Grift Sense

Tony Valentine #1

by James Swain

Amidst the neon and the big special ugly of Las Vegas, mild-mannered Frank Fontaine is beating the brains out of the Acropolis Casino. The house cops think the dealer, a blonde named Nola, is part of the con, but no one can prove a thing. For Tony Valentine, it’s the first new scam he’s seen in decades—and maybe the best. Three things Tony The blonde is guilty, the grifter has lived a former life, and the biggest scam is the one that hasn’t happened yet.

In a dream world of fake Greek statues, statuesque hostesses, and a casino owner whose sex life might just burn down his own house, Tony Valentine is plying his special trade. While some people have a sixth sense, Tony has a grift sense —and he needs it now to separate a grifter from a scam that’s worse than anyone’s wildest dreams. . . .

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Thriller, Detective, Humor, Action

336 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published May 22, 2001

About the author

James 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.

Reviews

[James Thane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grift Sense is the debut novel by James Swain that introduces Tony Valentine. Valentine is a retired cop who now works as a consultant to gaming establishments, attempting to prevent them from being cheated.

Tony has mostly worked in New Jersey and has compiled a huge database of hustlers and crooks who attempt to defraud casinos. He doesn’t much like Las Vegas but he feels compelled to answer a call from the owner of the Acropolis, a gaudy, aging, down on the heels Vegas operation.

A gambler named Frank Fontaine has breezed into town and nicked the Acropolis for $50,000 at the blackjack tables. Fontaine is way too good to be purely lucky and he’s making plays that no intelligent gambler would make. Worst of all, the plays are almost always paying off and, given the precarious state of the casino’s finances, if this keeps up the place could go under.

Valentine arrives in town and is almost immediately convinced that a beautiful blonde dealer is assisting Fontaine, but Tony can’t figure out how the scheme is being worked. During the course of his investigation, Valentine encounters more than a fair share of very colorful characters and soon finds that he’s threatening the interests of some very nasty people who don’t take this sort of thing lightly.

Grift Sense is a very good read and an introduction to an unusual and appealing protagonist. Swain obviously has some experience in these matters, and one of the really interesting things about these books is the explanation of the schemes that some hustlers use to defraud casinos. There’s a fair amount of humor involved; the story is interesting and all in all, readers will almost certainly enjoy spending an evening or two in the company of Tony Valentine.

[Glen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tony Valentine is a PI who spots scams for the casino. A couple, one of whom is the usual blond, are scamming the casino, and Valentine tries to find out how they are doing it, and falls into the usual noir skulduggery.

Diverting.

[Cathy DuPont · Rating 4 out of 5]

A new hero for me, Tony Valentine! Really enjoyed this consultant and his travels. Learned a lot about gambling, too. Characters, plots, description of place...James Swain is tops in all areas. Read every Valentine book in order and none of them repeated a plot...always fresh with new faces and Swain delved deeper and deeper into the great character, Tony V. Recommended this series to numerous friends and they all are enjoying his travels. Love the guy!

[Ed · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome start of the Tony Valentine series. I plan on reading the complete series.

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terrific novel. Well-written. Filled with action. Hard to put down. i was introduced to Swain's work via his pair of Billy Cunningham novels about a gang of card sharks, card mechanics, pickpockets, and
thieves determined to pull off Las Vegas' biggest scam. Swain's far more lengthy Tony Valentine series preceded the Billy Cunningham novels by at least a decade. Valentine is a retired police detective with
an eye for grifters, cheaters, and scammers.

Swain expertly paints a picture of an older guy set in his ways, still grieving over the loss of his wife and frustrated with always bailing his no-good son out of jams. Valentine is brought out of retirement by
casino security in Las Vegas who are dumbfounded by a new scam and can't figure out how the cheating took place.

This book just soars with excitement and energy. Swain really took every scene and filled it with life and anticipation. While he didn't use fancy prose, the writing style just draws the reader into the story.
I look forward to reading the rest of this series.

[M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grift sense: the ability to out-con a con-and that is how we meet Tony Valentine, a retired cop, turned gambling consultant. AWESOME read- super action, storyline, and the biggest twist at the end.

[Maddy · Rating 4 out of 5]

RATING: 3.75

Rumor has it that there are people who go to Las Vegas and win lots of money (rumor only because it's never happened to me and I can't prove it). But in a casino, a person who wins an inordinate amount of the time is likely to be cheating. And the guy at the blackjack table where Nola Briggs is dealing has hit it big three nights in a row. He plays a totally stupid game, drawing on 17, things like that, and walks away with $50,000.

