Son of a grifter : the twisted tale of Sante and Kenny Kimes the most notorious con artists in America
(Book)

"In 1998 a troubled young man and his flamboyant mother were arrested for murdering a wealthy widow in her New York City mansion. Suddenly, America was transfixed by a pair of real-life film noir characters, an Oedipal team of scam artists who left a trail of blood, lies, and larceny from coast to coast. The media couldn't get enough of the twisted relationship between Sante Kimes and her twenty-three-year-old son Kenny." "But the most chilling story of all was never told - until now. Kent Walker, Sante's elder son, reveals how he survived forty years of "the Dragon Lady's" very special brand of motherly love and still managed to get away." "As a child Kent watched his mother destroy his hardworking father, Ed Walker, and then - with Kent's painful collusion - snare what Sante called "my millionaire." When she married seemingly respectable real-estate developer Ken Kimes, it was a match made in hell." "For the next two decades Kent's mother and stepfather indulged in a globetrotting orgy of criminal behavior, laying waste to each other and anyone who got in the way. Kent, their would-be recruit, was privy to the family business - torching houses, defrauding friends, crashing White House parties, "shopping" for trunkloads of fur coats - and Sante's self-serving style of adultery. When Kent's half-brother, Kenny was born, Kent was twelve years old - old enough to know that he was his younger sibling's only protector. Kent tried desperately to save Kenny from his mother's sinister bidding. His failure haunts him to this day."--BOOK JACKET.

2002 Edgar award for best fact crime.