Grift Sense Booklist

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
    starPW
    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
    starPW
    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
    starBooklist starLibrary 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
    starKirkus
    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
    starBooklist starPW
    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
    starBL
    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
    starKirkus
    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