There Is No Ethan (How Three Women Caught America's Biggest Catfish) - Anna Akbari

ONE OF TIMEs 100 MUST READ BOOKS OF 2024 • ONE OF PEOPLES BEST BOOKS THE MONTH • A SPOTIFY AUDIOBOOK OF THE MONTH • ONE OF CRIMEREADS BEST NONFICTION CRIME BOOKS OF 2024“I did not expect to be shocked by There Is No Ethan. Online deception has become so ubiquitous that it’s boring…But the twists and turns in Anna Akbari’s book are outrageous. I read it in one sitting, then spent days recounting her story to anyone who would listen, unable to shake off my indignation on behalf of the author and her fellow victims.”—New York Times“Just when you think you know whats going to happen, trust me, you dont.”—Abby Jimenez, #1 New York Times bestselling authorPart memoir, part explosive window into the mind of a catfisher, a thrilling personal account of three women coming face-to-face with an internet predator and teaming up to expose them. In 2011, three successful and highly educated women fell head over heels for the brilliant and charming Ethan Schuman. Unbeknownst to the others, each exchanged countless messages with Ethan, staying up late into the evenings to deepen their connections with this fascinating man. His detailed excuses about broken webcams and complicated international calling plans seemed believable, as did last minute trip cancellations. After all, why would he lie?  Ethan wasnt after money — he never convinced his marks to shell out thousands of dollars for some imagined crisis. Rather, he ensnared these women in a web of intense emotional intimacy. After the trio independently began to question inconsistencies in their new flames stories, they managed to find one another and uncover a greater deception than they couldve ever imagined. As Anna Akbari and the women untangled their catfish’s web, they found other victims and realized that without a proper crime, there was no legal reason for “Ethan” to ever stop. THERE IS NO ETHAN catalogues Akbaris experience as both victim and observer. By looking at the bigger picture of where these stories unfold — a world where technology mediates our relationships; where words and images are easily manipulated; and where truth, reality, and identity have become slippery terms — Akbari gives a page-turning and riveting examination of why stories like Ethans matter for us all.