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Overview
When it comes to creating unforgettable criminal characters, nobody does it better than Emmy Award winner Stephen J. Cannell, the force behind such acclaimed TV hits as "The Rockford Files," "The Commish," "Wiseguy," and "The A-Team." Now come Cannell's most engaging characters yet—a spirited assortment of clever con artists.King Con vs. The Don
Raised in a world of flimflams, come-ons and con-jobs, Beano Bates has done so well he's earned a spot on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List. But his lucky streak vanishes after a card game in which he scams a cool eighty grand from a notorious Mafia don—who retaliates by having Beano nearly beaten to death.
For the first time in his legendary career, Beano wants more than a big score—he wants justice. Aided by a beautiful, no-nonsense female prosecutor and a legion of crafty cousins, all accomplished grifters, Beano, the king of the cons, puts together the ultimate swindle—a well-planned sting of strategy, skill and deception. The target is America's most feared mob kingpin and his psychopathic brother. And in this game, winner takes all!
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780062034694 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | HarperCollins |
| Publication date: | 01/17/2024 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 374 |
| Sales rank: | 232,611 |
| File size: | 776 KB |
About the Author
Hometown:
Pasadena, CaliforniaDate of Birth:
February 5, 1941Place of Birth:
Los Angeles, CaliforniaEducation:
B.S., University of OregonWebsite:
http://www.cannellbooks.comRead an Excerpt
"You been getting good at cards," Joe Rina said with out emotion, his movie-star face revealing no hint of danger.
"Sometimes the cards run that way," Beano replied as he watched his urine mix with Joe's and flow into a drain full Or bar ice and black pepper.
"You call a lot of six-card optional," Joe said, refer ring to a dealer's choice game that Beano preferred be cause, after the fifth card was dealt, the players could exchange any one of their cards for a sixth card before betting commenced. Beano liked the game because it gave him more cards to scope with his money clip shiner.
"Yeah," Beano grinned, "that's game's been working pretty good for me."
"You ever hear about Soapy Smith?" Joe said softly.
"Don't think I have," Beano replied, dreading the story, which he correctly assumed would be some kind of ghastly warning.
"They called him Soapy because he marked cards with soap. Kept a little sliver between his index and middle fingers, used it to stripe the cards. Soapy did real good in Atlantic City when I was growing up . . . drove a big, black Cadillac. All us kids wanted to be like him . . . lotsa women, great clothes. Always wore the ltalian or French designers. Everything was great till Saturday, June eighteenth, 1978.... That was the day we all changed our minds about being like Soapy."
"Really?" Beano said, his smile passed on his face, his puckering dick hanging forgotten in his hand. He put it away, zipped up, and moved to the washbasin, wishing he didn't have to hear the end of the tale.
In a minute, Joe Dancer's reflection joined his in the mirror. "Yeah. Poor Soapy got caught jammin' some players at the Purple Tiger, which was a little card club downon the wharf, by the pier. Those guys he was cheatin' were serious players, and they were real mad 'cause they trusted Soapy, so they held him down and jointed the poor guy while he was still alive."
"I beg your pardon?" Beano said.
"One guy, I think he'd been a medic in 'Nam, amputated Soapy a section at a time, while the others held him down. They had a plumber clamping off veins and arteries so he wouldn't bleed out. Kept him alive for about fifteen or twenty minutes. By the time they took off his left arm, poor Soapy's heart stopped."
Somebody flushed a toilet in the stall behind them.
"That's a damn good reason not to cheat," Beano managed, his insides now frozen like his smile.
"I always thought so," Joe said. And without any expression crossing his gorgeous aquiline face, he walked away from the sink.
The story made its point. Beano figured eighty-six grand was plenty. He decided to just hold even, maybe give some of it back, until the game time limit.
The game was called at exactly midnight, and Beano cashed in seventy-eight thousand in chips. Joe Rina left without saying another word. Beano stayed in the bar talking the losers down for about an hour, drinking and telling everybody it had been the best card night of his life.
