Rating: 
Summary: Sting
Review: If you watched the movie Sting,this book is about the same. It is written almost ready to be made into a movie and it will be releases this summer. You should be able to speed read through it within a few hours and if you stop long enough at the sugar pills con, you could have almost guess the ending.
Rating: 
Summary: Spectacular
Review: It is amazing with a suprize dat will blow u away. Worth reading.
Rating: 
Summary: GREAT READ, SLICK ENDING, COOL CHARACTERS
Review: Matchstick Men is an all around fun and satisfying read. The Characters were well written and the ending was a great touch.
Rating:
Summary: Spectacular
Review: OK in my make believe world everything has the perfect ending so I had already put an ending to this book but then reality hit me hard in the face. What a surprise! This book is one of the best books I've read this year so far. It reminded me of the last Grisham book I read - again expecting a different ending and just taken by surprise. At times I could not contain my laughter at Roy's "weirdness" especially his deal with the carpet. Sadly I can relate to the fact that we sometimes get so caught up in the absurd. I love a book that won't let me sleep because it's so darn good. Now I'm hesitant in viewing the movie - will I be disappointed? I wonder. . . .
Rating:
Summary: Taken by surprise
Review: OK in my make believe world everything has the perfect ending so I had already put an ending to this book but then reality hit me hard in the face. What a surprise! This book is one of the best books I've read this year so far. It reminded me of the last Grisham book I read - again expecting a different ending and just taken by surprise. At times I could not contain my laughter at Roy's "weirdness" especially his deal with the carpet. Sadly I can relate to the fact that we sometimes get so caught up in the absurd. I love a book that won't let me sleep because it's so darn good. Now I'm hesitant in viewing the movie - will I be disappointed? I wonder. . . .
Rating:
Summary: A petty crime gem
Review: Roy and Frankie are partners in con, ripping off everyone who crosses their paths from college kids to home making women to greedy men. But Roy is also suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder, and Frankie hooks him up with psychiatrist Dr. Klein so he can get the pills he needs. Dr. Klein in turn hooks Roy up with a daughter he never knew he had. Angela, fourteen, is eager to have a dad and wants to learn all about his job. Pretty soon she's helping. Pretty soon Roy wants to give up all his tricks in order to gain custody of her, but Frankie convinces him they should play the con game one more time ... just one more time.MATCHSTICK MEN is one of the best books I have read this spring. It is fast, full of twists and cons, cleanly and cleverly plotted, and peopled with characters who, while not brilliant, are sturdy enough to hold up their ends of the book. Angela especially will keep you reading. For me, the ending was a complete surprise and it left me thinking the whole book through again from a different angle. I found it a resounding and fitting wrapup for a book of cons, hinted at but unexpected. If you like fast, absorbing, perfectly plotted little books of petty crime with a twist, MATCHSTICK MEN is a treasure I couldn't recommend more highly.
Rating:
Summary: Great Novel with a Mind Blowing Conclusion
Review: This is such a clever, fun novel to read. It is relatively short, a breeze to read, but still stays with you after it is done. Eric Garcia, who is known for his quirky "underground" novels, weaves a very tight storyline with some well-drawn characters. The story centers around Frankie and Roy, two con men who day in day out rob people of their money using complex or simple tricks. I found some of the con games very interesting, as some are so simple I thought of trying them out myself (only for a few seconds). My favorite was the "twenties" game, which you'll be reading about while shaking your head at the simplicity of it. The con team is two very different men. Roy is a steady, veteran con artist who lives a relatively simple life and saves all his money. His only weakness is his obsessive compulsive disorder, which goes away if properly medicated Frankie is a horrible person with his money, blowing it all on luxury items and increasingly going into debt. He is much more a risk taker than his partner, wants to explore new avenues of crime with strange people. Roy is risk averse, worried that his stable criminal life will be disturbed if he goes outside his comfort zone. Everything changes when Roy's psychologist introduces his long lost daughter, a spunky 15 year old who Roy just falls in love with, as a father. She is energetic, and wants to learn the cons just like her father. As Roy learns to care for her more and more, he considers leaving his business behind. Contrary to some other reviews, I thought the character of Roy was very interesting. Although his whole history is not detailed for us, I formed a pretty good image of him and what makes him tick. Frankie could have used a little more fleshing out, but Roy is the focal point of the story anyway. All of this culminates in a really great ending. It is the kind of ending that makes you really say "Ohhhh..I should have saw that coming!" One of the best parts of the book is to go back and look at all the seemingly obvious clues that you, an intelligent reader, should have picked up on. I guess you could say that it is the greatest triumph of a novel about con men is too pull a big mind con on the reader. Garcia certainly pulled that off with this reader. Great story all around, cannot wait for the movie.
