Son of a Grifter: The Twisted Tale of Sante and Kenny Kimes, the Most Notorious Con Artists in America: A Memoir by the Other Son [Hardcover]

Kent Walker (Author), Mark Schone (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 24, 2001

The most famous con artists in America, Sante and Kenny Kimes made headlines nationwide when they were charged and then convicted for the death of a wealthy socialite. But questions about the deadly duo remain. How did this ageing Liz Taylor wannabe raise a son who became her criminal accomplice? In this extraordinary memoir, Kent Walker - Sante Kimes other son - tells the shocking story of his family. Walker describes growing up with an intense, manipulative woman who inflicted a unique brand of motherly love; of a childhood filled with shoplifting, theft and arson; of the turning point when Walker found the courage to defy his mother's deadly wishes. Yet Son of a Grifter is also a portrait of a man in moral and emotional turmoil, struggling to come to grips with his past. Filled with unprecedented details and chilling insights into the mind of a sociopath, Son of a Grifter is a powerful, unforgettable story.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Convicted last year of murdering millionaire heiress Irene Silverman in New York City and waiting to stand trial for a second murder in California, Sante and Kenny Kimes, mother and son, have become two of the best-known American criminals of recent years. In the wake of widespread, high-profile media coverage, this book purports to fill in missing details of Sante's murky biography. Walker, who is Sante Kimes's eldest son and half-brother to Kenny, catalogues the wrongdoings of the woman he still affectionately calls "Mom," including everything from shoplifting and theft to multiple counts of arson, insurance fraud and slavery. Walker vividly recounts his childhood with Sante and her third husband, Ken Kimes, detailing how the couple indoctrinated him into criminality. The author, who appears to be exorcising personal demons, does a fine job of elucidating the psychological and emotional price of being loved and cared for by a sociopath. It is this tension, between the loving mother and the criminal willing to neglect and at times even betray her child, that pushes the story forward. Unfortunately, the litany of crimes is so vast and comes so fast that the narrative never quite lingers long enough to develop real drama or suspense. Well researched and touching, though, it testifies to how one son can evolve into a killer and the other live to tell the tale. As a chronicle of Sante Kimes's life, it's unlikely to be surpassed by any other. The only person likely to tell a more intimate tale is Sante herself. Photos not seen by PW. (April 23)Forecast: This is the first major look at the criminal Kimes family, and with the media attention surrounding the forthcoming trial as well as appearances by Walker on Larry King and NBC's Dateline it should attract many readers throughout the summer.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

The authors tell a compellingly sordid and ultimately very sad story that began, at least for the newspaper-reading and TV news-watching public, when a middle-aged woman named Sante Kimes and her twentysomething son, Kenny, were arrested for murdering a wealthy woman in New York City as part of an involved plot to abscond with her money and possessions. But there is much more to the story than that, and Walker, Sante's older son and Kenny's half-brother, tells it all in astounding detail. Sante Kimes was a finagler, con artist, manipulator, and thief from practically the first day she drew breath; soon enough, murderer would be added to her list of labels. Perhaps the most amazing aspect of her career in crime was the way she was able to enlist her two sons in her brazen illegal activities. Author Kent wised up to his mother, although it took him a long time to summon the strength to pull away from this Lady Svengali. But unfortunate Kenny, now incarcerated, as is Sante, seems yet to understand that he was psychologically poisoned by his mother. A movie attempting to tell Sante Kimes' story would be criticized for being overblown and implausible. And yet, this story is neither; instead, it is one of the most engrossing true-crime accounts to be published in recent memory. Expect this compelling book to get all the attention it deserves. Brad Hooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow; First edition. edition (April 24, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060188650
• ISBN-13: 978-0060188658
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (72 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #406,437 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Crime does not pay, November 28, 2001

By 

lvkleydorff - See all my reviews

This review is from: Son of a Grifter: The Twisted Tale of Sante and Kenny Kimes, the Most Notorious Con Artists in America: A Memoir by the Other Son (Hardcover)

The story of Sante and Kenny Kimes is widely known since their murder trial last year. But here we now have all the details under one cover. It is amazing to realize that one single human being can accomplish every crime imaginable, from shoplifting to murder. Sante sure has a focused negative mind, like a black marketeer who cannot envision a legal deal. And, like a gambling addict, she has to feed her habit. Amazing is the fact that she is basically dumb: all her major deals went wrong.

Kent, her oldest son who wrote this book, tells us that he has weaned himself from his mother. Yet he still calls her Mom and constantly mentions his love for her. I thought it very telling that in the many pictures he added to the book he constantly shows his mother - but never his father.

The book is completely disorganized, jumping around in time, location and subject. Properly edited, it could have been shortened considerably.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Son of a Grifter is the Mother of All True Crime Books, June 21, 2001

By 

Perry Smith (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Son of a Grifter: The Twisted Tale of Sante and Kenny Kimes, the Most Notorious Con Artists in America: A Memoir by the Other Son (Hardcover)

OK - first of all, the content is fascinating. A highly detailed account of growing up in a family of sociopaths, and the aftermath thereof.

What makes this book special, though, is how it doesn't just recite the criminal history of the Kimes family, but uses it to rise above the true crime genre. Instead of just reciting the sleaze and scams that Sante Kimes and her family pull off (which, let's face it, no matter how much of a highbrow you might be, are worth reading about in and of themselves), Son of a Grifter elevates this material by describing how the Kimes' criminal activities map into (and out of) that defining aspect of our society, the search for the American Dream.

This book is not your usual tabloid quickie designed to cash in on a hot crime story. Thing more along the lines of Norman Mailer's "The Executioner's Song" or Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood." It's scrupulously researched, incredibly well written, and really captures the voice of its central characters.

I hardly ever buy audio books, but I heard Kent Walker on NPR, and his speaking voice is perfect for this story. I'll be driving cross-country this summer, and think I'll get the audio version for the feeling of that coast-to-coast opportunistic drifting that Sante Kimes is emblematic of.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An astounding memoir, June 22, 2001

By 

"doerksen" (chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Son of a Grifter: The Twisted Tale of Sante and Kenny Kimes, the Most Notorious Con Artists in America: A Memoir by the Other Son (Hardcover)

This book is packaged and marketed like a standard brick of true crime with a photo section in the middle, but it is actually a unique and enthralling personal memoir, and a valuable contribution to late 20th century social history to boot. The prose is superb, and the clarity of Kent Walker's psychological insights, into both his family history and own mind are beyond impressive. Anyone generally interested in the phenomenon of charisma (REAL charisma, the Weberian kind, not manufactured "charisma" as seen on tv) will profit from this book, which plumbs its mysteries with particular intelligence. One would not think, either from the descriptions or photographs, that anyone would be able to find Sante Kimes as anything other than repulsive. And yet, she had this incredible, awful capacity to influence and control those around her, through sheer force of personality.

This is a horrifying story, but also, in the strangest of ways, an inspiring one, in that Kent Walker somehow managed to transcend an upbringing among sociopaths to become some semblance of a human being.

I read this book in two sittings, and it would have been one, except that I had to sleep.