At a few minutes past one, Beano walked out of the almost deserted country club and headed to his rental car.
What happened to Beano in the parking lot wasn't as bad as what had happened to Soapy Smith in Atlantic City, but it certainly made the same point.
He had just arrived at his car and was putting his briefcase into the trunk when he was staggered by a massive blow from behind. It hit him with such devastating force at the back of his skull that Beano instantly dropped to his knees, splitting open his forehead on the back bumper. He spun awkwardly around in time to see a nine-iron flying out of the darkness, right into his face. It was a chip shot from hell that broke all his front teeth and shattered his jaw, skewing it terribly. Beano fell to the pavement, then grunted in horrible, unendurable pain as four more horrendous blows from the golf club broke the third, fifth, and seventh ribs along his spinal column, also shattering his clavicle and sinus cavity.
Beano was barely conscious when Joe Rina stuck his handsome face down so close that Beano could smell his breath and mint aftershave.
"You look pretty bad, Mr. Lemay," the mobster said. "You might be able to pull this stuff on that buncha buffaloes in there, but you should know better than to try and cheat Joseph Rina."
Beano couldn't talk. His jaw was locked by bone chips and a break that knocked it badly out of alignment.
"Now I'm gonna take my money back. But let me assure you this has been very helpful," Joe Dancer said with exaggerated politeness. "I've been having trouble with my short game. I think I wasn't keeping my head down and following through like my guy keeps telling me. Thanks for the practice." Joe stood up; then Beano felt pure agony as two more blows rained down onto his body for good measure. He started to cough up blood. Beano knew he was badly wounded, but more important, in that instant he felt something die inside him. It was as if the most critical piece of Beano Bates, his charming confidence had left him like smoke out of an open window. It was his confidence and ego that allowed him to be the best. As he lost consciousness, he somehow knew that if he survived he would never be the same again.
He woke up in New Jersey, at the Mercer County Hospital. He was in ICU. The nurses told him he'd had ten hours of surgery, that three teams of orthopedists and neurosurgeons had spent the night putting his busted face and body back in place. His jaw was wired shut. There was a large pair of wire clippers next to his bed. When he was conscious enough to understand, the trauma nurse told him that if he felt like vomiting from the surgical anesthesia or antibiotics, he should get the clippers and cut his wired jaw open, so that he wouldn't vomit back into his trachea and lungs and choke to death. It was sobering advice. He lay in agony for weeks, feeling every inch of his body throb. Even the impressive list of meds he was taking couldn't completely mask the pain.
The New Jersey State Police transcribed his statement from his hospital room. He talked to them through his wired mouth, forming the words like an amateur ventriloquist. Beano gave his statement under his assumed name, Frank Lemay, because there were three Federal warrants out on him for criminal fraud and various other sophisticated con games. He was also currently on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List. It was better if the authorities thought it was Frank Lemay who had been beaten up by Joe Rina. He also didn't tell them that he had no intention of ever testifying against the handsome mob boss.
His old friend and fellow card sharper "Three Finger" Freddy Feinberg came to visit him in the hospital. The gray-haired card shark looked down in shock at Beano, who was still swollen and discolored like rotting fruit. "Jeez, man, you look like a fucking typhoid victim," he said. It had been Freddy who arranged for Beano to get in the game. "I told ya, Beano, I told ya, 'Be careful of that guy Joe Rina.' " And then Three Finger Freddy told him about a rumor that was buzzing around in the street. The word was that Joe Dancer was still pissed and had put out a contract on Frank Lemay, because he had not shown the grace and good sense to die in the country club parking lot like he was supposed to. Three Finger Freddy also told him about how the Rina brothers had taken care of disposal of bodies in the old days. It was another story Beano could have done without hearing. The police told him that a New Jersey prosecutor named Victoria Hart was coming down to interview him prior to filing the assault-with-intent-to-commit-murder charges against Joseph Rina. Because Joe Rina was a popular tabloid star, the press was swarming to get a story. It was only a matter of time until Beano's alias would be penetrated, so he disconnected himself from the tangle of electrodes and I.V. bottles and limped out of the hospital. It was a move that saved his life, but he was now poised on the edge of a cliff, overlooking a landscape of revenge and violence that would change him forever.
