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When we last saw Tony Valentine - former cop, lifelong misanthrope, and sixty something freelance 'grifter hunter' - he was just coming up for air after a close brush with the afterlife. Now, Tony's back on the case in FUNNY MONEY, James Swain's hardboiled, page-turning follow up to his breakthrough GRIFT SENSE. This time around, it's personal: Valentine's ex-partner Doyle Flanagan has been blown to pieces by a car bomb. Shortly before his death, Doyle had been filling Valentine in on the details of his latest case - an impressive six million dollar blackjack scam at Atlantic City's legendary Bombay casino. Valentine determines that the only way to bring his friend's killers to justice is to crack the Bombay heist himself. But standing between Valentine and his goal is a head spinning assortment of ruthless gangsters, crooked croupiers, eccentric millionaires, Croations with bad haircuts, and one irresistibly enigmatic female wrestler.
- Sales Rank: #1444093 in Books
- Published on: 2002-06-04
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 1.09" h x 6.44" w x 9.54" l,
- Binding: Hardcover
- 304 pages
Amazon.com Review
"I can sense when things aren't right on a casino floor and I just take it from there," says Tony Valentine, the cop turned casino consultant who--all boasting aside--finds himself stumped more often than not in Funny Money. James Swain's smartly plotted, often humorous sequel to Grift Sense sends the 62-year-old Valentine back to his hometown, Atlantic City, where his former police partner, Doyle Flanagan, has been blown up in his car at a McDonald's. Is this murder linked to Flanagan's investigation of a $6 million blackjack hustle at the city's giant Bombay casino, allegedly perpetrated by a gang of badly coifed Croatians? Meanwhile, Valentine will have to face down thugs who are putting the squeeze on his flaky son, try to appease the Bombay's much-despised owner, and win the help--and heart--of a no-nonsense woman wrestler with a nasty attitude.
Like his debut novel, Funny Money is distinguished by Swain's knowledge of gambling scams from card counting to the judicious application of a "monkey's paw" on a slot machine. Less even is this book's character development. Valentine is expertly drawn, and the relationship between him and his late-blooming son is both convincing and heartwarming. But some secondary players are about as thinly realized as a poker chip, and Swain's too-convenient use of violence as a plot propellant threatens to undermine his story's credibility. All in all, though, Funny Money is a safe bet. --J. Kingston Pierce
From Publishers Weekly
The same warmth, honesty and inside expertise that made Grift Sense (2001) a memorable crime debut is back in spades in Swain's second book about ex-cop Tony Valentine, who advises gambling casinos on how to spot and stop cheaters. Swain might not be a Leonard or even a Hiaasen when it comes to a seamless writing style, but he makes up for it with insights into his characters' behavior that inevitably ring true. Tony's relationship with his hapless son, Gerry, is letter-perfect: a father's natural love warring at every turn with a hard man's distaste for weakness. No matter how often Gerry screws up, Tony finds some way to help him. This same ambivalence colors Tony's dealings with Archie Tanner, the brutal, bullying fixer who runs a vast Taj Mahal-like casino in Atlantic City and who now wants to buy his way into Florida's gambling industry. When Tony's ex-partner and lifelong friend Doyle Flanagan is killed while looking for a strange band of shabby Croatian math geniuses who are ripping off Tanner's blackjack operation, Valentine takes over the investigation. But it's not really revenge or the $1,000-a-day fee that motivates him: it's a weird but finally totally logical belief that the gambling business which preys on human weakness should at least be clean and honest. Stretching that analogy only a little, Swain makes Tony his Don Quixote tilting at blackjack tables and slot machines instead of windmills.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Former policeman Tony Valentine (Grift Sense) operates a gambling casino protection service out of his Florida home. When his former partner and best friend now a PI is murdered in Atlantic City, Tony vows vengeance on the "European," the elusive and resourceful scam artist his friend was investigating. Tony contacts the casino, which has been bilked of $6 million, and goes to work with surveillance tapes and his own personal network of contacts. Though hampered at times by his adversarial son, Mafia types, and others, Tony wins his game. A smooth narrative, credible situations, and a nervy plot make this second Tony Valentine mystery a highly recommended choice for most mystery collections.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Most helpful customer reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful.
"Funny Money" = A Royal Flush!!!
