Customer Reviews

King Con

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I bought this book with a half-hearted interest. Never one to gamble, I just didn't see a connection to the topic. From the first chapter, I was hooked, I could not put the book down (read it in one afternoon). The lead character, Beano Bates, is so well written you find yourself in the middle of this Con. If you love a fast paced read with lots of twists and turns, this book is for you.

Fun, fun, fun page turner for those who love to read about grifters and con artists. In the prologue the best con artist in the US cheats a number of people at cards, including a mobster, who beats him nearly to death afterward (an act which is totally contrary to the way the character is depicted throughout the rest of the book, but oh well). After a number of convolutions, the lovable con artist and the local DA team up to run a huge con to take out the mobster and his psychopathic brother. The characters are all cardboard, but its fun to read along and watch the author shuffle them around and spin a good story. Of course, Cannell knows that the details make the story, and this book is chock full of grifter tricks and cons which are a delight.

I remember when I was (ahem) a mere child I used to have the opening sequence of the A-Team memorized, I was such a fan. Today, I can still recite it. "In 1971 a crack commando unit was sent to military prison for a crime they did not commit...." In the closing of that show I remember seeing Mr. Cannell yanking a final page out a novel out of his old electric typewriter. Little did I know that he was really writing...and writing well. King Con opens with a bang, er, a golf club and ends with a sentimentality that cannot be denied. So what if the roller coaster ride ended with a gentle roll? The plot twists are better than a good New York pretzel. The cons themselves are nothing short of glorious. And....the guy gets the girl. Granted, the last sentence seemed like ole Stephen was just plain fed-up with the plot and said to himself "Hey, this is good enough. After all, the deadline is in five minutes." Nothing, not the end nor the beginning, is as important as the meat of a book. And let me tell you folks, this novel is a bonafide thick-cut T-bone. Enjoy!

Stephen J. Cannell is best know for his various television series, but he also pens fast-paced action novels that are similar in spirit. King Con involves a fallen card sharp, Beano Bates, after he rips off a mafia boss named Joe "Dancer" Rina. The boss catches him and beats him nearly to death. A witness comes forward and is under the protection of a tough lawyer named Victoria Hart. Tragic events bring Bates and Hart together to bring down Joe Rina and his brother Tommy, in the biggest of all cons.
I like the progression of scams, from a card game, jewel switch, craps cheating and finally a bogus oil company. With each scenario, the stakes were upped and things were never easy, but rather a house of cards ready to collapse at any moment. The book features an interesting cast of characters, many in the Bates con artist extended family. The dialogue was ready for film, the sets were easy to imagine and there was tension on every page.
The characters were pretty forgettable, with not a whole lot of dimension. Most of the time they're thinking about how they should be living instead of doing it. The old show vs. tell criticism. There were also points where things got over the top, like the whole Arkansas Bates clan and the hillbilly stereotype, although the invoice was funny.
Obviously Cannell is having fun, and it's interesting to learn the con person's lingo. Don't take this book too seriously. It's a popcorn book to enjoy on a long flight or vacation at the beach house or ski lodge.

Cannell pens a rather ordinary tale of revenge using a diverse array of characters. Beano Bates, the top con man in the nation and on the FBI's ten most wanted list, gets severely beaten after being accused of cheating in a high stakes poker game. The beating was administered with a golf club courtesy of Mafia kingpin Joe Rina. Despite the fact that Bates was of course cheating, he plots revenge after a witness to the attack gets killed by the Rina family while under protective custody. The witness, protected by New Jersey prosecutor Victoria Hart, was Bates' cousin Carol.

Bates hails from a huge closely knit family of grifters or con men who are recruited to enact a fanciful swindle to take down Rina and his trigger happy brother Tommy. Hart, disgraced after the murder of her witness, hooks up with Bates to help in an oil company scam to put a wedge between the two brothers.

Along the way, we meet a colorful cast of characters in both the Bates and Rina families. Bates and Hart eventually fall in love and Bates is reformed from his grifting ways. They sickeningly live happily ever after.

I found this to be a totally unbelievable, quick reading bit of easily forgetable mediocrity.

Most of this book, is fast-paced, and really holds your attention. I like the set-up and the ultimate con, how things fall into place and how the characters are able to change course if things do not proceed exactly as planned. But, the last few chapters sort of fall apart. I really didn't enjoy the ending as much as the rest of the book. It just seemed that the plot took some unlikely turns, that I didn't see as realistic.

it started out an entertaining read and had me laughing out loud at some of the cons' exploits, but the finale was deeply flawed and extremely disappointing - it was as if the author's imagination got tired and he just wrapped it up quickly without thought. And the idea that Dakota would stick around after her part had been played wasn't very bright. To top it off the fairytale nonsense at the end with the boy settles down with girl was too silly for words. I don't know if I'd bother with another book by the same author. I gave it two stars because it had promise.

Can't anyone write a believable ending anymore? I really enjoyed most of this book until the final chapters. Books about people who use their brains to overcome difficult situations are a lot of fun for me. However, why can't writers come up with final resolutions which are as bright as the story leading up to them? Like too many books lately, Cannell resorts to the usual shoot-em-up ending, in this case with the mob fighting the FBI and the hillbillies coming to the rescue. (Excuse my while I yawn.) Maybe he should have come up with a better ending first and written the book backward.

In King Con, the streetwise hero accidentally rips off a mob boss then suffers the death of his niece and then seeks revenge against the self-same mob boss. Seen this before? It's called THE STING. Remember? A streetwise con unknowingly rips off a mob henchman faking a robbery/stabbing, then take off with the mob flunky's cash, leaving him with a wad of tissue paper in the envelope. The mob bosses kill Redford's black friend. Redford recruits Newman and pull a complex sting against the self-same mob boss. The difference?--THE STING was original, it was clever, it relied on true surprises and twists and did not fall back on Cannell's trademark of unnecessary, unliterary, unthought-provoking, unimaginative violent gunslinger shootouts for the finale. The Sting truly surprised, entertained, and left us memorable characters. King Con lives up to its named in that it ripped off one king of a movie. My second star exists only because the actual writing is not so bad, but that becomes easy when THE STING is your template. Will it be a movie? Will there be a lawsuit? Stay tuned.

This thing kept me going for about the first 150 pages,stalled for the next 150 pages, and then completely fell apart at theend. A story like this needs a good villain to make it work. The antagonists here were cartoon characters and way overdone. I didn't believe the payoff for a minute.

And don't get me started with all those Hogcreek Bates . . . ridiculous.

Oh well. Better luck next time.