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Scams are notorious for either being spot-on or for going wrong just when you hope they won't. CON ED is all about scamming and the most unrelenting question is who is scamming whom? This rather persistent question is the foundation of this novel and the question that readers need to have at the back of their minds as they read it. Kip Largo used to be a very rich conman but after being locked up for eight years for fraud he decides to go straight even if this means that his life is dull as dishwater and he only makes a miserly $10 an hour whilst working in a dry cleaning store. Largo is quite content with his life as it is but finds himself reconsidering when his son Toby shows up with a major problem and some rather nasty men on his tail. As much as Largo is reluctant to get back into the business, he realises that his son (on the run from the Russian Mafia) needs his help and that it is up to him to bail him out. When an opportune proposal presents itself in the shape of the stunning young wife of a dangerous and deadly Las Vegas casino owner Largo realises that this is a too good an opportunity to miss and the perfect target for a grand scam. CON ED is an interesting book that is clever in its own way and has a certain charm to go with it. Nearly all the chapters start with a brief class on the art of the con (which in itself is amusing), and the rest of the book has this nerdish and to some extent off-putting (but knowledgeable) observations about the inner workings of Silicon Valley. There are also some wry interludes as we see Largo ponder not only his decision to return to crime, but also his conflicted relationship with his troublesome and squanderer son, his own relationship with his father (also a con man) and his failed marriage. While CON ED is a brisk crime novel with interesting characters with whom one can empathise, it is not however a page turner type of book that demands to be read in one sitting. It is amusing, sardonic at times and well worth spending time with. Only do not expect to be bowled over by it.
Reviewed by Ayo Onatade, January 2007
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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