Dramatic Historical-Fiction on a Mass-Murdering Fraudster
Jerry Jamison, Vanishing Act: A Crashed Airliner, Faked Death, and Backroom Abortions (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2025). Hardback: $36; True Crime. 336pp, 6X9”. ISBN: 979-8-8818-0293-6.
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“Over a span of 39 years, 23 aliases, 28 arrests in 20 cities, and nearly a dozen imprisonments, Robert Spears had lived a con artists’ life of unparalleled adventure and intrigue. This is his story. Shortly before Thanksgiving Day in 1959, a plane exploded in mid-air, killing all 42 passengers and crew and leaving scattered debris and bodies across the otherwise tranquil Gulf waters. Listed on the manifest was Dr. Robert Spears—once the highly regarded president of the Texas Naturopathic Association. Father of two small children with a lovely, society-minded wife and an elegant home in an exclusive neighborhood, it was a monumental tragedy for them as it was for all the souls lost that day. Less than two months later, Robert Spears miraculously ‘rose from the dead’ in Phoenix where he was promptly arrested. Headlining newspapers nationwide—’Man Downs Airliner to Fake Death’—Spears was discovered to have cleverly switched identities, persuaded his friend, Al Taylor, to fly with his plane ticket, asked him to carry ‘a package’ on board, and drove away in his buddy’s car with his wallet and driver’s license. As the FBI began to investigate, they uncovered a stunning, mind-bending tale of murder, abortion rings, and false identities—more than 25 aliases for Spears alone—as well as insurance scams and investment fraud that stretched over decades. But that was far from the end of the story.” This blurb certainly promises a fun read.
The opening paragraph of “Chapter 1: One Spectacular Flying Leap” dated “November 7, 1941” uses novelistic description that must be partly fictional because there is no way the researcher can know details such as that “gravel and dust” were spewing “in every direction as onlookers dived for cover”. Even if the author drove this road, and saw gravel flying: was this what the road was composed of nearly a century earlier? And was there an onlooker who reported jumping out of the way? Why isn’t a quote of what they said about this included? If not, then this is a fiction, and not a historic narrative. In the review of the Mountain hoax, I mentioned the blurred line between history and fiction: and this crosses it.
After describing a slow-motion chase with a gun going off and people vomiting (the proper way to start a high-tension novel in the middle of the action), the story goes into exposition about “College classmates… who had been president of his Student Council and was a promising engineering student”. Dr. Robert Spears is in the back seat of this car. It is a bit confusing what these people are doing together: apparently just ride-sharing, while some know each other (2). Spears is said to be moody, even before he discovers $485 of his cash is missing and accuses the group of stealing it, pulling out the gun. There are no citation marks over the quotes across this text: as Spears is threatening the group. They end up giving him what money they have: so it seems to be a robbery that ends with Spears stealing their car and “disappear[ing] into the Oklahoma horizon” (4). But apparently the others are still with him, as threats and intimidation with the gun continue (5). While this might be a climatic incident in other books, this is just an early-criminal-career high for this guy who later amassed “26 aliases in 20 different U.S. cities and Canada” across the following “two decades”, which concluded with the mass-homicide of the passengers on the plain in an attempt to fake his death, as mentioned in the blurb (7).
This is a pretty good read. But only as a historic-fiction, as opposed to a thoroughly researched analysis of the facts of this case. There are no standard notes to verify where the quotes, dialogue, or descriptions throughout are from. The bibliography starts with a “Note About Sourcing” that puffs the author as a great researcher, instead of explaining precisely what sources were behind what bits of otherwise fictional details throughout. This is very troubling for a book that covers an investigation into extreme fraud, murder, and other misdeeds that affected families, some of whom are still living.
Pennsylvania Literary Journal: Spring 2025 issue: https://anaphoraliterary.com/journals/plj/plj-excerpts/book-reviews-spring-2025

Jerry Jamison does a fantastic job in writing this book, it was everything that I was looking for and enjoyed in the nonfiction genre. It had that research element that I wanted and enjoyed the overall feel of this. I was invested in what was happening with Robert Spears and thought this was a great book.

Dr. Robert Spears—husband, father and president of the Texas Naturopathic Association seemed to have it all. He died in an air crash only to rise again some time later.

This is a truly interesting read. Dr Spears is a con man and a man that can manipulate people to get what he wants.

HIs crimes are clever, he managed to get away with being charged over some but eventually was apprehended for others.

The author has done a good job with the drama of Spears life and crimes. I was fascinated from the start and really enjoyed my reading time

Vanishing Act by Jerry Jamison is a story of a con man, murder, and ties to the secret world of abortion in the first half of the 20th century. It’s almost too unbelievable but it all happened. The first couple of sentences seemed like this was going to be an amateurish read and then Jamison fires up his writing skills. He unravels the wild story of Robert Spears and it makes for a compelling read. How this story was never made into a movie, or at least a Netflix series beggars belief. Thank you to #netgalley and #rowmanlittlefield for the opportunity to preview this book.