Copyright ) 1998 by
Interviews
On Monday, June 23rd, barnesandnoble.com on AOL welcomed Stephen J. Cannell to discuss KING CON.
JainBN: Thank you for joining us this afternoon, Mr. Cannell.
Stephen J Cannell: It is great to be here!
JainBN: We're going to get started immediately and turn the mike over to the audience. Here's our first:
Question: I am wondering if you are aware of the growing number of Web sites devoted to "Silk Stalkings" as well as the fan fiction stories being written about Chris and Rita, some of which restore the character of Chris?
Stephen J Cannell: I am aware of the fact that there are a lot of Web sites for "Silk Stalkings." I was sad to see them leave the show after five years; however, it was their choice to move on despite my intense efforts to renew their contracts. They were great stars and wonderful people, and I wish them nothing but the best. Often when an actor or actress has done a series for five years, they feel that there is very little more they can do with their characters. You must remember that although you see the show for an hour, they are working on it for 13 hours a day 8 months out of the year, and it was their choice to move on. I hope you can all get invested in Chris Potter and Janet Gunn, who are excellent performers doing their very best to carry on the great tradition.
Question: I loved "Profit." Do you have any new TV series in the works you can talk about?
Stephen J Cannell: I am currently finishing re-hanging the pilot for "Hawaii Five-O." This revisits the show with new actors and new characters. My hope is CBS will program it. I have written the screenplays for both my second novel as well as my third novel, KING CON, both slated to be motion pictures. The movie version of KING CON will star John Travolta.
Question: Any chance for a book or movie using the original characters from "Silk Stalkings"?
Stephen J Cannell: I am not certain where any show will end up. Right now, I am just happy to be making the series, but who knows? Some good characters will never die.
Question: What contemporary authors do you currently read?
Stephen J Cannell: I love Michael Connelly, Nelson De Mille, Lawrence Saunders, Ed McBain, Joe Wambaugh, and a host of others. Mostly I read authors who write in the same genre that I write.
Question: Are there any plans for a Chris and Rita character wrap-up, to let the viewers know about Rita and their baby?
Stephen J Cannell: No.
Question: How is it different writing for television compared to writing books? Which do you prefer?
Stephen J Cannell: Books are a more complete form of writing, where as an author you can go into a character's head. In TV, you must convey all the information through dialogue, which at times is a little unnatural. For pure writing fun, I prefer the novel form because it allows me so many more tools. However, doing film is a much more social environment and is also really fun because of all the people that come together to make your words a reality.
Question: I really like your shows. Do you come up with all the ideas yourself, or are they presented to you to develop?
Stephen J Cannell: It happens in a variety of ways. Sometimes they are solely my ideas, as in "Wiseguy" or "The Greatest American Hero." Sometimes they are cocreated, such as "The A-Team" and "The Commish," and sometimes they are the direct result of a network trying to fill a particular void in the schedule -- "Riptide" and "The A-Team." They come from all directions.
Question: What happened to "The Rose" starring Richard Grieco?
Stephen J Cannell: It was actually called "Marker." I am not sure what happened, I wish I knew because in my opinion it should have never been canceled. It was getting a 3.5 rating and a 4 rating. Ratings that shows don't even get today. My suspicion is that there were political reasons within the network that resulted in its cancellation.
Question: I'm just now seeing "Wiseguy" for the first time during its WGN reruns and enjoying it tremendously. Any chance you'll do another WG movie?
Stephen J Cannell: We made one movie last year, and I am certainly up for it if the network is interested.
Question: What do you think is the best TV out there today? What about books?