By Jana L.Perskie
Retired Atlantic City cop Tony Valentine runs a consulting business called "Grift Sense," an old gambling expression which means "that you not only know how to do the moves, you also know when to do them." He is a pro at reading people, and can feel "when a hustle is going down, even if he doesn't know exactly what it is." Sixty-two year-old Valentine is one of the most refreshingly original characters to enter the world of sleuth fiction in a long time. This senior is as smart as he is sexy - and he is sexy, trust me! He made his debut in James Swain's "Grift Sense." "Funny Money," book two in the series, has our hero back home in Atlantic City....for a funeral, unfortunately. Doyle Flannigan, Tony's best friend and former partner was murdered, literally blown away, while investigating a casino scam.
Right before his death, Doyle phoned Tony at his home in Florida to discuss a $6 million dollar con he was investigating at the Bombay Casino in Atlantic City. The Bombay is owned by their longtime acquaintance Archie Tanner, one of the richest men in NJ, and a "mean, foul-mouthed thug." No one likes this guy, including his employees. In the middle of their telephone conversation, a bomb explodes, causing Doyle's demise. Tony hears it all, courtesy of AT&T. Needless to say, our man is out for blood - Bigtime! He's hops a plane, pointed north, to attend the funeral, comfort Liddy, Doyle's wife, and bring Valentine-style justice to those who killed his best buddy. He also plans to hunt down the hustlers who are ripping-off the Bombay. To further complicate his life, black sheep son Gerry, a bookie who manipulated his father into setting him up in business, is being pursued by the Mob. Yolanda, Gerry's fiance, is expecting, which will make Tony a grandfather. And an attempt is made on Valentine's life. It's not the first...and it won't be the last!
Swain's narrative is well written, fast paced and filled with suspense and humor. His inside take on the gambling industry, the rough and tumble world of gaming, a wide variety of the grifts/scams/hustles committed, the view from the catwalk and other surveillance measures are fascinating. His characters are wonderfully quirky, like friend, neighbor, and new Grift Sense employee Mabel Struck, who runs daily anonymous classifieds in the St. Petersburg Times, to the delight of area subscribers. Kat Berman is new on the scene. She's a foxy, zaftig female wrestler who becomes Tony's love interest. The reader is also introduced to Master Yun, his judo teacher, and to Dr. Peter Diamondis, a Princeton professor, head of the Probability Department, and author of "The Devil's Playthings, A Mathematical Examination of Riffle Shuffles, their Cycles and Decents."
James Swain, is supposedly one of the best card-handlers around, a gambling expert and a professional magician. So he knows his subject matter well. He has written a most entertaining mystery full of schemes, scams and surprises. You won't be able to put this one down.
JANA
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful.
The Casino is Open - Enjoy!
By John R. Linnell
There is nothing funny to Tony Valentine about the murder of his best friend and ex-partner, Doyle Flanagan. Valentine, an ex-cop and a majestro at figuring out the various scams of those who try to rip off the casinos of the world is called upon in the second of James Swain's books about Valentine to try and unravel one of the most complicated deceptions that he has yet encountered. In doing so, he finds himself involved in some of the funniest and scariest escapades of his 62 year old life and the reader is taken further into the mind, dreams and hopes of this most entertaining "hero."
Swain's stories about the seamy underside of the gambling business continue to deserve our attention and it is really better if you find out for yourself what he has in store for us. I assure you that if you enjoy this type of genre, you will enjoy the journey. I did.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful.
Hugely entertaining
By Charlotte Vale-Allen
Swain's Grift Sense was pure pleasure and, happily, he's followed up with a royal flush. The writing is lean, the characters are fully developed (even the dog) and hero Valentine is a believable and sympathetic fellow. Any book that entertains as well as informs is one well worth the cover price. The author's seemingly limitless knowledge of gambling scams makes for fascinating reading. Add to this a hero of sixty-two with a sense of chivalry and a good heart, as well as a fully functioning conscience, and you've got a solid series working. From white-haired neighbor Mabel who takes to her new job as Tony's assistant with believable mental agility to wrestler-love interest Kat, to a trio of hapless inept thugs, the entertainment factor is one hundred percent. Superior plotting skill and great narrative drive make Swain someone to watch.
Very highly recommended.
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