Really interested story told from the "normal" son of Sante Kimes of her bizarre antics as a grifter with her young son Kenny.
Needed a serious editor, though. I think easily half of the book could have been deleted without missing too much. ( )

An incredibly written book that should have gotten more press...the writing is excellent, the emotion, the disgust and the consequences of this family and the affect they had on each other psyche and ultimately of the writer is incredible. To have survived such a childhood is a miracle. It's a criminal's Angela's Ashes. Truly exceptional a must read by anyone interested in true crime stories. ( )

One of the best true-crime books ever written. Walker, the "other son" of con-woman/serial-killer Sante Kimes, recounts in fascinating detail his life with one of the most terrifying psychopaths ever described on paper. Nearly every page contains a Sante horror-story; the woman's entire adult life seemed to have been a nonstop orgy of mental cruelty, shameless manipulation, lying, greed, theft, fraud, assault, arson, torture and even slavery (she was convicted on this charge in 1985 - only the second American to have been in the 20th Century)...all building up, of course, to her murder of millionaire Irene Silverman, and at least three other people, with the willing assistance of her son Kenny.

Walker candidly looks at his own conflicted feelings towards his mother and brother, and examines the grossly dysfunctional dynamics of the Kimes clan in depth, never minimizing his own participation in many of her illegal doings. Eventually he broke free from her influence; unfortunately, kid brother Kenny wasn't so lucky, and ended up being her co-conspirator in one of the ugliest mother-son arrangements since Oedipus took a shine to Jocasta.

SON OF A GRIFTER was deservedly both a bestseller and an Edgar Award winner for Fact Crime. It's a must-read for anyone interested in con artists, sociopaths, or criminal families! ( )