THE GIRL WITH THE LONG GREEN HEART by Lawrence Block (Hard
Case Crime 2005)
I read this right on the heels of Grifter's Game, and I have
to say, I didn't expect them to be nearly so similar in
premise. In both, a grifter falls hard for a girl, who cons
him into helping her get some rich guy's money.
A lot of people really seem to like this one, and even count
it among Block's best work, but I think it suffers in
comparison to Grifter's Game. Whereas that one has a brisk,
terse pace and murder as the central crime, Long Green Heart
is all about the "long con"--a big-money scheme that involves
a lot of detailed (tediously so) preparation and even more
patience as the "mark" basically manages, by slow, small
degrees, to con himself into going along with it. Even the
characters complain at times about how boring and hard it is
to wait so long, and I certainly didn't find it terribly
exciting to read about.
Furthermore, Game has a much more noirishly nihilistic
ending, with both characters going to hell with their eyes
wide open, whereas Long Green Heart actually ends on a
succession of upbeat notes.
Heart isn't bad by a long shot, but I just really like Game
better, and considering the fundamental similarities, I can
only give this one a halfhearted (no pun intended)
recommendation.
See also the Bookgasm review:
http://www.bookgasm.com/reviews/mystery/the-girl-with-the-long-green-heart/
This review originally posted at:
http://groovyageofhorror.blogspot.com/2007/12/girl-with-long-green-heart-by-lawrence.html
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