THE STING MAN Inside Abscam

Listening to this book won't restore your faith in human nature or the political system, though it's good to see corrupt politicians get what's coming to them. The audiobook recounts the infamous "Abscam" operation on the East Coast in the 1970s in which con man Mel Weinberg, working for the FBI, convinced politicians to accept bribes in return for favors. True story, it was in all the papers. Our guide through the morass of unlikable crooks is narrator Edoardo Ballerini, who gets a lot of points as the master of understatement. His clipped wise-guy style helps make the sleaze go down easier. The audiobook is far more accurate, warts and all, than the movie American Hustle, which is based on the same operation. M.S. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine [Published: FEBRUARY 2014]