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Son of a Grifter: The Twisted Tale of Sante and Kenny Kimes, the Most Notorious Con Artists in America
 
 
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Son of a Grifter: The Twisted Tale of Sante and Kenny Kimes, the Most Notorious Con Artists in America [Mass Market Paperback]

Kent Walker with Mark Schone (Author)
4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (72 customer reviews)

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Book Description

True Crime (Avon Books) April 2, 2002

In 1988 a troubled young man and his flamboyant mother were arrested for murdering a wealthy widow in her New York City mansion. Suddenly, America was transfixed by a pair of real-life film noir characters. The media couldn't get enough of the twisted relationship between Sante Kimes and her twenty-three-year-old son Kenny.

But the most chilling story of all was never told—until now. Kent Walker, Sante's elder son, reveals how he survived forty years of "the Dragon Lady's" very special brand of motherly love and still managed to get away.

As a child Kent watched his mother destroy his hardworking father, Ed Walker, and then—with Kent's painful collusion—snare what Sante called "my millionaire." When she married seemingly respectable real-estate developer Ken Kimes, it was a match made in hell.

For the next two decades Kent's mother and stepfather indulged in a globetrotting orgy of criminal behaviour.

Kent, their would-be recruit, was privy to the family business—torching houses, defrauding friends, crashing White When Kent's half-brother, Kenny was born, Kent was twelve years old—old enough to know that he was his younger sibling's only protector. Kent tried desperately to save Kenny from his mother's sinister bidding. His failure haunts him to this day.


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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.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

  • Mass Market Paperback: 512 pages
  • Publisher: Avon (April 2, 2002)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0061031690
  • ISBN-13: 978-0061031694
  • Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 1.4 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (72 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #896,439 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

72 Reviews
5 star:
 (40)
4 star:
 (24)
3 star:
 (5)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:
 (3)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.4 out of 5 stars (72 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Crime does not pay, November 28, 2001
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.

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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
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.

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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 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.

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Inside This Book (learn more)
First Sentence:
I make my living as a vacuum-cleaner salesman. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
maids trial, maids case, furs case
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, Palm Springs, Irene Silverman, Sante Kimes, Las Vegas, Ken Kimes, Carson City, Santa Barbara, Santa Maria, San Diego, Newport Beach, Los Angeles, Shade Tree, Almart Circle, Jeff David, Larry King, White House, Social Security, East Indian, Ambassador Kimes, Geronimo Way, Judge Uviller, Laurel Canyon, Manny Guerin, Southern California
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