Question I

[Jonetta]

At the heart of the story are the cons perpetrated by Martha and Jimmy, ultimately leading them to focus on art theft. Jimmy’s motivations were quite clear but were Martha’s? Was she doing more than having fun or rebelling against her family? Given her past track record with men, why did she stay with Jimmy?

[Sharon]

In my opinion, Jimmy and Martha were of like minds. Neither one is loyal. They have their own agenda. They are happy to give each other breaks for affairs, but they come back together to steal or con wealthy acquaintances out of money.

Neither one of them want to work for a living. They would prefer to take what others worked for. As far as Coulter, they thought it would be an accomplishment to con and con.

[Melissa]

I think it was a little of both. She was having fun and she knew that everything she did would be looked down upon by her family.
Jimmy let Martha be herself. He didn't try to change her and they had fun together. He also didn't try to keep her pinned in.
Sharon put it well. I totally agree.

[Anita]

I don't think Brennan got very deep into what made Jimmy to the things he did. I thought Martha's motivations were a lot better explained, especially by Dillion. Being able to live her life as she wanted and make sure it was always fun was Martha's life goal. Jimmy's cons were exciting to her, and it was the ultimate fun when they succeeded. Living on the edge of being caught with Jimmy was a high for Martha. That's why she stayed with him.

[Jonetta]

We got Jimmy’s frame from the people that knew him best…his brother, the Hendersons, the sheriff. I walked away thinking that Jimmy was just a soulless con artist who stooped so low as to steal from his mother, forcing her to go back to work. And, he abandoned Martha and Eve, who he believed was his daughter, to save his own skin. I didn’t need his point of view.

Martha’s own point of view finally resolved all the questions I had about her. She was selfish to the core. The one selfless thing I’d thought she’d done was to leave Max with her parents but even that was self serving. Maybe Martha was bipolar but I don’t think so. She loved art and when she fell upon the opportunity to combine fun with her passion, she was all in. The fact that it might shame her family was just icing on the cake.

When these two were willing to engage in sexual relationships with other people as part of their con, I felt they’d reached the lowest of depravity. They didn’t even care about each other.