Gypsies, Tramps, and ThievesBy Larry Seeley
Eloquent Books
ISBN: 9781609760991
338 Pages
Would you like to meet a really cool dude? I recently met Jack Sloan who was created by Larry Seeley in his book, Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves. I have to tell you that if Seeley hadn't already said he was working on a sequel, I would have been suggesting it strongly!
Jack and his friends are fantastic characters you will quickly fall in love with! Ok, they might be a little flawed; Jack would be wanted for murder if the authorities knew who he had killed and later his lover Darlene had to kill a man to save her own life...but, she was traumatized by having to do it...so you really can't blame her!
Jack was in the business of building Tribal casinos as president of All Nations Gaming.. Jack's company had already put up $13M for two projects, but they needed an additional $43M and he was out scouting for funding, when it all began. The thing is, when you're looking for that much money, there are bound to be criminals sniffing around. Dwain B was their front man! Jack's partners thought it looked funny, but Jack didn't think they could afford not to meet and try to get the help they needed.
Dwain played him right from the beginning, noting that his firm normally dealt with packages from $25-75M but that he had a private investor who wanted to do the whole thing! In desperation, Jack agreed to fly to LA. Once he got there, however, he met Dwain, but no investor. Lonnie changed the plans and had invited him to his ranch north of Sacramento. Jack immediately reacted--he has somewhat of a temper! But cooling down, he decided to go on...
Of course, Jack was already on edge and when they arrived, it got worse. There he met Lonnie, Chris, his banker, Irwin. and Lucy, his fiancee. None of them looked right for their supposed positions. It was already late, so they stayed overnight to begin talking. The next day, Dwain was gone; Lucy later revealed she was not Lonnie's fiancee and asked to be taken with Jack when he left! They did their business, both signing to enter into an agreement. And Lonnie indicated that he would drive Jack back to catch his plane--perhaps it was that call that he overheard of Jack calling the FBI? Because, it wasn't very long before Lonnie made his play--and wound up dead. Chris of course had to go as well. Jack and Lucy left, but Jack also took Lonnie's briefcase...
The cash he split with Lucy...
The $6M in bearer bonds along with the list of other individuals conned was sent anonymously to the FBI!
Ok, that last sentence supports my comment about Jack being one cool dude. Just because he killed the two con men and stole the money...at least he made sure the bearer bonds were returned to the others who were conned. That good deed, by the way, was what led to Darlene almost getting killed!
For Jack, he knew he had to lay low after the deal went bad. He quit his job, moved, bought a home and a bar and settled down. But for the rest of Lonnie's crew, they were out for revenge!
As an aside to the con being played on Jack, another con game is being played by Lonnie's lover and partner; the merge of these two cons proves to be effectively choreographed by Seeley and is a significant twisted addition to the novel.
I have to say, readers, that this book is fun to read, exciting, romantic in a way-cool, different way! It is unique with a style of writing that is thoroughly enjoyable--sorta laid-back, yet get up and MOVE! The main characters are wildly diverse but somehow become Jack's family, including, even a law officer! The con crew is deadly and deserve everything that comes to them. I love to hate the bad guys, don't you?!
This one feels like a must-read to me so that's my recommendation to you. Larry Seeley is a new author, but I'm already anxiously waiting for the sequel. You'll be sorry if you miss this one! I loved it!
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