A true crime story as riveting and exciting as Blow or Catch Me If You Can.

No one could have predicted that a petty crime against Craig Glazer would be the catalyst for a life on the edge. But then again, nothing about Craig Glazer was predictable. A skinny Jewish kid from Kansas City, Glazer was attending Arizona State University when he was robbed while buying marijuana for his fraternity brothers. His head filled with lessons in crime and criminals learned from the movies, Craig decided to get even with the dealers who robbed him. He set up his first fake "sting," pretending to be law enforcement. Unbelievably, his plan worked, and it set him on a path that was as unlikely as it was dangerous.

He masterminded a two-year spree of stings that stretched from Boston, Chicago, and Cleveland to Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Los Angeles. Posing as everything from local police to IRS agents to hotel managers, he and his crew set up cons and raked in a fortune. Craig and partner Donald Woodbeck had such success that the Attorney General's office asked them for help ferreting out some of the most sought-after drug lords in the country. It was a dangerous double life. Like many other rags to riches stories, Craig's does not lead to a Hollywood happy ending. There was payback. Woodbeck was murdered and Craig landed in prison. The King of Sting is a story of wanting to be famous, even if it meant becoming infamous.

"In Glazer's boisterous but strangely captivating debut, this average college drop-out from the Midwest introduces readers to his crew, a gang of young adults who get by-and get off-on stealing from unsavory characters by impersonating law enforcement. The story focuses on Glazer and his fearless sidekick, Woodbeck, over two years, as they travel the country outwitting both the crooks and the law, often at the same time. Would-be rough and tumble villains high on their own bravura, Woodbeck becomes more menacing and dangerous while Glazer continues to indulge his fantasy that their risky plots are more like Hollywood make-believe than organized crime. The tragic end-game, of course, brings Glazer crashing back to back to earth, but he pushes the Robin Hood narrative to a delusional degree. Though daring and difficult to look away from, Glazer is like a card shark showing us his crooked hand, then trying to convince us (and himself) that he was playing it straight all along. 16 pgs b&w photos" Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

"Whatever you think of the life he's led, Glazer...spins an engaging yarn, even if one wonders about the accuracy of re-created dialogue." Kansas City Star

"This is a high-flying, adrenaline-filled story with the feel of the movie The Sting, although it should be noted that it doesn't end quite so happily....Fans of memoirs set in the world of cons and scams...will completely enjoy this one." Booklist

When Glazer was robbed while buying marijuana for his fraternity brothers, he decided to get even. He and partner Donald Woodbeck set up a series of fake stings across the country that netted them a fortune. It was a dangerous double life, one that does not lead to a happy ending.

Craig Glazer now lives a "quiet" life. He has even run for mayor of Kansas City, his hometown, where he is widely known as the owner of Stanford and Sons, the top comedy club in the city.

Sal Manna has been a freelance writer for nearly three decades, with publications in Time, Playboy, People, The Los Angeles Times,The Boston Herald, and Newsday, among others. He lives in Valley Springs, California.