the author's other works!

I had to work to finish this book. Overall, it was an enjoyable read that equaled less than the sum of its parts. The two main characters, Eric and Adriana, are well rounded and fleshed out. Unfortunately, the rest of the characters are not treated so kindly in their development. The plot flows fairly well and does come to a logical conclusion. While reading this book, I found myself caring more about Adriana and Boulder the dog than I did Eric or his ongoing dilemmas. I recommend getting a copy from the library and seeing how it works for you.

A fun, light read. It also has a interesting plot that kept me engaged. I hope the author continues to write. Recommended.

I really appreciate the free review copy for review!!

I didn’t like this book. The tones of the characters didn’t match, Adriana was a caricature of a neurosivergent person, and the plot was over all confusing.

I'd give this book a 3.5 rounded down to 3 because really...I wasn't left feeling much at the end. It wasn't satisfying enough for me, honestly, especially how much build up there was about revenge and justice. I will admit, the MC, Eric, did grow on me, just because of how he handled how much shit came his way. Adriana also grew on me, and I'd liked to have seen a bit more of her. I nearly gave up with this book at the start and while I persevered, I can't say it was exactly to my taste.

Eric spends most of his time wasting the time of email scammers and is suddenly contacted by his supposedly long-dead father. Things start going wrong for him everywhere, his job, his dog, his car, and he has to turn to his father for help. This was good, a little chaotic. 3.5 stars rounded to 4

“It’s rare to get a call from the dead – an email rarer still”. Eric Amundsen believes that his father died many years ago when he was young and that he was himself in some way responsible. Now, since the death of his grandmother several months ago, Eric had devoted all his time, to trying to waste the time and resources and generally obstruct scammers like the ones who scammed his grandmother out of all her money i.e., to scam bait them. Unfortunately, this means that he was not doing the work he was being paid for. When he receives am e-mail which claims to be from his father, he is suspicious but curious enough to want to know more. While the start of the story immediately grabbed my attention the next few chapters were almost stressful as we see Eric’s life fall apart as his scam baiting starts to have serious consequences on his life. As Eric tries to unravel the mystery of his father and to rescue the dog that he inherited from his grandmother and which has now been kidnapped, he meets pet shop worker Adriana and soon they are working together to understand events impacting both their lives. The interactions between Adriana and Eric are great and there are some very funny moments in this story. It is an exciting story with many twists and turns, and I found myself really rooting for Eric and Adriana to triumph. This was a gripping and enjoyable read.

Scambait
by Ryan R. Campbell

Thanks to BooksGoSocial and NetGalley for the eARC.
A humorous book that will have you laughing out loud. Description
Ever since his grandma squandered the family fortune to two-bit hucksters from “Microsoft Tech Support,” corporate do-little Eric Amundsen has spent his workdays wasting the time of Nigerian princes and car warranty salesmen everywhere.
But when Eric’s supposedly long-deceased father contacts him through his spam folder, Eric—whose workday mantra isn’t exactly “solutions-oriented”—has serious problems to solve.

Eric was a nerd and took on the task of scammer the scammers.

Eric has had it out for scammers ever since his grandmother was duped out her life savings. In fact he often spends much of his time wrecking havoc on them even while he is supposed to be doing his day job. But when he starts getting emails from his supposedly dead father, he loses focus and begins to get sloppy. With a story focused on a guy going after scammers I knew I was going to like it, after all I’ve wasted more hours than I’d care to admit watching Youtube videos of people messing with scammers. The story was fun, fast-paced, and took a few unexpected turns. Thanks to BooksGoSocial and NetGalley for the eARC.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/scambait-ryan-r-campbell/1141016654?ean=9781736387139&bvnotificationId=55bd841e-d6b9-11ec-ae0c-1278ad9372ab&bvmessageType=REVIEW_APPROVED&bvrecipientDomain=gmail.com#review/209190740

This book had me from the start: the title. The cover. The description.

I hate all the scam emails and phone calls I get and was ready to climb aboard a snarky ride to get back at them all!

The book started off right where I wanted it to. Someone getting back at those lousy scammers.

And then it took a turn - or a few turns.
A dead father maybe not so dead after all? Hm, what could that bring - family togetherness or another scam?

A scheme 20 years old that comes back to haunt Eric, our protagonist ?

It was all there, but didn’t hit the mark for me. The book needed some serious editing. Probably 30-40 pages too long.

And the resolution? Hm. Setup for a sequel - but what if that doesn’t happen.

Lastly - for the “Constant Readers” out there (you know who you are) - adrienne is a weak Holly Gibney, wouldn’t you agree?

Eric spends his days “scambaiting” scammers by wasting their time and messing with them. One day an email from an unusual scammer claiming to be his long-deceased father hits his spam folder. Eric’s journey to scambait his dead dad leads to unexpected results.

Well, this was an unexpectedly fun book to pick up last minute. I wasn't sure what I was getting into because I am a bit of a cover snob, but I couldn't resist the title as watching scam baiters on YouTube is a really fun hobby my husband has and I get sucked into watching with him more often than not.

So this book mirrors a lot of what I see on those channels. Recordings of people scamming the scammers. But there's an added mystery involved and the result is a mix of Janet Evanovich fun and chaos, John Scalzi nerdiness and wit, and just plain old-fashioned chaos.

I really hope Campbell writes more books like this. It was a very quick read and I didn't put it down from start to finish. Highly recommend if, like me, you enjoy zany, hilarious, nerdy reads.