When the security folks at the Acropolis Casino view the tapes, they can't see that the man has been cheating or the dealer helping him. Since the casino is one of the least successful in Vegas, they can't afford those kinds of losses. So they call in an expert who's helped in the casinos in Atlantic City, a 62-year old ex-cop with grift sense by the name of Tony Valentine. Valentine has a nose for hustlers, and he immediately knows that the game is rigged, even if it's not clear how.

Even though Tony is an expert, he's having trouble figuring out how Frank Fontaine is pulling off his scam. Something about him nags at Tony, and he reaches way back into the past to discover that he's dealing with one of the most skilled grifters in the business. Working with the security folks, Valentine needs to predict when he will hit again and scam the scammer.

There's a fun cast of characters in the book, starting with Tony, torn between protecting his estranged son and continuing with the job; Tony's neighbor, Mabel, who writes outrageous classified ads for kicks; and the casino owner, Nick, who is a sucker for a beautiful woman. There's not a lot of depth to most of the characters, but that's to be expected, as most of the focus is on the con.

GRIFT SENSE is the first book in the series. The author has some insider knowledge, since he is a professional magician who is very adept at card tricks and manipulation. It's really interesting to see how Las Vegas casinos protect themselves from cheaters. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the books in this series, hopefully before my next vacation to Aruba where I like to engage in a hand or two of blackjack.

[Leon Aldrich · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novel came recommended from my GR friend Cathy DuPont who sent me the first four in this series. As Cathy is batting over a 1000 with her recommendations, I started this novel back in November 2012 and then took a reading sabbatical, gorging myself on direct tv series: Weeds, Dexter, Nurse Jackie, Justified, Fringe, Being Human (U.K.) and others I'll keep top secret for now.

Then I picked up a set of reading glasses, sat my ass in the chair and resumed reading Grift Sense where I left off without missing a beat.

Thanks again Cathy for once more addicting me to another author I might have missed out on.

[Jill · Rating 1 out of 5]

I love my Dad. He loves this book. I read this book. It was crap. Corny dialogue, caricatures instead of characters (Jersey goombahs in Vegas), I figured out the "surprise twist" ending about 25 pages in. Just terrible. I still love my Dad.

[Carol Jean · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oddly disjointed and staggering from tone to tone like someone who -- well, EXACTLY like someone who keeps interrupting his own narrative to tell a silly joke. Not convincing on any level. And not funny either!

[Don Gorman · Rating 3 out of 5]

(3). I have read, and enjoyed, a couple of the other franchises that Swain has developed so I reached out to try this one from the start. Good fun here. Tony Valentine is a mildly complex, but very engaging protagonist. Retired cops that are good guys always seem to come off that way in the right author's hands. This is a moderately old style Vegas story, which sucks you in immediately. There are little twists and turns galore, lots of laughs, a little violence and sex. All in all this is good stuff. I will seek out the next one in the series.

[Jeffrey Granat · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent series. This is the first book setting the stage for several other great books. The main character is a casino consultant who works with different casinos to help prevent or catch cheaters. You can’t go wrong. This is a good one.

[Joe · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are going to be spoilers in this review. If you don't want to see them, don't read past this first paragraph. I didn't like this book nearly as much as I wanted to. I will try to explain why.

Normally, I love a good con story. The intricacies of the plot, the good guys unraveling it, setting a trap and catching the bad guys. But in Grift Sense, I just couldn't get into it.

For one thing, none of the characters are particularly likeable. Even the hero, Tony Valentine, doesn't have much to recommend him. For one thing, he doesn't seem to act in any consistent way. He is an expert on card cheats, and comes to Vegas to catch the thief. But he spends most of his time there being blown by the wind. He's often in the wrong place at the wrong time. Valentine knows that the con is going to go down after a big boxing match. But he never sets up in the casino to catch the guy. Instead, he tells the casino security, which has been illustrated to be barely competent earlier, what to watch for when the con happens. When it does happen, he's out on the edge of town, lured there by someone who Tony knows is in on the con. Why doesn't he stay at the casino to orchestrate the capture of the criminal?

He also gets beat up a lot. He can see that some people are involved but oblivious to others being involved. I never got the feeling that he was very good at his job. I wouldn't hire him to protect anything.

People close to Tony get hurt. He wants to leave Vegas to help them but doesn't. But also doesn't do very much to protect them anyway. He knows lots of cops and ex-cops in Florida (where a good friend lives) and New York (where his son lives) but never calls them to go protect these people.

