Crooked by Bronwen John
Ashia ‘Ash’ Cox isn’t your average teenager. She’s a sixteen-year-old con artist headed for greatness – until celebrity criminal Harry Holmes destroys the family and life she loves.
Taking matters into her own hands, Ash links up with Esther Crook – a legendary con who has her own motivations against Holmes and his associates. After a little persuasion, Esther puts together a new crew using Ash as ‘the insider’. The crew feel the heat of the criminals on one side and the encroaching crime agencies on the other, but as the heist unfurls, who is really doing the conning and who is pulling the strings?
With plot twists aplenty, Crooked raises the stakes in crime fiction as the plot equally surprises – and cons – the reader.
Author Bio
Bronwen John is a Civil Servant with a Creative Writing degree from the University of Wales. She has previously published four poetry anthologies which include; The Kardomah Kid (2011), Mind The Gap (2013), The Lotus Blossom and The Kardomah Kid (2017), as well as a children's book, The Mystery of Smugglers Drift (2017). She lives in a tiny village in Dyffryn Cellwen, Wales.
Buy Link
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55006832-crooked-honest-criminality
Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Crooked-Honest-Criminality-Bronwen-John/dp/1838595031
Troubador:: https://www.troubador.co.uk/bookshop/crime-and-thrillers/crooked/#
Review.
‘Crooked’ is so clever and slick that at times you stop and go what just happened? It is a great heist/grifter novel that just is begging to be read. I was so impressed with the story and the code of honour that these guys have. It was full of twists and turns right up to the final page, it hooked me right in and I devoured it over a couple of sitting. Oh boy it was hard to put down!
The novel begins with Ash pulling a con not realising that the mark is a notorious gangster’s son and due to this they now have a price on their heads. Events occur which place Ash in Norway working with the best con artist in the business - Esther Crook! The action soon reverts back to London though in an attempt to con Harry Holmes, that notorious gangster from the start.
This is definitely a clever book and it made me think of BBC drama Hustle which I loved. I could definitely see this working as a movie for sure. The narrative is so fast paced that you don’t get time to recover from one part of the con till the next one is right there bang in your face. But this is how this genre should be and I loved this story! I would love to read more about these characters. I hope Bronwen has more up her sleeve. Also as a side note she wrote me a lovely wee note along with the book and I love authors who do this and interact with their readers. Plus it was on cute stationary so I’m guaranteed to love her!
You won’t go wrong if you get this book a try. Great plot, great characters, fast paced and intelligent to boot. What more do you need?
