Delete This At Your Peril by Neil Forsyth
Delete This At Your Peril is a compilation of emails exchanged between fraudsters and a character Forsyth has created (or could he be real?) called Bob Servant. Bob is a 62-year-old former window cleaner and magnate of ‘The Cheeseburger Wars’ in Broughty Ferry, Dundee. This is one of the funniest books ever compiled. Bob turns the tables on a whole host of internet fraudsters out to con any poor soul who falls for their deceptive pleas for help. There are eleven separate stories, and every one is hilarious. Chapter nine, ‘Bobby and Benjamin are New Friends’, where Bob suddenly pretends he is a woman looking for love in response to a scammer, claiming to be from Sierra Leone, is the work of a comedy genius. What started with an email from Benjamin, offering Bob a percentage of his recently deceased father’s millions, quickly turns into a love story that ends with poor Benjamin getting the fright of his life. Danny Wallace had a snippet of emailing back an African scammer for recipes in his Yes Man book. While it was funny, it is nothing compared to Forsyth’s similar tale in chapter four. If you need cheering up, this book is the answer. [John G. Fagan]
Out now. Published by Birlinn. Cover price £6.99