Dizzy City

May 14, 2007
G
riffin (The House of Sight and Shadow
) hits his stride in his fourth novel, a stylish and ambitious story of cons conning cons. Griffin begins in the WWI trenches in France, where Londoner Ben Cramb, in his early 20s and handsome, fights the Huns alongside his friends until an explosion wounds Ben and kills his three pals. After a stint in a British hospital, Ben flees to New York City, where he dreads being discovered as a deserter. Soon, he falls in league with Julius McAteer, a crafty Irish conman who involves Ben in his scheme to rip off Henry Jergens, a Kansas City businessman. But Henry is running his own con on Julius as payback for robbing Henry's mentor 18 years earlier. As the cat-and-mouse game heats up and Ben sets his sights on Henry's beautiful actress wife, the U.S. inches ever closer to involvement overseas. An antiwar theme arises from beneath the ruses, and the swift plotting is marred only by the proliferation of characters' aliases, which become difficult to keep track of. Griffin's in fine form, and the novel's historical detail and multifaceted plot should keep readers riveted.

July 1, 2007
Traumatized by his experiences on the western front, small-time grifter Ben Cramb deserts the British army in 1916 and stows away on a ship headed who knows where. He lands in dirty, sprawling, booming New York City. It is the ideal place for Ben, who seeks to drown out war memories in continuous distraction: "The more time he spent in the company of]faceless crowds, the more conscious he became of what might happen if the sounds evaporated]and he was left alone on a city block, with only the echo of his own voice, with only his memory.]People, noise, motion, noise, conflict, noise." Ben goes into partnership with an older con artist named Julius McAteer: together, they set out to fleece Midwestern cattleman Henry Jergens, who in turn is playing a sting on McAteer. Not surprisingly for an author who counts a pirate among his ancestors, Griffin ("The Requiem Shark") demonstrates a flare for the historical novel. Though the plot is unnecessarily complicated at times, this clever, agile novel is thoroughly enjoyable. Recommended for general fiction collections.David Keymer. Modesto, CA.

Copyright 2007 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2007
Benedict Cramb survives the bomb that kills his three friends in France during World War I. Mistaken for an officer, he is returned to England, where, to avoid being sent back to the front when discovered, he jumps on the first ship that he comes to and ends up in New York City. There he comes under the wing of Julius McAteer, a gifted con artist. They pick a mark, Henry Jergens, lay out the con, and set things in motion. In the process, Ben falls in love with Katherine Howells, an actress who introduces him to a shady gentleman selling airplane engines, bringing the war a little too close for comfort. But the question soon becomes, Who is conning whom? Told through the various perspectives of Ben, Henry, and Katherine, the story takes on layers of complexity, as do the characters. Griffin also mixes historical events into the plot to keep the reader riveted and guessing until the very end.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)