The Girl with the Long Green Heart

This is my kind of book! Basically, everyone is a "bad guy" so I get to root for, or against, them all! The con, or grift, is pretty tricky and the dame is pretty hot! And when the shoe drops on the whole thing, well, it's a heck of a twist! I loved the pace of the book and until the end, I felt that the author had given me just enough buy in to really get me! Good, solid ending too! Reminds me not to buy any moose pastures in Canada anytime soon!

March 13, 2022
The Girl With the Long Green Heart by Lawrence Block

John Hayden and Doug Rance are ready to pull off a big con. To scam a big time real estate man Wallace Gunderman. But they need help on the inside, their best bet Evelyn Stone. Gunderman's Secretary and lover. But she is a woman scorned and wants revenge.

The story moves at a steady pace with engaging dialog and intense moments. The two men have the job well planned out, until things go sour. Soon they are at a cross roads as the story takes a turn, heading to a slow burn. Overall I found The Girl with the Long Green Heart enjoyable and recommend to those who enjoy hard case crimes.

After doing a stretch in San Quentin, Johnny Hayden decides to commit to a quiet life in middle management. While saving up to buy a local motel and quietly completing a correspondence course in hospitality, Johnny is approached by an old friend with a con to end all cons. Reluctant at first, Johnny eventually caves after careful analysis suggests the plan is a sure thing. The only hiccup? There’s an amateur involved. Will the scheme go off without a hitch or will their accomplice’s inexperience lead to their downfall?

Hard Case Crime has become my go to when I want to relax with a swift read between larger, more demanding novels. This isn't a slight against the quality of work – not at all – I just find the stories read like show more swift punches to the gut. The writing is very clean and clear and the plots are always interesting. Charles Ardai sure knows what he’s doing when he puts that stamp of approval on a crime novel.

Most of the novel takes place in the Northeast United States as well as Toronto and the scheme itself involves purchasing land in the Canadian Midwest province of Alberta. Knowing what we know now in just how vastly rich that province is, it almost would've have been worth their while to hang onto the land. Johnny and Doug could have been oil tycoons!

Block’s prose is just so easily digestible. I know it’s a short book – only 251 pages (with a very racy cover I might add) – but I flew through this in just two sittings. When it comes to the plot, it’s hard to believe Block hasn't set up one of these cons himself, everything seems so flawless. Well, it’s either that or he was once taken by a smooth-talking grifter himself.

Man, what an ending. I thought I had it all figured out but Block goes and blindsides me like a snow storm in July. It’s everything a Hard Case Crime novel should be, it’s unexpected and brutal. It just goes to show the timeless quality of Block’s work. With the exception of one major difference – lessened security at the airport (no fault of Block’s) – this novel holds up today despite being published nearly 50 years ago. show less

This is my kind of book! Basically, everyone is a "bad guy" so I get to root for, or against, them all! The con, or grift, is pretty tricky and the dame is pretty hot! And when the shoe drops on the whole thing, well, it's a heck of a twist! I loved the pace of the book and until the end, I felt that the author had given me just enough buy in to really get me! Good, solid ending too! Reminds me not to buy any moose pastures in Canada anytime soon!

This is a reissue of a paperback original. This 1965 novel is classic Lawrence Block at his best. The biggest flaw is that the kindle version has a plain Jane cover instead of the racy one found on the paperback version. Think Redford and Newman in The Sting and you'll have a handle on this book. Although in an afterword, Block points out that his book was published half a dozen years before the movie came out.

John Hayden is eight months out of San Quentin after doing a seven year stretch and working in a Colorado bowling alley when Doug Rance looks him up. Hayden was a guy who ran long cons and usually was successful at it. The best two handed con, the narrator explains, is when one guy has the charm and the other the sincerity. show more Hayden was the guy people trusted and Rance was the charmer. Hayden and Rance offer to buy from William Gunderman Canadian property he bought years before at the behest of a sharp salesman. Gunderson is fighting mad about having been suckered on that deal. His secretary, Evelyn Stone, is something worth looking at. In fact, Evvie is in on the con cause she's tired of waiting on Gunderman to marry her. The hook is baited and they are going to reel in the big fish this time.

The amazing thing about this book is how absolutely engrossing it is without much real action for most of it. Just some dialogue and some narrative. First class writing deserving of nothing less than the highest rating. I enjoyed it from beginning to end. show less

Johnny Hayden and Doug Rance are con men who feel they have the perfect con ~ perfect because the have the mark's secretary/girl friend taking part.

Ah yes, the girl - Johnny says, "She had a special beauty nude. Most women look better clothed. Bodies are imperfect. Clothes hide, and also promise, and the promise is too often better than the fulfillment of it. Not so with Evvie." And ~ she has a grifter's soul.

There comes a moment when the con is almost done, and you know in your heart of hearts something just has to go wrong... but never in my wildest imagination did I have a clue.

This one and "Grifter's Game" are my favorite Block books so far. This one was a lot like "The Sting" or "Matchstick Men" about a long con and cons within cons and so forth. It's fun if you like that sort of thing, which I do.