Bring a Shovel and a Gun

by Charles Newson

Every successful con artist has a special talent. Ali Reed, 28, was born with a neurological condition called hyperthymesia. It enables him, for better or for worse, to remember everything he sees, says or hears. With his perfect memory and natural charm, Ali enjoys a lucrative life as a con man in Washington D.C., until he falls in love with a woman more clever and dangerous than he is.

245 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 20, 2012

Reviews

[George Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm biased. I know the writer.

[Melysah Bunting · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bring a Shovel and a Gun by Rasheed Newson is a story about a man with hyperthymesia. It is a condition where memory is eternal. Ali Reed is in his late twenties. His mother's actions are questionable. Ali's father is never around. His brothers are spiteful. No one sympathizes with Ali's condition. It is no surprise that Ali makes his money by coning people.

Normally, Ali just does his usual tricks. One day things don't go according to plan. A woman that works in one of the many banks that Ali goes to actually remembers him. From that moment on things go extremely off course. There is murder, mayhem, and a lot more.

I think the story is inventive. I have never read a book about a person with hyperthymesia. It is an emotional journey as Ali deals with his childhood and present conditions, plus the crime element made the read hit the bull's-eye. I enjoyed the humor. The characters were realistic. The emotions felt genuine. The pace moved at a steady rate.

I don't enjoy romance novels. I do love stories with a romance element. This is a nice balance of family issues and crime.

I could see this as a movie. Most of my favorite movies are similar in plot like The Bourne series, Lucky Number Slevin, Dead Presidents, and other crime-shoot 'em up flicks.

[Cindy Amrhein · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first book I’ve ever read where it made total sense for the main character to go off on a tangent. In fact, it was downright hysterical. He couldn’t help himself. Ali Reed is a con-artist who has hyperthymesia. He remembers everything, and I do mean everything, from his entire life. He hears a date, or sees something random and his mind goes back to all the events in his life that relate, exactly when they happened, in detail. Annoying, sometimes, but a handy brain abnormality for Ali who’s used to running solo on minor hit-n-run scams—until he runs into another con-artist who thinks he would be perfect to help rob a bank. And that’s when the fun begins.

This book is fast paced, with the murder mystery twists and turns of Agatha Christie’s, Mousetrap combined with the con conning the con of the movie The Sting. Just when you thought you knew what was going to happen—it doesn’t—and we’re chased down a new alley alongside the characters with mobsters in quick pursuit. It’s funny, intense, suspenseful and an all around excellent read.

[RenishaRenewed · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read, just wish it ended better.