The opening chapters introduce us to a plethora of characters. On one side of the Atlantic is a young man named Dinu, an asthmatic who’s under the thumb of his Uncle Dragomir. Dinu is being taught colloquial American English so that he can impersonate Americans in order to ask their aged relatives for money. Dragomir is clearly hoping that Dinu will be ready—soon—to take his place on the phones so they can bilk these unsuspecting old people out of their funds.
Without any real indication of violence or threat, the author manages to convey a subtle sense of menace about this uncle. There is no mention of guns, henchmen, blood or violence. But it’s Uncle Dragomir who is paying for these language lessons in English and, when he enters a room to inquire about his nephew’s state of readiness for his entry into swindling, Dinu’s discomfort is deftly spread upon the page.
Mrs. Plansky is a widow settled into happy retirement and more or less happy interacting with her children and crotchety aged father. We get the sense that senility might be setting in, what with her getting distracted by what she thinks is her dead husband talking to her and random stimuli. But it’s a just passing absent mindedness, which anybody could get.
The author sets up the situation so we don’t see villains and victims but ordinary people who are struggling to make their way through life. True, Mrs. Plansky’s existence is one of cushioned comfort but we don’t envy her luxury nor resent her ease. Dinu is being groomed to consider such quarries as “soft”, targets who deserve to be duped. But we see that there’s no malice in him and that he may be doing this as much to knuckle under his domineering uncle as a quick means to make money.
You feel for Dinu, who yearns for wealth to help with his mother’s health issues. You also fear for the elderly Mrs. Plansky, who will be one of Dinu’s victims. Either way, we have a most engaging set-up with an unlikely pair of protagonists.
Without any real indication of violence or threat, the author manages to convey a subtle sense of menace about this uncle. There is no mention of guns, henchmen, blood or violence. But it’s Uncle Dragomir who is paying for these language lessons in English and, when he enters a room to inquire about his nephew’s state of readiness for his entry into swindling, Dinu’s discomfort is deftly spread upon the page.
Mrs. Plansky is a widow settled into happy retirement and more or less happy interacting with her children and crotchety aged father. We get the sense that senility might be setting in, what with her getting distracted by what she thinks is her dead husband talking to her and random stimuli. But it’s a just passing absent mindedness, which anybody could get.
The author sets up the situation so we don’t see villains and victims but ordinary people who are struggling to make their way through life. True, Mrs. Plansky’s existence is one of cushioned comfort but we don’t envy her luxury nor resent her ease. Dinu is being groomed to consider such quarries as “soft”, targets who deserve to be duped. But we see that there’s no malice in him and that he may be doing this as much to knuckle under his domineering uncle as a quick means to make money.
You feel for Dinu, who yearns for wealth to help with his mother’s health issues. You also fear for the elderly Mrs. Plansky, who will be one of Dinu’s victims. Either way, we have a most engaging set-up with an unlikely pair of protagonists.