The Last Grift
Subtle Deceptions, Book 1
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The Last Grift
Narrated by:
Christian Leatherman
Buy Now for £14.99
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Narrated by:
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Christian Leatherman
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By:
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Elle Keaton
About this listen
Jaded confidence man Gabriel Karne is on the run. A literal snarling, slobbering guard dog nips at his heels. If he makes it over the chain-link fence, he vows to skip town for friendlier climes. Somewhere no one knows his name.
It will be fine. Everything will be fine. Less than twenty-four hours on the island and Gabriel's had a nasty confrontation with two local good ol’ boys, earned a trespassing citation from an infuriating but compelling forest ranger, and offered to search for a missing person. So much for lying low. Being off his game only partially explains why Gabe would rather focus on a stranger’s bad luck than his own. Fact is, he's always had a soft spot for losers and maybe, just maybe, he's tired of the game.
The Last Grift is the first installment in the Subtle Deceptions series, a small town mystery with romantic elements. The series, part of the Piedras Island and Veiled Intentions universe, is written in the third person and follows the unplanned adventures in the life and love of the disreputable Gabriel Karne.
©2025 Dirty Dog Press LCC (P)2025 Dirty Dog Press LLCListeners also enjoyed...
Listener received this title free
When the story begins, con artist Gabriel Karne is running from a con-gone-wrong. A letter from his mother, who died a month earlier, has told him to look up someone called Elton Cox on the small island of Heartstone, where there’s an inheritance of some sort waiting for him. Figuring he might as well hide out there as anywhere until things settle down, Gabe drives from Seattle to Heartstone – only for trouble to find him straight away. Having tried very hard not to, he gets into an altercation with a pair of knuckleheads at a gas station store, and then he falls foul of the local park ranger when, having nowhere to sleep other than his car, he pulls into the camp area intending to bunk down and ends up with a ticket and fine for trespass and is told to move on.
Ranger Casey Lundin loves his job, but he really could do without so much stupid making it more difficult than it needs to be. If it’s not the careless visitors to the park, it’s the dumb Perkins brothers, whom he catches poaching rare mushrooms, the idiots trying to launch a boat off the closed ramp (one of whom is a sheriff’s deputy and should know better!) or the irritating idiot who could have frozen to death in his car.
The plot kicks in shortly before the half-way point when a friend of Elton’s goes missing and, while out looking for him, Gabe instead finds a decaying body, a bullet wound in the middle of his forehead. As this is book one in a trilogy, don’t expect any resolution to the mystery here; by the end, we’ve got more questions than answers (what’s going on with local law-enforcement? Will the target of Gabe’s aborted con catch up with him?) and the author does a good job of ramping up the tension and raising the stakes so my appetite is definitely whetted for the next book. Gabriel and Casey are mostly at odds throughout and although there’s a definite spark of attraction there, they’re both ignoring it and are just starting to tolerate each other. There’s a grumpy/sunshine vibe going on with Gabriel the more good-humoured of the two (not surprising seeing as his ‘job’ mostly involved being personable and charming) and Casey the grouchy loner who doesn’t trust easily and just wants to keep the land and people thereabouts safe. They’re very different, yet their hearts are in the right place.
I’ve listened to Christian Leatherman a few times and have enjoyed his work. His narration here is well paced, his voice is easy on the ear with a pleasantly husky note to it; he has a good range of character voices and differentiates effectively between them. His portrayal of the two leads fits their personalities, with Gabriel’s voice pitched slightly higher than Casey’s and a more upbeat, good-humoured note to his speech, where Casey, as the grump to Gabe’s sunshine, speaks slowly and more deliberately. His interpretation of Elton works well to depict a spry older gentleman, and the the snarky tone he uses for Heidi, whose critical voice Gabe hears regularly in his head, is nicely done. I did, however, find the narrative portions of the performance to be lacking in tonal variation and a bit too placid - I found myself zoning out on several occasions and then having to rewind to find out what I’d missed, and I’m sure that contributed to my feeling that the first half of the story is over-long with not much happening. Don’t get me wrong - it’s a good performance. I’d just have liked a bit more energy and animation in the narrative parts of the story.
I enjoyed The Last Grift, in spite of my reservations (the 2nd half is stronger than the 1st) and will be picking up the next book when it becomes available.
Intruguing start to a new series.
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Listener received this title free
I have to say that I’ve read almost all of the Piedras Island and Veiled Intensions books, so some familiar faces were great to see. Yay! I also have to say there’s a lot going on in this book.
First there’s Gabe who just can’t get his shit together. Every time he thinks he’s on top of things, something slips through his fingers. Now, he’s a con man – so my sympathy only extends so far. Crappy childhood, crappy mother, crappy life – he’s endured it all. Then he cons the wrong people and now he’s on the run. With only a cryptic note from his newly deceased mother, he embarks on a journey to God knows where to speak to God knows who.
Of course, the first thing he does is run into more trouble.
Next he meets – and clashes with – a forest ranger. Casey enjoys his job, but his job is to enforce the law. Which brings him into contact with Gabe. In conflict with Gabe.
This story has other great secondary characters – I love Elton! It also has a great mystery. It ends on a cliffhanger, but I’m certain Elle will give me the next book soon, so I’m not too stressed.
I will say Christian Leatherman is a really good narrator and I quite enjoyed his performance. I can’t wait to see what happens next!
Unexpected by so good
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Listener received this title free
There's mutual animosity between Gabriel and Casey that's actually concealing a slow simmering attraction.
An intriguing mystery filled with fast paced action, danger and drama.
Lots of great side characters and I can't wait for more from this series.
Christian Leatherman is a new to me narrator.
He did an amazing job narrating and bringing these characters to life.
Great start to a new series
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Listener received this title free
The narration by Christian Leatherman was very good, but I have to admit that I missed Michael Dean.
I received a free copy of the audiobook and am voluntarily leaving this honest review.
Great start to a new series by Elle Keaton
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