Tag Archives: Con Man

Purple Jesus by Ron Cooper

American Literature

Synopsis: A rollicking southern Gothic feast. Review: With inventive prose and eccentric characters, Purple Jesus has a lot going for it. For me, I never really connected with the characters, though I did admire what Ron Cooper has accomplished. I would like to see this book, published by a small, independent publisher, find an audience, so please check it out if you like Flannery O’Connor, Walker Percy, or John Kennedy Toole. You’ll find a lot to enjoy in this rich book.

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Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch

American Literature 1 Comment

Synopsis: Master thief and con artist Locke Lamora is back with his steadfast sidekick Jean Tannen, both set to pull off the scheme of a lifetime when they are coerced into becoming–pirates? Review: Red Seas Under Red Skies is the follow up to Scott Lynch’s debut The Lies of Locke Lamora, a smash hit which placed a Sopranos-esque crime drama within a fresh, imaginatively realized fantasy world. The sequel throws swashbuckling in the mix, and the overall result of this melange is one of the…

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The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith

British Literature 1 Comment

Synopsis: Aimless Tom Ripley has been dispatched to Italy to bring feckless playboy Dickie Greenleaf home, but when Dickie rejects Tom’s friendship, Tom chooses a darker course. Review: I have read and enjoyed several books by Highsmith, but stayed away from the Ripley books because in the crime and mystery genres, I tend not to like the recurring character, like Ruth Rendell’s Inspector Wexford, to give another example from an author I admire, and when I heard about Ripley, I assumed the same. I learned…

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