The California Roll

This novel got me hooked exactly the same way Janet Evanovich's do ... lovable, goofy, witty characters occasionally experiencing humiliation any human can identify with -- all wrapped in a story I couldn't put down. Hilarious. Waiting for the next Radar adventure...

I have no idea how this author knows so much about grifting, identification theft, and assorted other underhanded schemes (and I'm not so sure I want to know), but I really enjoyed reading all about them. The book is well-written and observed (very L.A.), and the characters are a winning bunch of morally reprehensible people -- starting with the motor-mouth protagonist, Radar Hoverlander. To be honest, i'm not so sure I followed all the twists and turns of the plot (there were so many!), but it was probably because I was turning the pages so quickly and laughing out loud. Who cared? It's a very funny, fast-paced, intricate and clever novel.

When you read John Vorhaus's The California Roll you can definitey intuit that he has been inventing new words since the third grade. He must have scripted for comedy and a wide variety of other genres, as his talent can certainly entertain. Yet whats novel here is the audience he is writing to can not only appreciate theses skills but much much more in novel form: vocabulary word schennigans(chapter title), on the snuke(chapter title)-scams or people who perform them, word play-dishonest honesty(chapter title), his open kimonos(chapter title)-to exchange data(beaucoup con games) with a prospective partner(reader), up-to-date current events like the penny skim(chapter title) in China, and last but not least, when he writes/that a top grifter can both work...the bite and the bark(chapter title), the bite being the person behind the scenes to set everything up(writer), and the bark is the face of the con(reader). The narrator and confidence man, Radar Hoverlander(real name?) has been on the snuke since childhood and is at the top of his game. He about to cross paths with a woman thats not exactly a freshly minted doll type. Of course he knows its no good falling in love, especialy with one whose in the game, but? The tale starts on Halloween. Radar had crasheda party in Hollywood Hills by putting on no costume whatsoever and walking in the first open door he saw. Remember, he is a con and getting in is no problem. Soon Radar is getting in farther than he realizes it and the feebis(FBI), Austrailian High Tech Crime Center, and others are not only trying hard to take him down but also pulling their own cons off on him as well. So its double cross, triple cross, and then whose counting anyway, because before the reader knows it he or she has been eased in/slang for drawing someone so artfully into a snuke they never see it coming. So read/tag along with Radar whose complex packgage of skills include reading lips, picking locks, running a six-minute mile, hot-wiring a car or disabling its engine, field-stripping an M16, building a working computer from scratch; he's also up-to-date on cutting edge biology, geography, half a dozen other ologies, including theology. In short: intelligent, entertaining, consummate confidence company.

I have an aversion to con artists. I've been the would-be victim of a few and escaped by the skin of my teeth. So, why did I choose to read this? I wanted to know if the writer was good enough to make me sympathize with his protagonist, Radar Hoverlander, a con artist to the bone. It's written in first person, and Radar has a smart*** way of talking. He's cocky and shows no compunction for swindling people in the past. In fact he thinks he uses such finesse that the snookered don't even care they've been snookered by him. What a butt-hole! I tell you, I got some satisfaction when it appeared he was about to get taken himself by Allie Quinn a cutie with an agenda he can't figure out. His friend Mirplo tried to warn him, but Radar's too taken with his own intelligence to listen to Mirplo. I figured Radar would get what he deserved. However the author had a few suprises for me which earned this book five stars in my opinion. The story started out slowly but builds in momentum. By the end you're on a roller-coaster ride. This book is laugh-out-loud funny and would make a good comedic film.

Rader Hoverlander, the improbably named hero of THE CALIFORNIA ROLL, is a con artist looking for the one big scam "the California Roll" that will set him up with sushi for life. Searching for easy marks, he crashes a Hollywood costume party disguised as a party crasher. As he converses with a pert young thing he recognizes that she's also a con artist, and what's more he's her target. While one part of his brain is telling him to head for the hills, his gonads are sending signals he finds impossible to ignore. In beautiful Allie Quinn, he has quite possibly met his match, or possibly his nemesis. Her harmless old grampa is looking to learn more about scams and cons...would Radar be available to mentor the old coot? Complication and double cross, scam and counterscam and triple scam -- it all goes laughably out of control. Who's an undercover agent? Which one is the bent cop? Who winds up on the side of the angels? Aside from characters more colorful than a Mardi Gras parade float, delightful slang, a fast-paced plot and a hero who steals your heart, there's scarcely any reason to borrow this book from the library. You won't want to return it so I strongly recommend getting your own copy to keep! Just to stay on the right side of the law, of course.