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Book Review of The Man Who Loved Books Too Much: The True Story of a Thief, a Detective, and a World of Literary Obsession

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True crime story of John Gilkey, the Man Who Stole Books Too Much. Very interesting story, well written by Allison Bartlett, that covers not only the thefts by Gilkey, but his methods and manners. I was intrigued to read about his use of stolen credit cards, since I worked in the credit card industry and fraud is a huge cost to banks and cc companies.

The author starts out as a journalist but becomes more of a storyteller as she becomes more intrigued by Gilkey's crimes. She interviews and meets with him, both inside and outside of prison, and seems to follow his path of crime over several years.

Bartlet also covers the efforts of Ken Sanders, an antiquarian book seller who is determined to catch Gilkey. So you have two stories interwoven in this book. Worth the read!