Hardboiled story that begins with a professional con man (who has just been released from serving seven years in San Quentin) having renounced his grifting ways. He is now the assistant night manager of a bowling alley, saving his pennies to open a bar. He's visited by an acquaintance who persuades him to take on one last con job that will provide him with the capital he needs to buy the bar.

The con itself is meticulously detailed and it's fun to watch the planning process and see it carried out. Of course there's a girl involved, and she gets our protagonist into a heap of trouble. (They always do.) I won't spoil any more of the story. Suffice it to say, it's an enjoyable story that well-crafted and engaging.

As with Grifter's Game (the only other Block book I have read), the ending is a complete turn-of-events. The books doesn't end the way you think it's going to end, that's for sure. It could easily have supported a sequel, but to my knowledge, none was ever written. Good stuff and recommended.

Review copyright 2009 J. Andrew Byers ( )

Canadian moose pasture hustle.

A man not too long out of prison is working the night shift at a bowling alley.

A fellow hustling afficionado of the long con shows up at his place with an idea for a new type of long con.

In Vegas, he met a girl, secretary for a real estate tycoon who had been stung once before - and a real estate game based in Canada their idea was again.

The story details the process of setting this up, and also how he gets along with this secretary, their inside person for this job.

It gets a little more complicated than that of course, although being mostly low-key for a lot of the novel.

http://notfreesf.blogspot.com/2008/09... ( )

Can you con a con may? This book was certainly a twister with a surprising ending. May the best con win! A great summer read. ( )

Grift on! Nothing to say really without spoiling things. Nothing like a crime novel about actual, unreformed criminal protagonist(s.) Like a straight Burroughs without the hallucinations and before cut-ups. ( )

Fun. ( )