ALERT: HARD CASE CRIME MAY CAUSE INTENSE, MULTIPLE BOOKGASMS!!HCC, you saucy, filthy, gorgeous little minx. I’m so glad I found you. After gobbling up book #1, I learned there are...steady...steady...65 MORE OF THESE...which made me...well... NOIRites, I gotta tell you, I fell hard, fast and "damn the consequences" for this sinister steaminess. And to then find out that there are 60+ more of these seedy, unwholesome, dangerously bits of noirish nastiness, caused such a stoking of my literary libido that I...I...oh no... Yep...it’s a multiple!!! I'm gonna have to finish this up quickly.So what’s the dealio with this book? First, if you haven’t yet, DON'T read the product description from Amazon because it gives away the first plot “twist” and I think you’ll have more funsies if you don’t know. Of course, if you already peeked, no biggie...but shame on you. Anyway, Joe Martin is a smart, savvy con man who makes his living scamming rich women out of their cash, their jewelry and their dignity. He is a Naughty by Nature boy and bizness is gumdrop good. That is, until the Day-o he meets Mona…rich, beautifully bountiful and sexiluscious Mona...and quickly finds himself naughty bit deep in the most difficult and potentially life-shortening con of his career. That is all I want to tell you specifically about the plot, except that it is pulse-poundingly fast and tight as a drum. I do want to call out 4 aspects of the novel that were highlights for me:1. Plot and Pacing: Lawrence Block can spread story with the best of them and he had me fully invested from the first paragraph. His writing is crisp and his breezy balance between detail and pace is scrumdiddlyumptious. 2. Characters: Joe and Mona pack some serious sizzle, for shizzle, and completely suck up your attention with whatever they are doing on the page. Their back and forth, round and round and in and out made me positively giddy. 3. Prose/Dialogue: In a word…Perfection!! Witness the following: “She made love with the freshness of an impatient virgin and the ingenuity of a sex-scarred whore.”“She was hot as a sunburn.”“No more fooling around. No more winning the battles and losing the war. No more games with chesty chickens like Linda Jamison.”“She smelled like money. I like money; you can buy nice things with it.” “She leaned forward to take the light and to give me a look at large breasts harnessed by a lacy black bra. Eve learned that one the day they got dressed and moved out of Eden. It has been just as effective ever since.” 4. THE ENDING: Oh sweet shockers…the ending. Your reviewer was embarrassingly unprepared for it. I know this is noir and is, by definition, dark and gritty, but I was still caught off tackle by the final resolution of the story. This one is going to stick on my brain carpet like syrup and turned this from a great 4 star read to an “O Face” inducing 5 star extravaganza. And that about does it. Bottom-line, I loved this in a “can’t get enough of you baby” sorta way and have bought the next 10 or so of the HCC catalog hoping for more "sweet" tarts and "sour" whisky from the sinful heaven that is Hard Case Crime. 5.0 STARS.
