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Grift Sense (2001)

by James Swain

Series: Tony Valentine (book 1)

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2495106,346 (3.49)4
In the world of cheating, professional hustlers and cross-roaders (people who cheat casinos) pride themselves on their ability to sense when a scam is going down. Having this ability is the ultimate gift, and is called 'grift sense'. The Acropolis is a casino that has seen better days: it's quickly falling out of pace with the rest of Las Vegas. Its one big tourist attraction is One-Armed Billy, a cigar-store Indian turned slot machine. When a blackjack player starts to win consistently against the casino, the owner gets suspicious and calls in crusty Tony Valentine to investigate. A sixty-two-year-old retired cop with a unique understanding of the mechanics of high-stakes gambling, wonderfully misanthropic Tony also specializes in spotting and hunting down grifters. Valentine soon finds himself embroiled in a fascinating but lethal world of hustlers, hit men and corrupt police, and he'll need more than luck to come out of it alive.… (more)
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» See also 4 mentions

Showing 5 of 5
First book in a series about Tony Valentine, a retired cop, who now works as a consultant to keep hustlers from beating casinos. Somewhat convoluted plot, but reasonably likable characters. ( )
  skipstern | Jul 11, 2021 |
This is a new author (for me) and a great find. It introduces Tony Valentine who is a retired cop specializing in grifters - con artists. He's hired to figure out how this guy was playing 'perfect' Black Jack in a Las Vegas casino. These characters are great. There is another in the series and another coming. Yahoo!
  susandennis | Jun 5, 2020 |
Grift Sense is the first of the series by James Swain. The main character, Tony Valentine, has a certain gift when it comes to searching out hustlers and cheaters. The book is full of well rounded, colorful, characters. The book offers a great back stage look at the casino industry. The ending actually suprised me. Looking forward to the reading the next one in the series.
  sgillette | Aug 12, 2008 |
The insider's view of Las Vegas gambling was interesting and I liked the main character, Tony Valentine. I found the writing itself a little rough in spots, but that no doubt is due to this being a first novel. I'll be looking for the rest of the series as I expect that the writing improves with each one. ( )
  TallyDi | Apr 16, 2008 |
Created enough interest to see where the series might go :) ( )
  debavp | Jan 29, 2008 |
Showing 5 of 5
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In the world of cheating, professional hustlers and cross-roaders (people who cheat casinos) pride themselves on their ability to sense when a scam is going down. Having this ability is the ultimate gift, and is called 'grift sense'. The Acropolis is a casino that has seen better days: it's quickly falling out of pace with the rest of Las Vegas. Its one big tourist attraction is One-Armed Billy, a cigar-store Indian turned slot machine. When a blackjack player starts to win consistently against the casino, the owner gets suspicious and calls in crusty Tony Valentine to investigate. A sixty-two-year-old retired cop with a unique understanding of the mechanics of high-stakes gambling, wonderfully misanthropic Tony also specializes in spotting and hunting down grifters. Valentine soon finds himself embroiled in a fascinating but lethal world of hustlers, hit men and corrupt police, and he'll need more than luck to come out of it alive.

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