Rating:
Summary: Great Novel with a Mind Blowing Conclusion
Review: This is such a clever, fun novel to read. It is relatively short, a breeze to read, but still stays with you after it is done. Eric Garcia, who is known for his quirky "underground" novels, weaves a very tight storyline with some well-drawn characters. The story centers around Frankie and Roy, two con men who day in day out rob people of their money using complex or simple tricks. I found some of the con games very interesting, as some are so simple I thought of trying them out myself (only for a few seconds). My favorite was the "twenties" game, which you'll be reading about while shaking your head at the simplicity of it. The con team is two very different men. Roy is a steady, veteran con artist who lives a relatively simple life and saves all his money. His only weakness is his obsessive compulsive disorder, which goes away if properly medicated Frankie is a horrible person with his money, blowing it all on luxury items and increasingly going into debt. He is much more a risk taker than his partner, wants to explore new avenues of crime with strange people. Roy is risk averse, worried that his stable criminal life will be disturbed if he goes outside his comfort zone. Everything changes when Roy's psychologist introduces his long lost daughter, a spunky 15 year old who Roy just falls in love with, as a father. She is energetic, and wants to learn the cons just like her father. As Roy learns to care for her more and more, he considers leaving his business behind. Contrary to some other reviews, I thought the character of Roy was very interesting. Although his whole history is not detailed for us, I formed a pretty good image of him and what makes him tick. Frankie could have used a little more fleshing out, but Roy is the focal point of the story anyway. All of this culminates in a really great ending. It is the kind of ending that makes you really say "Ohhhh..I should have saw that coming!" One of the best parts of the book is to go back and look at all the seemingly obvious clues that you, an intelligent reader, should have picked up on. I guess you could say that it is the greatest triumph of a novel about con men is too pull a big mind con on the reader. Garcia certainly pulled that off with this reader. Great story all around, cannot wait for the movie.
Rating:
Summary: Great Novel with a Mind Blowing Conclusion
Review: This is such a clever, fun novel to read. It is relatively short, a breeze to read, but still stays with you after it is done. Eric Garcia, who is known for his quirky "underground" novels, weaves a very tight storyline with some well-drawn characters. The story centers around Frankie and Roy, two con men who day in day out rob people of their money using complex or simple tricks. I found some of the con games very interesting, as some are so simple I thought of trying them out myself (only for a few seconds). My favorite was the "twenties" game, which you'll be reading about while shaking your head at the simplicity of it. The con team is two very different men. Roy is a steady, veteran con artist who lives a relatively simple life and saves all his money. His only weakness is his obsessive compulsive disorder, which goes away if properly medicated Frankie is a horrible person with his money, blowing it all on luxury items and increasingly going into debt. He is much more a risk taker than his partner, wants to explore new avenues of crime with strange people. Roy is risk averse, worried that his stable criminal life will be disturbed if he goes outside his comfort zone. Everything changes when Roy's psychologist introduces his long lost daughter, a spunky 15 year old who Roy just falls in love with, as a father. She is energetic, and wants to learn the cons just like her father. As Roy learns to care for her more and more, he considers leaving his business behind. Contrary to some other reviews, I thought the character of Roy was very interesting. Although his whole history is not detailed for us, I formed a pretty good image of him and what makes him tick. Frankie could have used a little more fleshing out, but Roy is the focal point of the story anyway. All of this culminates in a really great ending. It is the kind of ending that makes you really say "Ohhhh..I should have saw that coming!" One of the best parts of the book is to go back and look at all the seemingly obvious clues that you, an intelligent reader, should have picked up on. I guess you could say that it is the greatest triumph of a novel about con men is too pull a big mind con on the reader. Garcia certainly pulled that off with this reader. Great story all around, cannot wait for the movie.
Rating:
Summary: Well written but obvious
Review: When obsessive compulsive con-man Roy learns that he has a daughter from a long abandoned marriage, it changes his life. Despite objections from his partner, Frankie, Roy insists on including his daughter on some of their scams, teaching her the tricks of the game. Frankie resists, reminding Roy that this violates Roy's rules, but Roy is transformed. Maybe he'll even turn over a new leaf, get a real job, and join life as a mark rather than as a grifter. Author Eric Garcia does a fine job describing the cons and making Roy sympathetic even as he systematically steals thousands of dollars from people who can ill-afford to lose their money. Roy's occasional attacks of ethics, and his growing affection for his daughter, as well as his emotional problems with obsessive compulsion disorder give him a degree of complexity. The key characteristic of a good con is that the mark doesn't see it coming. Readers may fault MATCHSTICK MEN in this. The plot may twist and turn, but the destination is telegraphed early. Few fans of the genre are likely to be surprised by the ending of this novel.
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