Rating: 
Summary: This excellent read will con you out of your evening!
Review: Tony Valentine has spent most of his life dealing with creeps, crumbs, crooks, con men, and other assorted low-lifes. First as a cop and now as a freelance investigator, he has used his skill at spotting scams to bust enough grifters to fill a $3.99 buffet. When casino pit bosses find the house getting taken to the cleaners by the best, they know Tony's the man to stop them. "Grift Sense" is James Swain's first novel and it's a winner. The story is very interesting and unfolds at a well-measured, suspenseful pace. Like Elmore Leonard, Swain has the knack for creating the kind of thugs and larcenous malcontents whom you can't help but be like. This book is supposed to be the first in a series featuring Tony Valentine. I hope the author is already hard at work on the next volume because I'm looking forward to reading more.
Rating:
Summary: Grifters, Con Artists and other Characters!
Review: Tony Valentine is a former cop and something of a legend in gambling circles. Retired to Florida, Valentine now works as a consultant with casino owners who know that they are being cheated by some of the players. Known as "Grifters" these players have perfected cheating to a science and work the circuit from Las Vegas to Atlantic City and back again using disguises, misdirection and other techniques. For the casinos where profit and staying in business is a razor thin edge one talented grafter can bring a casino down fast. Nick Nicocropolis, owner of the Acropolis Casino & Resort in Las Vegas has been hit hard for several days in a row. The player going by the name of Frank Fontaine played blackjack at Nola Brigg's table and walked away with over one hundred thousand dollars over several days. He vanished and left the ten-year veteran employee, Nora, to take the heat. Nick brings Valentine from Florida to Las Vegas to help catch Fontaine who quite possibly might be planning a bigger score. There are signs that his schemes have a personal edge to them as if he wants to bring down Nick and no one, including Nick, seems to know who he really is or why he would have it in for him. But he does and as Valentine works the case, others involved seem to set their sights on him for one reason or another, which may put those that he cares about in harm's way. This is the first novel of a planned series and was a very enjoyable read. Tony Valentine is a gruff but engaging character that is less than thrilled with some aspects of modern life. He has a deeply sarcastic streak that while a kick to read is often missed by the other characters involved in the book. This novel reminds me of early Sue Grafton novels. It had that same feel to the read with the offbeat storyline and characters, a detective that fumbles around from time to time trying to get a handle on the situation and a complicated story. This read is well worth your time and promises to be the start of a very good series.
Rating: 
Summary: Inaccurate and uninteresting
Review: Where to begin? I suppose I'll start with the technical inaccuracies on blackjack. Early on a "grift expert" says that reading tells in blackjack dealers is a first. Yet there are published books on this (and I've personally done it) such as Steve Forte's "Read the Dealer". Although the author gets other things right about blackjack, he really mixes up 1950 Las Vegas and the modern Vegas. I do actually agree with him that old school Las Vegas Casino heads and supervisors are as cretinous as he portrays them, but not to the laughable extremes here. And just as in real life, I rooted far more than the grifters than the supposed heros. Now the mystery. Pretty routine with lots of odd scenes bouncing all over the place. Did anyone notice that the lead character's grift sense actually kicked in (telling him what people were working together) before the actual grift was set up? This is a really bad miss. Perhaps like a truly great card handler, Darwin Ortiz, Mr. Swain should stick to writing about factual matters. Then again, I don't have a whole lotta faith based on this book.
Rating:
Summary: First and so far the best of series
Review: Working backward through Swain's Tony Valentine series, I finally got to Grift Sense.Well, I would not have read all four if the latest was not worth the time, but thinking on it I've got to say I like this one best. Swain gets just enough into the casino life (if you are winning, you're cheating)for a somewhat jaded Valentine to stick to his fixed ideas despite the eternal hope that pervades even the most cynical casino employee and owner types. We do not go down the highly technical lanes of blackjack odds or slot machine mechanics which Swain threatens in some other novels. Also, the cast of characters, Mabel, Nick the frequently remarried Casino owner and nee'r do well son Gerry, are all here.
The conclusion, which takes place in the swirl of a Vegas fight night, is a fine piece of action. Events are logical, thrilling and satisfying to those of us who like to guess an ending or unsuspected rogue but really get upset when we see them coming ten chapters ahead of time.
| 
