Customer Reviews

User I.D.

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I almost didn't buy this book because the reviews were less than sterling. But, I know the kind of book I typically enjoy so I changed my mind and stuck it in my cart. Indeed, I ended up finishing this book in about a week (which is pretty fast for me because I have so little time to read). Basically, the book held my interest and moved along...so I was able to stick with it and complete it.

This is a story of identity theft, told in two different "voices" (in alternating chapters). One voice is that of the victim, the other voice is of the perpetrator. Two different women, different lives, different coasts, yet tied together because one stole the identity of the other. It is, of course, a cautionary tale for our times.

As I said, the story moves along. The story is fairly believable and I think we get a sense of who these characters are, and how they come to be in this position. I think the victim character is a little more believable but I suppose that is beside the point. The story is a bit predictable, yet has a few twists, especially at the end. The characters are believable enough but not very sympathetic.

I think the latter point (the fact that the characters are not very sympathetic and indeed fairly drab) are what makes me rate the book three stars instead of four. The story moves along but I didn't care about the characters very much. And I thought the story was rather thin on details. Specifically, some more background on the characters (prior history of their lives, current details on their lives, more friends, etc.) would have made the story a little more realistic and interesting.

However, because the story did hold my interest, I would recommend the book to those looking for an entertaining fast read, particularly if they are interested in the topic of identity theft.

Shute does an excellent job of portraying her two main characters, warts and all. Unfortunately it makes both of them unlikable and hard to sympathize with. The ease with which Vera's identity is stolen and her credit destroyed is terrifying, but it's also frightening to think that this book could be used as an instruction manual for any wannabe identity thief. Shute is terrific at writing out Vera's innermost thoughts, but she does so in a way that no one should ever be exposed, but perhaps that was her intention. The ending was disappointing to say the least. As the reader I wanted more anger from Vera. Perhaps the biggest flaw in the book is that Shute chose a poor character to be the protagonist.

Vera De Sica is an ESL teacher in New York who travels to Los Angeles for a conference. In the City of the Angels she is scammed out of her rental car by a con artist. She calls the cops, but they don't seem that upset. She returns to New York feeling a bit stupid, without thinking about the credit card receipt she'd left in the car.

Howie Hoffner, the con guy who got the car, gives the credit card receipt to his girlfriend Charlene Cummins, a girl who works at a cosmetics counter. Armed with the info on the receipt, Charlene applies for and gets several credit cards and begins to spend money and that's not all, Charlene actually starts pretending to be Vera, making up a whole new personal identity for herself.

When Vera figures out what's going on she finds that the local cops can't help her and apparently she's not going to get the help she seeks from the credit bureaus, so she turns to a computer geek named Colin who she met online and together they plan an online counterattack you won't want to miss.

This is the kind of story that grabs its readers from the start and starts to build, tension, suspense, more tension, more suspense. It's also the kind of story that'll have you looking over your shoulder every time you log onto a computer or type your pin number at the checkout stand of your local grocery story. Scary stuff when you consider that what happened to Vera could very easily happen to you.

User I.D. is a fantastic novel I fully enjoyed. I am amazed at the negative reviews posted here and I have the feeling that some readers fail to identify with characters they don't understand because they empathize with characters with whom they have things in common. I did understand Charlene's motives and feelings even though my life has nothing to do with hers (I'm not even American). I did entirely identify with Vera because, as an academic myself, I understood only too well every bit of her life (professional and otherwise). Yet, the most gripping ingredient for me was the novel's subtle irony on the academic world, theories, etc. The novel and Vera are not elitist at all; quite the opposite: they make good fun of a world the author is well-acquainted with. I loved the self-addressed irony, because there is nothing better than being able of laughing at oneself. Thank you, Ms Shute, for this inspiring, fantastic novel, and for the previous three too.

When Vera de Sica pulls into the wrong parking lot at the car rental place, the car is stolen. This is only the beginninf of her troubles, since what the thieves really wanted was her identity. This is a fascinating look at how easy it is to have your identity stolen. Watching the thieves systematically run through Vera's money and credit is frightening. The book was good, though the ending seemed false to me.

It's hard to understand the harsh critical response to this sharp and witty page-turner. The subject matter of the novel is topical. The characters are lucid. In fact, I feel I know Vera. I dated her! Some of the descriptions of daily life in the East Village are so real that I think I must have once shared the same subway car or bodega counter with the author. I know less about Charlotte's milieu, but it's hard to imagine that it's any less well-observed. I find it strange that so many reviewers are passing moral judgment on Shute's characters. So SILENCE OF THE LAMBS is an awful book because the Lecter character is a serial killer? Get a grip, people. It's only a novel.

I disagree with many of the negative reviews of this book, possibly because I am a former New Yorker and find that Shute's characterization of the underpaid, overextended, unappreciated single New York woman is dead-on. I find, too, that Charlotte is a well-wrought and sympathetic character. I enjoyed getting to know these two women. The book is quickly-paced, written in short and snappy chapters that kept me turning the pages. I thoroughly enjoyed it and highly recommend it for plane rides or a day at the beach.

I felt so bad about not liking this book when i began it that i felt compeled to finish it hoping for some grand ending. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ. need i say more? Charlene was a believable character, in a stereo typical white trash sort of way. Vera reminded me of a boring timid little blah mouse, and her boyfriend had the personality of a toothbrush. (no wonder they were together) I love a good mystery, but there is nothing mysterious about the rating this book is getting! Watch a good Lifetime Movie instead

This is the story of a woman who is supposed to be smart and capable (she is neither) who is the victim of a criminal who with whom we are supposed to sympathize (I didn't.)

We have all been warned to shred documents with personal information to avoid losing your identity. If you have a paper shredder, you may want to put this book through it to avoid losing the time it takes to read this book.

User ID is not the kind of book that I would normally read, but I read Jenefer Shute's "Life Size," and was interested in checking out what else she wrote.

Vera teaches ESL to adults in New York. She likes her job, she likes her life, and she likes her "sort of" boyfriend. She makes O.K. money and owns her own apartment.

Charlene lives in California with Howie. He is a boyfriend that she would rather not see at home, because when she does, she has to decide what mood he is in. If it's a good one, then there are no worries. If he's in a bad mood, watch out. She could use a better life...and she finds one. Howie steals the car that Vera returns to the rental agency, and now it's an identity theft situation.

Things go okay for a while, but Charlene doesn't just want to have Vera's money, she wants her life. She wants to become Vera. The tension builds until the inevitable climax...but it goes downhill from there.

As I had mentioned above, it's not the typical book that I would read. But, I started to get into it and I liked how the book was written from two perspectives: half Charlene, half Vera. Unfortunately, the character of Vera was the only one that I felt had any realism to her. The end of the book didn't work. It wasn't feasible and I don't think that any normal person who had their identity stolen would react in the way that Vera did. The Charlene and Howie characters had no depth to them and felt fake.

All in all, I enjoyed the first half of the book, but the more that I inched toward the end, I enjoyed it less and less.