1997 "First Edition" stated; William Morrow and Company publishers, New York; hardbound with ebony boards and gold lettering on spine; book is very good conditon, obviously unread; dust jacket very good also.
 
Author -
Stephen Joseph Cannell (/ˈkænəl/; February 5, 1941 – September 30, 2010) was an American television producer, writer, novelist, and occasional actor, and the founder of Cannell Entertainment (formerly Stephen J. Cannell Productions) and the Cannell Studios.
 
After starting his career as a television script writer, Cannell created or co-created several dozen successful TV series from the 1970s to the 1990s, often with his creative partner Frank Lupo. Cannell's creations included The Rockford Files, The A-Team, The Greatest American Hero, 21 Jump Street, and The Commish. He also wrote novels, notably the Shane Scully mystery series.
 
Plot -
There have always been and ther always will be charming, slyly clever con men.  But a Moster of the Gas as charismatic, ingenious, elusive, and irresistible as Beano X. Bates comes along only once in a generation.  His exploits are so legendary as to have earned him the highest accolade in the realm of confidence art:  the title King Con.
 
But the King's reign is threatened when he crosses Joe "Dancer" Rina, a New Jersey crime boss who doesn't take kindly to being cheated at high-stakes poker.  Rena beats Beano nearly to death, and the grifter is so shaken that he seriously considers quitting the hustle.  But when his beloved cousin Carol is brutally murdered just before testifying against Rina, Beano masterminds on final Mother of All Scams...