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Con man Joe Marlin was used to scoring easy cash off beautiful women. But that was before he met Mona Brassard and found himself facing the most dangerous con of his career, one that will leave him either a killer — or a corpse.

• Lawrence Block has won more awards for mystery writing than almost any other living author: 4 Edgar Awards, 4 Shamus Awards, 2 Maltese Falcon Awards, the Nero Wolfe Award, and more
• Block was named a Grandmaster by the Mystery Writers of America, their highest honor
• The New York Times on GRIFTER'S GAME: "The narrative is layered with detail, the action is handled with Block's distinctive clarity of style and the ending is a stunning tour de force."
• The Chicago Sun-Times on GRIFTER'S GAME: "A taut little noir gem...delightfully twisted."
• Playboy on GRIFTER'S GAME: "[A] lost masterpiece."

"Lawrence Block is a master of crime fiction."

— Jonathan Kellerman

"[The] one writer of mystery and detective fiction who comes close to replacing the irreplaceable John D. MacDonald."

— Stephen King

"Block is an enormously entertaining writer."

— Publishers Weekly

"[Block] is simply the best at what he does...If you haven’t read him before, you’ve wasted a lot of time. Begin now."

— Mostly Murder

GRIFTER’S GAME was originally published as MONA by Gold Medal in 1961. This is the book’s first publication under the author’s intended title.