I suspect that the name of Lawrence Block is not well-known to that many people who enjoy reading thrillers and mystery fiction. Yet he has been producing crime novels and short stories of very high quality and huge variety for over 50 years. His books featuring erudite gentleman burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr (a kind of modern day Raffles) are particular favourites of mine. His stories about alcoholic private eye Matt Scudder are very dark but also, for the most part, first-rate. And I am told by friends that his stories featuring a hit-man called Keller are very good (but I've not yet ready any of them myself). When I first came across his work, it was in short story form (in a compilation edited by Ellery Queen). 'Grifter's Game' is one of Block's earliest non-series novels. It has also been published under the titles 'Mona' and 'Sweet Slow Death'. It's a very good example of noir crime fiction. The principal character is a young, handsome con-man named Joe Marlin. The seemingly rootless Joe uses aliases as he drifts from place to place and luxury hotel to luxury hotel in the United States of the 1960s looking for opportunities to make a quick buck. He rarely, if ever, pays his hotel bills. He makes a surreptitious getaway before being called upon to settle his account. One day, however, his crooked behaviour results in much more than he could ever have anticipated. He steals two pieces of expensive-looking luggage from a railway station luggage depository. Unbeknown to him, one of them contains a large stash of raw heroin. Not long after, he encounters a very attractive young woman (the femme fatale of the story), Mona, with whom he becomes infatuated. It transpires that Mona is the wife of the man who owns the luggage containing the heroin. Things move on from there. It would spoil things to say any more than that. It's fair to say that the basic plot of 'Grifter's Game' is hardly original. Variations of it form the basis of the plots of many of the pulp fiction/noir fiction stories written during the 1940s and 1950s. But in the hands of a very good writer like Lawrence Block, it doesn't seem like that. In a crowded field 'Grifter's Game' stands head and shoulders above much of the competition. This is largely thanks to Block's skill at creating believable characters and his ability to fashion realistic and credible dialogue. Although it's really wrong to do so, I could not help liking Joe. Yes, he's ruthless, amoral and selfish. But he's also witty, thoughtful and charming. He is familiar with the works of Shakespeare and Kipling and enjoys visiting the cinema. It's hard not to warm to him, despite his often shockingly bad behaviour. In that way, he reminds me of Patricia Highsmith's character Tom Ripley. The other fascinating thing about 'Grifter's Game' is the conclusion of the story, which is delightfully unexpected and which raises a number of interesting moral questions. Written in an unfussy, readable style that had me turning the pages eagerly, 'Grifter's Game' is a very entertaining novel and is a good example of Lawrence Block's inventiveness and versatility as a crime writer. I enjoyed it enormously. 8/10.
What do You think about Grifter's Game (2004)?
Small-time grifter hits the big one when he steals a suitcase with $1 million in heroin stashed inside. Copyright 1961 by Lawrence Block (original title 'Mona') but republished in 2004 as part of the Hard Case Crime series, which apparently aims to recapture the grit (and look) of the pulp-fiction novel. In that respect, Grifter's Game succeeds. It's well-written and hard-edged, with lean prose and a classic setup (grifter, two-timing wife, rich husband). The ending I've seen characterized as disturbing. That's an understatement. To my mind, for better or worse, it more or less overwhelms everything else about the novel. Just be aware: this is pulp fiction, not pop fiction. One other observation: the book reminded me in a couple of respects of A Simple Plan by Scott Smith. First-person narrator, seemingly logical, with questionable morals. One final note: I'd give the book four stars for the quality of writing, but that ending ... (shaking head) ... what was he thinking?
—John
Like many others, I suspect, I came to the Hard Case Crime series via Stephen King's Joyland which I have had on my reading pile for some time now. I thoroughly enjoyed that book and was inspired to have a look at what else was available in the series.Lawrence Block is a new name for me but I will definitely be reading more of his books. This one is a short, punchy wild ride. Following a small-time grifter who falls for a beautiful woman, the book takes several unexpected turns and the short, staccato sentences mean you are whisked along at a real pace.Written in 1960 and issued several times under different titles (according to Block's own fascinating Afterword) the characters inhabit a similar world to Carella, Meyer and co. in ed McBain's excellent 87th precinct novels. Of course the difference here is that we are seeing things from the wrong side of the law.I won't reveal the plot but I can say that this is a great read and I am planning to get more Block for my summer holiday. I can't offer a better recommendation than that.
—Simon Evans
I hope that the men I know take it as a compliment that I had a little trouble buying-in with this one. Don't get me wrong, Lawrence Block knows how to write his genre better than most, so I'll take some of the blame for my failure to suspend disbelief.(view spoiler)[Call me cynical, but if one roll in the hay (or on the sand, as it were) has a girl (one who scoped you out no less) promising you forever, something's probably up. However, definite points for creativity and discomfort-inducing ending to it all. (hide spoiler)]
—Mara
