J R Carroll writes a really lively combination of gangster thriller crime fiction. Set in and around Melbourne there have been a few books which are a series - using the same characters and a lot that are standalone.
CHEATERS is one of the standalones thus far, or at least, this is the first / only time I've come across these characters and I've read a lot of J R Carroll's books.
CHEATERS is set, I think, sometime in the early 1990's - or at least in Melbourne when the temporary casino was in operation before the monolithic, vaguely prison like Crown Casino complex was opened.
The story has a number of threads to it, but there are three unlikely heros:
Danny Gold is a mathematical whizz-kid, he is a roulette genius, running a system which is cunning, and making him a nice little earn whilst he finishes his university degree. His skill ends up being noticed - not by the casino authorities as Danny always worried, but by associates of the enigmatic businessman turned porn movie maker Sigmund Barry. Danny soon finds himself laundering money for Sigmund and in very deep water.
Mischa is a model, working for Sigmund Barry. She rides a motorbike, she's unbelievably gorgeous and she's very quickly and very much in love with young Danny. There's more to Mischa than Danny knows about.
Robert Curlewis had the world at his feet as quite a mover in Melbourne University academic circles. Unfortunately alongside his popularity in those circles came booze and heroin and he succumbed to both, commencing a rapid decline into the dregs of society. When he inherits another desperate person - Florence - and she witnesses a vicious slaying in Melbourne's Chinatown, Robert finds himself dragged even further into Melbourne's underbelly.
CHEATERS has a lot of different things happening all at once. It takes quite a while to pull all of those elements into the story and therefore the book seems to take a while to get moving. It then does get very bogged down in sexual athletics at points, which for some reason don't work quite as well in CHEATERS as they have in other books by the same author - frankly, they get all a bit boring after a while. Luckily, J R Carroll pulls his characters out of all of that and once the various threads start to converge the rollercoaster thriller style kicks in and the ending is typically explosive.
As I've said before, I don't read these books because of the great insight into the human condition. I read them because they are a bit of fun.
Cheaters
"The Honest Conman" (aka Nicholas J Johnson) used to do a warning segment on scams and frauds on ABC Local Radio, but it was a pleasant surprise to find he'd written a heist / scam novel. Needless to say his debut novel, CHASING THE ACE, reads like the author knows a lot about the subject matter.
Think a dual handed TV's Hustle style scenario in which Joel, a young man with no purpose in life, hooks up with Richard, an older man, experienced in the fine art of scams and swindles. What Joel doesn't realise is that the man he's adopted as his mentor and working partner is sick of the whole thing. Being taken under Richard's wing might turn out to be the break that Joel wanted, or it could turn out to be a disaster. Nobody's going to know until the end of the novel (and maybe not even then).
Reading somewhere between a good fun heist novel and a salutory warning manual, CHASING THE ACE is utterly believable. It's also quite touching, with both of these characters being flawed, a little bit sad and lonely. Granted Joel does eventually get a girlfriend, although his attitude about her needs some adjustment (it's downright off).
It's not just about these two characters though. Joel has a family and a difficult relationship with a mother who's not been backward in getting her hands on compensation money that's really Joel's. He's got more respect for his stepfather and stepsister, although the family situation overall is tricky. Richard has friends, and a long history of being mentored and mentoring another young man. There's history about him that's revealed (mostly via third parties) along the way. Luckily, despite a slightly strained relationship, Joel has found out enough about Richard to be there when the going gets tough, but the final twist and turns are less expected.
Now having compared CHASING THE ACE to Hustle, it's only fair to warn potential readers that there's nothing glamorous about most of the scams pulled here. It's all a bit tawdry really, but keep an eye out for the twist in the tail of a few of them. There are actually a lot of twists and turns here, all ending up with an obvious intent to carry on the story of a scam merchant.
You'd be almost tempted to get people to read CHASING THE ACE if only as a warning about the sorts of scams and tricks being perpetrated in the real world. Doesn't hurt that it's an entertaining read along the way.
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