Tessa BarclayCritiques

The Charming Predator is an addicting read for anyone who loves true crime.

Lately I have been in a reading slump (probably from all of those school textbooks I'm devouring...) and most of the books I should love I haven't been able to connect with. Buuuuut, this book instantly hooked me during this time and appeared to be exactly what I needed.

This book is intriguing because it's supposed to be "real" (I say supposed to because Lee MacKenzie apparently has numerous pseudonyms). Kenner Jones did exist and there are numerous stories about how he scammed a ridiculous amount of people (including his wife).

I find it an interesting phenomenon that this happens to people. It seems so out of the ordinary and soap opera like, yet I've met many people who trick and manipulate anyone they can. Reading it, I found I could see "signs", but that's with me knowing the end of this story - I know he's going to manipulate her, it's almost like a bad movie you have seen over and over. "Don't go through that door" or "Don't talk to that person" and so on...

I have so much respect for this woman, because this was truly one of the worst moments (or say...years?) of her life. Writing a book like this takes courage, and my goodness is it a good book. I find it well written, easy to read and one of the better true crime, life story novels I have read in a while.

This book gets 5 out of 5 stars for sure.

[Edit] - I received this book for free from Goodreads First Reads AND I found a copy at my local indie bookstore that was an arc! Talk about luck!

This is a truly powerful story. How the author fell in love, was betrayed and lied to.

I kind of got rather bored half way through but carried on regardless. This story came over as if the writer didn’t really care but that could just have been how I was reading it.
Thank you to the publishers and netgalley for allowing me the arc of this book to review

This is a truly powerful story. How the author fell in love, was betrayed and lied to.

I kind of got rather bored half way through but carried on regardless. This story came over as if the writer didn’t really care but that could just have been how I was reading it.
Thank you to the publishers and netgalley for allowing me the arc of this book to review

Lee Mackenzie was young and admittedly a bit naïve when she first met and fell in love with Kenner Jones. Although many red flags popped up and she did suspect him of lying to her it was not until she herself was accused of his crimes that she packed up and left him. Kenner had (has?) a way of getting what he wants from people, whether by charming them or in some cases preying on their sympathy to gain their trust and money through false pretenses. This is Lee's story of her time spent with him and it's aftermath. Presented in a matter of fact way. It was a fascinating story.
I received an advance copy for review.

Given that this was a first person account of being a true crime victim, its incredibly dry and uninteresting. I guess that's what happens when a news journalist writes a memoir. Which is a shame because this tale could have been quite engaging if the author had been more willing to bare her soul to us a little.

I received a free copy of this book for review from the publisher.

Lee Mackenzie has climbed her way back up from rock bottom. At the bottom of the pit she was known to those close to her, particularly her husband, as Donna. This book is the true story of how she met and married her husband, Kenner Jones, despite being countries apart.
Donna had traveled to London and met Kenner at a tourist shop. Through conversation, Kenner discovers that Donna is in need of a place to stay. So he offers his mother’s hospitality and Donna takes him up on it. She endured story after story from Kenner’s mother, Primrose, but took it as worth the money she saved.
Donna had returned to her home country, Canada, and started receiving letters from Kenner. Kenner had ended up in prison as the victim of a misunderstanding and his mother is in need of financial assistance. Donna sends money from each paycheck to Primrose and continues to correspond with Kenner. This is the second step down into the pit of naiveté.
Upon Kenner’s release, Donna goes back to London to visit him. He proposes. She accepts and goes back to Canada to save up for their wedding and future. They marry in Canada and then everything starts to fall apart. The deception builds as their marriage crumbles. Donna is caught in a landslide of broken dreams, debt, and torn between her husband and her future.

This is all told in Donna’s point of view and partly in letters from Kenner to Donna. These letters provide a deeper glance into who Kenner portrayed himself to be. Without these letters, I do not believe I would have continued to read the book. I would have just tossed it aside as a bitter tale of a woman scorned. The other added depth to the book was the inclusion of other people deceived by Kenner.
Although this book is classified as true crime (which is my tv preference) it did not leave me gasping in disbelief. Rather, it left me putting it down often and picking up another book instead. It felt like when one goes to get a coffee with an acquaintance or old friend and the cell phone tucked away in a purse or pocket is more tempting than hearing more bitter stories. It was predictable and the details that were focused on did not add to the story, in my opinion.
I would not recommend this book for anyone offended by deception and miscarriages. I did not note any foul language, violence, or sexual themes.
Please note: an electronic copy of this book was generously provided by the publisher via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

A realistic book set in mid-nineteenth century Scotland. Jenny Cornell learns about men, and gros up discovering new emotions. This is set alongside vivid descriptions of the tartan weaving trade. Many characters were apparently based on real people. Quite interesting but not very emotive.

The book that started the TV series. Barbara works as a nanny, struggling to come to terms with her divorce. Sometimes moving, quite a pleasant read.

An American hitman is in London to assassinate a Mafioso. His two British minders are just trying to keep him under wraps in a fancy apartment--but he decides he needs female companionship. Complications, violence, and heartache ensue. The girl is an innocent, desperate for money, and isn't expecting what is in store for her. The plot thickens and thickens--this isn't really a novel about a hit--it is a strange love story! In any case, despite some severe implausibilities, it moves along quite nicely and is a pretty good page-turner that I wasn't sorry to have picked up at random on my used book shelves. Avon Curry is a pseudonym for Jean Bowden, who was apparently pretty prolific, and once you know that the author is female, parts of the book make a little more sense.

Recommended, but apparently rare, as I am the only LibraryThing member to have this book! (There are ample cheap copies on abebooks.com, however.)½

The farmer dies, leaving the farm to his estranged son who had escaped to London eight years previously, rather than his family who has worked the farm all along. This is the story of Jack, the son, who has come home and has to face his new circumstances back on the farm, as well as the life he had been living.

Having watched the television series for years, but not knowing how the story started, it was easy to see the countryside and the people that I was reading about. It's a very simple, dare I say...wholesome, story. It's well told, using the vernacular that I've become accustomed to.

It took me less than a day to read, as it is a very short book, but now I'd like to read more of the series- which may be a shame as they are so old it may be hard to find without actively hunting them down.