Billy Cunningham Books
Whoever says crime doesn’t pay isn’t doing it right. There are hundreds of casinos in Las Vegas, and Billy Cunningham knows how to rip off every one. His scams are a thing of beauty―so perfectly orchestrated that onlookers believe he and his crew are winning fair and square. In a town where bosses will kill to protect their profits, Billy can’t afford to make mistakes, but even the best-laid plans can go wrong… Desperate to keep his team out of jail, Billy agrees to help stop a legendary family of thieves from taking down a casino. But he has no intention of breaking the cheater’s code: never rat out your own kind. He’s running his own con on the casino’s psycho owner and his vicious, violent wife. Throw in a murderous drug dealer, a vengeful gaming agent, and the girl Billy’s never forgotten, and this scam artist is playing for sky-high stakes: a cool eight million, and the chance to live long enough to spend it.
Con artist Billy Cunningham is no stranger to the casinos of Las Vegas―he’s ripped off every single one. But his latest scam―a year in the making―promises his crew their biggest payday yet. Billy has thought of everything down to the last detail…or so he thinks. He hasn’t counted on the father-son team of contract killers looking to cash in on Billy’s head. Or his old flame, Maggie Flynn, out for payback for her broken heart. If Billy and his team can pass themselves off as high rollers for a week straight, living it up in Vegas’s most exclusive suites and box seats, they’ll get their chance to make their VIP status permanent. It’s the biggest scam of their lives―if they live.
An adrenaline rush of cons, grift, and murder in a town where deadly double-dealing is the name of the game. Master grifter Billy Cunningham has built a lucrative career conning a long list of Las Vegas casinos. In fact, he’s never walked into one he couldn’t rip off. Now he’s scheming a “super con” with a gang of high-profile cheats―a one-time-only scam that could rake in a cool multi-million-dollar payday. All goes as planned until Chinese crime lord Broken Tooth strong-arms Billy into rigging the Super Bowl, too. Billy has no choice but to play ball. Broken Tooth has a special edge on him: blackmail. When someone on his own team betrays Billy, all bets are off. Both the super con and Super Bowl gambits are in jeopardy. And just who’s scamming who? With kickoff time looming, it’ll take a Hail Mary pass for Billy to grift the game and survive long enough to pull off the wildest double-cross-with-a-twist in Vegas history.
WHOEVER SAYS CRIME DOESN’T PAY ISN’T DOING IT RIGHT. Billy Cunningham is the most wanted cheat in Las Vegas. His scams have cost the casinos so much money that the governor has ordered the gaming board to bring him in at any cost. Normally, Billy would lay low until the dust settles. But during a trip to Reno, he has a chance encounter with Special Agent Ray Lopez of the FBI. Billy helps Lopez catch a pair of serial killers called The Glitter Twins and a bond is formed. Lopez is a hero with a fatal flaw. He’s a gambling addict with huge debts. Seeing an opportunity, Billy recruits Lopez to help him scam a casino in Las Vegas for millions. The scam is called the bomb, and is the most audacious blackjack scam ever invented. It’s Billy’s way to give the gaming board a black eye before he heads south to Mexico. But like the best laid plans of mice and men, the scam goes horribly wrong, and Billy and Lopez are forced to make life or death choices that will forever change both their lives. “No one in the world does this stuff better than Jim Swain.” –Lee Child “James Swain is the real deal. His books about Las Vegas never fail to entertain and surprise. Sin City is a non-stop adrenalin rush. Read it.” Michael Connelly