Not what I expected from this author -- no SF, nothing happens that couldn't happen in the real world today. Pretty good characters and the story is a well-told crime caper, worth a look if you like that kind of thing.

The plot was fairly predictable but very well written. I still enjoyed the book and it had a good cast of interesting characters

Back in September 2017 I think I finished this book in record time, began to write the review, and a lost internet connection lost the review. Frustration can get the best of me at times. (This is why you get this review about three years after I read it.)

This book was not frustrating at all. It had an old time caper or heist feel to it but had a few modern touches to indicate the the story is set in the present day.

To some this might be boring but I really like it when I'm reading a book and the imagery is so vivid I can picture it playing out like a movie in my head.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author, for an ARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review.
Unfortunately, I have tried reading this book on 2 separate occasions and during that 2nd attempt, I have only managed to make it halfway through so I'd rather stop here and state that this book just wasn't for me.

Did not finish. Stopped at 20%

Wasn’t the sort of book I’m interested in reading and after reading some reviews on Goodreads I decided not to pursue it any further.

Thanks for the opportunity to read it, though. It was well written, but just not the kind of story I enjoy.

I’ve tried a few times and have had a really hard time getting through this book. It is well written but the subject just does not interest me at all. For the right person I think it would be Great. For me it’s just not a good fit

There is really nothing wrong with this book. But there's nothing special about it, either.

The plot is exactly what you might expect, given the title. A group of people want to 'get even' with someone who never seems to get his comeuppance. Does this plot sound familiar? Think <em>The Sting</em>; think <em>Ocean's 11</em>; think any revenge book or film.

So if the plot is not extraordinary (and it's not) then the only thing to redeem it would be the characters and the characters here are a stereotypical average rag-tag bunch of misfits: a disbarred lawyer, an arsonist, and a woman who will sleep with the enemy to keep him off-balance.

Much of my distaste for the novel comes from the heavy-handed misogyny. It's one thing to have characters speaking poorly of women and/or treating them like nothing more than sex objects. That can be a definite means to establish a character (albeit a pretty easy way to do so). It's another thing to have the author doing it. For instance ... our lazy, unmotivated (by his own admission) protagonist wakes up to a blow-job from the nubile front desk girl, because ... well, he's so manly and she's just a stupid, cute young thing - of course she would want to pleasure him!

As you might expect in a one-dimensional story, three-quarters of the book is set-up (and sex). We know what the plan is pretty early on and author Di Filippo doesn't deviate from that. The only question is: will they succeed? There's a lot of story you have to get through before you can find out, and Di Filippo does manage to give us a couple of false endings before the last page, and the last two chapters are actually pretty interesting.

The writing itself was fine, the characterizations lacking, and the plot paper-thin. This does not make me eager to read another Di Filippo novel and I can not give this much of a recommendation.

Looking for a good book? Cookie-cutter characters, poor impressions of women, and a one-dimensional plot make Paul Di Filippo's <em>The Big Get-Even</em> a novel worth missing.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Sexy “Redeemed” Ex-cons turned bad all over again! Revenge. Deception. Bad people so bad they’re kinda good. This book was not bad. Not bad at all. It was not deep or significant in any way, but it kept me engaged and entertained. If that’s all your looking for (a quick fun read) The Big Get Even is going to be a good read for you!

The lives of two ex-cons cross in extraordinary circumstances tempting them back into a life of crime.

An arrogant previously successful lawyer Glen McClinton, on parole after committing a financial offence finds himself aimlessly living with his uncle with whom he has little in common. In a bizarre situation, he saves the life of Stan Hasso, also an ex-con, from an overdose.

Unbelievably, after he recovers, Stan finds Glen and the two of them team up to con another conman, Barnaby Nancarrow, a shady real estate tycoon. Their plan is to trick Nancarrow out of $20 million in a land deal. Glen’s parole officer is always around watching and directing, getting in the way of their plan. The land on which the scam takes place is called Bigelow Junction. While on the land to implement their swindle many interesting and amusing characters are added to the mix.

The plot gets very complicated and nail-biting. I could not help but like the two ex-cons and their crazy ideas. The plan doesn’t go according to their wishes but the build-up to the outcome is great.

BonnieK

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review.

