The Grift

May 12, 2008
Ginsberg's second novel is an entertaining whodunit and an invigorating tale about a damaged young storefront psychic who learns how to live truthfully. Although she has worked as a psychic since childhood, Marina Marks does not believe that psychic abilities exist. Instead, she uses her intuition and observational skills to hoodwink her clients. Arriving in Southern California from Florida, she acquires a new set of clients: Madeleine, the hostess, desperate to maintain her hold on her wealthy husband; Cooper, in love with a psychiatrist who refuses to admit that he is gay; and Eddie, a married womanizer frustrated by his inability to seduce Marina. Ginsberg deftly shows how Marina cultivates her clients' dependency—and her own income—from their desperation, as well as how easily her clients' trust in her deteriorates. Soon, the threat of violence that Marina left Florida to escape flares up anew, and Marina begins to suspect, to her confusion and dismay, that she may actually be psychic. Ginsberg thoroughly exploits her clever premise, and Marina's handling of her troubles—romantic, professional, mystical—ring true through to the redemptive end.

June 1, 2008
Marina Marks is a psychic who doesn't believe in what she does. She doesn't mind taking people's money to tell them what they want to hear, but she understands that powers of close observation are her stock-in-trade, not some unique gift from beyond. The child of an alcoholic mother who believed her daughter had a gift, Marina has moved to California to get away from old memories and frantic clients as well as to ply her trade on a new group of souls who need help. Marina is hired to work a party for a wealthy couple, where she begins to meet new clients. There is Cooper, a homosexual who is desperately in love with a closeted man; Madeleine, Marina's employer, who is trying to give her rich husband an heir; and Cassie, the young, innocent hairdresser who is having an affair with Eddie, a married man and a complete cad when it comes to women. Marina's observations and insights draw these clients into her life. It isn't until she meets Gideon and their blossoming love affair comes to a tragic end that her talent really comes to life. Marina is visited by powerful visions of the future that will affect this disparate cast of characters and help her unravel many puzzling mysteries. Ginsberg ("Blind Submission") has created an interesting cast of characters to explore a world that is embraced by some and viewed by many with deep skepticism. The story flows along, and readers looking for a different twist on the psychological novel will enjoy the trip. Recommended for most public libraries.Robin Nesbitt, Columbus Metropolitan Lib., OH

Copyright 2008 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2008
What does a fake psychic do when she suddenly becomes a real one? Marinas life hadnt been so bad. Granted, she supported herself and her addict mother with fakery since she was small, but intuition and observation let her give the kinds of readings that clients want to hear. Conflict begins with her move to California and a gig at a posh party that nets her several troublesome clients. She can cope with their foibles and their issues, but she is having dreams and visions that interfere with her ability to give a standard reading. And then there is Gideon, a mystery man who drops into her life bringing passion, echoes of her past, and a violent ending that shakes her to her core. What do the visions mean? Whereis the violence coming from? Popular memoirist turned novelist, Ginsberg weaves a complicated mystery that brings her protagonist through difficulties and pain but ultimately to love and self-awareness. Not asmuch fun as her first novel, Blind Submission (2006), this onewill keep readers guessing, and reading.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)