Imposter Syndrome by Joseph Knox

 

Lynch is a con man and sometimes things get hot and he has to leave quickly.  He arrives in London with a passport, a phone and no money.  That doesn't worry him, he can have cash anytime where there's a crowd.  But what does worry him is when a woman looks at him, and exclaims, "Haydon, is that really you?"

The woman's name is Bobbie and she mistakes Lynch for her brother, Haydon, who disappeared five years ago.  His car was found parked on a bridge and he had been having mental issues so the police assumed suicide.  Bobbie has a room, some cocaine and booze and suggests that Lynch stay and party.  Having nowhere else he agrees.

He wakes up the next morning, hungover to find Bobby gone but she has left something behind.  She has tattooed a heart beneath his eye just like Haydon had.  When he calls her, she says she is on a plane to California and rehab but gives him her parent's address and door codes and insists they will give him some money and pay to have the tattoo erased.  When he goes there, he finds armed security but Haydon's mother vouches for him and hires him to impersonate Haydon and get back a trunk he has left with a loan shark.  He agrees and soon is over his head.  It turns out that lots of people are looking for Haydon and now they think Lynch is their man.

Sometimes when I read a book, I'm left in awe of the author's mind and that's always my reaction when I read a Joseph Knox novel.  He seems to be living and operating on a higher plane than I am and it's always fun to go along for the ride.  Lynch encounters a cyptoking, an ex military man who now sees security and intelligence and the rest of Haydon's family, each of whom have their own agenda.  Knox is an English author and I've loved each of his books I've read.  This book is recommended for thriller readers.