This was a fun quick read. I enjoyed the storyline; I am looking forward to reading more from the author.

While at times this novel runs a little slow, the characters make up for the pace and keep the reader wanting to pick up the book again and again to see what the next chapter brings. I enjoyed reading Di Filippo’s novel and look forward to more of his work. Gritty yet funny, several times I thought, this book is ripe for a Cohen film.

A mystery, thriller that will keep the reader laughing and engaged.

What a fun read!!! These guys would have no luck at all if it wasn't for bad luck.

Greg, the narrator and an ex-con, disbarred lawyer, and Stan, an ex-con arsonist, come up with this farce of a plan to make 20 million dollars. The trials and tribulations they go through to read this goal are both scary and hilarious.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this "Keystone Cops like caper" that had me hooked from the beginning.

A fun read that I just sped through. Still laughing thinking back on this read. If your looking for a serious book, this isn't it. However, if you want a fun, cozy read this is for you.

Thanks to Blackstone Publishing and Net Galley for providing me with a free e-galley in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

Don’t do it, don’t do it. Put your wallet away.

I received a galley of this story free and in advance from Net Galley and Blackstone Publishing in exchange for this honest review. That said, if I’d been given a free copy plus a million dollars, I wouldn’t be able to write this thing a favorable pitch. An indifferent product rates 2 stars, sometimes 3 if there are redeeming aspects; when I give 1 star, it means I’m pissed.

Part of my indignation, to be sure, comes purely from disappointment. The book jacket looks for all the world like an entertaining read is in the offing. I was so certain this would be a rousing good time that I held it away from myself as an incentive to make myself plow through what I thought would be a couple of less promising projects. And the story’s hook, the voice that arrests us at the outset, also promises us big fun. My first reading note to myself says, “Oh hell yes.”

As we move into the story, a tale of a combination of grift and revenge on the part of two ex-convicts, cracks start to form. For starters, Glen, our protagonist, who tells us he is lazy, free of all ambition, and has enough gold buried in the backyard to keep him happy for a good long while, is attacked by a man that has been watching him. Our protagonist is offered two options: to go in with his attacker on a plan to buy land on speculation and fraudulently sell it to a man the attacker hates, or else be robbed. This is the basis for a partnership. Glen agrees to let all of the gold be placed in a bank account bearing the name of the attacker’s girlfriend, a large, fierce woman that doesn’t do much in this story except make out with Stan and at one point, Glen. And at no point does Glen hatch a plan to get his money back and escape; instead, an instant friendship forms. The hell?

So the story doesn’t hang together very well from the start, but a strong writer can get us to believe almost anything, and I am ready to buy this premise in order to move forward.

There are a number of nasty little remarks about “queers” that frankly don’t set well with me, and they have nothing to do with the plot, apart from establishing Glen and Stan as real live he-men. But at this point I am still prepared to breeze past the offending references, make brief mention of them, and look toward a 4-star rating. If the rest of the book had been well-written and as engaging as the first chapter, I could even have seen a 4.5 rating rounded up. I had seen the bad reviews others had written, and I wanted to be the blogger that steps forward to tell the world that those folks are wrong, and that this is a terrific novel. I was primed and ready.

“Oh hell yes” becomes “Oh hell no” when the partners settle into their newly purchased resort and our middle-aged protagonist wakes up to find the barely-legal desk clerk giving him a blow job. Because, you know, she couldn’t stay away from him.

There is one other female character here. Vee also wants revenge against the mark targeted by Stan, and so she is brought aboard. But like Sandy (Stan’s girlfriend) and Nellie (the blow-job clerk), she has to have a roll in the hay with Glen, and as with Sandy and Nellie, Vee’s greatest role in the story is sexual. At this point I feel as if the author cannot decide whether he wants to write a tale of bold adventure and high stakes crime, or soft porn for middle-aged men; my eyes rolled so high they nearly lodged themselves in my hairline. However, there is foreshadowing that lets us know that the women in Glen’s life are “not through with me” and are going to surprise him, so I read to the end, hoping against hope that there will be a second shoe dropping, a colossal punchline in which the three women turn out to have pulled one over on him and his testosterone-laden (but not queer, oh please!) buddy. Maybe this whole absurd fuckathon is actually leading up to the revenge of the women.

