King Con

King Con

by Stephen J. Cannell

Television's super-producer (he created, wrote for or executive-produced over 30 different series, including The Rockford Files, Baa Baa Black Sheep, Hardcastle and McCormick, The Greatest American Hero, Wiseguy, Profit, Stingray and Silk Stalkings) has become a full-time novelist, with fourteen novels to his credit. King Con was one of his earliest, and is still one of my favorites. Cannell was well known for his snappy dialog and quirky characters on TV, and King Con seems to capture that writing style more effectively than any of his other novels to date. Con man extraordinaire Beano Bates teams up with an agressive female New Jersey Assistant Attorney General to run a series of small cons, leading up to a "big con" against the notorious Jersey gangster who nearly killed him. John Travolta was rumored to be in the running as Bates in a possible movie version of this story, scripted by Cannell, which never came to be. So, in the meantime, enjoy this fast-paced thriller, filled with extremely quirky characters and powered by snappy dialog. -- recommended by Scott C. - Bennett Martin Public Library

[ official Stephen J. Cannell web site - focusing on both his books and TV series ]

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