#BookReview - Self-Styled

Self-Styled: Chasing Dr. Robert Vernon Spears

By: Alan C. Logan
Publisher: Glass Spider Publishing
Publication Date: November 2019
ISBN: 978-0-578-55834-9
Reviewed by Diane Lunsford
Review Date: December 9, 2019

In his latest book, Self-Styled: Chasing Dr. Robert Vernon Spears, Alan C. Logan chronicles the life and times of one of the most notorious confidence men, Dr. Robert Vernon Spears.

Who would have thought that the crash of Flight 967 on November 16, 1959 would be the beginning of the end of the road for Dr. Robert Vernon Spears? In breaking news of the crash, Spears was reportedly on this flight. When his newly widowed wife, Frances, learns of the crash, to compound her grief, she will have to break the news to their two young children. Not so fast. It seems there is a woman, Alice Steele, in Tampa, Florida who has a few things to say about this latest course of events. She is the ex-wife of Spears’ life-long friend and confident, William Allen ‘Al’ Taylor, and at the same time the plane has gone down, so has the disappearance of her former husband risen to the surface. Is it possible the two are connected?

Never overly fond of Frances and certainly Dr. Spears, Alice Steele makes it her mission to get to the bottom of this mystery. She’s certain the two are connected and by cracky, she’s going to persist with the assistance of the press to get what she believes to be the real story out there. It’s important to note that Alice, Frances and an entire assortment of con artists ranging from law enforcement, judges, attorneys and patients will have their side of the story before the real story has a beacon of light shone on it once and for all.

Alan Logan has spun an outstanding body of work in Self-Styled. There are countless twists and turns that are fine-tuned and precisely placed throughout this read. He is a master at planting seeds to germinate before he moves on to the next turn of events. Only when those previous seeds have blossomed, does he cultivate them into the growing plot of the complexities of the multi-faceted dynamics of the quintessential conman of the century, Dr. Robert Vernon Spears. This was a fascinating read because Mr. Logan has done a superb job of spoon-feeding his audience with just the right amount of information that took little effort for the reader to turn the page and consider the next diabolical set of twists and turns con artist Spears was capable of delivering. In my opinion, this story would bode well as a mini-series in today’s culture because there are far too many plot twists for a two-hour movie to do the story justice. Fascinating read and admirable delivery Mr. Logan! 

Quill says: Self-Styled is a page-turning, fire-breathing, fascinating account of undoubtedly one of the most infamous conmen in our history.

For more information on Self-Styled: Chasing Dr. Robert Vernon Spears, please visit the author's website at www.chasingspears.com