Excellent hand: Chasing the Ace by Nicholas J. Johnson is exciting, intriguing and well-executed.

The story is largely told alternately throughout from Richard's then Joel's perspective, which works well and helps keep the tension tight. It is from some of Richard's narratives we learn about his "education" from the Tottenham-High Road scammers during his youth.

After many years of watching just about every film about con men he could, Joel decides it is time he tried the real thing. He teams up with Richard, by now a master of the trade, and they get to work with a few short cons that net them some easy money.

So far, so good – until in a more ambitious scam their mark turns out to be an off-duty detective, who rumbles them. The good part is they discover the "D" has something to hide, the bad that they will need big money to get him off their backs.

And in trying to raise this money through a long-planned swindle of Richard's – his hoped-for grand finale – they look like facing exposure and maybe worse. The pace and complexity of the tale intensify as the pair work to save themselves in a story that delivers a well-executed and unexpected ending.