Gypsy Hearts
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- $17.99
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- $17.99
Publisher Description
"Richard Milhous "Nix" Miller, prodigal son of a California used-car dealer, is a small-time con man and a master at deluding himself and others. Posing as a Hollywood scriptwriter so that he can more easily pick the purses of the women he meets in Prague's cafes and nightclubs, he lives a fairly uneventful life until smitten by a cool, mysterious Danish beauty named Monika. Possibly a princess, possibly part Gypsy, Monika is clearly more than Nix's match as a con artist. After he eliminates her boorish lover, Nix joins her in an escalating series of cons that spin quickly and frighteningly out of control. Cinematic in both style and tone, the novel seems like a cross between an elaborately plotted comedy and film noir." from Library Journal
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Richard Milhous "Nix" Miller, the 25-year-old son of a Southern California used-car magnate, is slumming in Prague, living off a monthly trust fund and posing as a Hollywood screenwriter-producer to scam young female tourists. This sleazy narrator charms women by appearing to scribble movie notes while he steals their wallets. Despite attracting the scrutiny of the police, Nix is convinced that he is far too cunning to be caught. Falling in love with Monika Andersen, however, he gets more than a dose of his own medicine. A ravishing, part-Gypsy femme fatale, Monika is smarter, colder and far more manipulative than Nix. Under her treacherous spell, he dramatically escalates his criminal activity until he is following her across Central Europe, his self-protective shell cracked wide open. Eversz (Shooting Elvis) moves the story along briskly. He proves particularly adept at creating interesting secondary characters like the two cops, Zima and Bortny, who bring a refreshing dose of irony to their battles of wit with Nix. Unfortunately, they are not around often enough to charge up an atmosphere poisoned by a cruel, cowardly narrator. Instead of genuine ideas, he has movie concepts and no sense of the real darkness behind his cinematic conceits. While Elmore Leonard has made such unappealing lead characters strangely sympathetic, Nix is never better than pathetic, undermining what might have been an intriguing tale about superficial Hollywood nastiness up against sophisticated Old World evil. FYI: Grove will also publish a trade paperback edition of Shooting Elvis in May.
