From Amazon.com
Even a con man needs a change of scenery now and again, and for Richard Milhouse "Nix" Miller, Prague seems a good choice. A second-rate shyster in search of new territory and heightened gullibility, Nix flees Hollywood for Europe, adopting the persona of a hotshot movie producer and screenwriter along the way. Charming, arrogant, and handsome, he quickly locates easy prey in Prague, stealing and conning his way to a luxurious free ride. Blinded by success and his inflated ego, he soon finds himself at the losing end of a perfectly executed scam perpetrated by a stunning femme fatale named Monika. Rather than bemoan lost riches, he views the incident as an act of fate and falls desperately in love with the woman. Nix's ardor for Monika leads him on a wild search, in which he is followed closely by a Czech detective and a jealous husband. Convinced that he and Monika would be the ideal pair in both love and business, he'll stop at nothing to bring them together. What Nix doesn't realize is that Monika will take a scam as far as necessary to make it work, regardless of who gets hurt. Fast-paced, clever, and often hilarious,
Gypsy Hearts is a wild ride through cynical territory, packed with enough nihilism to keep it in the true noir tradition.
From Library Journal
Richard Milhous "Nix" Miller, prodigal son of a California used-car dealer, is a small-time con man and a master at deluding himself and others. Posing as a Hollywood scriptwriter so that he can more easily pick the purses of the women he meets in Prague's cafes and nightclubs, he lives a fairly uneventful life until smitten by a cool, mysterious Danish beauty named Monika. Possibly a princess, possibly part Gypsy, Monika is clearly more than Nix's match as a con artist. After he eliminates her boorish lover, Nix joins her in an escalating series of cons that spin quickly and frighteningly out of control. Cinematic in both style and tone (Eversz, who currently directs the Prague Summer Writer's Workshop, is also a filmmaker and screenwriter), the novel seems like a cross between an elaborately plotted comedy and film noir. Recommended for most public libraries.?Lawrence Rungren, Merrimack Valley Lib. Consortium, Andover, Mass.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
