Funny Money (Tony Valentine) Mass Market Paperback – April 1, 2003

Swain's Grift Sense was pure pleasure and, happily, he's followed up with a royal flush. The writing is lean, the characters are fully developed (even the dog) and hero Valentine is a believable and sympathetic fellow. Any book that entertains as well as informs is one well worth the cover price. The author's seemingly limitless knowledge of gambling scams makes for fascinating reading. Add to this a hero of sixty-two with a sense of chivalry and a good heart, as well as a fully functioning conscience, and you've got a solid series working. From white-haired neighbor Mabel who takes to her new job as Tony's assistant with believable mental agility to wrestler-love interest Kat, to a trio of hapless inept thugs, the entertainment factor is one hundred percent. Superior plotting skill and great narrative drive make Swain someone to watch.Very highly recommended.

I could read Swain's Tony Valentine books all day, every day. Swan's got to be one of the most original, creative and clever authors writing today. His books reek with reality, from the "Pulp Fiction" -style dialog to Swain's incredible knowledge of casino gambling. Some of the plot turns and characters are way way outrageous, but in Swain's hands they don't insult the reader. You'll guffaw in more than a few places and you'll learn a lot about casinos and the people who inhabit them. Unlike his other books, Swain sets this one in Valentine's home town of Atlantic City. He gives us a nice clean, simple plot that develops linearally and is not cluttered with a whole lot of psychology and intrigue. But from the outset, where Valentine's old cop partner gets killed, until the ending, where once again we find that crime doesn't pay, you'll enjoy a book that is a treat to read. Swain hits the jackpot here!

Used paperback in great condition and fast service!

Retired cop turned casino consultant Tony Valentine returns to his hometown of Atlantic City when his ex-partner is murdered. Doyle Flanagan had been investigating a group of casino cheats when a car bomb ended his life. Tony is hired almost immediately by the Bombay's owner to take over the investigation, but things aren't adding up. In addition, Tony's ne'er do well son Gerry is being chased by some mobsters who want their $50,000, but Tony isn't about to pay them. Things get really interesting when Tony takes up with a professional wrestler and winds up part of her act. Between crooked cops and casino employees trying to kill him, the Mollo brothers out to harm his son, and a band of Croatians who don't quite fit in the picture, Tony Valentine has a lot on his hands.Tony is a likeable and flawed character, smart but often rubbing other people the wrong way. His relationship with Gerry is complex; loving his son while being disgusted with the choices he's made. Another fun character we meet mostly over the telephone is Mabel, Tony's retired neighbor from Florida who fields his phone calls and tries to keep him in line. Tony's the kind of guy who's only slept with one woman in his life, so it's quite amusing when he finds himself in the arms of a professional wrestler named Kat.Though some of the information about cheating casinos is a bit confusing to a non-gambler, this book nonetheless showed an interesting, inside view of life in an Atlantic City casino, as well as delivering a mystery with many twists and turns. This casino mystery series is well worth reading.

I have read almost all of the Valentine books and (obviously) enjoy them. I read this one on a business trip where the books I brought were important because other diversions were few. This one is better than average for Swain. It delivers just what you want from such a book, an interesting story and at least two dimentional characters. I enjoyed the ride and you don't even have to be in Mauritania to feel the same. If you like Valentine or if you want to give this series a try this is your book.

Retired Atlantic City cop Tony Valentine runs a consulting business called "Grift Sense," an old gambling expression which means "that you not only know how to do the moves, you also know when to do them." He is a pro at reading people, and can feel "when a hustle is going down, even if he doesn't know exactly what it is." Sixty-two year-old Valentine is one of the most refreshingly original characters to enter the world of sleuth fiction in a long time. This senior is as smart as he is sexy - and he is sexy, trust me! He made his debut in James Swain's "Grift Sense." "Funny Money," book two in the series, has our hero back home in Atlantic City....for a funeral, unfortunately. Doyle Flannigan, Tony's best friend and former partner was murdered, literally blown away, while investigating a casino scam.Right before his death, Doyle phoned Tony at his home in Florida to discuss a $6 million dollar con he was investigating at the Bombay Casino in Atlantic City. The Bombay is owned by their longtime acquaintance Archie Tanner, one of the richest men in NJ, and a "mean, foul-mouthed thug." No one likes this guy, including his employees. In the middle of their telephone conversation, a bomb explodes, causing Doyle's demise. Tony hears it all, courtesy of AT&T. Needless to say, our man is out for blood - Bigtime! He's hops a plane, pointed north, to attend the funeral, comfort Liddy, Doyle's wife, and bring Valentine-style justice to those who killed his best buddy. He also plans to hunt down the hustlers who are ripping-off the Bombay. To further complicate his life, black sheep son Gerry, a bookie who manipulated his father into setting him up in business, is being pursued by the Mob. Yolanda, Gerry's fiance, is expecting, which will make Tony a grandfather. And an attempt is made on Valentine's life. It's not the first...and it won't be the last!Swain's narrative is well written, fast paced and filled with suspense and humor. His inside take on the gambling industry, the rough and tumble world of gaming, a wide variety of the grifts/scams/hustles committed, the view from the catwalk and other surveillance measures are fascinating. His characters are wonderfully quirky, like friend, neighbor, and new Grift Sense employee Mabel Struck, who runs daily anonymous classifieds in the St. Petersburg Times, to the delight of area subscribers. Kat Berman is new on the scene. She's a foxy, zaftig female wrestler who becomes Tony's love interest. The reader is also introduced to Master Yun, his judo teacher, and to Dr. Peter Diamondis, a Princeton professor, head of the Probability Department, and author of "The Devil's Playthings, A Mathematical Examination of Riffle Shuffles, their Cycles and Decents."James Swain, is supposedly one of the best card-handlers around, a gambling expert and a professional magician. So he knows his subject matter well. He has written a most entertaining mystery full of schemes, scams and surprises. You won't be able to put this one down.JANA