Meanwhile, in Vegas, he is running around with people who clearly are incompetent. Instead of going off on his own to solve the case, he is dragged around by a lazy pit boss and a too-old head of security. He continues to move at the whim of a casino owner who is his own worst enemy. And through it all, Valentine complains about the Vegas heat and crowds. Just get over it buddy, and do your job.

Meanwhile, the writing is lazy, such as this exchange.

After Frank Fontaine (the con man) is revealed to be Sonny Fontana (who people presumed to be dead):

Sammy: "I knew when I heard Fontaine laugh that he was someone I'd run with."

Two paragraphs later, Wily, to Sammy: "Didn't you once run with Fontana?"

Didn't Sammy just say that? Wily is a dummy, but I'd think he would remember something that was said thirty seconds earlier.

This could have been a lot better. The book had the chance to explain better how people cheat the casinos and what the casinos do to thwart them. Instead, it barely touches on those things.

I started this book wanting to like it. I think the biggest con was getting me to buy the book in the first place.

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grift Sense (2012) is the first in James Swain’s Tony Valentine series. The title refers to the ability of a hustler to determine when he’s being hustled. Goodreads author James Thane, a very reliable judge of crime thrillers, recommended the book and it’s another solid hit.

Tony Valentine is an ex-Atlantic City detective with a special skill—-he’s a master at identifying casino cheaters. In Las Vegas a player named Frank Fontaine has been winning at a suspiciously high rate against Nola Briggs, a dealer at the Acropolis Casino: his clumsy strategies should create a loss on about 75 percent of the hands, but he is actually winning 75 percent of the hands. No wonder the pit boss and the big boss think he’s cheating. But is Frank cheating—-they can’t see how? Or is the dealer consciously or unconsciously giving tells on her hole cards—-but she’s had a ten year record at the Acropolis with no indications of tells. And why has Frank decided to hit on one of the smaller casinos in Vegas?

Tony flies to Vegas to sort it out, meeting a number of interestingly strange characters—-and it is the characters that make this book so fun. The Acropolis is owned by Nick Nicocropolis, an old timer who has an assistant just to remind him which women he’s bedded. It turns out that Nola was one of those women whom Nick dropped after ten days, telling her “your tits are too small.” Nick’s bedroom-monitoring assistant is a pit boss named Wily, a name earned, perhaps, from his low IQ. Sherry, Nola’s friend and a fellow dealer, is betraying Nola to everyone; she is the latest squeeze in Nick’s bed. And Al “Little Hands” Scarpi is a killer who started the whole thing off by killing Frank, but failing to render him dead. Little Hands has a strange weakness—-when put in front of a porn video he gets the screaming meemies and goes catatonic. Well, this is Vegas.

Swain writes with a fine sense of irony, and the story is a comedy hidden inside a mystery. There’s something here for everyone. I’m waiting to see if the second in the series can match this debut.

Five stars.

[Rob Kitchin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grift Sense is a comic, crime caper where the only character that isn’t a caricature is Valentine. That’s just fine by me as that’s part of what makes these kinds of novels work – people who are larger than life, being too stupid, too greedy, too tainted, too mad, bad or narcissistic, and leading lives that most of us are fascinated by but wouldn’t want to emulate. Whilst the writing is quite perfunctory, the dialogue is snappy, the plotting is sound, and the story rattles along at a jaunty pace, with some nice twists and turns. Moreover, it’s clear that Swain knows the gaming world and its policing and scams well, using that knowledge to good effect. All in all, a fun book that passed a few pleasant hours.

[LJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

GRIFT SENSE (Paid Investigator-Las Vegas-Cont) – G
Swain, James – 1st in series
Ballantine Books, 2003- Paperback
Tony Valentine is an expert at spotting gambling scams. When the Acropolis Casino has lost big to a gambler named Frank Fontaine, Tony is hired to find out how it's being done. But things really get interesting when it turns out Fontaine is actually another gambler who was supposed to have been killed years before.
*** The period felt more like the 50's than present day, and the only really dimensional character was Tony. But this is a fun, quick, rather light read with a couple very good twists.

[Killercalico · Rating 5 out of 5]

Start of the Tony Valentine series
He is a 60 + retired Atlantic City cop, speciality was gambling cheats. He retired, moved to Fl. and opens a consulting business for casinos when his wife dies. His neighbor is always helping and becomes his office manager.

If you are a casino fan and love blackjack you will enjoy this book. If you jsut love a good entertaining read not too heavy, you will enjoy this book
A good who done it. I couldn't put it down.

