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Con Ed: A Novel Audiobook
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(3.02) - 581 listener ratings
Publisher Description
“Keep in mind: This is a story about a con. In a con, everyone takes part in a play. And everyone knows it is a play, except for one man. The thing you want to make sure is that the man is not you.…”
Here’s the setup. A blonde in shades walks into a bar. Spots this hustler who’s trying to stay out of the game. Tells him she has a slap-happy billionaire husband and a big score in her pretty little head. All the hustler has to do is what he does best: lie, cheat, fake, and steal—and watch both the money and the girl fall into his lap.
Trouble is, the hustler has pulled every con in the book, and he instinctively knows this: The blonde can’t just be a beautiful blonde, the score can’t just be a score, and the big bad husband has to have an angle of his own. Most of all, Kip Largo has serious suspicions about himself. After all, he’s just gotten out of prison and isn’t interested in going back.
But for a man who was born the son of a grifter and now lives in a Palo Alto apartment whose carpeting was last changed when Eisenhower was president, the blonde in the bar bit is starting to look too good to pass up. Then, as in any good con, the pot gets sweetened—and the incentives rise—when Kip’s son shows up with a story about a big gambling debt to the Russian mob. Now Kip is going all-in, doubts and all. He’ll call in old favors from everyone from a porn princess to a slightly bent computer nerd. All because that blonde, her husband’s billions, and a strange racket called fatherhood have convinced Kip that he might just be smart, skilled, and lucky enough to walk away with a fortune. Or not.
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"It is what it is, and I liked it. A good book promises you pace. When you have to put it down for sleep, or work, or food, you can be confident you will be straight back on board the moment you pick it back up. There were nice examples of cons, put in as asides by the first person con artist, and the con itself was nicely handled, although I think a regular reader of this genre might have their suspicions raised by the tad obvious unsolicited way the two key figures introduce themselves to the narrator. Because we know a con is happening the author might have 'worked' their stories a little harder. I didn't buy a 54 year old deliberately having his teeth kicked out twice to further his con, and the self sacrifice at the end? Noble perhaps, redemption perhaps, but I would have preferred the leopard to have retained his spots. In a fiction like this who is going to be upset if the protagonist is amoral."
— Norton (4 out of 5 stars)
Con Ed Listener Reviews
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" Very like the show "Leverage." Fun read, couple of big twists. "
— Kelly, 2/2/2014 -
" Liked the beginning but then the book became somewhat predictable towards the end. The explanations of the different kinds of cons was interesting but in the end the book was not all that thrilling. "
— Brad, 1/31/2014 -
" I really enjoyed this book and passed it on to Kip, who liked it too (especially considering that the hero's name is also Kip). "
— Betsy, 1/4/2014 -
" super good! every couple chapters he teaches you how to do a con....Amazing. "
— Christy, 1/3/2014 -
" Story of a father who was a con man, did some jail time, got out, went straight, but gets in for one more huge con to save his son. But who's conning who? Who is in on the con and who is not? The most elaborate con scheme I've ever read or heard about. Great debut novel! "
— Glenn, 12/29/2013 -
" I honestly don't know whether I've read this book before this weekend. It all seemed so familiar that I was practically skimming the last third. It was a perfectly good con novel, with nothing particularly new but sufficiently fun to divert you for a few hours. "
— George, 12/21/2013 -
" This was an awesome way to spend a 7.5 hour flight. Very much fun, and I hope it gets made into a movie. "
— Jen, 12/20/2013 -
" One of the better books i have read. Many unexpected twist. "
— Jeremy, 12/1/2013 -
" I don't know what the library was thinking, giving this to me. I hate it. "
— Joanne, 11/25/2013 -
" A good "con" book. Well constructed. You feel like you're in on it and just one step behind at the same time. References to other books about cons at the end may lead to some other good stuff too. "
— Chris, 11/24/2013 -
" This book was a fun good read! The book read like an old detective movie with monologues and humor! The book is about an ex con who gets sucked back into his old ways when his son is in trouble with the wrong crowd. Lots of twists and turns and overall a GREAT book. "
— Deborah, 10/23/2013 -
" Cool novel about pulling off a huge con during the bubble days "
— Carlo, 4/4/2013 -
" Good Book to read! Suspenseful and entertaining. "
— Donna, 3/25/2013 -
" This book was very funny and fun to read. Then again, I am a sucker for the "con" genre. It's kind of like a "Catch Me If You Can," only lighter and more funny. I loved the characters and the behind-the-scenes play-by-play walk through the mini-cons. "
— Spencer, 3/4/2013 -
" This is Silicon Valley Noir! Easy, fast, fun read (airplane food), especially for those of us who travel across the same places in which this book is set in California. I swear I stayed across the street in a hotel from the protagonist's shabby rental digs. First book read on my Kindle. "
— Susan, 10/15/2011 -
" I learned a lot about the con artist trade by reading this. "
— Molly, 1/27/2010 -
" Much better than the rating being assigned by other readers. Very clever plot. Refreshing change of pace from other suspense/thrillers. "
— Scott, 7/16/2009 -
" Not a bad vacation read -- made me laugh and I didn't feel dumber at the end. "
— Catriona, 3/24/2009 -
" Very interesting, for a book I got for Php50.00 (slightly less than a dollar) while on sale at a National Bookstore. "
— LS, 3/19/2009
About Norman Dietz
Norman Dietz is a writer, voice-over artist, and audiobook narrator. He has won numerous Earphones Awards and was named one of the fifty “Best Voices of the Century” by AudioFile magazine. He and his late wife, Sandra, transformed an abandoned ice-cream parlor into a playhouse, which served “the world’s best hot fudge sundaes” before and after performances. The founder of Theatre in the Works, he lives in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.