Helpful Score: 1
GRIFTERS GAME by Lawrence Block: As a first entry in the Hardcase Crime Series, it would have been hard to pick a better story. Blocks Joe Marlin is a grifter who spends his days skipping out on hotel bills and double-crossing gold-diggers. He makes a practice of stealing checked luggage to use to check into his next hotel (after all we must look respectable), but this bag contains a huge cache of heroin. Later that same night he meets Mona Brassard and to his chagrin eventually finds that Mona and the heroin are connected, in a way than spells danger to Marlin. Classic writing, a good story, and an awesome cover. Anyone who cut their teeth on pulps should love this series.
