Rating: 
Summary: Predictable ending
Review: An OK read for filling in time at airports while waiting for your next flight. Must admit that I saw the ending coming less than a third of the into the book.....can't trust shrinks can you?
Rating: 
Summary: I read the book
Review: And now I want to see the movie! I hope they keep everything the same, especially Roy. I didn't really picture Nicholas Cage as Roy, but as soon as I saw the trailer I see how he could do a really great job. I read the book in about two days which is really fast for me. I would want to know what people thought who saw the movie first and read the book after or vice versa.Alex
Rating: 
Summary: Stephen Mac's REview
Review: Are you kidding me? Who are these customers that reviewed this book? spectacular, Taken by surprise, and Best book ever. This book was so predictable Helen Keller could see it coming from a mile away. It is not even worth my time to write a review.
Maybe i will see the movie; it can't be worse than the book.
Rating:
Summary: Don't Play Cards With These Guys. Ever
Review: Author Eric Garcia has written two previous books in which hard-boiled private eye Vincent Rubio is actually a dinosaur in disguise. No dinosaurs in his latest masterpiece but two sleazy con artists who are very good at taking money from others by all kinds of clever scams. Roy and Frankie are very good at what they do, in spite of Roy's obsessive compulsive disorder and hypochondriasis. The book becomes really interesting when Roy's long lost daughter from a failed marriage turns up and begins to change his life. What will happen next? The plot takes a number of surprising twists and turns and carries you along, unable to put the book down, until the surprise ending that blew me away. While some of the reviewers found the ending obvious, I must be a good "mark" because I fell for it completely. This book is not for everyone. It is not uplifting or redeeming. It is about some very bad people doing very bad things, but it is extremely well-written, fast-moving, entertaining and engaging. It has a lot of interesting information about scams and flimflams. Sometimes it is funny. But nothing like dinosaurs. Reviewed by Louis N. Gruber.
Rating:
Summary: Spectacular
Review: Definatly the best book I have read thus far in my life. This book will leave you crying in the end, not because it is depressing, but because the book is over and there is no more story to read.
Rating:
Summary: Be careful of whom you trust
Review: Eric Garcia's series about a dinosaur detective, ANOMYMOUS REX & CASUAL REX, are totally different from his MATCHSTICK MEN, except for the fact they are all humorous. Roy & Frankie have been partners as con artists (matchstick men) for years. They are at opposite ends of the pole. Roy saves his money, planning for his retirement, (He doesn't trust banks; he keeps his money in a horse in his living room.) takes his medication regularly for his obsessive-compulsive disorder, & is very careful, except evidently during his brief marriage years ago. He finds out he has a teenage daughter who now wants to come stay with him & learn the trade. Frankie is just the opposite; he is willing to take chances. He wants to make a big score so he can get some money. They usually do their business in places, like restaurants, etc, on a small scale. Frankie isn't thrilled about having Roy's daughter sit in on some action, in fact he is downright opposed to it. But when a girl makes up her mind, what is a father to do? The big question here is can a con man be conned?
Rating:
Summary: Great story, forgettable ending...
Review: Eric Garcia's two previous "Rex" novels were wonderful; fast-paced, intelligent, and absurdly believable. "Matchstick Men" begins in the same tradition. The characters are only sketched out, but how much do we really need to know about two con-men? Once Angela is introduced, the book takes off. She is the real star of the book, and Nicholas Cage is going to be severely upstaged by her character in the movie (and rightly so!) The biggest disappointment I had was with the ending. I won't give it away, but suffice it to say that it was sufficiently jarring and out of character to ruin the rest of the novel for me. The first 220 pages get five stars, the last ten get only one. I do think, however, that the book is full of the same promise that Garcia showcased so well in the Rex books, and I am eager to read "Hot and Sweaty Rex" when it comes out in 2003.
Rating: 
Summary: The Scam is Obvious Way Too Early...
Review: For some stories, knowing the ending before you get there isn't necessarily a bad thing (eg. Titanic), but for a book about con artists and their scams, this is a fatal flaw. I'm not one who likes to sit down with a mystery or thriller and tries to figure out how it's going to end-I want a story to draw me into its web and keep me guessing and entertained. The best grifter stories do just that: think of recent films like Nine Queens, Croupier, David Mamet's The Spanish Prisoner and House of Games, or even The Sting. All of those stories kept you guessing and wondering until the very last moment. Unfortunately, about halfway through this breezy con artist caper, Garcia's various blatant clues coalesced in my head and I suddenly realized I knew what was going on and how it would all end. Even if the ending hadn't been telegraphed, it would be hard to overlook the shoddy characterization of the two main characters, middle-aged con-artist Roy and his flashier young partner Frankie. Roy's main deal is that he's got some kind of obsessive-compulsive disorder, something that might possibly have been slightly interesting if Jonathan Lethem hadn't already brilliantly portrayed just such a protagonist a few years ago in his outstanding novel Motherless Brooklyn. The book starts by showing Roy and Frankie run through a couple basic cons (Does the "twenties" really still work?), and then Roy's life is complicated by the appearance of his long-lost daughter. It's written in a very stripped down and simple style, one can almost see the script leaping off the page. In the end it's the worst of all worlds: flat characters sleepwalking through a stylistically flat and story whose "surprise twist" is evident from very early on. Maybe the filmmakers can fix it, and it'll be one of those rare cases where the movie is better than the book.
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Summary: Pictures of Matchstick Men and you...
Review: I agree with the Publisher's Weekly review about how the characters aren't really fleshed out. You almost don't care about them. Knowing that Nicholas Cage is playing Roy in the upcoming movie helped to 'see' the character. The book is quite funny though. I found myself laughing aloud at times. I picked this up at random from the library shelf because of its loud cover and not knowing of this authors other books. It's only 228 pages and worth a read if looking for something quick and easy.
Rating:
Summary: I gotta admit...
Review: I bought the book 'cause I love Nic Cage, but once I started reading it I was hooked. Maybe I'm not as clever as some of the other reviewers, but I was caught up in the whole thing all the way through and my husband (I let him read it after me) thought the same thing. It was funny and a little sad and I can't wait to see Nic do Roy.
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