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Grift Sense Booklist
Page Modified: June 1, 2007
Books about grifters, swindlers, forgers, scams and scammers, flim flam & confidence folks, cons and conners.
A list of books, many of which received at least one starred review (indicating a work of unusual merit) from the following review sources: Booklist (BL), Publisher's Weekly (PW), Kirkus, and Library Journal (LJ). Additional titles of interest may be included on this list. Titles are alphabetically by author.
Annotations are from Advance, the Ingram Book Magazine, unless noted.- King Con
Author: Cannell, Stephen J.
Publisher: Morrow List Price: $24 ISBN: 0688147763 Date: 1997
PW
Accomplished grifter Beano Bates's lucky streak vanishes after a card game in which he scams 80 grand from a Mafia don who retaliates by having him nearly beaten to death. The savage beating leads to murder. Now Beano wants more than a big score, he wants revenge. Aided by a cunning female prosecutor and an army of crafty cousins, the king of the cons puts together the ultimate swindle--a game of strategy, skill and deception, and the target is America's most feared mob kingpin and his psychopathic brother.
Suggested Reading: Mobbed Up
- Hot Plastic
Author: Craig, Peter
Publisher: Hyperion $ 13 (paper) ISBN: 1401300448 Date: 2004
PW
In this cleverly conceived suspense novel about family and criminal intent, a female con artist comes between father and son grifters.
Updated 1.21.04 - Void Moon
Author: Connelly, Michael
Publisher: Little Brown $ 24.95 ISBN: 0316154067 Date: 2000
Booklist
Library Journal
Cassie Black is lured back to a profession she'd left behind--robbing casino gamblers of their winnings - by a setup that looks too good to pass up, and is soon caught up in a scam that may cost her the one thing she holds dearer than her own life.
- Cons, Scams
& Grifts: A DKA File Novel
Author: Gores, Joe
Publisher: Mysterious $ 24.95 ISBN: 0892965940 Date: 2001
Kirkus
From the award-winning author of 32 Cadillacs comes a picaresque, action-packed mystery novel of modern-day gypsies featuring the author's most popular characters: the DKA private eyes.
Updated 6/20/01 - Death Benefits
Author: Perry, Thomas
Publisher: Random $ 24.95 ISBN: 0679435059 Date: 2000
Booklist
PW
With writing that is "sharp as a sushi knife" (Los Angeles Times), Perry crafts a story of insurance fraud that explodes and overtakes the life of John Walker, a young data analyst who has no idea what he's getting into when he joins a deadly investigation.
Updated 11/2/00 - Mitt Man
Author: Taylor, Mel
Publisher: William Morrow List Price: $ 24 ISBN: 0688160948 Date: 1999
BL
Expertly evoking black life in the south in the late 1920's, The Mitt Man, set in a world of gospel choirs and chain gangs, explores the dodgy realm where grifters get religion, and a perfect scam just may pay off in salvation.
Read-alike suggestions: Historical Fiction Stars | African American Stars - Grift Sense: Tony Valentine
Author: Swain, James
Publisher: Pocket $ 23.95 ISBN: 0743406222 Date: 2000
Kirkus
With a knack for sly sucker punches in the tradition of Elmore Leonard, Swain makes the scene with a comic, crackerjack debut mystery set in Las Vegas, the first in a series starring ex-cop Tony Valentine.
Suggested Reading: Take a Gamble
Updated 4/20/01
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