Sullivan's Sting by Lawrence Sanders
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

"[...] we have an exclusive source of supply that's liable to dry up any minute [...] Now's the time to get in on the greatest money-making opportunity we've ever offered. Here is the chance of a lifetime, but you've got to get in on it NOW! Tomorrow may be too late [...] you're going to be rich, rich, RICH!"

The above fragment of a yak's spiel to mutts (or mooches) is one of the very few things that stand out in Lawrence Sanders' Sullivan's Sting (1990). The you-must-do-it-now tactic used by financial advisors who earn their living conning their clients over the phone is the most common high-pressure sales tool used by all businesses. It works because it appeals to one of the most fundamental human instincts - greed. Mr. Sanders describes how the salespeople con their clients, how smarter salespeople con the less smart ones, how the law enforcement people try to con the con men and how they get conned back. The con is on! It drives business. And business is America's business!

We meet Rita Angela Sullivan, an officer of an independent and virtually secret law enforcement agency that fights financial crime in Florida. We also meet David Rathbone, ostensibly an investment advisor and financial planner, who devises an elaborate scheme to get a rich widow to entrust him with her money. Rathbone is Ms. Sullivan's target. Her job is to con the con man using whatever means she needs; in this case the means mean her physical allure and sex. Ms. Sullivan helps uncover a large network of con men and women and the plot is relatively interesting if not for the extremely crude nature of most of the business cons and the glaring naiveté of the victims. One could only hope that most people are not really that stupid, even if they want to MAKE MONEY FAST.

The reader gets a few sex scenes, as usual rather tactfully shown by Mr. Sanders. One involves a bed adorned with a layer of currency so that the happy couple have even more reasons to get excited. Not the best effort by Mr. Sanders but a readable story that casts further doubt on the idea of the human species being the crown of creation.

Two stars.


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