No.

As if the whole thing wasn’t a big fat mess already, Di Filippo puts one last, ruinous flourish on this pitiful tale by adding a host of additional information right at the end that makes it impossible for readers to guess the outcome. This hunk of junk is so badly crafted that not only do I not recommend it, I won’t read this author again.

Thank you netgalley for this opportunity. I enjoyed the story of cons conning the con.
Quick read. First time reading this author.

I just couldn’t get into the story. Instead of leaving a negative review, I will just put this aside for now.

Thank you for my e-copy!

THE BIG GET EVEN – Paul Di Filippo
Blackstone Publishing
ISBN-10: 1-504-78391-3
ISBN-13: 978-1-504-78391-0
March 2018
Suspense

Glen McClinton is out of a two-year prison sentence where he served time for defrauding his clients. It gave him time to withdraw from the drugs he used, but he is no longer a lawyer or an investor. He is free thought, which means a lot and now living in his uncle’s house while towing the line for his parole officer. One night the car in front of him remains in place. He gets out and finds the driver passed-out. He calls emergency responders. Of course the police show up, too, and have many questions for him, but he is in no way involved in a drug overdose. Still he feels it a close call.

Sometime later Stan Hasso shows up at the house to thank Glen for saving his life and offers Glen an opportunity to make money off the scumbag land speculator and developer for whom Stan worked and went to prison for arson. He knows Glen is not as penniless as he lets on, and they can use that money to scam the scammer for money; lots of money. It takes some convincing, but Glen finally decides to participate.

Of course two ex-cons need a bit of help to pull this off and have two women to help them. Yet furtive deals, even well planned ones, often have unexpected results, which is exactly what happens. While there is some romance in the story, it is mostly about getting even with an unforeseeable ending.

Robin Lee.

A disbarred lawyer and an ex-arsonist cross paths and find themselves organizing an elaborate real-estate swindle to scam a shady rich speculator out of twenty million dollars.

The sting is personal for ex-arsonist Stan and for a woman named Vee, who plays an essential role in the story. Glen, the narrator, and former lawyer, finds himself at first just along for the money. Eventually, as bonds deepen among the conspirators, Glen too discovers he has a lot more at stake than simply the money.

This cast of lively eccentrics discovers along the way that getting to the big payoff might just be more scary fun than the monetary prize itself.

This was an easy read, but overall it was an average book for me, not a great one.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for providing me with a copy this book in return for a fair and honest review

This was a fun read which I finished in a day.
Great.

Woody Allen has always been prolific and like any artist, he goes through times of mountain top enrichment only to plateau for a period. Or a decade. Like in the early aughts following the jazz-cool Sweet And Lowdown and before the sexy Match Point, when Allen cranked out a movie a year, and most of them were mediocre. Like Small Time Crooks where he, Tracey Ullman, and Michael Rappaport plan to rob a bank via a cookie shop they were using as a front… only to blindly figure out that the cookies brought in a higher payroll than the initial bank job.

So what does a Woody Allen film have to do with Paul Di Filippo’s latest, The Big Get-Even? Well for one thing, talking about Woody Allen films, even his less-than-enchanting ones, is a helluva lot more interesting than reviewing this unexceptional novel. And for another, the plots are thematically similar, along with a finale so blatant even the blind director from Hollywood Ending (ugh) could see it coming in off the horizon.

The Big Get-Even is a heist caper, a grift, that although the high points fit the genre, it meanders around at a leisurely pace. No snappy chatter. No sticking-it-to-the-man. And really, no likable characters either. I don’t feel sorry that the arsonist – an arsonist – is cheated out of his ill-gotten gains. I don’t understand how the whining lawyer is elevated to that of a Clooney-esque stud. I don’t appreciate that the contribution of all three women in the story is solely – and only – for sex.

The first part of the story is actually interesting. Di Filippo lays out his characters of Glen (lawyer) and Stan (arsonist), and builds the premise of the plot. That journey had merit as the story began to build. You could see the lightning preceding the on-set of the storm. But then nothing. Just dark clouds resulting in poor vision and a damp time. No fun. No electricity. And a con as dull as Will Smith’s Focus.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for the ARC… even though I think I was hustled into providing a review. And without even getting a cookie.