Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Four years ago, what Matt Friedrich learned at work put him in prison. Yesterday, it earned him a job. Tomorrow, it may kill him.
Matt learned all the angles at his old Los Angeles gallery: how to sell stolen art, how to "enhance" a painting's history, how to help buyers hide their purchases from their spouses or the IRS. He made a load of money doing it - money he poured into the lawyer who worked a plea deal with the U.S. Attorney. Matt's out on parole and hopelessly in debt with no way out...until a shadowy woman from his past recruits him to find a cache of stolen art that could be worth millions.
Now Matt's in Milan, impersonating a rich collector looking for deals. He has twenty days to track down something that may not exist for a boss who knows a lot more than she's telling. He's saddled with a tough-talking partner who may be out to screw him and up against a shady gallerist whom Matt tried to send to prison. His parole officer doesn't know he's left the U.S. Worse yet, what Matt's looking for may belong to the local branch of the Calabrian mafia.
Matt's always been good at being bad. If he's good enough now, he gets a big payday with the promise of more to come. But one slip in his cover, one wrong word from any of the sketchy characters surrounding him, could hand Matt a return trip to jail...or a long sleep in a shallow grave.
Synopsis
He's always been good at being bad. When he decides to match wits with the mob on their turf, will he push his luck a shade past survival?
Matt Friedrich figures there's no way out. Half a million in debt after doing time for fraud, the former art dealer would do anything to ditch his post-prison barista job for something that pays actual money. So when a shady contact from his past offers him a trial gig at her semi-legal, highly profitable agency, he can't say no... even if it risks his parole and his life.
Handcuffed to a brusque new partner who doesn't appreciate his people skills, Matt finds himself in Milan on the trail of a man he tried to put away with his plea deal. But when the paintings they're pursuing catch them in a crossfire with the Italian mafia, the experienced swindler may find his second chance comes at a fatal price.
Will the payoff for Matt's long con be delivered in cash or corpses?