Funny Money

Starred review from April 1, 2002
The same warmth, honesty and inside expertise that made Grift Sense
(2001) a memorable crime debut is back—in spades—in Swain's second book about ex-cop Tony Valentine, who advises gambling casinos on how to spot and stop cheaters. Swain might not be a Leonard or even a Hiaasen when it comes to a seamless writing style, but he makes up for it with insights into his characters' behavior that inevitably ring true. Tony's relationship with his hapless son, Gerry, is letter-perfect: a father's natural love warring at every turn with a hard man's distaste for weakness. No matter how often Gerry screws up, Tony finds some way to help him. This same ambivalence colors Tony's dealings with Archie Tanner, the brutal, bullying fixer who runs a vast Taj Mahal–like casino in Atlantic City and who now wants to buy his way into Florida's gambling industry. When Tony's ex-partner and lifelong friend Doyle Flanagan is killed while looking for a strange band of shabby Croatian math geniuses who are ripping off Tanner's blackjack operation, Valentine takes over the investigation. But it's not really revenge or the $1,000-a-day fee that motivates him: it's a weird but finally totally logical belief that the gambling business—which preys on human weakness—should at least be clean and honest. Stretching that analogy only a little, Swain makes Tony his Don Quixote—tilting at blackjack tables and slot machines instead of windmills. Agent, Chris Calhoun. (June 5)Forecast:National print advertising, a three-city author tour, a blurb from Dick Lochte and the author's status as a gambling expert should help up the ante beyond that for
Grift Sense. Should David Mamet take a flyer on the film option, the smart money's on Ricky Jay to play Valentine.

May 1, 2002
Former policeman Tony Valentine (Grift Sense) operates a gambling casino protection service out of his Florida home. When his former partner and best friend now a PI is murdered in Atlantic City, Tony vows vengeance on the "European," the elusive and resourceful scam artist his friend was investigating. Tony contacts the casino, which has been bilked of $6 million, and goes to work with surveillance tapes and his own personal network of contacts. Though hampered at times by his adversarial son, Mafia types, and others, Tony wins his game. A smooth narrative, credible situations, and a nervy plot make this second Tony Valentine mystery a highly recommended choice for most mystery collections.

Copyright 2002 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2002
Take a south Florida setting, quirky characters, a crusty retired cop, and what do you get? Elmore Leonard? Carl Hiaasen? Try James Swain, a new voice in the off-beat mystery subgenre. We first met Tony Valentine, freelance "grifter hunter," in " Grift Sense "(2001)" ," Swain's debut novel. In this second outing, Tony returns from Florida to his native Atlantic City (Leonard did Atlantic City, too, in " Glitz") to solve the murder of his best friend, fellow grifter hunter Doyle, who had been on the verge of cracking a $6-million blackjack scam at the legendary Bombay casino. Taking over Doyle's investigation, Tony tracks the blackjack grifters, coming into contact along the way with all sorts of colorful lowlifes, including a crippled ex-cop gun supplier, a ring of cocky Eastern European cheats, and a certain charming female wrestler. Amid the eccentrics, Tony stays grounded by daily phone calls to his office manager in Florida, his neighbor Mabel--Miss Moneypenny to Tony's James Bond. A fun, frolicking crime novel that makes great use of its casino setting.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2002, American Library Association.)