Tiffany D. Jackson — that’s it. That’s the post. 👏🔥

The Scammer is chilling, has cult-like vibes, and emotionally intense. Think grief, identity, the desperate need to belong—all wrapped in a fast-paced, addictive story that had me second-guessing EVERYTHING and EVERYBODY. 😵‍💫

The story centers on Jordyn, a pre-law student at an HBCU, who finds herself pulled into a chilling web of manipulation and danger when her roommate’s charismatic brother Devonte shows up—bringing with him unsettling, cult-like beliefs and influence.

This isn’t your typical mystery—it leans more into psychological suspense with many heavy issues layered in. Themes like family pressure, emotional manipulation, and what it means when home isn’t a safe or supportive place.

The ending? Jaw. On. Floor. This one messed with my head in the best way.

📚 Read it in one sitting. My chest hurt by the end. The tension I felt while reading…. 🚑 I read this and listened to the audio! Both fantastic!

This one was so good! I could barely put it down. I was on the edge of my seat. It made me sooooo angry. Even though it's fiction there are real life people who are exactly like this and it is so enraging. Tiffany D. Jackson writes the absolute best books. They always sweep me up.

I'm going to begin this review with a disclaimer: I would walk through fire if Tiffany D. Jackson told me to. Any book of hers that I review is going to be glowing from now until forever. Call me biased, I don't care. It isn't every day you get a chance to rub elbows with this kind of talent - even peripherally, through their work.

The Scammer is a fantastic take on the 2010 Sarah Lawrence College Cult case. In the author's note, Jackson talks about the time she spent looking into the case and how it completely captivated her. In her research, she says that she kept arriving at the same question - where were the adults that were supposed to be taking care of these fledging college students? In the book, Jackson attempts to provide details to fill in gaps in that story and explain how something so insidious could have happened right under the noses of college professors, security, and admin.

The characters in this book really captured me from the start. Jordyn is your typical college freshman - new to the world of adulthood, trying to find her path in life. Complicating this is the semi-recent loss of her older brother, who she was extremely close with. Jordyn's journey at Frazier was enjoyable to read because it wasn't perfectly linear and, even when good things were happening to her, she often thought about the ways that she might screw it all up. That felt very relatable as someone with social anxiety. I think we can all relate to going home after a gathering and overthinking the conversations we had, worried we offended someone or made a weird joke that others are going to hold against us. Jordyn has all of these worries, which are further exacerbated by her lack of support system.

Other characters in the book are just as well-written. Each girl had her own personality and it wasn't hard telling them apart (something that can happen sometimes with a large cast). Devonte gets his own special mention for the slow and insidious way that he infiltrates the girls' lives. It's so slow and diabolical and deliciously plotted - absolute A+ for this man making me squirm.

One thing I found particularly stand-out for this book is the way that the author reminds us that these are literal children that she is writing about. Yes, many of them are 18 or 19 and therefore legal adults, but mentally, these are all still kids who have had very little experience with the wider world until now. It's easy to ask yourself as a nearly-30-year-old how people could fall for Devonte's schemes, but I remember what it was like when I was 18 and freshly in college. I wanted to prove that I was old enough, mature enough to take care of myself. Someone just a little older than me coming along and proving me right? Telling me I was special, like all of us so dearly want to believe? I would have accepted this man's lies hook, line, and sinker. Throw in peer pressure and physical intimidation and you have the makings of a perfect storm.

I would like to let people know that if they are looking for a missing person's case, this is not the book for you. Though a missing roommate is mentioned in the book's summary, this disappearance doesn't actually happen until over halfway through the book and is not a prominent plot point. I personally had no issue with this, but I think that people going in with the intention of reading about a missing girl will find that to be false advertising. It would really be better if that was left out of the summary altogether, in my opinion. The story can hold its own without it.

Audio listeners, this is a good one. The narrator's voice is smooth and easy to listen to while also hitting all the dramatic notes you would expect in a performance. Characters each have their own unique tones and accents, making it easy to pick out who is speaking. The narration sounds natural and the speaking cadence is spot-on.

As I said before, you won't hear a negative word here about Tiffany D. Jackson's writing. This book will resonate especially with people who liked her previous book, Grown, as it has a lot of the same themes involved. Whether you've read her work before or this is your first foray into Jackson's writing, you're sure to come out wanting more.

Tiffany D. Jackson is a must read author. Her writing, her characters, her twists...*chef's kiss.* The Scammer was not my favorite of her novels, but, nevertheless, it was still an exhilarating read. I loved the premise of this story, and Jackson executed it beautifully. I listened to this book in a day, and now I'm back to eagerly awaiting her next book.