3.5 stars, but we all know how Goodreads feels about that.

If you haven't, in the throes of stressful life situations, wildly considered faking your own death and leaving Other You's problems behind, I congratulate you on being a more level-minded person than myself (and many others, as obviated by the existence of this book).

By going to Frank Ahearn for advice, Greenwood has given me another title to read: Ahearn's own book How To Disappear. I'm unlikely to do such a thing (mostly because I'm lazy), but I'm also a firm believer that all knowledge is worth having.

Ahearn talks to Greenwood about the men searching for the "palm-tree lifestyle" while his clients who are women mostly want to disappear due to abusive husbands or stalkers - I think it says a lot the gender & power divide in our society. John Darwin, a man who was caught & convicted of [death] fraud, seems to think that more men try pseudocide than women because they are "more reckless, more adventurous than women. Women are more cautious and careful and think things through." Or maybe, as Greenwood postulates, women are socialized to "shoulder the burdens of family and community" - meaning they cannot shrug off the responsibility of children and loved ones as easily. And maybe those who did do the deed are just better at it - you can't be added statistically if you're never caught. Greenwood makes a second mention of this later, when she attempts to contact an ex-girlfriend of a psuedocide conspirator:

Most of the women who had been in some way connected to male death fakers did not get back to me. While I would love to have heard their stories, their silence reinforced my sense that women are superior at pseudocide. They know how to commit to making themselves scarce.

The fourth chapter is about Michael Jackson's death and the subsequent group of Believers who are convinced that he has faked it in a spectacular fashion. It is very relevant, if ultimately uninteresting - I just personally do not give a fuck about this particular subject.

This was a weirdly enjoyable book overall (considering the subject matter) and I think the tone of The Millennial Writer™ is really sold it for me. Conversational prose with casual cursing and exaggerated language is my balliwick - I immediately felt at home. And now I know to plan a vacation to the Philippines should I ever want to fake my own death.