Love Is a Racket - Softcover

Ridley, John

3.59

179 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0345421469 ISBN 13: 9780345421463

Publisher: One World, 2003

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In his first novel since Stray Dogs, John Ridley offers up a brilliant noir farce about a small-time con man who finally gets it right just before it all goes wrong.

Everything's a racket for Jeffty Kittridge, a thirty- seven-year-old ex-wannabe scriptwriter living on the skids in Hollywood--the two-bit cons he pulls for spending money; the way he convinces himself that he's not a drunk between every shot of booze he kicks back; the way he tries to assure Dumas, the local shark, that he's just about to pay off his 15K debt . . . Except he's not good at any of that. He's been in jail twice (and the state's got a bad attitude about seeing someone the third time); that bug he just felt crawling up his neck is most likely the first installment of the DTs; and Dumas recently delivered a fairly emphatic payment-due reminder: a couple of his goons busted two of Jeffty's fingers. The fact is, Jeffty's a loser, big as they come, and things aren't about to change up for him anytime soon: "I would've felt . . . near terminally depressed," he tells us as his story begins to unfold, "but I was so used to my life all I felt was content."

Then he stumbles on salvation: a dirt-caked, street-hardened, exquisitely beautiful young homeless woman named Mona--Jeffty prefers to think of her as Angel--who inspires both his love and the idea for the perfect con. It's Jeffty's chance to hit it big, and to be set for good in his new life with his new love. "The thing about love," Jeffty declares, "is no matter how twisted, or wrong, or evil, it never dies." But as the momentum of the con carries him closer and closer to what he imagines will be a moment of blissed-out consummation with his angel Mona, Jeffty discovers there are some severe exceptions to his rule.

Smart, edgy, caustically funny, Love Is a Racket puts John Ridley in a darkly comic league of his own.
From the Hardcover edition.

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Review:

Love is a Racket begins with the sound of a man's fingers being broken--a clear indication that, in this story, compassion is presumed dead. Fortified by a staunch lack of compromise, John Ridley's second novel is an exceptional example of LA noir: a ferocious look at the murky lives blighted by insincerity and shallowness. Jeffty Kittridge is a failed scriptwriter, con man, gambler and regular stroller down the boulevard of broken dreams. He owes $15,000 to a loan shark and when he isn't drinking his sorrows away, he moves from one failed plan to the next. Such relentless bad luck morphs again with the arrival of Nellis, his junkie friend and master of a supposed 'can't-lose-poker-scheme.' However, circumstance goes awry again--but Jeffty finds salvation in a beautiful homeless woman, Mona, and a con that hinges on a legendary Hollywood love triangle. There is a compelling narrative voice in Jeffty that transcends his low-life status and imbues his plight with poignant honesty. Love is a Racket is testament to Ridley's mastery of humour; it's full of sharp lines that will routinely make you laugh out loud: "My good luck was that LA's a great place to work. Except for the smog and the gang violence, the brushfires in summer, the rain and floods in winter--it's great." Danny Graydon

From the Back Cover:

Everything's a racket for Jeffty Kittridge, ex-wannabe scriptwriter living on the skids in LA: the two-bit cons he pulls to try and make ends meet, the way he convinces himself he's not drinking, how he tries to persuade the local shark that he can pay back that 15K. Trouble is he's not very good at it: he's seen jail twice, he's got the early morning DTs and he's just received a payment-due reminder of broken fingers. In fact Jeffty is what some might call a big-time loser, and he's getting bigger all the time.

But then he stumbles across Mona, the street-smart homeless girl whose exquisite looks inspire lust, love - and the ultimate scam. Mona is Jeffty's dream come true, his one-way ticket out of there, his future. Could Lady Luck have dealt him a decent hand at last?

If only. For as Jeffty is propelled towards what he believes will be a redemptive moment of blissed-out consummation, he's about to discover that love can be the biggest racket of them all.

Furiously paced, caustically funny and possessing the ultimate twist, Love is a Racket is the dazzling new noir novel from one of Hollywood's hottest talents.

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