Stephen J Cannell: The best television, in my opinion, is "NYPD Blue," "Law and Order," "The Larry Sanders Show," "Friends," as well as many others. As far as books, any of the books written by the previously mentioned authors.
Question: I heard you made a new "Hawaii Five-O" pilot. When will we see it? Tell us a little about it, please. Thank you.
Stephen J Cannell: It is up to CBS to decide when to show the pilot. It starred Russell Wong, Gary Busey, Elsey Flippen, and Stephen Flynn. Also some of the old "Five-O" cast, including Can Fong and several others.
Question: What actor would you like to play Beano X. Bates if they were to make a movie out of KING CON?
Stephen J Cannell: Well they are making a movie with MGM, and John Travolta has been slated to star.
Question: Have you heard from Mitzi Kapture or Rob Estes since their departure from "Silk Stalkings"? And if so, how do they feel about doing a wrap-up episode for their characters?
Stephen J Cannell: We have spoken to Mitzi, who might come back, having had her baby. Rob Estes is a regular on "Melrose Place" and will probably not come back. We will just have to wait and see.
Question: Can you tell us about the "A-Team" movie? Who will be in it? Are the original three going to be in cameos?
Stephen J Cannell: The movie is currently in second draft of the screenplay. My hope is that the three remaining guys will play cameos. George Peppard, as you know, passed away a couple of years ago. The script, I believe, is excellent, written by a young writer named Richard Hatem.
Question: Which of your shows have you had the highest hope for, which went on to not get an audience? Also, which did you not think had a chance and became a hit?
Stephen J Cannell: The highest hopes I had were for "Ten Speed and Brown Shoe" with Jeff Goldblum. Also "Profit" in 1997. Neither of these shows, in my opinion, got a long enough running to get a fair chance. They were both bull's-eyes. The show I thought had the least chance and became the biggest hit was "The A-Team," because it was so unusual that all the characters broke the molds of heroes. It was put against big hits, and lo and behold, "The A-Team" exploded, knocking both of these shows off the air. So what do I know?
Question: "Wiseguy" was great. Do you have any projects coming up that will include Ken Wahl?
Stephen J Cannell: Not at this point, although I think Ken is a great actor, so maybe something will happen in the future.
Question: What is the physical process of creating a script like? Is it a lonely quest or a cooperative process.
Stephen J Cannell: It can be either. There have been times when I worked with other writers and we had fun. There were also times when I was alone, banging my head against the wall trying to figure how to make certain that the story you are telling is both evolving and rich in character, since no writing is taking place, just outlining. It doesn't tend to be as much fun. So getting together with other writers takes the stink off the process. When you write dialogue, the characters come alive in your head and on the page. Most writers prefer to do that process alone.
Question: I heard you speak a few years ago at a Mystery Writers of America dinner in L.A. At that time you announced we'd see the occasional "Columbo" episode coming back; which we did, for a while. Any chance of more coming our way?
Stephen J Cannell: I only wrote one episode of "Columbo" and therefore don't have much to say whether it comes back or not. I know Peter Falk has been making "Columbo" for the past couple of years. My understanding is that they will make them. However, we have been making "Rockford" movies. We just finished the eighth two-hour movie for CBS, but I am not positive when it will be on the air.
Question: You have been in some of your shows, for example in "Silk Stalkings." Do you enjoy acting?
Stephen J Cannell: Yes, I enjoy acting, I hope maybe as my responsibilities as an executive decrease with the sale my studio, I will have more time for it. It is fun!
Question: In the movie version of KING CON, who is going to play Dancer? Are you happy with the casting of Travolta as Beano?
Stephen J Cannell: I am delighted with Travolta as Beano, and no other actors have been slated. I would like to see someone like Andy Garcia as Dancer. But this will be a decision made by a lot of other people, as well as me.
JainBN: Thank you for joining us, Mr. Cannell, and congratulations on the publication of KING CON.
Stephen J Cannell: It has been great pleasure talking to you. I look forward to my next chat. Until then, do a struggling writer a favor and buy my book!
