What do you think?
Rate this book
Billy Cunningham #5
Neon Hustle
It’s only cheating if you get caught.
The last time we saw Billy Cunningham, he was hiding out in Mexico with his girlfriend Maggie Flynn after having scammed Glee! Casino in Las Vegas for a cool five million dollars. For a pair of professional cheats, that’s a happy ending, only Billy and Maggie are both miserable. Billy misses and action of Las Vegas, while Maggie fears she won’t be able to return to the states to attend her daughter Amber’s wedding.
An unlikely savior appears. Special Agent Frank Grimes of the Nevada Gaming Board approaches Billy in a Mexican casino and offers him and Maggie a chance to wipe the slate clean and return to Las Vegas. But there’s a hitch: Grimes wants Billy and his crew to scam a brand-new casino in town and split the proceeds with Grimes, who plans to retire with the loot and drive off into the sunset. The deal sounds too good to be true, but Billy agrees anyway, fearful that Maggie will sneak back into the country on her own and get caught.
Billy returns to Las Vegas and realizes he’s fallen into a trap. Grimes didn’t bother to tell him that Special Agent Ray Lopez – who helped Billy scam Glee! – is trying to kill him, nor did Grimes mention the dead mobsters appearing all over town. Billy decides to get out of town with his girlfriend and crew, but not before pulling the biggest scam of his career while paying Grimes back for the double cross.
The last time we saw Billy Cunningham, he was hiding out in Mexico with his girlfriend Maggie Flynn after having scammed Glee! Casino in Las Vegas for a cool five million dollars. For a pair of professional cheats, that’s a happy ending, only Billy and Maggie are both miserable. Billy misses and action of Las Vegas, while Maggie fears she won’t be able to return to the states to attend her daughter Amber’s wedding.
An unlikely savior appears. Special Agent Frank Grimes of the Nevada Gaming Board approaches Billy in a Mexican casino and offers him and Maggie a chance to wipe the slate clean and return to Las Vegas. But there’s a hitch: Grimes wants Billy and his crew to scam a brand-new casino in town and split the proceeds with Grimes, who plans to retire with the loot and drive off into the sunset. The deal sounds too good to be true, but Billy agrees anyway, fearful that Maggie will sneak back into the country on her own and get caught.
Billy returns to Las Vegas and realizes he’s fallen into a trap. Grimes didn’t bother to tell him that Special Agent Ray Lopez – who helped Billy scam Glee! – is trying to kill him, nor did Grimes mention the dead mobsters appearing all over town. Billy decides to get out of town with his girlfriend and crew, but not before pulling the biggest scam of his career while paying Grimes back for the double cross.
291 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 18, 2026
About the author
James Swain
52 books356 followersJames Swain is the national best selling author of seventeen mystery novels, and has been published in twelve different languages. His books have been chosen as Mysteries of the Year by Publisher’s Weekly and Kirkus Reviews, and have received three Barry Award nominations, a Florida Book Award for Fiction, and France’s prestigious Prix Calibre .38 for Best American Crime Fiction. Born in Huntington, New York, he graduated from New York University and worked as a magazine editor before moving to Florida to run a successful advertising firm. When he isn’t writing, he enjoys researching casino scams and cons, a subject on which he’s considered an expert.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 14, 2026
Fantastic book! The story moves rapidly with plenty of twists and turns to make you want to keep reading. As always with a James Swain book, the details of the casinos and the cheats are fascinating and add so much color to the story. Highly recommend!!
July 19, 2026
Hustler and casino cheat Billy Cunningham is still "hiding" in Mexico with fellow hustler & girlfriend Maggie Flynn. The rest of Billy's crew is also in hiding but all of them miss the action of Vegas.
Gaming Agent and long time nemesis Frank Grimes has tracked them down and made Billy an offer. Help him with a heist/scam of a new casino before Frank retires and he will squash their arrest warrants so they can return home. Billy's has many reasons to be hesitant but everyone is bored & Maggie is upset to miss her daughters' wedding.
Billy's scams are always a scam within a scam, kind of like a magicians sleight of hand but this time, he may have fallen into Grime's trap. Can he get out? It's one scam after another, bringing in other cheaters from California and ultimately getting back at Grimes.
The end is a surprise as it seemed Billy had no moves left but ultimately, it's one last scam. Seems like the end of an era for Billy's adventures. The twists are always fun but it gets convoluted at times.
Gaming Agent and long time nemesis Frank Grimes has tracked them down and made Billy an offer. Help him with a heist/scam of a new casino before Frank retires and he will squash their arrest warrants so they can return home. Billy's has many reasons to be hesitant but everyone is bored & Maggie is upset to miss her daughters' wedding.
Billy's scams are always a scam within a scam, kind of like a magicians sleight of hand but this time, he may have fallen into Grime's trap. Can he get out? It's one scam after another, bringing in other cheaters from California and ultimately getting back at Grimes.
The end is a surprise as it seemed Billy had no moves left but ultimately, it's one last scam. Seems like the end of an era for Billy's adventures. The twists are always fun but it gets convoluted at times.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews