Customer Reviews

God Wants You to Roll!: The $21 Million "Miracle Car" Scam-How Two Teenagers Fleeced America's Churchgoers

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4 star:		(2)
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John Phillips develops his cast of characters and his plot so well that I didn't want to stop reading. Even though I knew the outcome of this (...), I was drawn into the story of how these two young men pulled it off so easily--and carelessly--using people's deeply held faith against them. They built an empire on nothing. The account of the work of the law enforcement agents was exciting and suspenseful. For those who like to read true crime stories, this book is a must. And for those who like crime fiction, it doesn't get any better than this.

Mr. Phillips is a master at gathering details of the case and weaving them into a "can't put down book". At intervals I would find I had to stop and tell myself: "yes this is real, it's non-fiction - this is not made up!" I would recommend this book to anyone.

As one of the prosecutors in the case, my review may be on the biased side, but I think John Phillips did a great job on this book. Somehow he made it accurate and entertaining at the same time. Having read John's articles in Car and Driver long before I ever met him, I always enjoyed his humorous writing style. After meeting him during the trial and afterwards, I appreciated both his writing and his humor even more. It was a very interesting case to investigate and try in court, but the book was entertaining even to me. Some of our witnesses opened up to him with more information after the trial was over. I hope anyone who reads this book will have an appreciation of the inside view of what seems like an incredible fraud scheme but is actually "sad but true." I know anyone who reads it will be entertained.
Dan Stewart

A real page turner!! I could not put it down. What an incredible scam they pulled off.

This book takes you right into the heart of one of the biggest scams America has ever seen. What these two young men pulled off was unbelievable. You will be stunned at how this scam grew beyond their wildest dreams and spread through the Baptist Church network like a wildfire. Read this book!

...and John Phillips III does a fine job of telling it. I learned about the "Miracle Cars" scam from Phillip's Car and Driver articles (October 2003 issue), so I knew the ending, and he does a masterful job of telling this story.

Another website, for fans of true-crime stories, states taht this is one of the best non-violent crime stories they've seen, and I have a hard time disagreeing. Great reading.

My wife found God Wants You to Roll at our local library. She read it, and said it was a "must read." After tearing through it in two days, I have to agree.

In the 1990s, two California teenagers - Robert Gomez and James Nichols - met while working as security guards. Alone, neither man was remarkable. Gomez aspired to be a professional gambler, while Nichols was a luxury-car enthusiast with hazy college plans. Together, they committed the largest retail auto fraud in U.S. history. In total, they stole over $21 million.

The fraud was a simple Ponzi scheme: Gomez claimed to be the heir of a fictitious millionaire. Gomez said that the estate owned cars that he needed to liquidate and he offered the cars to buyers for a pittance. Nichols used his connections in the Christian community to find buyers.

God Wants You to Roll is a character study of two grifters. Gomez is the more colorful of the two. He used his millions to become a champion poker player and hobnobbed with casino bigwigs such as Larry Flynt and Steve Wynn. The picture of Nichols is less clear but very unflattering. Nichols conned his own family and the members of his own church.

It is exciting to read about the scam, but author John Phillips reminds readers of how many lives were ruined. The first "marks" were largely poor, religious people. Eventually, however, the plan drew in the wealthy - including car dealers, evangelists, attorneys, and pro football players.

God Wants You to Roll is a page turner. All true crime fans should read it.

Everyone should read this book. It is well written and a real page turner that is based on fact. I was surprised that the religious people had such a hard time accepting and admitting that they had been taken. Like God was going to protect them from crooks. It was a fasinating read. You will enjoy it. I did.

When I first heard of my uncle James Going to jail over this car scam thing I truly didnt believe it was so big. James and Robert were great friends, but Robert always brought him down in alot of ways. Robert was a crook from the start but its funny to know just how they wrote a book about him and Robert and they"ll be on Cnbc 3/26/2008 at 9pmPT on the show American greed. I even rode in one of the cars in high school not knowing it was bought with criminal money. James came from a great family and a nice neighborhood unlike the Bulls%$t they're writing my uncle was a great football player and an excellent student he also wanted to be a cop. This sucks. I feel sorry the person who Charles Mansion's family member but I still love my uncle and I truly believe that he made a bad decision by being friends with such a loser like Robert Gomez. Steve V. Nichols, Jr. his nephew.

Truth really is stranger than fiction. An amazing story that was very well written.