[Deb Mj · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved James Swain's Midnight Rambler and was really looking forward to this, the first in the Tony Valentine series. What a disappointment. Completely unlikeable characters across the board, with the possible exception of Tony's neighbor, Mabel. I may try one more but definitely not in any hurry to do so.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tough but vulnerable casino scam detective, Tony Valentine's first case. Good series for fans of gambling scam crimes. Tony's got a soft side, but has a nose for flushing out the con men and casino cheats.

[Mo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I usually don't read mysteries, but this involves gambling so I was powerless to resist. An addictive series, so watch out.

[Leora Stutes · Rating 4 out of 5]

A retired policeman whose job had been to stop gambling cheaters now has a consulting business. He's called to Las Vegas to catch some crooks. A quick read. I enjoyed it.

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

There's a lot going on in this one. Maybe a little too much for me, or maybe I took too long to read it. Books about grifters are always fun, so maybe I'll try the next book in the series.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5*

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Tony Valentine series by James Swain begins with this fun romp though the Las Vegas casino world. Crooked gambling and violent scams fill the pages, as we learn the backstories for characters that will reappear in the later books: Tony, his estranged son, Tony's next door neighbor, and various gamblers. Retired cop Tony carries a lot of baggage, as well as excellent "grift sense," the ability to feel when something hinky is going on... Tony Valentine has it in spades. In this maiden outing, Valentine takes a job figuring out who the guy is that's beating a Vegas casino, and how he's doing it. The plot thickens as more characters and stranger scams develop.
Swain, an expert card magician, goes a little light on the card scams in this book. When he does his bookstore tours, he always does a demonstration of gambling themed card magic, and a brief exposé of some card cheating methods. (For the insiders, just as he can be an unreliable narrator, his cheaing "exposures" are often plausible, but false... as magicians well know!
The plots aren't very realistic, but contain just enough detail to be unlikely, but maybe possible. Pure fun to read.

[Anirudh Jain · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick Summary: A retired ex-cop, Tony Valentine, who specializes in catching casino hustlers is on a mission to unravel the latest scam which is being pulled by a supposedly dead con man. He arrives in Vegas and is greeted by a motley crew of oddball characters, from a supposedly innocent blonde dealer to casino bosses these characters keep the plot and the book interesting.

Tony follows the footsteps of every great noir detective, Perry Mason, Raymond chandler. Broken by his recent loss, set in his ways, brilliant in his work, a great fighter, and an all-round hardass. I have always been fascinated by such characters and Tony fits right into the bill. What makes this series unique is that he uncovers hustlers, white-collar casino conmen, and not the usual murderers or thieves. The cheating mechanism gives an interesting twist to the read and I am pretty sure this will become my new favorite series.

[Zora · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5 stars. Not funny to me. A character being old doesn't equal funny, and I think those are the spots that were supposed to be humorous (though I honestly could be wrong, because it wasn't ever funny). And the treatment of women was pure 1958, though the book was written this century. In fact, the whole thing was 1958. I skimmed a lot of the central 50% and only read the opening and closing few chapters at all carefully. I didn't miss much of the plot in doing so. There were a couple of point of view errors--I hate those--and in large part, this was a disappointment.

[Rich · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started reading James Swain, because one of my favorite authors, Orson Scott Card, enjoys his books and recommended him. I've found his books to be fast-paced and interesting mysteries, and a look into a world I didn't know. Swain is known as one of the best card handlers in the world. When he gives you a twist, he also leaves enough bread crumbs for you to see how it happened. He's got another character, Billy Carpenter, that I'm interested in reading. Swain creates a wonderful character who is also flawed and makes mistakes as well. Swain is worth reading.

[Jerry Peace · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like this book. I liked the first one hundred fifty pages even more. Then something happened, either with me or the book. Everything began to unravel-coincidences, discrepancies, and things added I guess for atmosphere but striking me as flotsam. And i do get tired of the-family-of-the-investigator-is-always-threatened scenario. Valentine is a pretty cool protagonist, though, and I am a sucker for gambling books.

[Mikel Pfeiffer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Grift Sense is James Swain's debut novel and the start of his Tony Valentine series. I read Sucker Bet a couple years back and really enjoyed it. This one, like most debut novels is a pretty rough around the edges. It's also a little stiff and Tony comes across most the book a jerk who doesn't like anybody. The plot of a supposedly dead con artist back for a big heist is good but sloppy at times. The good news is James Swain's writing gets much better and Grift Sense establishes a decent beginning to the Tony Valentine series.

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like this author

Just finished "Grift Sense" by James Swain, I entered the world of casinos and gambling, cheats murderers and more cheats...this is a who done it. Interesting characters and and situations I had never realized could happen in casino life. There was a twist at the end that I should have seen coming.